Will Hutchins starred as Tom "Sugarfoot" Brewster, a naive young law student who left Oklahoma in search of adventure on the frontier of the 1860s. The term "Sugarfoot" meant that Tom was one step lower than a tenderfoot (someone green in the ways of the trail).

With a name like "Sugarfoot" Tom was sure to have a sweet tooth, so whenever he had a chance to wet his whistle at a local saloon, he stepped up to the bar and proudly placed an order for sarsaparilla, with a just a touch  of cherry.

Of course, there was always some rowdy fellow who thought that Sarsaparilla was a sissy drink. But Tom was capable of handling himself in a fight, so he just ignored them, and happily sipped his sweetened root-beer flavored beverage. For protection Tom carries a set of guns once owned by his father.

As Tom traveled from town to town, he encountered lots of folks with troubles. Being a caring cowpoke, Tom usually offered to assist these strangers, if he could.

When they had a legal problem, Tom consulted a copy of "Blackstone's Commentary," Vol. 9, a legal text that he carried in his saddle bag. He used the book's content to solve strangers problems and to study for his correspondence course that he was taking to earn his lawyer's certification.

Judge Henry Davis (Harry Holcombe) inspired Tom to be a lawyer at a young age. He takes his courses through a correspondence school located in Kansas City.

To pass the time, Tom pulled out his harmonica and blew a happy or sometimes, melancholy tune.

Tom Brewster' friends and relatives included:

• Jack Elam as Toothy Thompson, who joined Tom as a sidekick on a dozen adventures.
• Will Hutchins as The Canary Kid, Tom's outlaw cousin
• Frances Bavier as Aunt Nancy Thomas, the Kid's mom.
• Robin Hughes as Dougal MacBrewster
• Tudor Owen as Angus MacBrewster
• Alan Caillou as Wee Rabbie MacBrewster

Here are some of the people and cases that Tom encountered:

• Tom is a pawn in a plan to obtain a rich mine.
• Tom fulfills a dying mans last wish when he promises to be the trustee of a nine-year-old girl and a gold mine.
• Tom serves on a jury and discovers phony evidence.
• Tom is unknowingly used as a front man in mail-order-bride transaction when a Swedish man substitutes Tom's photograph for his own own.
• Tom tries to keep a young man from joining a teenage gang.
• Tom and a half-breed Indian are trapped in a mine cave-in.
• Tom escorts a boy to Missouri to claim an inheritance.
• Tom intervenes when a women threatens to blow up a hotel.
• Tom in entrusted with a French woman's fortune.
• Tom defends a Captain accused of cowardice & desertion.
• Tom's aunt Nancy forces him to defend "The Canary Kid."
• Tom rescues a gypsy girl who then want to marry him.
• Tom gets embroiled in the take over a cattle ranch.
• Tom trains a prizefighter to save an old mission but a land developer/gambler wants to tear the place dwon.
• Tom is accused of murder so he uses Judge Roy Beans fondness of actress Lily Lantry to save his neck.
• Tom becomes the sole guardian of little baby. Yikes!
• Tom stops the railroad from forcing people off their land.
• Tom helps a sheep herder keep a greedy cattle rancher from using the shepherd's land for cattle grazing.
• Tom finds two murdered men on the road and brings to town, but people soon think that Tom is fast on the draw.
• Tom takes the case of man accused of murder only to find that the prosecuting attorney is the daughter of the murdered man.

Theme Song Lyrics
Words and music by
Mack David and Jay Livingston

Sugarfoot, Sugarfoot,
 Easy lopin', cattle ropin' Sugarfoot,
Carefree as the tumbleweeds,
 A-joggin' along with a heart full of song
And a rifle and a volume of the law.

Sugarfoot, Sugarfoot,
Never underestimate a Sugarfoot,
Once you got his dander up,
Ain't no one who's quicker on the draw.

You'll find him on the side of law and order,
From the Mexicali border,
To the rolling hills of Arkansaw;

Sugarfoot, Sugarfoot,
Easy lopin', cattle ropin' Sugarfoot,
Ridin' down to cattle town,
A-joggin' a-long with a heart full of song
And a rifle and a volume of the law.

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Memorabilia

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TRIVIA NOTE:  On the first episode "Brannigan's Boots" (09/17/1957) Tom was dubbed 'Sugarfoot' by Katie Brannigan (Merry Anders), when he was temporary appointed sheriff in the town of Bluerock. Apparently, Katie didn't think Tom had what it took to fill the boots of the former sheriff, who happened to be Katie's late father.

Will Hutchins played the dual role of Tom Brewster, and 'The Canary Kid,' Tom's outlaw cousin on episodes "The Canary Kid"  (11/11/1958); "The Return of the Canary Kid" (02/03/1959); "The Trial of the Canary Kid" (09/15/1959) ; and "The Canary Kid, Inc" (11/10/1959).

"Sugarfoot" was produced by Warner Brothers who also produced the series The Alaskans,  Bronco, Cheyenne,  Colt 45,  The Dakotas,  Lawman, Maverick, and Temple Houston.

In reference to Sarsaparilla, in the classic western Shane (1951) Alan Ladd as Shane was dubbed "Sody Pop" by Chris Calloway (Ben Johnson), a loudmouth cowboy working for a ruthless rancher. Shane had entered the saloon to ask for soda pop which he was getting for a young boy named Joey Starett (Brandon DeWilde).

Calloway:	Well, what'll it be? Lemon, strawberry or lilac, sodbuster?
Calloway:	You speakin' to me?
Calloway:	I don't see nobody else standin' there. [throws his drink on Shane] Here, have some of this. Smell like a man.
Ryker:	Don't it smell better in here, Grafton? Chris just fumigated a sodbuster.
Grafton:	Just take it easy.
Calloway:	I was just askin' about sody pop... pigs and taters and one thing and another.  Say, which one of them tater-pickers are you workin' for? Or are you just squattin' on the range?
Shane:	Joe Starrett, if it's any of your business.
Calloway:	Supposin' I make it my business?

When Calloway persisted with his taunting, Shane beat him into submission with his fists.

Obituaries: Jack Elam: 10/20/2003;

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External Links

• Sugarfoot (IMDb)

 

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