Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

grizzledgeezer If there were ever a vote on "Worst TV Series", "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" would be an easy favorite. Its only distinction is that it was voted "Best TV Show of All Time" by the Flocking Institute of America.Other than the handsome color (which looks great on studio sets, but rather washed-out in outdoor scenes), everything about SPOTY (pronounced as if there were two Ts) can summed up in one word -- cheap.The indoor sets are crabbed, and unconvincingly dressed. Outdoors, the same generic cabin is used over and over and over and over. (It's not so much a cabin, as a longish wall with a door in it.)Outdoor scenes jump between location shots and studio sets. (This was normal, especially with Westerns, as outdoor shooting was not only more expensive, but there was no control over weather or the lighting.) Unfortunately, there's only one or two indoor "outdoor" sets, which hardly ever match up with the location shots.Not much can be said for Yukon King, the wonder dog who leads Sergeant Preston's team. He seems to have been cast for affability, rather than the edginess one would expect from a sled dog. He usually sits quietly, or sometimes wanders around the set, to no particular purpose, showing neither enthusiasm nor affection. (Another poster's suggestion, that YK is looking for Milk-Bone handout, seems reasonable.)But the worst thing about SPOTY, the thing that consigns it to the bottom of the barrel, is poor writing. It appears the radio programs were simply re-written for the series. Not only are they aimed at the intelligence of a four-year-old, but the dialog is mostly tedious and often clumsy exposition. And, of course, there's a narrator explaining things for the radio audience. (You could turn off the picture and not miss anything.)Given the low production values and poor scripts, it would be unkind to criticize the acting (though Richard Simmons, as the eponymous hero, brings to his role all the excitement of staring at wallpaper). At least everyone manages to hit their marks and speak clearly.Unlike "The Cisco Kid" or "Adventures of Superman" (two other early syndicated color series), SPOTY is devoid of character or style. There's nothing memorable about it, other than its cheesy lameness.For those not familiar with classical music, the theme is from the overture to Řezníček's "Diana Banana". As with "The Lone Ranger" and "The Green Hornet", George Trendle selected PD classical music so he wouldn't have to pay royalties.PS: I've often wondered why Union Carbide never did TV commercials with "Sergeant Prestone of the Yukon". It would have been a perfect match of product, character, and environment.

Robert J. Maxwell In switching TV service providers there occurred a gap, during which my selection of channels seemed to be limited to about half a dozen -- the Prayer Channel, Home Shopping Network, The News in Urdu, that sort of thing.I happened across Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. It was at least WATCHABLE.True, the values were rudimentary -- good versus evil -- and as easy as it is to watch such a Manichaean story, that's not the way the universe is structured, is it. It doesn't get past Kohlberg's Level 2 stage of moral development, in which you either obey the rules or you don't.Still, it's reassuring to see the distinction played out in a fictional story. It's ritualized, a fixed point in a changing and disappointing world, like a religious service.I used to listen to the program on the radio -- I'm pretty old and we were pretty poor. (The house was always full of winter snow regardless of season and we had to pounce on mice for a meal.) The characters and the trajectory of the story were no longer familiar.What struck me was the sound, the voices, and the musical score. "On, King, ON, YOU HUSKIES!" And the theme music, which I haven't heard for more than half a century. I found myself able to hum along with the theme.The human mind is a very strange thing, even compared to the relationship between Sergeant Preston and his faithful dog King.

J B I also watched this as a 50s kid in Los Angeles - all the other shows (with pretty much the same plots) were about cowboys or, more interestingly, cops: Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, more interestingly Dragnet, 77 Sunset Strip. Preston was the first I ever knew featuring a landscape of snow, with tall evergreens, whistling wind and log cabins, exists. And how much more impressive Preston looked than any cowboy, crouching in the snow with his massive black (b/w the only colors) fur coat and fur hat - only rarely the dress (red) coat and round Mounty hat. I also recall that you could buy and Mom did buy a certain cereal to get Sergeant Preston "snow goggles" to prevent snow blindness, which were cardboard spectacles with a narrow slit to look through - either they came in the box or you cut them out from the box itself (accurate reminder appreciated - eBay URL would be even better.)

renfield54 I happened to tune into the Norm McDonald TV show for the first time last week (9-99). In it someone made a passing reference to Sgt. Preston. (It's how I ended up on the IMDb reading about it and writing this.) A comment I'm sure was not noticed by many. It hit home with me. I used to love catching the re-runs of Sgt. Preston and his dog, Yukon King. I couldn't have been more than 6 or 7 but I loved the show. My memories aren't as clear as BOOKWUS (another commenter), but I would like to compliment BOOKWUS on wonderful and complete comments that really bring the show back into view for us Sgt. Preston fans. Great job and I can't add anything else. I would love to see the show again to see what passed for entertainment to me as a child. The simplicity of old TV is lost now, but man, we were "living".