The Big Valley
| The Big Valley | |
|---|---|
Title card
|
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| Genre | Western |
| Created by |
A.I. Bezzerides Louis F. Edelman |
| Starring |
Barbara Stanwyck Richard Long Lee Majors Linda Evans Peter Breck |
| Country of origin | United States. |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 112 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 50 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions Four Star Television Margate |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | September 15, 1965 – May 19, 1969 |
The Big Valley is an American western television series which ran on ABC from September 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969, starring Barbara Stanwyck, as the widow of a wealthy 19th-century California rancher and Richard Long, Lee Majors, Peter Breck and Linda Evans as her family. The show was created by A.I. Bezzerides and Louis F. Edelman and produced by Levy-Gardner-Laven for Four Star Television.
The TV series was based loosely on the Hill Ranch, which was located at the western edge of Calaveras County, not far from . One episode placed the Barkley Ranch a few hours' ride from town, while another has Jarrod riding past a Calaveras County sign on his way to the TV series' ranch. The Hill Ranch existed from 1855 until 1931, included almost 30,000 acres; and the Mokelumne River ran through it. The source is from an episode in which Heath is on trial in a ghost town with another man (played by Leslie Nielsen) and tells the judge how much land they have. Lawson Hill ran the ranch until he was murdered in 1861. His wife Euphemia (aka "Auntie Hill") then became the matriarch. During their marriage they had four children, one daughter and three sons. Today, the location of the ranch is covered by the waters of Lake Camanche. A California state historical marker standing at Camanche South Shore Park mentions the historic ranch. The set used to film the exterior of the Barkley Mansion stood on the backlot of Republic Studios from 1947 until 1975.
In the first episode, "Palms of Glory," the grave of Thomas Barkley (1813–1870) is shown after it is commented that he fought the railroad six years ago, establishing that the show was initially set no later than 1876. At the beginning of the same episode, Jarrod Barkley and the other actor on the train indirectly say that the year is 1876.
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