La grande vallée

''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 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!

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.

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!

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.