"The Big Valley" Town of No Exit (TV Episode 1969) Poster

(TV Series)

(1969)

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6/10
Very strange
watzlaf5 September 2013
Like the other reviewers, I agree that this was a very strange episode. I was not that good, but I gave it a 6 because of how different it was and the fact that Leslie Neilson and John Carradine were guest stars. Without these stars, I think I would have given it a 4.

I was waiting for some explanation for their madness...escaped patients from a nearby sanitarium, inbreeding or something. No explanation was given. I think that the best explanation would have been that there was a mercury deposit or mine nearby and they all went mad by breathing mercury vapor.

Also, the episode was rather uneven, the characters tended to act more normal at times and really crazy at other times - I guess that what crazy is.
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7/10
Easily the most bizarre episode
summerfields14 April 2010
And it gets seven stars for it's mere 'original weirdness': it's not exactly very good, but it IS very different.

The acting is sometimes frankly lousy - but - the storyline is so unique that viewers will watch fixated wondering exactly what the ex-blond Mr. Heath has gotten himself into this time.

Leslie Nielson is here and we have a couple of crazies in the practically deserted town Heath wanders into.

I won't go into the details because it's more fun to watch it for yourselves.

Personally, I am anticipating the video people in putting out all four seasons of this show on DVD.

The color and clarity is magnificent and we fans are patiently waiting for the entire series to become available to buy for home viewing!
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8/10
Weirdest Big Valley ever
wesperkins8 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Have been watching a bunch of Big Valley's back to back, and then this one gets snuck in. I read the synopsis and was excited. Seemed like a good episode and a good plot, and Leslie Neilson is in it too. Well, it it wasn't what I was expecting. A town of 5 lunatics who play weird games and murder strangers who ride into town wasn't what I was expecting. The acting was either brilliant or horrible, and I still can't tell which one. But the cast was very strong, so I am tending to think it was actually well acted. But that is a matter of opinion.

I did not mind that they tried something different here. I kind of liked them stepping out for once of the usual pattern. My biggest complaint was the ending. I don't want to ruin it so stop here if you have not seen it. But at the end, Heath shoots the main bad guy and they just quit being psycho and agree to turn themselves in? I do not quite get that they would give up, unless they knew their leader was dead and they had no hope. But they are lunatics, so why would they suddenly be rational?

Overall, it is a weird episode, but I love Heath, so having him dominate an episode is a bonus for me. They went out on a limb, and some won't like that. I enjoyed it, just wish it had been explained better. Had it been refined just a tad, I think more would have liked it. As it is, it is just too confusing for a lot of people. But if you are a fan of the Big Valley, give it a shot. You may like it, you may not, but it's worth a try!
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7/10
Weird episode that was so strange- you just had to watch
kfo949429 August 2012
This episode is weird! I mean weird! And I really could not get a handle on this show since the acting was either so bad it was humorous- or that is was good it was difficult to comprehend. But with any episode that features Leslie Nelson, Robert Donner and John Carradine you know strange things are going to happen. It is one of those episode that was interesting for the first viewing but one would dare not sit through a repeat of the show.

While traveling Heath comes upon this ghost town where he is able to get water. Inside the town there are five people. However the people are not the normal townsfolk but appears to have escape from a mental institution.

When they arrest Heath on made-up charges, they have a mock trial. While some of the people sing others believe they are witnesses to the charges and one believes he is army officer.

The next 40 minutes is a step into a classic sanatorium. It is so hard to explain that one needs to watch the episode to understand the strange events that follow.

The story was not good. In fact, I am not sure if there even was a story. But it is a episode that I will remember for a long time. It was just a odd walk through the mind of crazy people. But that walk held my attention to the end of the episode. I will be the first to say- that was not necessarily a good thing.
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7/10
The mad hatter's house
cmenghi18 August 2019
This episode makes me remember the scene of the madhatter, quite weird. Leslie Nielsen plays his role very good and the whole scenery carries you to a world of strange and bizarre behaviors...Was Alice in Wonderland considered for this script?
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5/10
Leslie Nielsen and John Carradine
kevinolzak10 December 2013
"Town of No Exit" is certainly an appropriate title for this entry, essentially a solo adventure for Lee Majors' Heath Barkley, with only two brief appearances from Richard Long's Jarrod, who need not have bothered at all. Arriving in a deserted ghost town occupied by just five lunatics, Heath finds himself under arrest and facing death, trumped up charges such as theft, rape and murder. The leader is Sgt. Major Earl Conway (Leslie Nielsen), complete with Irish accent, who had deserted Her Majesty's army after committing a murder; there is Elias Brown, attorney at law (John Carradine), who presides as judge for the duration; Pete Haunch (Robert Donner), bailiff and hangman, who digs all the graves; Quita Gomez (Lorri Scott), who tries to convince Heath that she is pregnant and needs his help; and sexy Maggie Delaney (Diana Ewing), endlessly flirting, even bathing nude in front of Heath. Leslie Nielsen is certainly in his element, while Diana Ewing shows why STAR TREK fans will never forget the memorable impression she made on Spock in "The Cloud Minders." Bearded John Carradine is his usual scene stealing self, hamming it up with his gavel, in a far more substantial role than he had on that year's BONANZA, "Dead Wrong."
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5/10
Totally bizarre
bkoganbing17 October 2016
I'm in agreement with another reviewer, this Big Valley episode has to be the craziest ever done on the show.

Lee Majors rides into a ghost town inhabited by five escapees from a loony bin led by Leslie Nielsen. Other include Lorri Scott, John Carradine, Robert Donner, and Diana Ewing.

They're like little kids playing grownup dressup games. They invent little theatrical plays for their own amusement and the occasional passing stranger like Heath Barkley better play along or else.

This episode is a contest in overacting. Poor Lee Majors just stands by in awe of it all. John Carradine when he gets a part like this and he got many of them goes to town. But Leslie Nielsen years before he became Frank Drebbin is just feasting on the furniture.

Some my like it, normally I would rate it higher, but it was just too weird for my taste.
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2/10
Quirky Episode
janet-conant5 June 2022
Many movies of 1968- 1969 were profiling weird characters and experimenting with bizarre scripts. The writers of the Big Valley were getting into the groove of popular movies like The Graduate, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Barbarella, Rosemary's Baby and Once Upon a Time in the West as well as Wild Bunch and Easy Rider where they rubbed your nose in sex and violence. So this episode showing a normal Heath Barkley falling into the trap of this strange band of rejects was just the western trying something new. It didn't work. They wanted to attract a younger audience when we were already attracted to Lee, Peter and Richard.

Right away we see this isn't a normal Big Valley episode as Heath ambles along into freeze frame after frame. As one reviewer said what was the point of all this. I haven't seen this episode in years but remember it had no merit that our hero would be treated so violently and unjust. I just believe they were jumping into the barrage of quirky movies in the late 60's and trying to deviate from a believable script. A waste of Nielsen and Carradine however it was right up John's alley.
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1/10
Many who have watched this will never watch it again
elvisforever-633-6893842 July 2016
it is the opinion of many who are Big Valley fans that this is the worst episode they have ever seen. Totally inappropriate for a western and another stupid psycho drama that continued to dot this show especially the fourth season. The acting may have been acceptable but the story was totally ridiculous and impossible for some people to watch at all and most do not want to see it again. I think that Lee Majors did as good as he could with such a horrible script. Leslie Nielsen seems to be good at playing these type of roles as were the rest of the actors. The fourth season of the Big Valley was certainly not the best season for this wonderful western series and this episode e showed why
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