"The Big Country" (1958)

"THE OREGON TRAIL" (1976; 1977) Retrospective

Nearly forty-one years ago saw the premiere of the NBC Western series called "THE OREGON TRAIL". Produced by Carl Vitale, Michael Gleason and Richard Collins; the series told the story about the westbound journey of an Illinois widower named Evan Thorpe and his family in the 1840s.

NBC aired a ninety (90) minute pilot episode of "THE OREGON TRAIL" in 1976. Rod Taylor portrayed Evan Thorpe, a widower with three children who had recently remarried. Blair Brown portrayed his newly married second wife, Jessica. Douglas Fowley portrayed Evan's widowed...

"CENTENNIAL" (1978-79) - Episode Four "For as Long as the Water Flows" Commentary

The fourth episode of "CENTENNIAL", "For as Long as the Water Flows", strikes as an enigma in the episode. Well . . . not exactly an enigma. But I found it rather strange. As far as I know, it is the only episode in the 1978-79 miniseries that is based upon two chapters in James Michner’s novel.

"For as Long as the Water Flows" picked up some seven months following the end of the last episode. The story found Levi Zendt still mourning over the death of his bride, Elly, while isolating himself at the very cabin...