"The Young Riders Saddles Up For Big Changes This Season"
By Marilyn Beck, TV Guide, September 7, 1991
Fans of ABC's "The Young Riders" can expect major changes on the show, including the addition of the teenage Jesse James (Christopher Pettiet) as a featured character. Scott Shepard, who has taken over the reins as executive producer, says the Riders' efforts to keep Jesse on the straight and narrow path will be hampered -- later in the season -- by the appearance of brother Frank James, who "brings out Jesse's dark side." Meanwhile, "All the kids will be falling in and out of love," says Scott. One romance will involve Rachel (Clare Wren) falling for an alcoholic character. And there'll be a love affair for freeborn black Rider Noah (Don Franklin) that winds up in a race riot -- when his desire to see his girlfriend leads to his being in the wrong place at the wrong time and results in his being accused of murdering an Army recruiter. In addition, the series' setting has been switched, from Sweetwater, Wyo., to Rock Creek, a bigger twon in the Nebraska Territory. The new locale will make it easier to see "the gathering storm clouds of the Civil War," he says. And that's where the biggest change of all comes in. Scott reveals that plans are in the works to do a two-hour season finale in which the war breaks out, dividing the Riders.
