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How the West was Won

Western Series

About This Show

From Wikipedia:

How the West Was Won is an American western television series starring James Arness, Fionnula Flanagan, and Bruce Boxleitner. A spin-off of the 1962 Cinerama film, it aired as a mini-series in 1977, and as a regular series in 1978 and 1979, preceded by a 2,5 hours long pilot episode, The Macahans, in 1976. A total of 25 episodes were aired between 1976-1979.

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 and Sweden, and has built a cult following. It's never been released officially on dvd, despite undoubted demand; unofficial dvd sets taped from tv exist though.

A sequence of paintings by Charles Marion Russell were shown during the end credits.

Cast

 

* James Arness as Zebulon "Zeb" Macahan

* Bruce Boxleitner as Luke Macahan

* Fionnula Flanagan as Molly Culhane

* Kathryn Holcomb as Laura Macahan

* William Kirby Cullen as Joshua "Josh" Macahan

* Vicki Schreck as Jessica "Jessie" Macahan

* Eva Marie Saint as Kate Macahan

* Richard Kiley as Timothy Macahan

* Jared Martin as Frank Grayson

* Harris Yulin as Dick Piesley

In the pilot episode, Bruce Boxleitner's character is called Seth and William Kirby Cullen's character is called Jed.

Guest stars included Ron Hayes as Sheriff Pinter, Gregg Palmer as Loman, Tom Simcox as Marshal Logan, and John M. Pickard as Colonel Caine and Jim Turner (three episodes).

People Who Talked About This Show

  • James Arness
  • Ricardo Montalban
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People Talking About This Show

  • James Arness
    • Clip: 1
    • Clip: 2
  • Ricardo Montalban
    • Clip: 1

From the Collection

  • Western Genres link

    For more on TV WESTERNS, visit the Archive's Western Series reference page.

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