Season 3 of The Virginian, perhaps the best season of the show, introduced Deputy Sheriff Emmett Ryker.
The opening was changed to include Sheriff Ryker: this new opening was clips taken from the first 6 episodes, which
were filmed before the opening was created. Clu had already appeared on the show a couple of times as a guest star
before playing Sheriff Ryker. He stayed on the show until Season 7. He was also on episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962) and Wagon Train (1957).
Season 3 was filmed from 1964-65 with 30 episodes, containing some of the best episodes on the show.