The Shadows"), Troy Donahue (7.25, "Fox, Hound, And The Widow McCloud"), and Shelly Novack (7.26, "The Stranger"). Season eight Season eight had the return of William Shatner (8.14, "Black Jade"), along with Joan Crawford (8.16, "Nightmare"), Tony Franciosa (8.17, "Holocaust"), Patrick Macnee (8.21, "A King's Ransom"), Tim McIntire and Terry Wilson (8.22, "The Sins of the Fathers"), and Julie Gregg (8.24, "The Gift") Season nine Guest stars in the final season included Desi Arnaz and Katy Jurado (9.2, "The Best Man"); Janet Leigh (9.3, "Jenny"); Anne Francis (9.6, "Gun Quest"); Susan Strasberg (9.7, "Crooked Corner"); Noah Beery Jr. (9.11, "Follow the Leader"); James Gregory and Ricardo Montalbán (9.12, "Last of the Comancheros"); Susan Oliver, Lisa Gerritsen and Peter Breck (9.13, "Hannah"); Terry Wilson and Tom Skerritt (9.14, "Nan Allen") (Wilson also appeared two other times -9.21 "The Regimental Line" and 9.23 "Wolf Track"); Randolph Mantooth (9.21 "The Regimental Line"); Robert Fuller, Burgess Meredith, and Tisha Sterling (9.19 "Flight from Memory"); Michael Burns, Ross Elliott, Alan Hale, Jr., Peter Mark Richman, and Craig Stevens (9.20 "Tate, Ramrod"); and Lloyd Bochner, Howard Duff, L.Q. Jones, and Peter Lawford (9.22 "The Town Killer"). The series ended with episode 9.24, "Jump-Up". Reception The Virginian prevailed or held steady against its network competition, topping in its first season Dwayne Hickman's The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, which ceased production in 1963. In its fifth season, The Virginian faced competition from another Western, one also set in Wyoming: ABC's The Monroes, starring Michael Anderson Jr. and Barbara Hershey as orphans trying to hold their family of siblings together in the wilderness. In its sixth season, The Virginian also rated higher than ABC's Custer starring Wayne Maunder in the title role of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. Custer was cancelled late in 1967 after 17 episodes. The Virginian had these rankings in the top-30 TV programs: Ratings Legacy Drury was an active advocate of the series since the end of the original airings. He traveled across the United States, Ireland, and several other countries, appearing in Western-themed conventions, festivals, celebrations, news programs, and TV specials to promote The Virginian. Along with Gary Clarke and Roberta Shore, he participated in interviews for the Encore Westerns channel. Drury also reunited with key cast members Randy Boone, Gary Clarke, and Roberta Shore at these events. In 2012, Drury also reunited with L.Q. Jones, Clu Gulager, Diane Roter, Sara Lane, and