The Young Pioneers
GenreWestern/family/drama
Based onYoung Pioneers by Rose Wilder Lane
Developed byBlanche Hanalis (developed for television by)
Directed by
Starring
Opening themeDominic Frontiere (instrumental)
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes3
Production
Executive producers
Producers
Running timevaried – 97 and 47 minutes
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseApril 2 (1978-04-02) –
April 16, 1978 (1978-04-16)

The Young Pioneers was a trial-run ABC Western television series about young newlyweds who settle in the Dakota Territory during the 1870s. If the first three episodes had received good ratings the series may have found a place on the network’s fall lineup.[1]

The series was based on the plot of Rose Wilder Lane’s 1933 novel Let the Hurricane Roar, which was reissued as Young Pioneers[2] though the main characters names came from her novel Free Land.[3]

In March 1975 the television film Young Pioneers was watched by 40 million viewers,[4] so in December 1975 a second film Young Pioneers' Christmas continued the story of homesteaders Molly and David Beaton, and served as a pilot for a planned ABC series.[5] The Young Pioneers series aired on Sundays at 7 p.m.[6] The first episode was a two-hour movie, followed by two sixty-minute episodes.[7]

Cast

Production

The series’ exterior scenes were filmed on the Empire Ranch, near Sonoita, Arizona,[4] with interior shots filmed at the 20th Century-Fox studios in Hollywood. Four sod structures were built for the series, with a house and a barn in both Arizona and California.[9]

Ed Friendly, who had earlier produced the two-hour pilot film for NBCs Little House on the Prairie, was The Young Pioneers producer.[4] Earl Hamner, creator of The Waltons, was brought in to help with the project. He wanted the series to progress like a novel, with each episode to be a single chapter, and the audience seeing the progression of the nearest town of Wildrose.[10]

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"Sky in the Window"Irving J. MooreBlanche Hanalis, Robert Pirosh, Katharyn PowersApril 2, 1978 (1978-04-02)
Molly and David are held hostage in their barn by Native Americans. Will the wounded brave allow Molly to help him?[11]
2"A Kite for Charlie"Irving J. MooreBlanche HanalisApril 9, 1978 (1978-04-09)
Neighbor boy Charlie may die unless the town’s young inexperienced doctor performs surgery on him.[12]
3"A Promise for Spring"Irving J. MooreBlanche HanalisApril 16, 1978 (1978-04-16)
Molly is seriously injured during a prairie storm.[13]

References

  1. ^ Lee Margulies, Trial Run for Young Pioneers, The Los Angeles Times, April 1, 1978, page 32
  2. ^ Rose Wilder Lane, Young Pioneers, Bantam Book, 1976
  3. ^ Rose Wilder Lane, Free Land, pages 1, 13, The World Publishing Company, 1945
  4. ^ a b c Spend Christmas with 'Young Pioneers' Dec. 19, Lebanon Daily News (Lebanon, PA), December 11, 1976, page 26
  5. ^ "Young Pioneers", The Reporter-Times (Martinsville, Indiana), December 6, 1975, page 16
  6. ^ 'Young Pioneers' new family western, News-Journal (Mansfield, Ohio), April 2, 1978, page 78
  7. ^ Earl Hamner’s new series, The Salt Lake Tribune, April 2, 1978, page 48
  8. ^ [Terry Rowan, The American Western A Complete Film Guide, page 453, Lulu, 2013]
  9. ^ Grass Houses, The Herald-Sun (Durham, NC), January 9, 1977, page 68
  10. ^ Earl Hamner’s new series, The Salt Lake Tribune, April 2, 1978, page 48
  11. ^ Pioneers Held By Indians, The Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee), April 2, 1978, page 108
  12. ^ Television Today, News-Journal (Mansfield, Ohio), April 9, 1978, page 50
  13. ^ 'Holocaust' opens with genocide (TV listing), News-Journal (Mansfield, Ohio), April 16, 1978, page 33

External links

Laura Ingalls Wilder
Categories