The West, sometimes marketed as Ken Burns Presents: The West, is a 1996 television documentaryminiseries about the American Old West. It was directed by Stephen Ives and featured Ken Burns as executive producer. It was first broadcast on PBS on eight consecutive nights from September 15 to 22, 1996.
Stephen Ives and Ken Burns had worked together on several previous series, including The Civil War (1990) and Baseball (1994).[1] In 1988, Ives created his own production company, Insignia Films, and began working on The West as director, with Burns signed on to the project as executive producer.[1] In order to create The West, the film crew traveled over 100,000 miles (160,000 km) via airplane, conducted 72 interviews, visited 74 archives and collections, and filmed more than 250 hours of footage.[2] Research consultants included Peter E. Palmquist, independent research expert on photographs of the period. The film's production was funded by General Motors.[3]
The West premiered on September 15, 1996, on PBS. The series was split into episodes, with one episode being aired each night for eight consecutive nights. Episodes were cut to about 90 minutes each in length, for a total length of over 12 hours for the entire series. The final episode aired on September 22, 1996.[5]
When The West was released on VHS, the finale episode, "One Sky Above Us," was divided into two one-hour episodes, titled "Ghost Dance" and "One Sky Above Us." This VHS edition was released September 24, 1996. PBS later released a five-disc DVD set of The West on September 30, 2003.[6]
Film and television critics also responded positively to The West. Caryn James of The New York Times praised the series for its "enthralling detail" and authenticity, calling it "fiercely and brilliantly rooted in fact."[9]Richard Zoglin of TIME judged the series "a sweeping, thoughtful, often moving look at America's conquest of the West",[10] and Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times wrote that, "director Stephen Ives succeeds magnificently, delivering a lush work at once fully documented and fully entertaining... no one could ask for better television."[11]
^"Commentators and Consultants". The West. WETA-TV. 2001. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
^"Episodes". The West. WETA-TV. 2001. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
^"Ken Burns' America: The West". VideoETA. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
^Rankin, Charles E. (Autumn 1997). "'Not Such a Pretty Picture': Complexity and Understanding in 'The West'". The Western Historical Quarterly. 28 (3): 298–304. doi:10.2307/971020. JSTOR 971020.
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The West sometimes marketed as Ken Burns Presents The West is a 1996 television documentary miniseries about the American Old West It was directed by Stephen Ives and featured Ken Burns as executive producer It was first broadcast on PBS on eight consecutive nights from September 15 to 22 1996 The WestDVD cover for The WestAlso known asKen Burns Presents The WestGenreDocumentaryWritten byDayton DuncanGeoffrey WardDirected byStephen IvesVoices ofAdam ArkinMatthew BroderickKeith CarradineJohn LithgowGary SiniseJimmy SmitsEli WallachNarrated byPeter CoyoteTheme music composerMatthias GohlCountry of originUnited StatesOriginal languageEnglishNo of seasons1No of episodes8ProductionExecutive producerKen BurnsProducersStephen IvesJody AbramsonMichael KantorRunning time12 hours 8 episodes Production companiesInsignia FilmsFlorentine FilmsWETA TVTime Life Video and TelevisionReleaseOriginal networkPBSPicture formatBlack and WhiteColorAudio formatDolbyOriginal releaseSeptember 15 1996 09 15 September 22 1996 1996 09 22 Contents 1 Production 2 Original airing 2 1 Episodes 2 2 Home video release 3 Reception 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksProduction EditStephen Ives and Ken Burns had worked together on several previous series including The Civil War 1990 and Baseball 1994 1 In 1988 Ives created his own production company Insignia Films and began working on The West as director with Burns signed on to the project as executive producer 1 In order to create The West the film crew traveled over 100 000 miles 160 000 km via airplane conducted 72 interviews visited 74 archives and collections and filmed more than 250 hours of footage 2 Research consultants included Peter E Palmquist independent research expert on photographs of the period The film s production was funded by General Motors 3 Notable interviewees included historians Stephen Ambrose J S Holliday and Richard White novelists Maxine Hong Kingston and N Scott Momaday environmentalists and writers Terry Tempest Williams and Marc Reisner and politicians Ben Nighthorse Campbell Ann Richards Stewart Udall and Ralph Yarborough 4 Many notable actors lent their voices to The West including Adam Arkin Matthew Broderick Ossie Davis Keith Carradine John Lithgow Mary Stuart Masterson Blythe Danner the famous playwright Arthur Miller Jimmy Smits and Eli Wallach The film s narrator Peter Coyote would later narrate ten more documentary films directed or produced by Burns including The National Parks America s Best Idea 2009 The Roosevelts An Intimate History 2014 The Vietnam War 2017 The Mayo Clinic Faith Hope Science 2018 and Country Music 2019 Original airing EditThe West premiered on September 15 1996 on PBS The series was split into episodes with one episode being aired each night for eight consecutive nights Episodes were cut to about 90 minutes each in length for a total length of over 12 hours for the entire series The final episode aired on September 22 1996 5 Episodes Edit No Episode Original air date1 The People to 1806 September 15 1996 1996 09 15 The West Episode 1 The People to 1806 The Vision The Vast West The Spaniards Thunder Rolling from the Mountains The Horse Dog Soldiers Tribal War California The Corps of Discovery The Outsiders2 Empire Upon the Trails 1806 1848 September 16 1996 1996 09 16 Americans want America Episode 2 Empire Upon the Trails 1806 1848 The Heart of Everything Tejas Texas The Alamo In the Midst of Savage Darkness The Barren Rock The Mormons Westward I go Free What a Country this Might be So we Die The American Flag3 Speck of the Future 1848 1856 September 17 1996 1996 09 17 Discovery The Gold Rush Episode 3 Speck of the Future 1848 1856 My Share of the Rocks The Real Danger Cholera Kit Carson Stay at Home The Diggings Wine Women and Song The Right of Conquest Emporium of the Pacific The Red Indian Problem Days of 494 Death Runs Riot 1856 1868 September 18 1996 1996 09 18 War on the Horizon Episode 4 Death Runs Riot 1856 1868 Mountain Meadows Massacre The Mexicans This Guilty Land Civil War Anarchy Preachers and Jackass Rabbits Who is the Savage The Everywhere Spirit General George Custer5 The Grandest Enterprise Under God 1868 1874 September 19 1996 1996 09 19 The Railroad Episode 5 The Grandest Enterprise Under God 1868 1874 The Buffalo The Artillery of Heaven The Spotted Cows One People Frank H Mayer Good Company Cowboys A Wound in the Heart6 Fight No More Forever 1874 1877 September 20 1996 1996 09 20 Red Indians Fight Back Episode 6 Fight No More Forever 1874 1877 General George Custer Sitting Bull Hard Times A Good Day to Die Custer s Last Stand Disbelief and Revenge Center my Heart Mormon Sacrifice Good Words Chief Joseph Surrender7 The Geography of Hope 1877 1887 September 21 1996 1996 09 21 Conquest of The West Episode 7 The Geography of Hope 1877 1887 The Hunger for Land A Hard Time I Have The Chinese Problem The Romance of my Life Los Angeles The Brothel of the Nation Friends of the Indian Hell Without the Heat Buffalo Bill Cody8 One Sky Above Us 1887 1914 September 22 1996 1996 09 22 Part 1A Part on the Back Episode 8 One Sky Above Us 1887 1914 The Outcome of our Earnest Endeavours Ghost Dance P S I Like You Very MuchPart 2Without Logic Go North Young Man This isn t History Buffalo Bird Woman Will Never Leave You The GiftHome video release Edit When The West was released on VHS the finale episode One Sky Above Us was divided into two one hour episodes titled Ghost Dance and One Sky Above Us This VHS edition was released September 24 1996 PBS later released a five disc DVD set of The West on September 30 2003 6 Reception EditThe West was well received by both popular audiences and historians Over 38 million viewers watched the series during its original airing 1 and it earned an average national Nielsen rating of 5 0 7 In 1997 the Organization of American Historians awarded The West its Erik Barnouw Award 8 Film and television critics also responded positively to The West Caryn James of The New York Times praised the series for its enthralling detail and authenticity calling it fiercely and brilliantly rooted in fact 9 Richard Zoglin of TIME judged the series a sweeping thoughtful often moving look at America s conquest of the West 10 and Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times wrote that director Stephen Ives succeeds magnificently delivering a lush work at once fully documented and fully entertaining no one could ask for better television 11 References Edit a b c Stephen Ives Insignia Films Retrieved 2009 08 09 New Perspectives on THE WEST The West WETA TV 2001 Retrieved 2009 08 09 A Message From the Sponsor PBS 2001 Commentators and Consultants The West WETA TV 2001 Retrieved 2009 08 10 Episodes The West WETA TV 2001 Retrieved 2009 08 09 Ken Burns America The West VideoETA Retrieved 2009 08 09 Rankin Charles E Autumn 1997 Not Such a Pretty Picture Complexity and Understanding in The West The Western Historical Quarterly 28 3 298 304 doi 10 2307 971020 JSTOR 971020 OAH Erik Barnouw Award Winners Organization of American Historians Archived from the original on June 3 2009 Retrieved 2009 08 09 James Caryn 1996 09 15 How The West Was Lost As a Staple Of TV The New York Times Retrieved 2009 08 09 Zoglin Richard 1996 09 16 White men behaving badly TIME Vol 148 no 13 p 76 Rosenberg Howard 1996 09 13 The West Is Stunning History of a Magnificent Bloody Land Los Angeles Times Retrieved 2009 08 09 Further reading EditWard Geoffrey C 2003 The West An Illustrated History Back Bay Books ISBN 0 316 73589 2 External links Edit Wikiquote has quotations related to The West miniseries Official website The West at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The West miniseries amp oldid 1121551045, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
