MEET THE NEW DAVY CROCKETT

First there was the real Davy Crockett, born in Tennessee in1786, a frontiersman, public official, soldier and autobiographer,a bear-killer elected to Congress who became known as "the coonskinCongressman."

Then there was "Davy Crockett," the television adventure andpopular song that became hits in the 1950s.

The television show returns tonight on Channels 4 and 10 at 7.

Three segments of the original show, together with two morethat were televised the following season, may be consideredtelevision's first miniseries. It was one of the highest-ratedseries of its time, telecast as part of the Frontierland adventuresof "Disneyland" from 1954-55.

The three segments, which starred Fess Parker as American folkhero Davy Crockett, originated with "Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter"on Dec. 15, 1954. It was followed by "Davy Crockett Goes toCongress" on Jan. 26, 1955, "Davy Crockett at the Alamo," Feb. 23,1955, "Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race," Nov. 16, 1955, and "DavyCrockett and the River Pirates" on Dec. 14, 1955.

"Disney later admitted that the enormous popularity of thefirst three segments (especially 'Davy Crockett at the Alamo')caught everyone at Disney Studios by surprise; fortunately,however, Disney was quick to capitalize on the hit show bylicensing the distribution and sales of all kinds of Davy Crockettparaphernalia; hundreds of thousands of 'coonskin' caps and bubblegum cards were quickly bought by young fans," according to AlexMcNeil's "Total Television."

Disney tried for the next several years to develop a characteras popular as Davy Crockett, launching several miniseries between1957 and 1960, but none of them came close to achieving thepopularity of the original stories.

The new version of "Davy Crockett" is a special two-hourpremiere, "Rainbow in the Thunder," on NBC's "The Magical World ofDisney." It features Tim Dunigan as young Davy and guest starJohnny Cash as Colonel Crockett, the elder statesman. Guest starSamantha Eggar plays Ory Palmer.

The story recounts a reunion between Colonel Crockett and hisold friend and adversary, President Andrew Jackson (David Hemmings)as well as Ory Palmer, now head of the White House housekeepingstaff.

The reunion inspires a flashback to the more exciting frontierdays of 25 years earlier. Young Jackson (Matt Salinger) andCrockett (Dunigan) fight to crush a Creek Indian uprising, withCrockett leading a ragtag unit of Tennessee volunteers that mergedwith Jackson's soldiers.

When one of Crockett's men schemes to surrender young Ory tothe Creeks, Crockett must defuse the scheme and rescue the girlwith the help of his friend Georgie Russell (series star GaryGrubbs).

Presently, when President Jackson wants Crockett's help withCongress in passing an Indian bill, the men no longer seeeye-to-eye. While the attraction between Ory and Davy lingers, hismarriage precludes any romance.

In real life, Crockett broke with President Jackson over thePresident's orders to break the treaty with the Creek Indians.Finally defeated in an election, he made up his mind to help theTexans win their independence and died fighting heroically at theAlamo. MCCABE;11/08 LDRISC;11/18,17:12 TVCOV20

MEET THE NEW DAVY CROCKETT First there was the real Davy Crockett, born in Tennessee in1786, a frontiersman, public official, soldier and autobiographer,a bear-killer elected to Congress who became known as "the coonskinCongressman."

Then there was "Davy Crockett," the television adventure andpopular song that became hits in the 1950s.

The television show returns tonight on Channels 4 and 10 at 7.

Three segments of the original show, together with two morethat were televised the following season, may be consideredtelevision's first miniseries. It was one of the highest-ratedseries of its time, telecast as part of the Frontierland adventuresof "Disneyland" from 1954-55.

The three segments, which starred Fess Parker as American folkhero Davy Crockett, originated with "Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter"on Dec. 15, 1954. It was followed by "Davy Crockett Goes toCongress" on Jan. 26, 1955, "Davy Crockett at the Alamo," Feb. 23,1955, "Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race," Nov. 16, 1955, and "DavyCrockett and the River Pirates" on Dec. 14, 1955.

"Disney later admitted that the enormous popularity of thefirst three segments (especially 'Davy Crockett at the Alamo')caught everyone at Disney Studios by surprise; fortunately,however, Disney was quick to capitalize on the hit show bylicensing the distribution and sales of all kinds of Davy Crockettparaphernalia; hundreds of thousands of 'coonskin' caps and bubblegum cards were quickly bought by young fans," according to AlexMcNeil's "Total Television."

Disney tried for the next several years to develop a characteras popular as Davy Crockett, launching several miniseries between1957 and 1960, but none of them came close to achieving thepopularity of the original stories.

The new version of "Davy Crockett" is a special two-hourpremiere, "Rainbow in the Thunder," on NBC's "The Magical World ofDisney." It features Tim Dunigan as young Davy and guest starJohnny Cash as Colonel Crockett, the elder statesman. Guest starSamantha Eggar plays Ory Palmer.

The story recounts a reunion between Colonel Crockett and hisold friend and adversary, President Andrew Jackson (David Hemmings)as well as Ory Palmer, now head of the White House housekeepingstaff.

The reunion inspires a flashback to the more exciting frontierdays of 25 years earlier. Young Jackson (Matt Salinger) andCrockett (Dunigan) fight to crush a Creek Indian uprising, withCrockett leading a ragtag unit of Tennessee volunteers that mergedwith Jackson's soldiers.

When one of Crockett's men schemes to surrender young Ory tothe Creeks, Crockett must defuse the scheme and rescue the girlwith the help of his friend Georgie Russell (series star GaryGrubbs).

Presently, when President Jackson wants Crockett's help withCongress in passing an Indian bill, the men no longer seeeye-to-eye. While the attraction between Ory and Davy lingers, hismarriage precludes any romance.

In real life, Crockett broke with President Jackson over thePresident's orders to break the treaty with the Creek Indians.Finally defeated in an election, he made up his mind to help theTexans win their independence and died fighting heroically at theAlamo. MCCABE;11/08 LDRISC;11/18,17:12 TVCOV20