Customer Reviews

History of Television's the Virginian 1962-1971

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book answered many lingering questions for me. Whatever happened to Gary Clarke? Why did he leave the show? Why did Charles Marquis Warren leave after half a season? I loved Paul Green's interviews with James Drury, Gary Clarke, Roberta Shore, Randy Boone and Sara Lane. Nobody had heard from Lane since the show ended so that was especially interesting for me.
Background information from executive producer Frank Price and "Virginian" writer and producer Joel Rogosin was also of great interest and actor John Saxon's accounts of working with Charles Bickford and Stewart Granger gave insight into their characters.
A must read for anyone remotely interested in "The Virginian."

This book is a must for anybody who loves all the series from 'The Virginian' and 'The men from Shiloh'. It is well written, easy and pleasant to read and you just step back in a world of filming that, to my opinion, doesn't exist anymore. Mr. Green starts the book by telling how the idea started and gives chapter by chapter an overview of the seasons. He then brings up Production and Location and goes again chapterwise over to interviews with the most principal characters, which brings the series really back to life again.
I loved all the main actors, but as for many people, I loved Mr.Doug McClure as Trampas. It was very touching to read the interviews about him, told by the actors and especially also by his close familymembers.
I truly must say that Mr. Green has done a marvellous job. He has written in a very human way, with a big touch of respect to everyone who has worked on the series. AND he has written down the list of all the seasons, including all the titles and synopsisses. Just try to find that somewhere else! To me, it is a book which I can read over and over again and I can only advice to buy it. Thank you Mr. Green!

I came across author Paul Green by reading his book about the sad, short life of Pete Duel, who starred in the western Alias Smith and Jones. That is where I discovered he had written a book about The Virginian. I immediately purchased that book and I was not disappointed. It is very organized and answered many of the questions I always wondered about after viewing the series. It covers very throughly all aspects of the series, the cast, crew, locations and much more. This book is a must read for all Virginian fans and is a great read if you are a fan of any TV western series. This book is "worth the price of admission!"

Vickie Harvey
San Diego, CA

I really enjoy reading well-written books on the tv shows of my youth. I think its important that the show should be long gone as the writer can then concentrate on the entire series. In the 1990's the annoying phenomenon began of having a book published after each season. I think it began with "Babylon 5" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (2 series I enjoyed greatly.) That trend continues today with "Smallville," "Bones," "Supernatural," etc.
But back to this book, it is a very good one. I loved tv westerns as a kid and watched most of them. However due to its 90 minute length, "The Virginian" was never one of my favorites. My father used to watch it and the show seemed to me to take an eternity. However when I finally got cable in the late 1980s, "The Virginian" used to be shown Saturday afternoons. I started taping it on my vcr and would watch it back scanning out the commercials. And I discovered something: "The Virginian" was a damn good western.
And this book is excellent as well. After a brief accoount of the original novel, film and previous attempt to bring "The Virginian" to tv, this book gets to the series. It goes season by season discussing various episodes, writers, guest stars, etc. Most of the info. is from the Executive Producer, Frank Price, his wife, the actress Katherine Crawford(who appeared in several episodes and is the daughter of another Producer, Roy Huggins, the man who created "Maverick," "The Fugitive," "Rockford Files," etc.) and another Producer, Joel Rogosin. There is also a little input from series star, James Drury.
After discussing the entire length of the series, there are long interviews with James Drury, Roberta Shore, Doug McClure's daughter,Tane, McClure's ex-wife BarBara Luna,Pippa Scott, Sara Lane, Randy Boone, Gary Clarke, etc. There are also biographical sketches of every cast member, living or dead, throughout its run, as well as the series various Producers, Directors, Writers, Composers, etc. The book ends with an episode guide
I've read many good books on series I've enjoyed over the years: "Mission:Imposible," "Wild Wild West," "Hawaii Five-0," "Thriller," "Twilight Zone," the episode guide to the Irwin Allen shows, etc. I would rate this a very good one as well. Now I am looking forward to the shows upcoming release on DVD.

Paul Green's book is exactly what it claims to be, a thorough and informative history of my favorite television series. It rises above the typical "fan-fare" written about other tv series, and the gossip surrounding their stars. Rather it provides insight into what had to happen off-screen in order to bring each high-quality episode to fruition on-screen. Most of the photos it contains are ones I've not seen before and are keyed to the content of the book. The opening chapter provides background on the book by Owen Wister that was the original inspiration for the series. There are also chapters devoted to the writers, producers, directors, composers and directors of photography.

Because of his longevity with the series, Frank Price was a major contributor and a valuable resource for this book. But Mr. Green was diligent in his efforts to garner information from other sources, including interviews with and material from many of the show's stars, some of whom have been out of the spotlight for many years (for the late Doug McClure the author relied on interviews with family members.) It is to Mr. Green's credit that he was able to gather as much information as he did considering it has been over 30 years since the last episode aired.

I highly recommend the book and feel it should be on the required reading list of film and television students. The high quality library binding will stand the test of time, as have my college textbooks from nearly 40 years ago.

An excellent and informative book of a series that I grew to love later in life. However, if it were not for the uniqueness of that information, especially the episode guide, I would most likely delete the Kindle version I purchased for running on my MacBook Pro (with the Kindle app). Pages sometimes jump backwards, or not page forward, then leap two pages. Tried reloading from archives as directed but no change. I have several other Kindle books for laptop that run extremely well so this is frustrating. It's a pity because the book is fascinating.

Amendment as of April 25,2011: I heard from Amazon/Kindle Customer Service today that a new file of this excellent book was available for downloading from the Archives. I deleted the old file again, downloaded again, and... it works!! No more erratic paging. I am very pleased. I can now, without reservations, give it 5 stars.

This book was a big surprise to me. I was skeptical because of the price but found myself engulfed in as soon as I received it. I think it's a great read for anyone who enjoys and likes to know more about the making of TV Westerns. Paul Green does a really good job of organinzing the book and making it read like a good biography. I did not find it textbook-like or a "dry" read. It would be appealing to those who just loved the show to those wanting to learn about the industry. There's a lot of great information on how the industry worked and how the script, screenwriting, production, actors etc. all come together to make the stories real classics. I was interested in the book, because as a musician, I've always felt that The Virginian had the best music, not just the theme (I love that Percy Faith music too), but background music and how it really fit with the photography and the story. Not only was it great composition but the orchestration and musicians were first rate in my opinion. Try and find a show today with background music so well synched and well written (and made to really be listened to using real orchestra/soloists) - it's not what it used to be. So I was very interested in reading about the music production behind the show. I found myself facinated with all the biographies including the writers, producers, directors and composers, who often don't get much publicity. There were a lot of talented people involved in that show. It also is a great reference for watching other movies and shows as you get to read the who's who behind many great productions. I grew up watching westerns with my family but was much to young at the time to appreciate them. Now with Encore Westerns, I've been able to enjoy all those shows, especially the Virginian, my favorite. Call me "retro" but I'd watch these re-run westerns any day over what's on now and there are no westerns really made like this anymore. This book has given me even more appreciation of the value of watching these shows and especially The Virginian. I hope Paul Green continues to research and produce more of these books. It's important to share this knowledge and tribute to the artistic work behind the show with a new generation of viewers. We need books like this that advocate for good entertainment, and show us the value of why shows like this are really classic entertainment!

This is not just another Western series picture book. It is full of behind the scenes information including interviews with many of the stars of the show as well as extensive insight by producer Frank Price. Anyone who has ever wondered if the Virginian was given a name in the series will have that question answered as well as other inside information on why certain actors were chosen for the roles and the process of putting episodes together from writing to wrap up. Recommended as a more "technical" book on THE VIRGINIAN television series.

Best book I've bought in years. Every fan should get this book. It answered alot of questions I've had for years. The section on each star for great. The guide for each episode is fantastic.

Very nice book. I love the interviews. It is well worth the money especially if you are a Virginian fan. I just wish Doug McClure were still alive. He is my favorite. I am so glad Encore is now airing reruns of the show.