"Centennial" (1978) TV mini-series 1978-1979

Writer:

James Michener (novel)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

1 October 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance | Western

Plot:

The economic and cultural growth of Colorado spanning two centuries from the mid-1700s to the late-1970s.

Plot Keywords:

Colorado | Investment | Arrowhead | Unrequited Love | Sheriff

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Raymond Burr	...	Herman Bockweiss (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Barbara Carrera	...	Clay Basket (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Richard Chamberlain	...	Alexander McKeag (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Robert Conrad	...	Pasquinel (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Richard Crenna	...	Colonel Frank Skimmerhorn (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Chad Everett	...	Major Maxwell Mercy (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Alex Karras	...	Hans Brumbaugh (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Brian Keith	...	Sheriff Axel Dumire (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Sally Kellerman	...	Lise Bockweiss (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Donald Pleasence	...	Sam Purchas (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Lynn Redgrave	...	Charlotte Buckland Seccombe (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Dennis Weaver	...	R.J. Poteet (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Stephen McHattie	...	Jacques 'Jake' Pasquinel (11 episodes, 1978-1979)
William Atherton	...	Jim Lloyd (10 episodes, 1978-1979)
Timothy Dalton	...	Oliver Seccombe (10 episodes, 1978-1979)
Cliff De Young	...	John Skimmerhorn (10 episodes, 1978-1979)
Andy Griffith	...	Professor Lewis Venor (10 episodes, 1978-1979)
Gregory Harrison	...	Levi Zendt (10 episodes, 1978-1979)
David Janssen	...	Narrator / ... (10 episodes, 1978-1979)
Lois Nettleton	...	Maude Wendell (10 episodes, 1978-1979)
Cristina Raines	...	Lucinda McKeag Zendt (10 episodes, 1978-1979)
Robert Vaughn	...	Morgan Wendell (10 episodes, 1978-1979)
Anthony Zerbe	...	Mervin Wendell (10 episodes, 1978-1979)
Jesse Vint	...	Amos Calendar (6 episodes, 1978-1979)
Sharon Gless	...	Sidney Endermann (5 episodes, 1979)
Les Lannom	...	Bufe Coker (5 episodes, 1978-1979)
Kario Salem	...	Marcel 'Mike' Pasquinel (5 episodes, 1978-1979)
Michael LeClair	...	Young Jim Lloyd (5 episodes, 1978-1979)
Glynn Turman	...	Nate Person (5 episodes, 1978-1979)
Gloria McMillan	...	Mrs. Brumbaugh (5 episodes, 1978-1979)

Series Directed by
Virgil W. Vogel		(5 episodes, 1978-1979)
Paul Krasny		(3 episodes, 1978)
Harry Falk		(3 episodes, 1979)

Series Writing credits
John Wilder		(12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Charles Larson		(5 episodes, 1978-1979)
Jerry Ziegman		(3 episodes, 1978-1979)
James Michener		(unknown episodes)

Series Produced by
George E. Crosby	....	associate producer / producer (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Susan Lichtwardt	....	associate producer (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
John Wilder	....	executive producer (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Malcolm R. Harding	....	producer (8 episodes, 1978-1979)
Richard Caffey	....	supervising producer (4 episodes, 1979)
Alex Beaton	....	supervising producer / producer (3 episodes, 1978-1979)
Howard P. Alston	....	producer (2 episodes, 1978)

Series Original Music by
John Addison		(12 episodes, 1978-1979)

Series Cinematography by
Duke Callaghan		(7 episodes, 1978-1979)
Charles W. Short		(3 episodes, 1979)

Series Film Editing by
Robert Watts		(3 episodes, 1978-1979)
Howard Deane		(2 episodes, 1978-1979)
John Elias		(2 episodes, 1978-1979)
Bill Parker		(2 episodes, 1978-1979)
Ralph Schoenfeld		(2 episodes, 1978-1979)

Series Casting by
Mary Petterson		(12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Gino Havens		(2 episodes, 1978)

Series Production Design by
Jack Senter		(11 episodes, 1978-1979)

Series Art Direction by
Lloyd S. Papez		(5 episodes, 1979)
Mark W. Mansbridge		(4 episodes, 1978)
Sherman Loudermilk		(3 episodes, 1978)
Louis Montejano		(3 episodes, 1978)
John W. Corso		(2 episodes, 1978-1979)

Series Set Decoration by
Joseph J. Stone		(11 episodes, 1978-1979)
John M. Dwyer		(10 episodes, 1978-1979)

Series Costume Design by
Helen Colvig		(12 episodes, 1978-1979)

Series Production Management
Robert G. Stone	....	unit production manager (6 episodes, 1978-1979)
Burt Bluestein	....	unit production manager (5 episodes, 1978)
Sam Freedle	....	unit production manager (4 episodes, 1979)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John Liberti	....	second assistant director / first assistant director (7 episodes, 1978-1979)
Scott Maitland	....	first assistant director (5 episodes, 1978-1979)
Bruce L. Shurley	....	second assistant director (4 episodes, 1978)
Bob Jeffords	....	first assistant director (3 episodes, 1978)
Gary Grillo	....	first assistant director (2 episodes, 1978)

Series Art Department
Craig Binkley	....	property master (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Roy Barnes	....	set designer (unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
Brian Courcier	....	sound effects editor (10 episodes, 1978-1979)
Charlie King	....	sound (9 episodes, 1978-1979)
Edwin J. Somers Jr.	....	sound (3 episodes, 1978)
Gary Alexander	....	sound re-recording mixer (unknown episodes)

Series Stunts
Tex Hill	....	stunts (unknown episodes, 1978)
William H. Burton	....	stunt coordinator / stunts (unknown episodes)
David S. Cass Sr.	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Tony Epper	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Leslie Hoffman	....	stunt indian (unknown episodes)
Terry Leonard	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Neil Summers	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Glenn R. Wilder	....	stunts (unknown episodes)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Michael Orefice	....	best boy (unknown episodes)
Herb Roberts	....	camera operator (unknown episodes)
Michael Simpson	....	assistant camera (unknown episodes)
Sven Walnum	....	camera operator (unknown episodes)

Series Casting Department
Garrison True	....	location casting (5 episodes, 1979)

Series Costume and Wardrobe Department
Robert Ellsworth	....	costume supervisor (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Haleen K. Holt	....	costume illustrator (unknown episodes)

Series Editorial Department
Ron Meredith	....	assistant film editor (unknown episodes)

Series Music Department
Dave Kahn	....	music editor (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Sally Kellerman	....	composer: song "Speak Low" (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Janice Welch	....	assistant to executive producer (1 episode, 1979)
John Grace	....	production assistant (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• Universal TV

Distributors

• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1978) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Belgische Radio en Televisie (BRT) (1979) (Belgium) (TV)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Runtime:

1256 min (12 episodes) (excluding commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Alamo Village - Highway 674, Brackettville, Texas, USA

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

A young George Clooney is one of the village extras in the Raymond Burr episode.

Goofs:

Factual errors: During the "Only the Rocks Live Forever" episode - Pasquinel and McKeag leave St. Louis together in a canoe to return to their trade area in the west. In the next scene they are riding horseback with two pack mules in the Rocky Mountains - meaning they had to trade for the horses and mules. The time frame would be around 1797 and there were no settlements west of St. Louis during that time for them to trade for the animals. Also, they left their canoe in Lame Beaver's camp for their return journey to St. Louis and the Indian tribes most definitely did not have the mules.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Walter Matthau (#4.7)" (1978)

"We have to look to the past and get back to some basic principles if there's gonna be any future worth having."

"Centennial" is a great mini-series to discover America… It goes over a span of 200 years…It's about Pasquinel, a solitary trader with the Indians, who made his way through territory no white man has ever traveled, defending his trade and his life… It's about a man from Scotland who had come seeking solitude, but he found friendship and love… His name was Alexander McKeag… It's about the legendary Arapaho leader, Lame Beaver, who knew that the coming of the white man was the beginning of change…

"Centennial" is also about strong men, men of destiny and vision… It's also about stubborn men who only saw little in the windy, water-shy stretch of plains to stop for on their trek to a new place called Oregon…

"Centennial" is also about men of integrity like the young Mennonite named Levi Zendt who could not know it at the time that he was destined to leave the home he loved and share the dream of Alexander McKeag… It's about traders like Zendt, and soldiers like Maxwell Mercy… It's about men of honor, like Major Mercy who worked tirelessly to bring about a lasting peace… Men of vision like the stubborn German from the Volga named Hans Brumbaugh, who had walked from St. Louis to find gold… It's about the Englishman Oliver Seccombe, who would found an empire from the dream of a lifetime… A ranch that would spread from the Rocky Mountains on the west to the Nebraska border with Longhorns driven north from Texas by John Skimmerhorn and R. J. Poteet…

"Centennial is about many more characters like Clay Basket, the fiery Indian woman who shared the life Pasquinel loved best; Lise Bockweiss, the golden-haired lady of St. Louis; Pasquinel brothers whose names would strike terror into the hearts of all white men who thought of crossing the plains; Frank Skimmerhorn, the obsessed militia colonel who led a disgraceful massacre against Cheyenne chief, Broken Thumb; the frontier lawman Alex Dumire who would fall prey to a kind of crime the presence of his badge and gun could not prevent; the traveling actors, Mervin and Maude Wendell who founded its fortune power and prestige on stolen money and a murder…