It's hard to overstate how impressive this series was for those of us seeing it for the first time. As the first reviewer here noted, its positive theme was very impressive for the day, coming on the heels of dramas that were either saccharine or "tough" or of certain tried and true genres, such as the western, the medical or doctor story, and others of the day.
Franciscus was impressive for his acting skills, obvious from the first episode, and the entire cast was well-chosen, especially Dean Jagger, who had a chance in this series to get his career off to a new start, and did a good job of convincing us of his position and authority. A long gone actor of great skill; compare his performance as the town drunk in "Bad Day at Black Rock."
I highly recommend this series.
