The Awakening Land

(NBC, 2/19/1978 to 2/21/1978, 3 Parts, 7 hours). A lusty frontier saga (told in three parts over seven hours) about a pioneer woman and her love for her family, the man she marries, and the land on which she lives, dramatized from Conrad Richter’s Pulitzer Prize-winning trilogy. Emmy Award nominations went to Elizabeth Montgomery (her 10th), Hal Holbrook and Jeanette Nolan for their acting, Michel Hugo for his cinematography, Fred Karlin for his music score and Bernard J. Small for his film editing. The drama’s authenticity came in part from the unusual speech patterns and dialects adapted for the actors by former dancer Marge Champion who drew upon an apparent family heritage for dialogue realism.

Production Company Warner Bros. Television. Director Boris Sagal. Executive Producers Harry Bernsen, Tom Kuhn. Producer Robert E Relyea. Teleplays “The Trees” and “The Fields” James Lee Barrett. Teleplay “The Town” Liam O’Brien. Based on the Novels by Conrad Richter. Photography Michel Hugo. Music Fred Karlin. Editor Bernard J. Small. Production Designer Jack F. DeShields. Associate Producer Robin S. Clark. Dialogue Supervisor Marge Champion. Dance Movement Marge Champion.

Cast Elizabeth Montgomery (Sayward Luckett Wheeler), Hal Holbrook (Portius Wheeler/The Solitary), Jane Seymour (Genny Luckett), Steven Keats (Jack Tench), Louise Latham (Jary Luckett), Tony Mockus (Worth Luckett), Derin Altay (Achsa Luckett), Michelle Stacy (Sulie Luckett), Barney McFadden (Louie Scurrah), William H Macy (Will Beagle), Jeanette Nolan (Granny McWhirter), James O’Reilly (Angus Witherspoon), Charles Tyner (Reverend Hutchins), Dorrie Kavanaugh (Mistress Bartram), Bert Remsen (Isaac Barker), Sandra Wheeler (Cora Baker), Art Kassul (George Roebuck), Louis Blante (Zephron Brown), George Holcomb (Danny Goldring), Charles Gowan (Allen Hamilton), Sean Frye (Resolve Wheeler), Johnny Timko (Kinzie Wheeler), Pia Romans (Huldah Wheeler), Theresa Landreth (Sulie Wheeler), Dennis Dimster (Chancey Wheeler), Tracy Kleronomos (Dezia Wheeler), Katy Kurtzman (Rosa Tench), Byrne Piven (Dr. Pearsall), Devon Ericson (Huldah [as an Adult]), Martin Scanlan (Resolve as an Adult), Paul Swanson (Kinzie as an Adult), Joan Tompkins (Aunt Cornelia).