''Sara'' is a 1976 American Western television series starring Brenda Vaccaro centering around a schoolteacher in Colorado in the 1870s. It aired from February 13 to May 7, 1976 on CBS.McNeil, Alex, ''Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present'', New York: Penguin Books, 1996, p. 724.Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present, Sixth Edition'', New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, , p. 901. After ''Sara'' ended, a television movie, ''Territorial Men'', compiled from footage shot for the weekly series, was broadcast on July 30, 1976.

Synopsis

In the 1870s, young, unmarried schoolteacher Sara Yarnell decides to leave behind her dull, predictable life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and move to the Western frontier, where she can face new challenges. Answering a newspaper advertisement for a schoolteacher, she settles in Independence, Colorado, where she becomes the only teacher in a one-room schoolhouse. Strong-willed, she fights fiercely against ignorance and prejudice that she encounters in Independence, much to the dismay of some of the more conservative local residents, who had thought they were getting a far more passive schoolteacher. She also believes strongly that education is a necessity and a right – one of her first actions after arriving in Independence is to demand new readers and a new outhouse for the school – putting her at odds with local residents who view it as an unnecessary luxury. Her stances and actions have differing effects on the various people in her life in Independence. They offend her landlady, Martha Higgins, and draw mixed responses from schoolboard members Emmett Ferguson, Claude Barstow, and George Bailey, who also is a banker in the town. However, her principles and goals receive the approval of the towns newspaper editor, Martin Pope, and of Saras friend Julia Bailey, who also is Georges wife, as well as of Saras students, which include Marthas daughters Debbie and Emma and George and Julias son Georgie.Classic Television Archive Sara
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Cast

* Brenda Vaccaro...Sara Yarnell * Bert Kramer...Emmett Ferguson *Albert Stratton...Martin Pope * William Phipps...Claude Barstow *William Wintersole...George Bailey *

Mariclare Costello Mariclare Costello (born February 3, 1936) is a retired American television, stage, and movie actress. She is a lifetime member of The Actors Studio. Costello's most notable role was that of Rosemary Hunter Fordwick on the television series ''The ...

...Julia Bailey * Louise Latham...Martha Higgins *

Kraig Metzinger Kraig Metzinger (born March 19, 1963) is an American former child actor, who played the role of Maude Findlay's grandson Phillip Traynor on the sitcom '' Maude'' for the show's final season in 1977–1978. He was born in Los Angeles, Californi ...

...Georgie Bailey *Debbie Lytton...Debbie Higgins * Hallie Todd...Emma Higgins * Albert Henderson...Samuel Higgins

Production

Michael Gleason created ''Sara'', and George Eckstein was its

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

. Richard J. Collins

produced Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

the show. Episode directors included William F. Claxton, Lawrence Dobkin,

Daniel Haller Daniel Haller (born September 14, 1929) is an American film and television director, production designer, and art director. Life and career Haller was born in Glendale, California on September 14, 1929. He studied at the Chouinard Art Institu ...

, Gordon Hessler,

Alf Kjellin Alf Kjellin (; 28 February 1920 – 5 April 1988) was a Swedish film actor and director, who also appeared on some television shows. Biography Kjellin underwent two changes of names in his early days in Hollywood. The first studio for which he ...

, Stuart Margolin, Leo Penn,

Joseph Pevney Joseph Pevney (September 15, 1911 – May 18, 2008) was an American film and television director.

, Michael Preece, Jud Taylor, and William Wiard. Writers included Gleason, Pietra Mazza, Robert Pirosh,

Katharyn Michaelian Powers Katharyn Michaelian Powers is a television writer who wrote for several television series from the 1970s through the 1990s. Among the series she has written episodes for are ''Charlie's Angels'', ''Fantasy Island'', '' Airwolf'' and '' Stargate S ...

, Elizabeth Wilson, and Jerry Ziegman. Lee Holdridge composed the shows theme song, "Saras Theme." ''Sara'' was based on the novel ''The Revolt of Sarah Perkins'' by Marian Cockrell. Brenda Vaccaro received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series nomination for her performance in ''Sara.''

Broadcast history

''Sara'' premiered on CBS on February 13, 1976.IMDb Sara Episode List
/ref> It drew low ratings and was cancelled after the broadcast of its twelfth episode on May 7, 1976. On July 30, 1976, CBS broadcast a made-for-television movie, ''Territorial Men'', compiled from footage shot for the weekly series.

Episodes

Sources

References

{{reflist

External links

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074051/?ref_=tt_ch CBS original programming Television series by Universal Television 1976 American television series debuts 1976 American television series endings 1970s Western (genre) television series English-language television shows Television series set in the 1870s Television shows set in Colorado