Lee Majors and Linda Evans were newcomers and not the best actors at the time, but who can argue that Stanwyck wasn't a pillar of her profession here? Richard Long had been in films and TV for 20 years, Peter Breck for 10, and they were both well trained and excellent old hands at their profession. Add to that, the characters they portrayed really were characters of some depth. Jarrod and Nick were nothing alike, and not identical to characters Long and Breck had played before. Their skill and professionalism showed. Victoria was the boss but a feminine boss, not a Ben Cartwright knock-off and not like some of the wild women Stanwyck had played through the years. Majors and Evans needed a lot of work - Majors especially needed a long, long sit down with Stanwyck to get set in the right direction - but they had an excellent, well seasoned cast to work with in Stanwyck, Long and Breck, and that made all the difference. This was one of the most well-rounded family of characters on TV at the time. The series was sometimes hamstrung by less than stellar writing, but Stanwyck, Long and Breck saved more than one weak script. It was an excellent series.
Review of The Big Valley
