Official Synopsis:
Venture back to the days when the land was still untamed and the West was still wild with Season One of The Big Valley, the TV classic starring Barbara Stanwyck, Lee Majors, and Linda Evans. The Barkleys are the wealthiest and most powerful family in California's San Joaquin Valley in the 1870s, owning and controlling cattle herds, gold mines, citrus groves, and logging camps. Follow and share the family's trials and tribulations as matriarch Victoria Barkley leads her brood through joys and heartache, adventure and danger, and laughter and pain in Season One of this seminal and timeless Western soap!
Our Take:
At first I had brushed off The Big Valley as “just another” Western soap opera, but while it isn’t as steamy or sultry as today’s shows like Desperate Housewives or Nip/Tuck, I’d liken it to Dallas set in the 1870s. You’ve got the Matriarch Widower with three sons, one being the Aggressive Ranch Head, the other being the Educated “City Boy” Lawyer, and the other being the Ambitious Son out to prove himself. There’s also the Rebellious Tom-Boy Daughter who’d rather be in blue jeans than a frilly dress. Oh wait, then there's the Illegitimate Son of the deceased patriarch; with nothing more than an obituary clipped from the newspaper and a convincing story, he makes himself part of the family as he takes a stand with the other men to fight for their land.
The Big Valley: Season One offers one big season of thirty episodes, each clocking in at about fifty minutes. You can tell this show is from 1965 as it has a significantly longer running time than most of today's shows. While that's a plus, unfortunately there are no special features, but considering the age of the show, that’s somewhat forgivable. This one is definitely for the fans.
People have always been fascinated by the Wild West. In a time where the nation was reeling from the effects of the civil war, and the Industrial Revolution was spreading fast, the Western lifestyle eventually became a dying breed. In some ways we still long for that in our own lives, which could be a reason why the western genre refuses to fade away. The Big Valley is recommended for some light entertainment and some good old-fashioned simple stories about some good simple folk living in a big valley.
Overall Picture:
Show: B
DVD: C
- Chris Lawrence
Staff Writer
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