I'm about to turn "The Big Valley" into "The Big Landfill". In fairness... The pressure to churn out a new episode of a TV show every 7 to 10 days makes it difficult to produce consistently good work. But not impossible.
"The Big Valley" is a poor program that deserves the trashing I'm about to administer, but it's no worse than hundreds of others. The cruelest thing I can say about "TBV" isn't that it's bad (though it is), but that it's typical of too much TV programming. Outstanding programs like "Wiseguy", "Frasier", "Futurama", and "Xena, Warrior Princess" are the too-rare exceptions. *
"The Big Valley" is an obvious ripoff of NBC's successful "Bonanza". It differs in ways designed to appeal to a wider demographic -- a female movie star who can actually act, and be a role model for young women; three sons (an intellectual, a leather-clad rowdy, and a nice guy), two of whom are hunks; ** and an airhead daughter for young hetero males. "Bonanza" had a Chinese cook; "Valley" had a shuffling Negro servant, the plausibility of which apparently deflected criticism.
"The Big Valley" is, most of the time, trashy melodrama. The "acting" is usually loud and "in your face". Characterizations are anything but subtle. Long-worn-out plots rise from the dead (brides-to-be are murdered, a blow to the head conveniently induces amnesia). And when the writers can't think of anything else, Bad People show up to harass the Barkleys for 45 minutes, then are offed in the last five.
The result is that the viewer (this one, anyway) is far more likely to laugh his/her a** off at the concocted tragedies and disasters that befall the Barkleys, et al. I refuse to apologize for laughing uncontrollably when Ma Barkley hurtles over a cliff in a stagecoach without seat belts or airbags and survives, or a wagon full of nitro (and the people driving it) blows up in a cheap faux explosion that couldn't have used more than two air cannons.
There were plans to turn "The Big Valley" into a feature film. It's ripe for an "Airplane!"-style trashing. I'm getting ideas...
ADDENDUM: This review was written after watching a bit more than the first season. I stand by my blunt criticism. However, the series improved in following seasons, with occasional solid episodes. But it is, overall, not much different from "Bonanza" -- and that's no compliment.
* The rise of cable TV created a demand for programming to fill the hours. Producers had little choice but to hire talented writers and directors whose work was "too good" for broadcast television.
** None of the Bonanza boys were particularly desirable matrimonial fodder. Little Joe appealed only to women who wanted a boy to mother. Adam was surly. And Hoss was... well, he had a nice personality.
"The Big Valley" is a poor program that deserves the trashing I'm about to administer, but it's no worse than hundreds of others. The cruelest thing I can say about "TBV" isn't that it's bad (though it is), but that it's typical of too much TV programming. Outstanding programs like "Wiseguy", "Frasier", "Futurama", and "Xena, Warrior Princess" are the too-rare exceptions. *
"The Big Valley" is an obvious ripoff of NBC's successful "Bonanza". It differs in ways designed to appeal to a wider demographic -- a female movie star who can actually act, and be a role model for young women; three sons (an intellectual, a leather-clad rowdy, and a nice guy), two of whom are hunks; ** and an airhead daughter for young hetero males. "Bonanza" had a Chinese cook; "Valley" had a shuffling Negro servant, the plausibility of which apparently deflected criticism.
"The Big Valley" is, most of the time, trashy melodrama. The "acting" is usually loud and "in your face". Characterizations are anything but subtle. Long-worn-out plots rise from the dead (brides-to-be are murdered, a blow to the head conveniently induces amnesia). And when the writers can't think of anything else, Bad People show up to harass the Barkleys for 45 minutes, then are offed in the last five.
The result is that the viewer (this one, anyway) is far more likely to laugh his/her a** off at the concocted tragedies and disasters that befall the Barkleys, et al. I refuse to apologize for laughing uncontrollably when Ma Barkley hurtles over a cliff in a stagecoach without seat belts or airbags and survives, or a wagon full of nitro (and the people driving it) blows up in a cheap faux explosion that couldn't have used more than two air cannons.
There were plans to turn "The Big Valley" into a feature film. It's ripe for an "Airplane!"-style trashing. I'm getting ideas...
ADDENDUM: This review was written after watching a bit more than the first season. I stand by my blunt criticism. However, the series improved in following seasons, with occasional solid episodes. But it is, overall, not much different from "Bonanza" -- and that's no compliment.
* The rise of cable TV created a demand for programming to fill the hours. Producers had little choice but to hire talented writers and directors whose work was "too good" for broadcast television.
** None of the Bonanza boys were particularly desirable matrimonial fodder. Little Joe appealed only to women who wanted a boy to mother. Adam was surly. And Hoss was... well, he had a nice personality.