‘The Lone Ranger’: The First Script Was Far Too Violent to Air
The Lone Ranger went through an array of iterations before it arrived at its final script. There were moments of brilliance, but also some serious missteps that could have resulted in the show never taking off. The first script of The Lone Ranger was so violent that there was no way that the Western would have made it to the air in any medium.
‘The Lone Ranger’ started as a radio show in 1933
The Lone Ranger became famous for its title character (Clayton Moore) and his Native American sidekick named Tonto (Jay Silverheels). It all started with the 1933 radio show that aired on WXYZ in Detroit, although some test episodes initially aired on Buffalo’s WEBR. However, writer Fran Striker didn’t expect the amount of success that would follow.
A series of The Lone Ranger books and a television series would follow to a high amount of success. The small-screen adaptation aired from 1949 until 1957 for a total of five seasons, but the comic books and several films kept The Lone Ranger alive for many years to follow. Clayton continued to make public appearances as the title character until some legal troubles prohibited him from doing so for a short while.
The first script of ‘The Lone Ranger’ included headshots
The Lone Ranger had an original script that definitely pushed the boundary a bit too far for its time. In modern-day media, it would fit right in with current media trends in violence, but the same couldn’t be said for the time. As a result, there needed to be changed to ensure that it would play well for its intended audience, which was ultimately the correct move.
Moore’s book, I Was That Masked Man, explained how the radio and television shows evolved over the course of their existence. The original script for The Lone Ranger was incredibly graphic in how Lone Ranger took revenge for the death of his brother and friends.
“In the first submitted script, he shot seven bad guys clean through the forehead,” Moore recalled.
However, producer George W. Trendle quickly corrected that and changed the character to have more “good” qualities. He believed that the character should “never shoot to kill, but only to wound or disarm.” Trendle thought the character should represent “everything good and decent in the West.”
As a result, the original graphic script for The Lone Ranger never made it to the air.
‘The Lone Ranger’ had a change of music
The Lone Ranger did more than change its original script. The story immediately captivated audiences, but there were still some changes to be made. For example, the opening theme music went through some changes.
Striker wanted “Beyond the Blue Horizon” to play, but it was changed to play Rossini’s “William Tell Overture” for its “galloping quality,” according to Moore.
Meanwhile, The Lone Ranger on television emphasized the lead actor riding a horse, putting the spotlight on how fast he rode that fiery horse that nobody could ever truly catch.
