Zorro, the man who didn't need a pen to sign his name, had been popular fodder for swashbuckling movies, both silent and talkies. The daring masked hero of early California got his very own ABC show in 1957, produced by Disney. The title role went to Guy Williams, former model and bona fide hunk, who would later play the father in the Lost In Space series.

The black-and-white, half-hour adventure series had plenty of action centered on Don Diego de la Vega, mild-mannered student, who is suddenly recalled to California from his university in Spain. Diego's father, a wealthy landowner, had grown concerned with the brutal tactics employed by Captain Monastario, the greedy military commander of Southern California. Señor de la Vega hopes that his son will put all that fancy booklearnin' to good use and put the cruel captain in his place.

Diego proves more insightful than his well-meaning, but impetuous, father. Though the young man is a master at sword fighting, he conceals his ability in favor of a bland, unremarkable personality. At night, the seemingly timid scholar dons his black mask and cape and doles out some serious fencing action against Captain Monastario and his men. Both Diego and his alter ego, Zorro, rely on intelligence and careful planning to fight corruption and crime; Señor de la Vega eventually learns of his son's nighttime exploits and approves of them wholeheartedly.

Other characters that inhabit Zorro's world include Bernardo, Diego's manservant and confidant, initially the only other person who knows Zorro's true identity and Sergeant Garcia, a jovial soldier under the command of Captain Monastario, who respects Zorro even while attempting to capture him. Once Zorro put an end to Monastario reign of terror, another bad guy rode into the scene--Magistrate Galindo, who had plans to rule California.

The series was action-packed and delivered swashbuckling in spades. Zorro had a short run of two years but was very popular, especially with kids who readily adopted Zorro's trademark 'Z' carving as their own (you can only imagine the state of school desks at that time).