Tag: Rating Lonesome Dove

Rating the Lonesome Dove Series, Part 3: The Weekly TV Series

Lonesome Dove: The Series In the mid-1990s, the original Lonesome Dove miniseries inspired a syndicated weekly television series, with the first season entitled Lonesome Dove: The Series (1994-1995) and the second season entitled Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years (1995-1996). Even though they were part of the same television series with the same setting and most of the same characters, because the two years differed so much, in our continuing discussion of the Lonesome Dove franchise, we are ranking the two seasons of the syndicated television show separately.

Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years

The setting for both years is an alternate universe from Larry McMurtry’s universe, where Newt Dobbs (Call) died from a fall on the Hell Bitch horse within around a year of the end of Lonesome Dove, according to McMurtry’s book Dead Man’s Walk. McMurtry dispatched Newt with only a sentence or two, apparently in an attempt to prevent the TV network from using his character. But in the television world starting with Return to Lonesome Dove, the television writers recognized that much of the heart of the original Lonesome Dove came from the character of Newt Dobbs. Thus, these later series focused on Newt.

The same town and most of the major characters are in both seasons, but The Outlaw Years is the far superior season of the two seasons. Because the first season sets the stage for The Outlaw Years, though, you might want to start there — or at least with a few of the early and final episodes of the season — if you are delving into The Outlaw Years.

(6) Lonesome Dove: The Series (1994-1995): The syndicated series picked up after Return to Lonesome Dove and followed the further adventures of Newt, played by Scott Bairstow. This first season, The Series, is a fairly traditional television western, focusing on Newt settling down with a wife in the town of Curtis Wells. The season ends with a tragedy, setting the stage for a different vision for the second season set two years later in The Outlaw Years.

The title sequence from Lonesome Dove: The Series ended with a young couple laughing and swinging each other in a sunny grassy field. The contrast between the opening title sequence for The Series with the darker one for The Outlaw Years (below) may be the most drastic title sequence change in a series from one year to the next.

The biggest strength of The Series is that it gives the back story for the superior Outlaw Years, so that is the main reason to watch it. The Series Rating: 4.

(7) Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years (1995-1996) is one of the big surprises of the franchise. This second season is a much darker western with interesting characters that attempts a harder realism than the first season. There never may have been a television series with this much mud. In some ways, the series is a precursor to HBO’s Deadwood (2004-2006) with its gritty realism — although with less swearing.

Actor Scott Bairstow takes Newt into some darker territory, and Eric McCormick creates an interesting character in Clay Mosby, who is more complex than traditional villains. And for a Western, the series has several important roles played by women.

Overall, as the season continued and some episodes become more episodic instead of focusing on the overarching story of the main characters, the season does not consistently maintain the quality of the earliest episodes. But the continuing stories and the relationships among the regular characters remain interesting through the entire season.

Unfortunately, the series was canceled after this season ended, so we are left hanging about the future of Newt and the citizens of Curtis Wells. But the final episode of the season gives hints about the future, so it is a satisfactory finale for the franchise considering they did not know it would be the final episode.

On our Lonesome Dove rating scale, The Outlaw Years suffers by being rated in comparison with the complete stories of the miniseries in the franchise. But this TV series is worth checking out. The Outlaw Years Rating: 6.

Stay tuned for the fourth and final chapter of the Chimesfreedom analysis of the Lonesome Dove franchise, where we will offer viewing advice based on all the rankings from this post, Part 1: The Prequels, and Part 2: The Sequels. We will also rank the many versions of Woodrow Call.

What did you think of the television series? Leave a comment.

  • Rating the Lonesome Dove Series, Part 2: The Sequels
  • Rating the Lonesome Dove Series, Part 1: The Prequels
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  • Rating the Lonesome Dove Series, Part 4: Conclusion
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    Rating the Lonesome Dove Series, Part 2: The Sequels

    This post continues our discussion of the Lonesome Dove series, focusing on the series set after the original Lonesome Dove. Our post in Part One evaluated the original series and the prequels. In preparation for writing this series, I re-watched all of the series to be able to compare them.

    Return to Lonesome Dove
    Larry McMurtry’s Step-Child

    (4) Return to Lonesome Dove (1993) is the one miniseries in the group that is not based on a book by Larry McMurtry. The television network wanted a follow-up to Lonesome Dove before too much time passed, and since Larry McMurtry was not done with a sequel, they hired another writer and kept McMurtry as a consultant. Like the other series, Return to Lonesome Dove features some very good big-name actors, including Jon Voight (Woodrow F. Call), Barbara Hershey (as one of the best Clara’s in the series), Louis Gossett, Jr., and Oliver Reed. In addition to again using Basil Poledouris’s great musical theme from Lonesome Dove, Return to Lonesome Dove also features some of the same actors from Lonesome Dove, including Rick Schroder as Newt Dobbs and Chris Cooper as July Johnson.

    While Return to Lonesome Dove does not live up to the original, it is still an engaging series. The one weakness is that Lonesome Dove author Larry McMurtry did not write Return to Lonesome Dove, and it does deviate from some of his themes, etc. His books are interesting in that they try to escape from some of the Western myths. For example, in the other series, he does not follow the convention of having the main bad guy killed by one of the heroes, while Return to Lonesome Dove does feature such a resolution.

    Still, this series does have some surprises, and it is enjoyable to see some of the same characters and actors continue where the tale left off in Lonesome Dove. And it features standout characters from actors Oliver Reed and William Peterson, as well as Jon Voight’s excellent performance adding some new vulnerability to Captain Call. Even if McMurtry abandons his Newt character after Lonesome Dove, we still want to see more of his growth into manhood. If you expect another Lonesome Dove, you will be disappointed, but if you go into it with an open mind, you might enjoy it very much. Rating: 8

    (5) Streets of Laredo (1995) brought Larry McMurtry back into the franchise and for the most part still fits in the Return to Lonesome Dove universe because it picks up about two decades later in the 1890s, following Woodrow Call (this time played by James Garner) on one last adventure hunting a deadly killer. The film features a new set of fine actors, including Sissy Spacek as Lorena Parker. It is a little difficult at first to imagine Sam Shepard as Pea Eye Parker but he is an excellent actor and does a great job.

    Besides Lonesome Dove, Streets of Laredo is the only other book in the series that I have read, and from my recollection, it seems to follow the book well. To some extent, the book negates Return to Lonesome Dove by noting that Woodrow left the Montana ranch the Spring after they arrived and Newt was killed by a horse the following summer, with the ranch failing after just two years. But Streets of Laredo takes place far enough in the future from Return to Lonesome Dove that it minimizes any inconsistencies.

    Streets of Laredo revisits some of the themes from Lonesome Dove, especially on the role of family, how far we will go for our family, the search to find a family, and how one may still love a troubled family member. Streets of Laredo does not have the excitement or humor of some of the other series, but it is a good story and an honorable final portrayal of the character of Woodrow F. Call. Rating: 6

    In the next installment of Chimesfreedom‘s posts on Rating the Lonesome Dove Series, we consider the weekly television show. The previous installment, Part One, rated the original and the prequels. Check out all four posts on Rating the Lonesome Dove Series.

    Which is your favorite Lonesome Dove sequel? Leave a comment.

  • Rating the Lonesome Dove Series, Part 1: The Prequels
  • Rating the Lonesome Dove Series, Part 4: Conclusion
  • Rating the Lonesome Dove Series, Part 3: The Weekly TV Series
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    Rating the Lonesome Dove Series, Part 1: The Prequels

    The original Lonesome Dove is one of the finest miniseries and westerns. Lonesome Dove, based on the novel by Larry McMurtry, originally ran on television in 1989. It followed the adventures of Augustus “Gus” McRae, played by Robert Duvall, and Woodrow F. Call, played by Tommy Lee Jones, and also featured Diane Lane, Danny Glover, Anjelica Huston, and Chris Cooper.

    Lonesome Dove Lonesome Dove’s success spawned several sequels and prequels. Maybe you have not seen any of them and are wondering where to start, or maybe you have seen Lonesome Dove and wondered whether the others are worth your time. Well, Chimesfreedom is grading each series on a scale of 1-10, addressing each one in chronological order by the time period covered. In this post, we rate the prequels as well as the original Lonesome Dove. Future posts will address other series in the franchise.

    Dead Man’s Walk (1996)

    Set in the early 1840’s, Dead Man’s Walk follows the adventures of a young Gus and Woodrow, including a deadly forced walk across a desert after they are captured by the Mexican Army. Generally, the acting is good, featuring standout performances by Keith Carradine and Edward James Olmos. Johnny Lee Miller also does a very good job as the young Woodrow Call, while David Arquette’s portrayal of Gus leaves one wondering how the goofy young man survived to be the competent westerner portrayed in Lonesome Dove by Robert Duvall.

    Overall, the characters are engaging and the story and suspense are very good in Dead Man’s Walk, with the small exception of an odd sequence of events at the end to help Gus and Woodrow get home, leaving one thinking, “WTF?” Rating: 7

    Comanche Moon (2008)

    Comanche Moon follows a little older Woodrow and Gus in the 1850s-1860s. Of all of the series, this one has the fewest big name actors, with Val Kilmer as the sole major movie star in an odd over-the-top character performance.

    You will recognize other actors from TV, such as Linda Cardellini (from Freaks & Geeks and ER) as Clara. Steve Zahn, who often plays the comic sidekick in movies like That Thing You Do!, plays Gus McRae. His performance largely mimics Robert Duvall’s acting in Lonesome Dove, and it grew on me. You may enjoy the Robert Duvall impersonation or be annoyed by it.

    You may recognize other faces too.  Karl Urban, the Dr. McCoy in the new Star Trek franchise, plays Woodrow Call.  Additionally, Wes Studi (Dances with Wolves, Last of the Mohicans) stars as Buffalo Hump, the father of Blue Duck, who features more prominently in the original Lonesome Dove.

    Comanche Moon probably received the worst reviews of all of the Lonesome Dove series.  And it has the weakest stand-alone story and acting of the series.

    But unlike Dead Man’s Walk, which just told an adventure story using two of the main characters from Lonesome Dove, Comanche Moon provides a back story of the characters to set up Lonesome Dove, like the way the Star Wars prequels did. If you really love Lonesome Dove, you might want to see more of the background of the familiar characters, how Newt was born, how the town of Lonesome Dove got started, how Gus lost Clara, etc. But some things may be better left to the imagination. Rating: 5

    Lonesome Dove (1989): The Classic

    Lonesome Dove is the cream of the crop of all of the Lonesome Dove series. The series follows an aging Gus and Woodrow in the 1870s out for one last big adventure, while also conveying a meditation on friendship, aging, family, mortality, and the end of the West. By far, of all the series, this one has the best story, the best acting, the best music, etc.

    Lonesome Dove is not only the best of this series, it ranks with the greatest Western films of all-time. Time Out London recently ranked it among the Top 50 Westerns, although I’d rank it even higher than they did. Robert Duvall recently said in Esquire (Jan. 2011): “When I finished Lonesome Dove, I said to myself, Now I can retire. I’ve done something. Let the English play Hamlet. I’ll play Augustus McCrae.” Amen. The book won the Pulitzer Prize and the series won seven Emmys. Rating: 10

    Another Prequel?

    In 2014, the movie Lonesome Dove Church, directed by Terry Miles and starring Tom Berenger, was released.  Is there any connection between the film and the Lonesome Dove series?  Promotional material for the movie, including an interview with Berenger, make no reference to the series.  But Barnes & Noble claims that the movie is a prequel to the series started by Larry McMurtry.

    Lonesome Dove Church is advertised as the true story of the founding of the Lonesome Dove Church in Grapevine, Texas.  Berenger plays a preacher in the old West who works to save his outlaw son and eventually build a church.

    Because the church is named after the preacher sees a dove and because it is located in a town called Grapevine, it is likely that the church in the series has nothing to do with the fictional town created by Larry McMurtry.  Yet, McMurtry has noted that he came up with the name “Lonesome Dove” while eating at a steakhouse and seeing a church bus for Lonesome Dove Baptist Church from Southlake, Texas.  Thus, while Lonesome Dove Church is a decent but not great Western, we are not going to discuss it further in the context of the Lonesome Dove universe.

    In Part 2 of this series, Chimesfreedom will consider the Lonesome Dove miniseries that take place after Lonesome Dove, including how the network struggled to keep one main character alive while author Larry McMurtry summarily killed the character with merely a sentence. Check out all four posts on Rating the Lonesome Dove Series.

  • Rating the Lonesome Dove Series, Part 4: Conclusion
  • Rating the Lonesome Dove Series, Part 2: The Sequels
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  • What’s the Deal With the Ending of Wyatt Earp?
  • Rating the Lonesome Dove Series, Part 3: The Weekly TV Series
  • 10 Genres Defined by Robert Duvall Movies

    • (Some Related Chimesfreedom Posts)

    Buy from Amazon