Centennial: The Complete Series
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 Best Mother's Day Gift to Myself Ever Today is Mother's Day 2008 and I simply cannot contain my excitement. I have turned 21, 30, 40, and 50, gotten married, reared 3 children to adulthood; and yet my enthusiasm for this mini-series has not waned. I have driven my husband crazy over the years saying, "That's Jim Lloyd, he was just a boy on the cattle drive but becomes a major character and eventually marries Charlotte Seccumbe who was first married to Oliver (who became Batman)", or "It's Alexander McKeag. He married Clay Basket that was one of Pasquinel's wives and mother of Lucinda that marries Levi Zendt after he mourns the loss of his first wife, Elly..." and so on. These characters and all the others (John Skimmerhorn, Capt.John McIntosh, Maxwell Mercy, Hans Brumbaugh, Sheriff Dumire) have been a part of my life's history since the 70's and I am estatic over the DVD release. I have told my household that from the minute the DVD arrives until the end of the last episode they are on there own because I will be totally immersed and back in time with CENTENNIAL for 20+ hours...and then will replay it again. I hope my husband catches the "CENTENNIAL fever". It simply is the best Mother's Day gift ever! R. STEVENSON, SAINT CHARLES, MO(where Lewis and Clark began their westward journey) The Ultimate Mini (no make that MEGA) Series finally on DVD In the fall of 1978, NBC's "Big Event" launched a real BIG EVENT namely James Michener's Centennial (yes folks it's even bigger than Shogun). The story of the founding of a fictional town in Colorado and the events leading up to it and beyond. Beginning in the days where Indians ruled the west and ending in the then present (albeit only 1 episode of 12 takes place in the present) we see a beautiful look of life in the Rocky Mountains and the surrounding area. In his own introduction to part 1, Michener himself tells us that while the story is fictional and its characters are imaginary, that there were real people in history like those played by Robert Conrad, Richard Chamberlain, Raymond Burr, Michael Ansara and others. Several real events in history were also reenacted as well to help tell the story. And there are even some narrative moments by David Janssen who would himself play a prominent character at the end of the story. Whether you bought the tapes 10 years ago as I did or not, to paraphrase Michener, "Get your orders in now for the DVD copy of the story of the American West". Between this and Stephen Ives' (with help from Ken Burns) documentary, you'll have all the western history you need for a lifetime. Although, I am considering buying a copy of TNT's "Into The West" someday. More than a saga about the American West Thank you Universal for, yes, FINALLY releasing the NBC 12-episode mini-series Centennial on DVD, which was based on James Michner's Centennial: A Novel. For those who did not catch the mini-series, you're in for a great story recounting the history of the people who lived in, pioneered and developed the fictional town of Centennial, Colorado, between the late 18th century and the 1970s. Or, as any native of Colorado will tell you the town is actually Greeley, Colorado, since it is near the South Platte River and Cache la Poudre River -- the locale the novel and series refers to. You should also be aware that some of the characters are a composite of real people who were part of the state's history. Over 20 hours long, this mini-series included many well-known actors of the day: Richard Chamberlain (Scottish trapper Alexander McKeag), Robert Conrad (French trapper Pasquinel), Raymond Burr (German merchant Herman Bockweiss), Barbara Carrera (Clay Basket), Gregory Harrison (Mennonite farmer Levi Zendt), Alex Karras (Volga Deutscher immigrant Hans Brumbaugh), Richard Crenna (Frank Skimmerhorn aka John Chivington, a Colonel at the time of the U.S. Civil War who gained infamy for the Sand Creek Massacre of peaceful Native Americans on the Colorado plains in 1864), Dennis Weaver (cow hand R.J. Poteet), Timothy Dalton, Andy Griffith, Mark Harmon, Brian Keith, Lynn Redgrave, Robert Vaughn, Anthony Zerbe, Stephanie Zimbalist, David Jansen, and numerous other well-known actors (even a young George Clooney in one episode as an extra in the Indian village scene -- it was his TV debut). The episodes as they appeared from October 1978 and February 1979 included: 1. Only the Rocks Live Forever 2. The Yellow Apron 3. The Wagon and the Elephant 4. For as Long as the Water Flows 5. The Massacre 6. The Longhorns 7. The Shepherds 8. The Storm 9. The Crime 10. The Winds of Fortune 11. The Winds of Death 12. The Scream of Eagles I can't contain my excitement over this release. It's got to be ONE OF THE BEST TV MINI-SERIES to ever air on American television. I enjoyed it then, all those years ago when I live in Colorado. And surprisingly, it played well with audiences in my wife's country of Malaysia too. After all, it's a story that transcends time and culture because it touches on themes common to us all. Highly recommended. FINALLY HERE! ABOUT TIME! One of the best series to come out of television. This is very well done. Robert Conrad is at his best. I bought one of the last VHS sets in 1998 and still watch it. I just hope they don't cut out a few small scenes before and after the court martial of Chad Everett and Mark Harmon's characters like they did on the VHS tapes. It gives some perspective to the history of the west and the scenery is just awesome. Also good is David Janssen's narrative. All of the cast was good. Even after three decades, this series still holds up. | |||||||||||||
