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RFD-TV PURCHASES ROY ROGERS' TRIGGER AND BULLET, TO AIR MOVIES
Jul. 21, 2010
Source: RFD-TV news release
Trigger and Bullet, the long-time stars of the Roy Rogers television shows and movies, were purchased at auction by RFD-TV at the recent Christies/New York memorabilia offering from the Roy Rogers/Dale Evans museum. The Branson, MO, museum closed its doors in December 2009 after operating for 45 years from its start in Victorville, CA. RFD-TV paid $266,500 for Trigger, and $35,000 for Bullet, which included the auction commission.
"It is truly an honor and a privilege to now be the caretakers of these two American icons", stated Patrick Gottsch, founder & president of RFD-TV, a ten-year-old cable channel dedicated to rural America and the western lifestyle which is now in over 40 million homes. "Trigger & Bullet evoke such wonderful memories for so many of us that grew up watching Saturday morning westerns. We hope they will help us introduce television-like-it-used-to-be to a whole new generation of families, as RFD-TV will feature Roy Rogers movies in our weekly program schedule beginning in November."
"This was a very emotional week for the entire Rogers family," said Dusty Rogers (Roy Rogers, Jr.). "Closing the museum was a very difficult decision. Knowing that Dad's main companions wound up with the good folks at RFD-TV is a major comfort, as we know that their understanding and respect for tradition in the western way-of-life will make a good new home for both Trigger and Bullet."
RFD-TV and the Rogers family will team up for the Saturday airings of Roy Rogers movies, with Dusty introducing each episode while providing inside stories on growing up with Roy and Dale. In addition, western music performed by Dusty, his son Dustin, and their western group "The High Riders" will also be a part of each program.
Trigger & Bullet will be on public display in a museum wing of the new RFD-TV corporate and broadcast headquarters to be planned and built in the next year. In the meantime, RFD-TV is looking for a proper setting where fans may still visit and have their pictures taken during the interim.
"Since the news first broke, RFD-TV has been swamped with thousands of letters of support from Roy Rogers and Dale Evans fans from around the country," added Raquel Gottsch, PR director for RFD-TV. "We have never seen such an outpouring of genuine affection on any one subject. The Roy Rogers spirit, and the family values that he stood for, is definitely alive and well throughout the world."
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