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Attachment.png    *** COWBOY BALLS ***    Attachment.png 

THE UNOFFICIAL FAN SITE -- EST. 1997


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Cowboy Balls Fan Magazine, May 1959.

Yes, this exists. Yes, I have three copies.

HOWDY!!! You are Cowboy Baller # 004872 to visit this site since September 14, 1997!

*Definition = a Cowboy Balls fan. Yes, we checked. There are enough of us to justify a counter.

Gunfights, heartbreak, dusty trails, frontier justice... and one uncle who probably should have been explained better. That's right -- this is Cowboy Balls, a mostly-forgotten Western from the golden age of television. The Ball family, their sprawling Arizona ranch, and a whole lot of dramatic staring into the middle distance. You remember it. Somewhere in your brain, it's still there. Otherwise, you wouldn't have wandered in here.

Chances are you stumbled across it in reruns -- some lazy Saturday afternoon in the late '70s or '80s, half-paying attention, wondering why this show felt both important and supremely entertaining. Five seasons, then gone. No explanation. No closure. Just dust. Either way: welcome. You've found your people. Not normal people. But committed.

Quick disclaimer: this is a completely UNOFFICIAL website. No copyrights are intended. There's been no involvement from the estate H.W. von Feenery or anyone who was actually involved in making the show. “I’m just a regular fella.” - Mitch Mitcherson, season 2, episode 16. In this case that’s not true of course, being of the female gender.  Bt I’m just a gal who loves a show with a level of dedication that that maybe borders on the obsessive. LOL. I let my horse die in a barn fire while capturing vid clips.

R.I.P. Thunder

[ MAIN PAGE ]  |  [ EPISODE GUIDE ]  |  [ FAN FICTION ]  |  [ PICS ]  |  [ THEME SONG ]  |  [ DVD CAMPAIGN ]


***COWBOY BALLS: THE REMIXES***

*** NEW RELEASE ***

COWBOY BALLS: THE REMIXES

Sheriff T and the Lonesome Trail Guys -- Available now on CD and Double Vinyl

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Sheriff T and the Lonesome Trail Guys have done it. The theme from Cowboy Balls has been given the full remix treatment, including two remixes by Mark C. Funkbastard.

The album also features Bastian Pusch, Cajun Pepper,  among others, and includes archival interview with the cast and crew of Cowboy Balls, as well as an all new introduction recorded by the one and only Rod McHarris!

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Sheriff T and the Lonesome Trail Guys, spotted at a club recently.

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Cajun Pepper -- rapper and inmate incarcerated for multiple assaults.

As for the song itself -- the Cowboy Balls theme is one of the most memorable pieces of music in TV history, and it has a secret origin as a French anti-war protest song. In 1956, Marseille-born singer-songwriter Jean-Jean LaFleur wrote "Couilles de Cowboy" as a protest against the Algerian War -- banned from state radio, naturally, which made everyone want to hear it. American producer Willie Munbrayne found it while scouting Europe, brought it to Sheriff T, and the rest is history. LaFleur died in poverty without ever being thanked. His last recorded words were apparently a slur directed at Casey Kasem. No one has ever figured out why. FULL LYRICS AND HISTORY HERE.


***WHAT'S NEW***

Attachment.png WRITE YOUR LETTERS!!

The campaign to get Cowboy Balls on DVD is still going. Still. We remain optimistic. DETAILS BELOW. Cowboy Ballers don't quit.

Attachment.png Tommy Smith's Audio Clip!!
Thanks to the legendary Tommy Smith, we now have the only known audio recording of the Cowboy Balls: The Next Generation opening theme, captured off a television in 1988 on his brother's cassette recorder. The sound quality is exactly what you'd expect. LISTEN HERE (turn it up; it'll still be awful).

Attachment.png PICS PAGE UPDATE!!
New additions to the PICS PAGE, including a behind-the-scenes photo from the "Alien Visit" episode that you absolutely have to see to believe.

Attachment.png Fan Fiction Section!!
Our FAN FICTION PAGE now has 14 stories including 5 crossover stories now online. I'm not going to pretend I didn't write three of them.

COMING SOON......The H.W. von Feenery Story


So what's in this site? Well, all sorts of good stuff, like:

Remember this site is a work in progress. Contributions welcome -- e-mail me at cbfan@cowboyballs.net. I'll use almost anything you send and give you credit. That's just the kind of generous person that I am.


***SERIES FACTS***

THE BASICS

Series Title: Cowboy Balls
Network: National Broadcasting Network (NBN)
Premiere: September 1958
Finale: May 1963
Number of Seasons: 5 (4 good ones)
Setting: Ball Ranch, Arizona Territory, 1870s
Creator: H.W. von Feenery
Producer: Willie Munbrayne (Seasons 1-4), technically H.W. von Feenery (Season 5, God help us)
Music: "The Theme from Cowboy Balls," performed by Sheriff T and the Lonesome Trail Guys

THE CAST

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Frank Ball and Mitch Mitcherson -- the dynamic duo of Ball Ranch. Season 2 promo shot.

Frank Ball - Portrayed by Henry "Hank" Thompson
The Ball family patriarch and owner of Ball Ranch. Stoic, decent, and a symbol of frontier integrity. Thompson was a veteran character actor who brought real gravitas to the role and was by all accounts the moral backbone of the production as well as the show. He retired from acting shortly after the series ended, gave almost no interviews, and has remained almost entirely out of the public eye ever since. He is also reportedly the most furious man in Hollywood, on account of Rod McHarris, though the specifics of this feud have never been officially confirmed. Exhaustive speculation is available on our Bulletin Board.

Abigail Ball - Portrayed by Barbara St. Suzanne
Frank's eldest daughter -- intelligent, strong-willed, and way ahead of her time. St. Suzanne went on to become a prominent advocate for women's rights in the entertainment industry, and has said repeatedly that her years playing Abigail were the most formative of her career. She also had a late-career dance hit with Dance, Fancy Man, Dance, which is available on streaming and is genuinely excellent. She is a queen and I will not hear otherwise.

Mitch Mitcherson - Portrayed by Rod McHarris
A British Shakespearean actor playing an American drifter and gunslinger. This works considerably better than it has any right to. McHarris brought a theatrical depth to the role that elevated the entire series and his evolving relationship with Abigail gave the show much of its emotional weight. He continued to have a successful stage and screen career after Cowboy Balls and speaks fondly of the show to this day. He will not discuss Hank Thompson. We respect this.

Jedediah "Stinky" Ball - Portrayed by unknown
Frank's jovial uncle, providing both comic relief and the occasional piece of frontier wisdom. The nickname "Stinky" is never explained at any point during the series' five-season run and not a single character ever remarks upon it.

Ricky Ball - Portrayed by unknown
The youngest Ball, embodying youth and innocence on the frontier. A fine young character who deserved better than Season 5.


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The cast of Cowboy Balls on the Ball Ranch backlot, circa 1960. Left to right: Frank Ball, Ricky Ball, Abigail Ball, Mitch Mitcherson -- and Stinky Ball doing what Stinky Ball does. This is what a happy production looks like. Enjoy it. Season 5 is coming.


***EPISODE GUIDE***

The full episode guide has moved to its own page. It covers all five seasons, including Season 5, which I continue to document out of a sense of duty rather than affection.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL EPISODE GUIDE


***REUNION & SPINOFFS***

Return to Ball Ranch (1982)

In 1982, somebody thought it would be a good idea to make a reunion movie. In theory: wonderful. In execution: well. The elephant in the room is that Henry "Hank" Thompson refused to return due to his feud with Rod McHarris. The details remain murky. There have been allegations. I will not repeat them here as this is a family-friendly website, but if you go digging in the Bulletin Board archives you'll find some extremely committed speculation.

Rod McHarris and Barbara St. Suzanne both returned and were fine. The film was not fine. Watch it if you must.

Cowboy Balls: The Next Generation (1988)

Oh boy. Oh no. Oh, sweetie.

In 1988, NBN attempted to reboot the franchise with Ball family descendants. H.W. von Feenery returned as creator at the age of 88. None of the original cast participated. Six episodes aired. The series was canceled, never re-aired, and has never been officially released in any format.

The only known recording of any part of this series is an audio snippet of the opening theme, captured off the television by young fan Tommy Smith on his brother's cassette recorder. Tommy is a hero. The recording sounds like someone holding a phone to a speaker during a rainstorm. It is absolutely precious. LISTEN HERE.

IMPORTANT FOOTNOTE ON H.W. VON FEENERY: Shortly before his death, von Feenery confessed to the 1922 murder of Hollywood director William Desmond Taylor. By this point he was, by general consensus, considered to be completely full of it, and no one investigated. I include this for completeness and because it is genuinely one of the strangest things I have ever had to put on a website.


***WHERE ARE THEY NOW?***

Rod McHarris continued to have a successful career on stage and screen. Speaks fondly of Cowboy Balls and will not discuss Hank Thompson. Respect.

Barbara St. Suzanne became a prominent women's rights advocate in the entertainment industry, crediting her role as Abigail Ball as a formative influence. She also had a late-career dance hit with Dance, Fancy Man, Dance, which is available on streaming and is genuinely good. She is a queen and I will not hear otherwise.

Henry "Hank" Thompson is dead.

Willie Munbrayne is dead

H.W. von McFeenery is dead.


***PICS PAGE***

Here's a sampling of what we've got. Click any image to see the full size version (pretend that works).

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Fan Magazine

May 1959

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Cast on set

circa 1960

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Season 2

promo shot

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Barbara St. Suzanne

publicity still

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The Denton Brothers.

Menacing.

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"The Beast of

Ball Ranch"

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"Stinky's Big Run"

Yes, really.

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"The Alien Visit"

behind the scenes

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The Remixes album.

It's real.

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Sheriff T spotted

in the wild, recently

For the complete gallery including WAV files, promotional artwork, and two blurry screenshots from a VHS of dubious origin, CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL PICS PAGE.


WRITE-IN CAMPAIGN - DEAD

Cowboy Balls has never been released on DVD, VHS, laserdisc, streaming, or any other home media format. At this point it seems unlikely it ever will be.  For years, this page has included a write-in campaign to cable networks and home video distributors to get Cowboy Balls released on DVD. We are sorry to report that this campaign has not worked. It has not come close to working. There’s been no point to any of this. No one cares. We’re all just biding our time until the reaper comes for us. Come for me, reaper! You coward!

The campaign to get Cowboy Balls: The Next Generation was even more pointless and I wouldn’t have done it if fucking Todd hadn’t insisted. What we know is that six episodes exist in a vault somewhere. Tommy Smith's cassette tape proves it. But if the studio had any sense of social responsibility. they would have destroyed them. Love that theme song though. I’m feelin that 80’s vibe! I’m an 80s girl 4 sure!

In the meantime, if you have any recordings of the original series -- VHS, Betamax, anything -- please contact me immediately. 

In the meantime, if you have any recordings of the The Next Generation, promptly and thoroughly insert them up your own ass.

OTHER COOL LINKS


This site is committed to keeping the memory alive for the late '50s Western TV series Cowboy Balls, starring Henry "Hank" Thompson, Barbara St. Suzanne, Rod McHarris, and the one and only Jedediah "Stinky" Ball.


Thanks, Dudes!!
Dale Okonkwo

P.S. I'm positive there are some die-hard’s out there who take offense to my deliciously irreverent tone. The only thing I have to say about that is what William Shatner said in his December 20, 1986 appearance on Saturday Night Live: “Get a life, will you, people! It’s just a TV show." In this case, obviously, obviously, he was talking about Star Trek, not Cowboy Balls. Thus much is certain. But if you think about it, they’re both tv shows. Also, obviously, December 20 is the birthdate of my favorite member, Peter Criss. Happy Birthday, Catman! 


This WWW page is owned and operated by Dale Okonkwo --

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