Steve McQueen knew Wanted: Dead or Alive was over when the network gave it a ''death row'' time slot
Steve McQueen had a strong personality that could intimidate some people. He wasn’t a bad guy, but he was always honest, and that could be a bit much for others.
He stirred things up among other Western stars by bragging about Wanted: Dead or Alive and even fought his own horse. With his passion for motorcycles, he lived life in the fast lane and did things his own way. You’d think a star like that would have a long-running show, but Wanted: Dead or Alive was canceled after just three seasons.
Why? McQueen was quick to share his opinion with the press. "Personally, I'm glad to be out of it. But I get burned up when I think about what happened to the show. For two seasons, it was in the Saturday night lineup at 8:30, right after Perry Mason," he told the Associated Press in 1961. "We had a good, strong show with great ratings. Then, this season CBS made some sort of a deal about Checkmate, and they bounced us out and over to Wednesday nights."
McQueen isn’t the only celebrity who has spoken out about how changing a show’s time or day can hurt its success. People in the industry know these changes can either help a series or, as McQueen said, put it on death row.
"I knew that the show would be tromped — Wednesday night is death row on CBS, and they stuck us opposite The Price Is Right."