La grande vallata

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.

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 just read a biography of Barbara Stanwyck and one thing that was made abundantly clear, the woman really liked westerns. She loved doing them from the earliest time in her career right up to her stint with The Big Valley. In fact one of the great disappointments in her life was not doing a film with John Wayne. Who knows why that didn't happen because the two of them were in sync politically.

But she did a bunch of them with co-stars like Joel McCrea, Ronald Reagan, Walter Huston, Barry Sullivan, Ray Milland, etc. So when it came time to choose a television project, Barbara went west.

The Big Valley cast her as Victoria Barkley, matriarch of the Barkley ranch with three sons and a daughter to hold the fort against all comers. The pilot of the show introduced her husband's illegitimate son into the household played by young Lee Majors. Her children were Richard Long, Peter Breck, Linda Evans, and Charles Briles.

Briles got dropped after eight episodes as the youngest, Eugene. They just sent him off to college in the east and he wasn't heard from again. Reading the IMDb notes on him, I find he got himself drafted. All I can say is BUMMER.

Richard Long as Jarrod was also college educated, an attorney, which was a good plot device allowing the show to get off the ranch and into town. Peter Breck was Nick, who was a tough son of a gun. I met Peter Breck a few years before The Big Valley. His family lived in Rochester, New York across from my grandparents house and he was visiting while starring in another shortlived series Black Saddle. My siblings and cousins got to meet him then. A very gracious and nice man.

Of course Linda Evans and Lee Majors both had really great careers after the show. Linda as Audra was a sweet and innocent child, not anything like Crystal Carrington. And Lee Majors got to be The Fall Guy and The Six Million Dollar Man after he was Heath Barkley. I would love to have that man's residuals.

Richard Long did Nanny and the Professor and tragically died right after the run of that show. He was always a player of great class and I enjoyed seeing him in anything he did.

The Barkleys ran into all manner of people and were constantly helping them out of their various predicaments. They were pretty rich of course, as rich as Bonanza's Cartwrights. But I really think they outdid themselves even more than Ben and his sons. Every episode seemed to end with some financial assistance to help somebody get on their feet. I'm surprised Jarrod didn't run for office with all those potential voters available.

With Lee Majors, Linda Evans, and Peter Breck still with us and even Charles Briles, I'm not sure why a Big Valley reunion hasn't been attempted. I'd like to see the Barkleys ride the range into the 20th century.

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.

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.