The Silver Screen Oasis

With the surprising (at least to critics) success of "The Bible" and also that of "The Hatfields and The McCoys" are we ready for a revival (pardon the pun) of the miniseries?

Have you seen any of either? Do you like limited series television over weekly shows?

If so, what would you like to see?

It had never occurred to me, but I don't believe I've ever watched a mini-series...unless Twin Peaks counts.

There are probably more mini-series to come because they are, in some ways, cheaper to produce than serialized dramas and have less headaches for networks in terms of ratings for 22 weeks out of a season.

The success of Hatfields and McCoys in both the ratings and during tv awards season helped remind the networks that mini-series can be both ratings kings and popular with viewers.

History Channel is running a miniseries, The Vikings and CBS has one coming this summer, Under the Dome, based on the Stephen King book.

As networks try to cash in on the serialized drama renaissance, mini-series allows them to do that without the costs of producing a show for five years.

By the way, that great Look Back series that PBS does did an episode on mini-series from the 1970s (Roots, Rich Man, Poor Man) that was very good. I wish they had included Winds of War and Centennial but maybe they'll do a follow-up episode next year.

Here's hoping!

Anne, do yourself a favor and watch Thornbirds...a wonderful mini-series, and you get to see both Jean Simmons and Barbara Stanwyck in very different roles for each of them...and Richard Chamberlain is not hard to watch either

I so agree, Knitty! Anne, you will love The Thornbirds! Piper Laurie and Earl Holleman are also featured.

I watched all of War and Remembrance with my Dad. We both loved it! And I thoroughly enjoyed the books. I just wish Jan-Michael Vincent and Ali McGraw had been in the sequel.

No, Twin Peaks was a series, and the driftings and false turns of the second season show why the mini-series would have been a better format for it.

Duh. I tend to wipe the second season out of my mind. So that leaves me at zero.

I would love to see Roots and Winds of War one more time ... these two are my favorites.

I should watch THE BIBLE. The book was good.

With this discussion of the old mini-series from the seventies and eighties, I decided to re-watch Roots, which I hadn't seen since the original broadcast. Am up to part four now.

However, this time I've done some checking into the background and have found that Alex Haley's original book "Roots" is actually a novel, not non-fiction. Some of it is based on his family history, as far back as 'Chicken George' but farther back it's fiction -- there was no Kunta Kinte, despite Haley's claims. Plus, Haley plagiarized from an earlier novel named "The African," was sued in court and lost. His Pulitzer prize should have been rescinded, but he retained it. This has come as quite a surprise, so I'm re-watching the mini-series now as a work of fiction, and am still enjoying it.

Hey there Mr. Movieman.. I enjoy many of the present day "mini's but also some of the "classics" too. I have yet to see an entire episode of The Bible all the way through but the parts and pieces I have seen from some of them seemed really well done. I most like the fact that they really leave the "commentary" out of it.. and just present the Bible stories (more or less.. perhaps w/ some added drama here and there) but in truth, I doubt a series of that nature would ever be made that could please EVERYbody (given that the Bible itself has often produced mixed results from readers, depending on what one believes.)

But for my part, from the portions I managed to catch, I really liked the tellings of Abraham and Issac (where God provides the lamb) David and Goliath, the parting of the Red Sea.. oh and also the fall of the Walls of Jericho. (was not as impressed w/ the way they handled the telling of Samson, though) I hope to catch up sometime and see them all the way through.. but not sure if I'll make it or not.

Two of my most all time fave miniseries: Roots and Lonesome Dove (and some of the sequels too for LD) I also enjoyed the PBS series they did on the works of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens (several of the individual books by both those authors that were broken into "miniseries" of their own... ha.. I guess those were a miniseries within a series. ha.)

movieman1957 wrote:With the surprising (at least to critics) success of "The Bible" and also that of "The Hatfields and The McCoys" are we ready for a revival (pardon the pun) of the miniseries?

Have you seen any of either? Do you like limited series television over weekly shows?

If so, what would you like to see?

Well Chris, HBO has made several outstanding mini-series since the late 1980's. Those include Tanner '88, From the Earth to the Moon, Band of Brothers, Angels in America, John Adams, Generation Kill, The Pacific, Mildred Pierce and Parade's End. My faves in this group are the four Tom Hanks produced series, From the Earth to the Moon, Band of Brothers, John Adams, and The Pacific. Although I have to say The pacific was very good, it did not do the same for me as the other three I just mentioned.

I would really love to see a mini-series about the Navy in WWII. I mean if they can do a mini about the Marines of WWII, why not a mini about the Navy. Maybe follow the exploits of one ship, like the USS Enterprise, CV-6, the most decorated ship of the war?

Other than that, looking back I really loved
Captains and the Kings, NBC
Centennial, NBC
Once an Eagle, NBC
Chiefs, CBS
George Washington, CBS
Marco Polo, NBC
Masada, ABC
Rich Man Poor Man, ABC
Roots, ABC
Shogun, NBC
The Thorn Birds, ABC
War and Remembrance, ABC
The Winds of War, ABC
World War III, NBC

I have a copy of "Centennial" and really like it. I also may be one of the few people that have never seen "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance." Some of the other really popular shows back in the 70s managed to get away from me. I thought I was either not interested in the subject or didn't want to commit the time.

I also think that "The Pacific" was good but not as good as "Band of Brothers." I have seen several of those you listed. Coming soon from Netflix is "Masada." Haven't seen it since it ran originally but remember liking it. "Once An Eagle" was something I never knew about until a friend loaned it to me.

I'm sure there will be more.