The Virginian: The Thirty Days of Gavin Heath Episode Trivia

The Virginian: The Thirty Days of Gavin Heath

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This episode reveals a peculiarity about the Virginian series. During the first season, the series was clearly set mainly in 1898-99, as indicated by time references such as the Spanish-American War ("Riff-Raff") and Oscar Wilde's poem "The Ballad of Reading Gaol ("The Brazen Bell")." Also, Wyoming was a "state" during this first season, having become one in 1890. But beginning with the "second" season, the time setting was moved back to the 1880's, when Wyoming was still a "territory". In this episode "The 30 Days of Gavin Heath," Leo Genn's title character states at one point that in two days, on the Fourth of July, it will be 107 years since the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed to the 13 Colonies. This would set the episode in 1883 -- though Heath seems a bit uncertain whether the battle of Balaclava, in which he disgraced himself, occurred 29 or 30 years earlier (it occurred in 1854, which would place it 29 years before the events of this episode). edit »
Frank Sully played the saloon bartender Danny in many Virginian episodes and is addressed by Heath as "Danny" in this episode. However, the closing credits list his character as "Sam". edit »