We Wouldn’t Have ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ Without This Chuck Norris Western

The Big Picture

• Chuck Norris’s film
  Lone Wolf McQuade
  served as the original inspiration for the long-running television series
  Walker, Texas Ranger
  .
• Norris initially had reservations about transitioning to television but believed
  Walker, Texas Ranger
  had the potential for a long run.
• There was a lawsuit between
  Lone Wolf McQuade
  director Steve Carver and the creators of
  Walker, Texas Ranger
  , but it was ultimately dismissed by the Supreme Court.

Over the past few decades, Chuck Norris has evolved into something of a pop culture icon. The former action star has headlined plenty of feature films, TV movies, and other television projects that, despite their cheesiness, have withstood the test of time. Or, at least that’s how we’d like to see them. But his feature filmography aside, Norris is arguably best known for starring alongside the late Clarence Gilyard in the long-running television series, Walker, Texas Ranger, which ran for eight seasons from 1993 until 2001. The show became a cult classic, ushering in a made-for-TV follow-up movie and a recent reimagining, but the famed Texas Ranger owes it all to one ’80s Western:Lone Wolf McQuade.

‘Lone Wolf McQuade’ Was the Original Inspiration Behind ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’

Just like Walker, Texas Ranger, Lone Wolf McQuade follows a Texas-based former United States Marine-turned-Texas Ranger, with some unsurprisingly traditional Western leanings. The film centers entirely on Jim “J.J.” McQuade (Norris), the titular “Lone Wolf” who prefers to do things solo, especially when it comes to Texas Ranger-ing. Of course, there are some martial arts thrown in there too, but not as much as the usual Chuck Norris action fest. In fact, one could even credit Lone Wolf McQuade as helping him break out of that typecasting. Norris’ work as McQuade was a significant departure from his usual roles, and here he sported a scruffy, unkempt appearance and partook in activities his characters usually avoided on principle.

As the film progresses, McQuade ultimately learns the value of teamwork, especially when forced to save his daughter from some pretty nasty bad guys led by Rawley Wilkes (expertly played by David Carradine). Despite McQuade’s troubled lifestyle and lone wolf attitude (it isn’t called Lone Wolf McQuade for nothing, he even lives with a wolf), the growth he shows could easily be attributed to the darkness he encounters. Sure, it’s still a Chuck Norris action movie, so everything is pretty simulated, but there’s no denying that Lone Wolf McQuade is one of Norris’ best pictures, and it pushed the actor to his limits.

Chuck Norris Wasn’t Sure About ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ At First

“All I wanted to do in movies was be a positive image,” Norris told The New York Times a decade after Lone Wolf McQuade premiered in theaters. “I wanted to be likable, as I do in real life. I don’t like violence for violence’s sake. I hated the movie Blue Velvet, for example. I liked Aladdin, because it has a positive message. In my movies, I never attack anyone. I don’t cause trouble, but I end it.” No doubt, the roles Norris generally tackles are moral figures. That’s true in Lone Wolf McQuade, of course, but it’s an aspect of Norris’ personality that’s even further emphasized and infused into the original Walker, Texas Ranger series.

However, Norris wasn’t quite sure that he was up to the challenge of moving onto television at first. Movies are one thing; they’re finite with an ending in sight, but TV is a tougher business. Yet, after some careful consideration, he thought it was time to give it a go. “I had to believe that it would be the kind of series that had longevity,” Norris told The Chicago Tribune ahead of Walker, Texas Ranger‘s premiere. “Looking at the scripts (only two [had] been completed) and looking at the character, I felt like Walker, Texas Ranger has a chance of having a long run.” To Norris, a long run meant around seven years, so starring in a series that ran for nearly a decade was likely a welcomed surprise.

‘Lone Wolf McQuade’ Director Steve Carver Sued ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ And Lost

As mentioned before, the Fort Worth-based Walker, Texas Ranger (the first primetime series to be filmed exclusively in the Lone Star State) was originally based on Lone Wolf McQuade. “It was always going to be shot in Texas. That was a very strong motivating factor for me to do the series, along with the subject matter, and the character,” the actor explained, emphasizing that the idea for Walker was based on the neo-Western he made a decade prior. But not everybody was happy about the connections between Norris’ film and television projects.

“I was part of it in the beginning, to direct some of them,” Lone Wolf director Steve Carver revealed in an exclusive interview with Flashback Files decades later. “There were some producers that I was involved with, who took the idea of the Texas Ranger and the image of the Texas Ranger with Chuck. And we, being Yoram Ben-Ami and I and our production company, we sued them.” Carver and Ben-Ami sued for $500 million, hoping to get in on the Walker, Texas Ranger craze that MGM and CBS had started. Given that they were the ones responsible for bringing Long Wolf McQuade to life, they figured that they should take home a cut themselves. But once the case reached the Supreme Court, the lawsuit was dismissed.

“We failed to convince the Supreme Court that there were similarities,” Carver continued. “Now, you and I and anybody else knows that there are similarities between Lone Wolf McQuade and Walker Texas Ranger. So, Chuck and I parted ways.” Because the feature film was owned by Orion Pictures, Walker co-creators Albert S. Ruddy, Leslie Greif, Paul Haggis, and Christopher Canaan were forced to work around the original neo-Western entirely, insteadredeveloping J.J. McQuade into Cordell Walker. While there are similarities to be sure – the iconic Texas location, a Marine-turned-Ranger lead star, and Norris himself mostly – Walker, Texas Ranger is different enough from Lone Wolf McQuade, both in style and substance. The truth is, there was hardly a case at all.

Chuck Norris Suffered His Own Legal Problems with ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’

But it turns out that even after all those years on the air, even Chuck Norris had his own legal troubles with Walker, Texas Ranger. Through his production company, Top Kick Productions, Norris filed a suit against CBS and Sony Pictures claiming that they kept a significant portion of the earnings from the television series from him. “The institutional system for exploiting Walker and follow-up reporting by CBS is designed to keep Top Kick in the dark,” the complaint noted, via The Hollywood Reporter. “[We are] unaware of the precise sources and amounts of revenue at issue, and to prevent Top Kick from knowing the various methods and contractual terms through which the 23 Percent Profit Clause has been diluted, reduced and materially breached.” The case was dismissed in July 2023 after “both sides agreed to resolve the suit in a settlement,” with terms of the deal not being disclosed.

It’s clear that Walker, Texas Ranger, despite being so beloved by fans, has been a sore spot for many involved. But whether you prefer him in Lone Wolf McQuade or Walker, Texas Ranger, Chuck Norris is still one of those action staples that we’ll never be able to move past. Nobody can play these characters quite like him, and they’ll no doubt go down in history as some of his best. Now, if only we could get more from the cool-headed action star than just another Walker appearance on Late Night.

The ‘Walker’ Saga Continues With The CW’s Latest Version Starring Jared Padalecki

Of course, just because Chuck Norris is no longer Cordell Walker, that doesn’t mean that the character has left television entirely. Starting in 2021, the CW launched a new Walker series that re-imagines his character, world, and even his hometown. Rather than centering around Fort Worth, this Walker (played by Jared Padalecki) is based out of Austin, Texas, and has a large family, a dead wife (played by Padalecki’s real-life wife Genevieve Padalecki), and a huge chip on his shoulder after being deep undercover for over a year. Like the original Texas Ranger series, this Walker is assigned a new partner in the very first episode, and it changes his entire world. But in order to get the new Walker off the ground, Padalecki (who also serves as an executive producer) and creator Anna Fricke had to get Norris’ blessing on the project first.

“He did have to give his blessing. He helped create the original version, and so he still co-owns it,” Padalecki revealed on Good Morning America. “He didn’t have any problem with it, thank goodness, because I don’t want to mess with Chuck Norris. But I’ve seen all the GIFs and memes and stuff. So, he did have to give his blessing.” Admittedly, the CW’s Walker is an incredibly different show than the original. In many ways, it takes more cues from shows like Taylor Sheridan‘s Yellowstone and Netflix’s Longmire than it does the original Texas Ranger, making it very much “Walker” in name only. Despite that, the show has been a relatively successful revamp for the network, and it even produced the short-lived Western prequel series, Walker: Independence, which follows Walker’s ancestors in the 19th century.

While the original Walker, Texas Ranger never spun off, it did eventually produce a made-for-TV follow-up film titled Walker: Trial By Fire, which unfortunately left the series with an unresolved cliffhanger. While there’s no news of a crossover between the two Walker productions, maybe The CW should consider it as the show continues airing its fourth and final season. Or, maybe it’s time for Norris to return as J.J. McQuade…

Lone Wolf McQuade can be streamed on Tubi with ads. Walker, Texas Ranger can be streamed exclusively on Peacock. Walker airs on Wednesdays on The CW.

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