Nearly forty-one years 이전 saw the premiere of the NBC Western series called "THE OREGON TRAIL". Produced 의해 Carl Vitale, Michael Gleason and Richard Collins; the series told the story about the westbound journey of an Illinois widower named Evan Thorpe and his family in the 1840s.
NBC aired a ninety (90) 분 pilot episode of "THE OREGON TRAIL" in 1976. Rod Taylor portrayed Evan Thorpe, a widower with three children who had recently remarried. Blair Brown portrayed his newly married 초 wife, Jessica. Douglas Fowley portrayed Evan's widowed father, Eli. Andrew Stevens, Tony Becker and Gina Smika Hunter portrayed his three children - Andrew, William and Rachel. Set during the 년 1842, the pilot episode featured the Thrope family's journey to the Oregon Territory from Illinois to as far as Fort Hall in present-day Idaho.
Another 년 passed before "THE OREGON TRAIL" returned to the 텔레비전 screen. A few changes had been made to the cast. Evan's 초 wife Jessica had died and he found himself attracted to an Irish-born woman named Margaret Deviln, who was accompanying her gambler father to the west. In other words, Blair Brown had been replaced 의해 Darlene Carr as the series' leading lady. Eli had completely disappeared from the cast of characters. And Charles Napier had joined the cast as Luther Sprague, a former mountain man recruited 의해 Evan to serve as scout/guide for the wagon train. At first, it seemed that the Thorpes' destination had changed from Oregon to California . . . and back again. NBC aired six episodes of "THE OREGON TRAIL" before the latter was permanently yanked from the network's line-up. The series faded into obscurity for thirty-three years, until the Timeless Media Group (TMG) released the entire series - the pilot and the other thirteen episodes - on DVD in 2010.
For the 다음 five years, I ignored "THE OREGON TRAIL", despite a deep interest in movie and 텔레비전 productions about mid-19th century western emigration. I was 더 많이 interested in finding a DVD copy of the 1979 miniseries, "THE CHISHOLMS", of which I owned a VHS copy. But eventually, I could not ignore "THE OREGON TRAIL" and purchased it at a reasonably cheap price. I must admit that I was impressed. It struck me as a decent series that featured well-written drama, excellent drama and some first-rate performances. Rod Taylor did a superb job in carrying the series on his soldier - not surprising. And he clicked very well with not only his two leading ladies - Blair Brown and Darlene Carr - but also with Charles Napier, Andrew Stevens, Tony Becker and Gina Smika Hunter. The series also featured excellent performances from guest stars such as Kim Darby, Gerald McRaney, Stella Stevens, Robert Fuller, William Smith, William Shatner, Nicholas Hammond, Linda Purl, Claude Akins, Clu Gulager and Kevin McCarthy. The series featured story lines regarding racial discrimination, religious beliefs, Native American culture, military oppression and especially survival. I am not saying that "THE OREGON TRAIL" was perfect. But I believe that it was a solid 텔레비전 drama. So what went wrong? Why did it fail to draw viewers after six weeks on the air?
First of all, "THE OREGON TRAIL" had the bad luck to compete against ABC's new ratings hit, "CHARLIE'S ANGELS". But I suspect that in the end, the series' premise - wagon train emigration - proved to be the series' Achilles' heel. If the Thorpes had spent the series merely traveling from one location to another, without any real fixed destination - for example, the 1960-64 series, "ROUTE 66" - perhaps the series could have survived. But the Thorpes had a definite destination - Oregon (or possibly California). If "THE OREGON TRAIL" had been an anthology series, like NBC's "WAGON TRAIN" (1957-1965); and Rod Taylor's character could have been some frontiersman that guided wagon trains across the continent on a yearly basis . . . perhaps it could have survived. But "THE OREGON TRAIN" was about a family's westward journey to Oregon (or California). And Taylor did not portrayed a wagon scout. The traits behind this particular series made it difficult to last as a long-running series, let alone one that could last 더 많이 than one season.
What made the premise for "THE OREGON TRAIL" even harder to 제비, 삼키기 were the number of characters that the Thorpe train encountered during their journey. They encountered outlaws, Army personnel, mountain men, Native Americans, settlers, miners, etc. Encountering Native Americans and mountain men during a wagon train journey in the 1840s struck me as plausible. Encountering settlers, miners and Army personnel during that same period did not. "THE OREGON TRAIL" was set either in the early 또는 mid-1840s. There were no non-Native American settlements between western Missouri and Oregon (or California) . . . at least as far as I know. The only Army outpost in this region was probably Fort Leavenworth, established in northeastern Kansas in 1827. Fort Kearny was established in 1848 and Fort Laramie became a U.S. Army post in 1849. I could see the Thorpes encountering outlaws in present 일 Kansas. But further along the Oregon Trail? I just cannot see it.
Despite these hiccups, I still enjoyed "THE OREGON TRAIL". In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I was able to list five episodes that truly impressed me, as shown below:
1. (1.01) "Pilot - The Oregon Trail"
2. (1.04) "Trapper's Rendezvous"
3. (1.07) "The Man Who Wouldn't Die"
4. (1.02) "The Last Game"
5. (1.11) "Evan's Dilemma"
It is a pity that "THE OREGON TRAIL" did not last beyond thirteen to fourteen episodes. And it is even 더 많이 of a pity that NBC lacked the good sense to either make it an anthology series 또는 a miniseries. Oh well, I still have my DVD box set to enjoy.
