Big Valley

I read all the comments and no one answered the question. I don't remember him doing anything. He just went off to college and never came back. Didn't the actor get drafted? I think someone mentioned that. The Big Valley was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid. For me it was Barbara Stanwick, the strong woman and Lee Majors, the odd one out that brought me back. Heath and I had a lot in common and I wanted to grow up to be all that Barbara's character represented, strong, confident, admired and rich didn't hurt. I think I grew up with the characters on TV for my role models sense I found the adults in my world so sadly lacking. If she were alive today I would like to thank her for the strong woman she portrayed. In that time of of upheaval, when a woman's role was changing she showed me a woman could be strong and smart and still have a family to love and nurture. Thank you for Victoria, Jared, Nick and Heath. Thank you for the beautiful innocent Audra, and thank you for the forgotten Eugene. Thank you for Big Valley

What a great western....know what I missed the most when I was drafted and sent to Vietnam in the summer of 1966, my family of course and my fiancé, but knowing I would not get to see "The Big Valley" for a whole year until I got back!! Great stories and watching the individual personalities of the Barkley's mesh together through all kinds of crises...Jarrod the cool, suave lawyer who used a lot of wisdom, Nick the brawler, ranch boss and tough guy, Heath the level headed version of Nick who used a little common sense when Nick wanted to use his fists, Audra, oh wow, what teenage boy was not in love with her on the show and the classy Barbara Stanwyck, the matriarch and cool head of the Barkley clan who used her wisdom and extraordinary ability to reason out any crisis. What kind of color film did they use in the series? I have been overjoyed to watch the BV on the western channel since it came back on in December 05 and every episode is crystal clear with brilliant color. Every episode has a lot of current and former Hollywood stars like Coleen Dewhurst, Richard Dreyfuss, Adam West, Julie Adams, James Gregory, William Shatner and many others.....the stories were well written and kept the viewers interest throughout the entire episode. Only thing I could not understand is how so many people came walking through the door of the front of the Barkley home without knocking! Also a couple episodes when they entered the side door and just showed up in the house!! Audra always seemed to get smitten with a lot of handsome men on the show who dumped her in the end...or their relationship had too many holes in it to last. Loved the episode when she loved Bradford Dillman and fell off a cliff and was hanging onto the proverbial tree stuck in the side of the mountain! Oh yes, he threw her a rope and all ended well, ha-ha!! Would love to see a BV reunion with Lee Majors, Linda Evans and Peter Breck reprising their roles.

I began watching The Big Valley back when I was seven years old. That was thirty years ago. Little did I know then that the show would become something that would help me. I went through years of abuse through two different family members. If it weren't for the show The Big Valley I probably would have committed suicide at an early age. Instead of turning to drug or alcohol abuse, or other forms of hurting myself, I focused instead on the cast of this amazing show. The affection and love they had for each other made a big impression on me. I longed to be part of a family that cared for each other like the Barkley's did. They became so real to me at times that it blocked out how bad I was feeling about what I was going through and it gave me something positive to focus on instead of the pain and shame of living with what was happening to me. I am grateful to the entire cast of the show for giving me a way out of a bad situation and focusing on something good, something that wouldn't hurt me or anyone else. They mean a great deal to me and always will. I hope that sometime I will get to see one of them with my own eyes. I don't have to meet them personally. Just to see them will be enough. The show gave me a feeling of peace just to watch. It always made me laugh at times when I really needed it, and thrilled me at other times. The men on the show were the best looking men I have seen on any show (then or since) and I've yet to see a television show that shows a family that cares the way that they did on The Big Valley. It gave me such joy to be able to come home and watch the show. Certain episodes stayed with me from the time I first started watching it. One in particular showed what a caring man Nick was. In the episode "The Prize" where Heath brings home little Joey. The scene where Nick is trying to get to sleep but can't because Joey is teething and very fussy I still remember to this day, even though I haven't seen the episode in over twenty-five years. When he referred to himself as "Uncle Nick" and Audra was watching from the doorway I thought was one of the best scenes in that series. Another episode was "The Iron Box" where Nick and Heath were arrested for cattle theft and put in a chain gang I thought was incredible acting by Peter and Lee. I have hoped for years that someday a Big Valley reunion will be filmed. I know that Barbara and Richard are gone, but I think it would be great to see Peter, Lee and Linda reunited in a Big Valley reunion. This series will always hold a special place to me. It's been a part of me for as long as I can remember and will always remain a big part of me.

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!

It's hard to believe that a mid-1960's western could be the favorite TV show of a preteen boy in the 1970's but it's true. This was in reruns at 4:00pm daily and I could not WAIT to get home and see it. My sister felt the same way. I know, based on www pages out there, that I am not alone in my love for "The Big Valley", but I have to admit that it's a strange thing to be addicted to. There's something about the camera-ready cast, the quality of the stories and guest stars, the majestic opening theme and background music in the episodes and the overall aura of "The Barkleys" that is just irresistible to me. The series was just one of many, many TV westerns, but what sets this apart is the female slant and the striking use of color. Was there ever a bluer shirt than Victoria Barkley's? Hair more golden than Audra's? Leather more black than Nick's? Watching reruns of "Gunsmoke" and "Bonanza", they really look like dusty, brown, more authentic (especially with "Gunsmoke") presentations. "BV" started out that way, but soon progressed into an almost surreal blend of authentic locales mixed with '60's styles and colors. How else to describe Lee Majors' sideburns, the clean lines of the womens' riding gear or the ladies' false eyelashes? But I wouldn't change any of it for the world. The Barkleys' world is a world I'd want to live in. Everything is beautiful and they stand for truth, justice and the American way! They are defenders of right and will suffer to preserve integrity. (Kinda like The Super Friends, but with less wacky costumes...) The blend of types in the show is expert. You have scholarly, level-headed Jarrod, tough, explosive Nick, sensitive, handsome Heath, thoughtful, gloriously beautiful Audra and stern, fair, in charge Victoria (...oh, and then some poor kid who was let go right off the bat and never heard from again. That's the breaks, Eugene!) Together, in any combination, or separate, they are a captivating lot. Certain images burn the memory......Victoria cocking her rifle and ordering outlaws away, her croaking Audra's name when the girl has stumbled into trouble, Heath anytime he removed his shirt, Nick raging through the front door, Audra's black riding hat with chin string sitting atop her mane of the most beautiful hair in Hollywood...... Some of the stories were rehashes of other previous works (including Stanwyck's own movies! See "Jeopardy" some time!), but most of the time they were compelling and always they were filmed with skill and class. This is one of the best TV shows ever made.