The Big Valley

After reading the comments of others who love The Big Valley, I feel less unusual for enjoying the old show so much. It totally captured my interest when I was a teenager, and I miss watching it, since I cannot locate it. It should have run longer, but I can understand the actors were afraid of typecasting, or had other plans. I love everything about the show, from the opening music, to the stars, to the clothes, and I really loved that house, especially the staircase. I dream of a house like that one. I was pleased to have Linda Evans go on to Dynasty, and to see Lee Majors as The Bionic Man. I hoped to see more of Peter Breck and the others.

Having worked at ABC and "Saga of the Big Valley" was one of 'our shows' we coordinated between production companies, advertising agencies & network .. as I recall, Eugene's character was not brought back because the story lines worked well with the characters who were always in it .. Peter, Breck, Linda Evans, Richard Long, Barbara Stanwyck, etc. .. there was so much to do with their characters that 'Eugene' was not needed and perhaps there was a contract problem as well . I do not really remember .. it was so long ago . most enjoyable show .. Usually, when you have many 'stars' in a series .. each is set to do X# out of total shows for the year .. back then we were doing a lot more than 22 shows a year as they do now and took less time to make them as well.. sometimes it comes down to money too .. but it also cost a lot less to film shows back then and 'stars' did not get anywhere near the money they make today ... thus less episodes and more commercials today!

I was not a big fan of Westerns, but this one really stands out. I liked it back in the 1970s, and then again lately with its run on the Hallmark Channel.

If this show was not an authentic Western, who cares? The show had enough chutzpah and special qualities to make it so likeable. One episode, "Miranda," which aired 15 January 1968, had one scene that made me take notice. The title character, a Mexican revolutionary played by Barbara Luna, asked Napoleon Whiting, who played the African-American servant Silas, if slavery had been outlawed. The exchange between those two characters was a sort of icebreak, because of the stereotypical roles African-Americans had played in the movies and television for so long. At last, this concept is being questioned! This is the same year that "Julia" (1968) debuted.

The cast is fun. I liked Barbara Stanwyck, and I remember seeing Richard Long in 1970's "Nanny and the Professor." He is definitely missed. Peter Breck is also great, and I also like seeing Lee Majors in this role instead of "The Six Million Dollar Man." It is too bad that the series lasted only four years. It was such a fascinating series!

''The Big Valley''has been my favorite TV show for over thirty years. Although I had seen it from time to time when it was running in prime time, it was'nt until 1973, when it was shown locally, that I really got into it. Barbara Stanwyck was one of those rare golden age actresses who grew more beautiful with the passage of time. As Victoria Barkley, she was playing a woman close to her heart, and mine. Linda Evans, Richard Long, Peter Breck and Lee Majors were perfect support. And those guest stars! to name a few, Anne Baxter,Julie Adams, Coleen Dewhurst, Bradford Dillman,Susan Strasberg,James Whitmore, Julie Harris, Andrew Duggan, John Anderson, Jeanne Cooper, Diane Baker, James Gregory..... I want so much to have the complete series on DVD. I haven't even seen the episodes in their complete and original form, thanks to the butchering they endured for more commercials. In any form, however, this show is the BEST!

I am really greatly relieved to read the previous reviews, knowing that I am not alone in being a huge fan of this great series!! There was just something about this show as a whole which really appealed to me - in a big way. I loved all the Barkley characters. Victoria was played to perfection by Stanwyck. The widow Barkley was a curious but convincing mixture of gracious elegance and guts: her Victoria Barkley is practically a cult figure of female characters of the Western genre. Richard Long was genuinely likeable as the level-headed eldest son, Jarrod, who provided a nice balance between the tough, egotistical Nick and the more sensitive half-brother Heath. Linda Evans was astonishingly beautiful as Audra (she alone kept many male baby boomers tuned in!). But there was so much else "right" with this show - artificial though it may have looked to those critical of Stanwyck being "Ben Cartwright in a skirt". The storylines were well-written & original and the shows were well-directed and well-acted. Most every episode was colourful, tasteful, upright & moral - but rarely dull, somehow: there was a larger-than-life quality to the series which appealed to its particular fans: the colour is beautiful to look at, and the score by George Duning is beautiful to hear. The series boasted many interesting guest stars: Julie Harris, Cloris Leachman, Colleen Dewhurst among many others. An embarrassing confession: as a kid, Heath Barkley was my sole hero: I thought Lee Major's playing of the half-breed illegitimate son of Tom Barkley was really inspired. Majors made Heath a really likeable character. Although Majors did many more successful TV roles, it is for his playing of Heath Barkley that I most fondly identify him with to this day.