Over 150 of the 221 television episodes of The Lone Ranger were adapted from radio scripts. This meant a large handful of original stories concieved for the visual medium. (The fifth season, shot in color, only featured one adaptation from radio while the remainder of the productions were original stories.) With story selection and controlling oversight, George W. Trendle and Fran Striker reviewed each teleplay multiple times (at least three times according to an inter-office memo) to ensure quality. Regrettably, five original teleplays were rejected, detailed below for your amusement.
Herb Meadow’s “The Goldmaker,” dated May 12, 1954, was intended as a fourth season production. "Proud Bear" is the leader of a peaceful band of Indians who have been abused by white men. The Lone Ranger fears that if Proud Bear is cheated by one more trader or if one more outlaw molests any of his tribe, he will go on the warpath. Along comes professional magician and conman Joe Phoenix, who convinces Proud Bear that he can "grow gold" (using a magic trick to double the size of existing gold). HIs plan is to ambush the Indians when they bring their entire gold supply to him to be doubled. Unable to convince Proud Bear that he is being tricked, the Lone Ranger and Tonto catch the ambushers in the act and, with Proud Bear's help, capture the conman so he can be turned over to the local sheriff.
Robert Schaefer, Eric Freiwald, and Charles Larson wrote an original, “The Baron of Black Rock,” dated December 4, 1954, also rejected and never filmed. “Baron” Stevens hates the West, but has settled near Black Rock and is buying cattle at above market prices. His scheme involves getting a bill of sale for the over-priced cattle and having his ranch hand Curly murder the cattle sellers and retrieve the money from the cattle sale. Rancher Howard Bishop is a friend of the Lone Ranger and is skeptical of any buyer who is paying prices like those offered by the “Baron.” The Lone Ranger convinces his friend Bishop to sell some cattle to the “Baron” in order to trap him. When the “Baron” learns of the Lone Ranger's trap, he gets the jump on the masked man and it is Tonto who comes in and saves the day.
Trendle wrote to Chertok, criticizing the latter: “Mr. Striker and I had quite a conference on the script for ‘The Baron of Black Rock’ because, after reading it, I still say it is not a Lone Ranger script. I am sorry that they tried to fix it up; because it is still full of thing I do not like in a Lone Ranger story.” Among his criticisms was the unnecessary killing of Elaine’s father. “We have had quite a bit of comment about too many murders in Lone Ranger stories.”
David P. Sheppard, who contributed ten episodes for the television series, attempted to write an original titled “Death of an Outlaw,” teleplay dated July 30, 1952, which was harshly criticized by Trendle who wrote to Jack Chertok: “I have come to the conclusion that the fellows would save you a lot of money and do a much better job for us if they would follow some of our own radio stories, instead of attempting to do original plots. They do not seem to get the right viewpoint and they become highly illogical and very unsatisfactory.” The original story, never telecast, concerned Sam Binnian and his gang of outlaws who have a plan to rob the Saguaro National Bank while the town is distracted at the annual rodeo. Sam doesn't realize that the Lone Ranger has infiltrated his gang, disguised as a Mexican bandit named Rodriguez. Word reaches Binnian just before the robbery that the real Rodriguez died three months earlier. Alerted to the imposter in his gang, Binnian manages to capture both the Lone Ranger and Tonto while robbing the bank. Not wanting to kill the imposter until he knows who infiltrated his gang and why, Binnian takes his two prisoners to his hideout, where they turn the tables on their captors. Binnian gets impaled on his own knife in the struggle and the rest of the gang, as well as the loot, are returned to Saguaro.
It should be noted: Sheppard recycled the plot for use on Steve Donovan, Western Marshal, in the episode “Comanche Kid,” whereupon Marshal Steve Donovan and his deputy, Rusty Lee, go undercover as saddle tramps to try to smoke the outlaw into the open.
Kathleen Seller’s “Dispatch of Death,” dated September 9, 1952, was never filmed. The Lone Ranger and Tonto travel to visit an old friend, Amy Linden, who runs a smalltown newspaper, "The Dispatch". Amy is in the middle of printing a big story about a near-by gold strike on property owned by Ben Stark and Ace Burrows, but Amy is suspicious that things aren't on the up-and-up and has sent her assistant to investigate the gold mine. When the Ranger and Tonto find the murdered body of Amy's assistant, they take over the investigation and learn that Ben and Ace have salted their mine and are partnering with a local judge to sell the property for a fortune. The Ranger and Amy work together to get Ben, Ace, and the judge to expose their fraud and the three blackguards get their comeuppance in a showdown in the office of the Dispatch.
“Jane’s Jewels,” based on Fran Striker’s radio script and adapted by Robert Halff, was also rejected and never filmed. Dated July 15, 1952, the teleplay dramatized the story of two cantankerous old gold prospectors love the same woman, Jane Weatherby, who has been looking after them both for the past twenty years. Two corrupt local deputies conspire to get the two old prospectors to fight over Jane and perhaps reveal where their stash of gold dust is hidden. When Jane receives a (fake) diamond necklace as a gift, sent secretly by the deputies, the fight between prospectors begins. The Lone Ranger and Tonto have their hands full trying to sort out who sent Jane the necklace and why, while at the same time trying to keep the prospectors from killing each other.
