Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

alan viets This show had everything you could ever want from a TV Show. Drama, comedy, and action. Even a touch of horror, I can still hear Bradford Dillman creepily calling "Audra". Social biting commentary on issues that were important then, now and forever. Racial tensions, poverty, labor disputes, sexism and ageism. The cast was first class and does not need me to sing their praises. So lets look at the guest stars and bit parts: Charles Bronson, William Shatner, Ronnie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Richard Dreyfuss, Jo Ann Pflug, Regis Philbin, Cloris Leachman, Karen Black, Harry Dean Stanton, John Carradine, Wayne Rogers, Charles Grodin, George Kennedy, Leslie Nielsen, Joe Don Baker, Anne Baxter, Adam West, Lee Grant, Robert Goulet, Julie Harris, Robert Loggia, Carol Lynley, Ellen Burstyn, Milton Berle, Jill St. John, Buddy Hackett, Katharine Ross, Martin Landau, Dennis Hopper, Warren Oates... But of course my personal favorite was James Gregory as Simon Carter. In Short: Good Family Show, Watch It.

BasicLogic The major drawback is the overdone custom tailored costumes for Barbara Stanwyck. Yes, she's the leading and the soul of this series, but spending so much production budget on her ever-changing dresses is not what I'd consider a realistic touch or a plus for this Western series. Besides, it seems that most of her custom tailored costumes just turn out to be funny, a more theatrical but out-of-touch of that era, those costumes just look more theatrically pretentious and over exaggerated, specially cut, ironed, steam-pressed...a whole warehouse for her personal wardrobe, specially made for her as a fashion show for a model on a runway instead of allowing and convincing viewers to feel more realistic. Her constantly changed new dresses whenever she appeared on a new scene, simply overwhelmed me too much, because she looked more like a peacock instead of a realistic ranch woman. Don't know if its her requirement or request as one of her conditions to sign on, it's just too much.The whole big mansion-like house only got one old black as butler, housekeeper and, cook? How this old guy managed these jobs at the same time? No other servants, maids, cook, or even sewing teams and a personal tailor to accommodate her high living standard? Every time when she stepped down from the staircase, every scene when she appeared, alas, there's new dress with impeccable hairdo....Jesus, what a peacock! I've just finished Season 1, Episode 5, the screenplays are simply great! All the leading characters, male or female, all did great jobs. I've constantly found myself deeply moved by some of the great moments in these five episodes and wouldn't doubt there'll be more to come in the later series of every seasons and every coming episode. A great series, that's for sure.So far, I've only found some slips of the directing flaw in 1x03 - Boots with My Father's Name, when Victoria Barkley was rescued in time by Heath Barkley and drove away in her buggy, the production team overlooked the fact that Heath got to ride his horse to Strawberry to save her, he was not parachuted from mid-air, so where was his horse? It should be tied up behind the buggy, yet we didn't see it. Until Heath killed the guy who tried to ambush them. Then, on the next scene, when the buggy drove into town, suddenly, his horse was led behind the buggy. There's no way you could explain the carelessness but by saying it's the horse of the guy that he killed at the ambush site.In 1x27 - The River Monarch, Nick was twice shot first by those gold gang from behind his back, but his head wound location was very funny, if he was ambushed and shot from behind. Then he was again shot by his old commander in the mine tunnel, also from the back. It was clearly shown he was shot from behind to his right back shoulder, but when the scene changed, his wound had moved from right to his left. Very carelessly arranged after scene changed. Also, a general funny thing that I often found in all of the TV movies: When people appeared in the street, they often got so many shadows all around them, because the lighting sources were from all the different angles, but if they were out in the open, the light could only come from one source, the sun, and sunshine could only cast you one shadow only and that shadow would come from the only light source. There's no way any object or any person could have so many shadows around them. in 1x29 - Tunnel of Gold, we found out that the female actor who once played as the aunt of Heath suddenly became the old friend of Victoria Barkley, but in that former episode, she was the vicious woman tried to kill Victoria by hiring a grifter gunman to ambush Mrs. Barkley. We know that one of the big problems of making a long drama series is having to hire more actors to play different roles in different episodes. But if you maintain those major roles to continue playing the same roles by the same actors through out all of the whole seasons, some supporting actors who have once played some major roles in certain episodes should not played different roles and appeared in the same season or even the whole drama series, because that would look weird, since all the major roles are played by the same actors all way through, if they cannot be changed or replaced by different actors, same rule should be applied to the other major supporting actors. So this 1x27 episode just looked weird and inappropriate. Another goof here. And one thing that I want to add here is that after I've viewed Season 1, the whole series just went soft and bland, almost every episode in Season 2 was boring enough to stop me watching along. Just terrible! The repetitive actors and actresses kept showing up in different episodes with different roles, making this series become more and more flaky and false. Yes, I know that I have to suffer again and again about the absurdity of Stanwyck's so many funny peacock-like new clothes whenever she showed up in any new scene, but that's a necessary evil that I have to tolerate for her great acting as the soul of this series. Amen.

cqui2004 Peter Breck has recently become very ill. His wife wrote a complete synopsis on his health in his web site. Please read it and go to the bottom of the home page. Write to him and tell him how much you enjoyed the adventure. He can still read and his wife prints out his emails for him to read. They could both use the love right now! They live in Vancouver British Colombia. They have stood together through thick and thin and really appreciate his fans. All you have to do is Google Peter Breck and you find his web site, which I only found in 2009 through Wikipedia. Even if you don't read the site first just tell him why you enjoyed his character, Nick.

WilliamJDeal My husband recently gave me the 1st season on DVD for my 50th birthday present. What a surprise and a treasure! I grew up on a small farm in Pennsylvania and The Big Valley came into my life around my 9th birthday. It never left me! I always loved horses but loving the show opened up a wholesome, healthy world of pretend and play. Our big old barn was transformed (in my mind) into the gorgeous Barkley home, and I usually played Nick on Coco. When I look back to how much time I spent playing with my horses, and bringing my friends and siblings into my Barkley world, I'm so thankful. I remember creating new story lines and acting them out. I often recruited other kids to be the rest of the Barkleys, and also Fred the Sheriff, Silas, and other neighbors. Those who wouldn't ride were usually Audra and Victoria. When some kids went on to become interested in not-so-safe ventures, I began writing screenplays and stories, some of which I used as reports for English Comp. class in High School. I have so many good memories of this wonderful show. I believe my own kids watch it out of kindness to me, but I know the underlying moral issues of the stories may take root in their minds too and someday they will appreciate it too. How thankful I am to everyone responsible for bringing this wonderful piece of my personal history to life, and a special thanks to Victoria, Jarod, Nick, Heath, and Audra. And thank you to so many folks, just like me, who take the time to write such positive messages about such wonderful entertainment, and to share your memories too.