Alias Smith & Jones

Kid Curry: "There's one thing we got to get Heyes"; Heyes: "What's that ?"; Kid Curry: "Outta this business!"

"Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry: the two most successful outlaws in the history of the West. And in all the trains and banks they robbed they never shot anyone. This made our two-latter day Robin Hoods very popular with everyone but the railroads and the banks".

Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry are the two most successful outlaws in the history of the west. However, the west is starting to catch up with the modern world: safes are becoming harder to crack and posses are becoming quicker at tracking them down.

Alias Smith and Jones was on ABC between 1971 to 1973. It starred Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy as Kid Curry, a pair of Western outlaws trying to reform.

When Duel died suddenly on December 31, 1971 (reportedly of a self-inflicted gunshot), an attempt was made to continue the series with another actor, Roger Davis, in the role of Heyes. The series continued for another seventeen episodes, but never regained its popularity after the loss of Duel.

The series was inspired by the success of the Robert Redford and Paul Newman, feature film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. There were a number of connecting themes: Sundance and Kid Curry were both gunfighters and Butch and Hannibal thought they were the Brains. Also both stories were about the end of an era and the desire by the protagonists to go straight

The series also featured a group of outlaws called the Devil's Hole Gang which was based on the Hole in the Wall Gang from where Cassidy recruited most of his outlaws. However, in order to give them an element of sympathy, Heyes and Curry were presented as men who avoided bloodshed (though Curry did once kill in self-defence) and are trying to reform.

Heyes, the leader of the Devil's Hole Gang, falls out with the other members and he and Curry decide to "get out of this business". Since they have never killed anyone, they qualify for pardons. Through an old acquaintance, Sheriff Lom Trevors (Mike Road), they manage to contact the State Governor. He agrees to grant them amnesty, but cannot do so openly without angering the public. He therefore makes a deal with them: if they can stay out of trouble for a year and not tell anyone about their arrangement, they will be cleared of all charges.

However, the straight and narrow path is not easily travelled. Heyes and Curry (now calling themselves Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones) often find themselves tangling with lawmen, bounty hunters and Bannerman detectives, not to mention other outlaws. To get out of these sticky situations, they must rely on Heyes' silver tongue, Curry's fast draw, and occasionally a little help from their friends from both sides of the law.

Kid Curry: "There's one thing we got to get Heyes"; Heyes: "What's that ?"; Kid Curry: "Outta this business!"