How the West Was Won (TV series)
How the West Was Won is an American Western television series that starred James Arness, Eva Marie Saint, Fionnula Flanagan, Bruce Boxleitner, and Richard Kiley. Loosely based on the 1962 Cinerama film of the same name, it began with a two-hour television film, The Macahans, in 1976, followed by a mini-series in 1977, and a regular series in 1978 and 1979.[1]
How the West Was Won
The Macahans
How the West Was Won
in Life
by
- Bernard McEveety
- Irving J. Moore (one episode)
- and others
- James Arness
- Bruce Boxleitner
- Fionnula Flanagan
- Kathryn Holcomb
- William Kirby Cullen
- Vicki Schreck
United States
English
3
28 + movie (list of episodes)
January 19, 1976 –
April 23, 1979
The show was a great success in Europe, apparently finding a larger and more lasting audience there than in the United States. It has been rebroadcast many times on various European networks, e.g. in France, Germany, Italy, Norway and Sweden, and has built a cult following.[2] It was released on DVD in Europe in November 2009.
A sequence of paintings by Charles Marion Russell is shown during the end credits.
In first season, Tim's sons have different names than in the rest of the series. Bruce Boxleitner's character was renamed "Luke", and William Kirby Cullen's character renamed "Josh".
Guest stars included Ricardo Montalbán as Satangkai, a chief of the Sioux Nation, Ron Hayes as Sheriff Pinter, Med Flory (three episodes as a sheriff), Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr., Harry Lauter as Sheriff Charlie Benton, Gregg Palmer as Loman, Tom Simcox as Marshal Logan, Read Morgan as Morton in "The Slavers", and John M. Pickard as Colonel Caine, James Stephens as C. L. Bradley (the pilot and two episodes), and Jim Turner (three episodes).
Other guest stars include Richard Basehart, Brian Keith, Cameron Mitchell, Morgan Woodward, Ken Curtis, Michael Conrad, Christopher Lee, Britt Lind (Luke's first season girlfriend), Elyssa Davalos (Luke's second season girlfriend), Tim Matheson, John Crawford, Wright King, John Dehner, Lloyd Bridges (Elyssa Davalos's sheriff father), Don Murray (Kate's first season love interest), Royal Dano (Britt Lind's father), Parley Baer, Anthony Zerbe (bounty hunter, primary first season villain), Woody Strode (Indian chief), David Huddleston with Gene Evans and Jack Elam (both mountain men).
How the West was Won has been released in Scandinavia as Familjen Macahan(Sweden) and Familien Macahan(Norway)(Macahan Family) in 5 boxes:
The series was remastered and released in 2012, also in 5 boxes (Box 1 – August 31; Boxes 2-5 - September 25), as well as a complete box November 21, 2012.
Warner Home Video has released the first two seasons on DVD in Region 1; season 1 was released on July 9, 2013,[3] followed by season 2 on July 15, 2014.[4] The third and final season was released by Warner Archive as an MOD DVD on April 19, 2016.[5]
A more accurate list of the 14 episodes from season 2 can be found inside the Season 2 DVD case released in July 2014. This new DVD episode list fixes errors found in most web sites.
Novelization[edit]
In January 1978, a nearly 400-page "epic length" paperback novelization of a number of early episodes, written by Lou Cameron, was published by Ballantine Books. A prolific and versatile paperback scribe whose credits include winning a Western Writers of America Spur Award for his novel The Spirit Horses, Cameron's novelization adapted teleplays and screen stories by Calvin Clements, Colley Cibber, Howard Fast, William Kelley, John Mantley, Katharyn Michaelian, Jack Miller and Earl W. Wallace. The novel, sharing the title of the series, is not to be confused with the identically titled 1962 feature film which was itself adapted into a novel by Louis L'Amour.