The Road West is an American television Western series that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

from September 12, 1966, to May 1, 1967.

Overview

Ben Pride moves with his children Timothy, Midge, and Kip, his new wife Elizabeth, his father Tom, and his brother-in-law Chance from

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

during the 1860s. The show centers around the difficulties the family faces taming the land and homesteading.

Cast

Episodes

Production

Executive producer Macdonnell regarded the show's storyline as being identifiable to the viewing audience, with an essential family unit comprising family members "bound to the other by either a true familiar relationship or by an intangible camaraderie". A core idea of the show was to present a realistic portrayal of the real struggles faced by settlers who traveled 'The Road West', with extreme temperatures in each of the summer and winter seasons. The show's lead actor,

Barry Sullivan Barry Sullivan may refer to: *Barry Sullivan (American actor) (1912–1994), US film and Broadway actor *Barry Sullivan (stage actor) (1821–1891), Irish born stage actor active in Britain and Australia *Barry Sullivan (lawyer) Barry Sullivan is ...

, was marking his fourth series and described the show as being "a piece of pioneer literature". He had previously expressed that he would never star in a weekly television series again, although he warmed to the show when he began working closely with the cast and crew. Having spent long periods of time driving an old wagon for the show, Sullivan decided to take lessons and spent seven consecutive Saturdays in

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perfecting the driving technique. Production moved away from Kansas in 1967, with it reported that the shift in location was always the plan, although happened sooner than anticipated due to the show's future being at risk. Ratings struggled against other shows including ''

Family Affair ''Family Affair'' is an American sitcom starring Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966, to March 4, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do engineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Keith) as he attemp ...

'' and '' The Felony Squad'', while Seel's character Tom Pride was killed off to reduce costs.

Filming

Sullivan said in an interview that scripts for the show would be provided several weeks in advance, which allowed time to absorb the scripts in order to perfect their lines and character portrayals.

Reception

The show was highly anticipated by ''

The Atlanta Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

'' writer Paul Jones, who predicted that the show would "be the most successful new show of the television season", based on his opinion that there had not been a western show flop for considerable time and of his high rating for producer Norman Macdonnell.