SEASON TWO
1966 - 1967
#38 - "The Sweet Gang"
When the Captain goes to let the boys out of lockup, he finds an empty cell and a note telling him they were sorry but they needed a drink real bad. Parmalee finds Chad in a lady's boudoir in a farewell embrace. (She's getting married the next day.) He snares Joe when he brings in two lady friends to join the party. The rest of the plot is so simple it can be told in pictures.
NiteOwl Review: This episode is sillier than most. The scenes with Erik and the Sweet Family are mean Beverly Hillbillies in Texas. The Sweet Gang were clearly villains who couldn't possibly have posed a threat to Rangers who in groups of two, three or four in previous episodes have held off entire Indian war parties, bands of Yaquis, Mexican bandits, cattle rustlers, bank robbers, French soldiers, etc. And we had to wonder, if the miners could come into Laredo to drink and fight with the Rangers, why didn't the mine owners just pay them there instead of transporting large sums of cash to the mine. Robert Wolders' fans might like this episode as his part is larger than usual.
While guarding a mine payroll wagon, Reese and Erik are forced into retreat by the Sweet family's attempt to rob it. Back in Laredo, Carter, the mine owner, lambastes Captain Parmalee because Chad and Joe beat up eight miners who called Reese and Erik cowards. Carter insists that the two stay in jail until they pay for the damages to the saloon. He's forced to back down when the Captain tells him that at $40 a month Chad and Joe will be in jail for five months during which time there will be no one to aid in the delivery of the mine payroll.
A Chad interlude
Interrupted by the Captain
Duty calls
Erik gets an idea
Deliver the payroll in the sick wagon
Reese hard at work
Reinforcements arrive
Erik finds a damsel in distress
on his way to the to the mine
Reese gets the measles
from the sick wagon
Ma Sweet brings a ransom
note, $1000 for Erik
Leaving Joe, Chad and the
Captain to trap the Sweet Gang
The Sweet Gang stops the sick
wagon and threatens to kill Erik
The boys play with the money
The Rangers claim the money
is inflected with plague
A fight ensues
They all get sick, leaving only
Reese well enough to party hearty
Original air date Nov 4, 1966
Directed by Ezra Stone
Written by Walter Black

Regular Cast
Neville Brand as Reese Bennett
Peter Brown as Chad Cooper
William Smith as Joe Riley
Robert Wolders as Erik Hunter
Phil Carey as Capt. Parmalee

Guest Cast
Kathie Browne as Billie Lou
Ellen Corby as Ma Sweet
Lennie Weinrib as Bud Sweet
Robert Beecher as Abel Sweet
Michael Masters as Wes Sweet
Harry Swoger as Carter
Walter Woolf King as doctor
Deanna Lund as Cherry
Kay Michaels as Jenny
Donna Anders as 1st hostess
Pat Dennie as 2nd hostess
Official Peter Brown Fan Site