Last night I watched the amazing FATAL VISION starring Karl Malden, Andy Griffith, and a very young Gary Cole. It is a true crime mini-series about Capt. Jeffrey MacDonald, a Green Beret who killed his family in 1970 and tried to say they were randomly attacked by murdering hippies. It originally aired in 1984 and has a running time of just over 3 hours.

This got me thinking about TV mini-series, mostly from the 1980s. There were tons on TV and I think the best of them rivaled theatrical productions with huge actors in them. Nowadays, mini-series don't feel as epic to me.

So what are some of your favorite mini-series of all-time? Here are a few others I enjoyed, mostly of the crime genre.

THE DELIBERATE STRANGER (1986) - This is actually the first mini-series I remember watching as a kid. Of course, I knew of ROOTS but had not seen it yet. Mark Harmon is terrific as serial killer Ted Bundy. You also have the cops played by Fredric Forrest and M. Emmet Walsh. WB actually released this on a 2-tape set in the 90s, but no legit DVD has surfaced since.

ECHOES IN THE DARKNESS (1987) - Another excellent true crime story about Professor William Bradfield Jr. (Peter Coyote) who is suspected of murdering his lover Susan Reinert (Stockard Channing). There is excellent support from Peter Boyle and Gary Cole as the cops on the case. And Robert Loggia pops up in a very bizarre role as a school dean related to the crime. Based on the book by Joseph Wambaugh, this actually got released on DVD in the UK. This got me to look up more work by director Glenn Jordan, which led me to...

DRESS GRAY (1986) - This Gore Vidal scripted mystery set on a military base features an all-star case. Seriously, you have Eddie Albert, Lloyd Bridges, Hal Holbrook, James Sikking, Lane Smith, and a very young Alec Baldwin in the lead. Set during the Vietnam era, Baldwin is a young cadet who begins investigating the murder of one of his charges and suspects the higher ups are covering it up. Pretty daring for the time. The end boils to a heated military style court hearing a la A FEW GOOD MEN and Baldwin is really good here (crazy chest hair aside). Also on VHS from WB. I wonder why they don't invest in releasing these on DVD? Surely a big name cast would attract interest.

Been a while since I saw a lot of these so I don't know how well they stand up now, but off the top of my head:

(Haven't included the years but I think most of them are probably familiar to folks here anyway)

Chimera and First Born - two different treatments of the same issue, and the creature in Chimera freaked me out.

The Stand - I've always liked the Stephen King minis, even the bad ones, but this was pretty epic and has remained a favourite ever since. The music is sensational too.

Day of the Triffids - move over Howard Keel, the BBC have done it right.

World War III - grim cold war adventure with David Soul. Never seen this one pop up in re-runs, but mine's an old pre-cert VHS.

The Last Train - another grim post-apocalypse epic which I am assuming was actually a miniseries rather than a series that was cancelled after a season. I'm not entirely sure to be honest.

Low Winter Sun - dark Scottish police mini in which two cops make a pact to dump a colleague in his car in the river and make it look like suicide. Unknown to them, there's already another corpse in the boot of the car when they do it, and things spiral out of control from there...

And probably about ten others that I'll remember as soon as I switch off my computer.

FRESNO! The spoof of late night soaps with a really incredible cast, Carol Burnett, Dabney Coleman, Terri Garr, Charles Grodin, etc. etc.

The reminds me, I have the 14-hour AMERIKA sitting around waiting to be watched. Talk about an epic mini-series. The Cold War certainly gave us lots of viewing pleasure.

ROOTS is so compelling I end up watching several hours every time I come across it. A career-best performance for one of my personal favorites, Madge Sinclair, and another truly remarkable one from Levar Burton....well, what can you say that hasn't already been said? One of TV's all-time greatest programs.

I'd rate it first, by a considerable margin. Some others I recall:

I liked FRESNO at first, but it didn't really stand up to a second viewing as I remember. I remember being disappointed by AMERIKA as well.

I enjoyed GEORGE WASHINGTON and its sequel, both with Barry Bostwick, in the mid-1980's.

SHAKA ZULU was compelling when I saw it; only once, and it's been 20 years. I'd like to see it again.

I also thought FATAL VISION was outstanding. I'm sure there are others; as you mention these were all over the place during the 1980's.

HCH

Never got to see it, but I found out about the first gag of the movie from a review and it's been a favorite quote of mine ever since:

"You call these grapes? They taste like fresno!"

Re: FATAL VISION; Joe McGinniss' book, which the TV movie was based upon, is mucho recommended for true crime enthusiasts, and contains a lot of meaty stuff that the miniseries streamlines. If you can't get enough Jeffery MacDonald madness, MacDonald supporters Jerry Allen Potter and Fred Bost's book FATAL JUSTICE is a dense, intricate and pretty unconvincing counter-VISION.

Ex-Fed turned Satanic panic-crazed PI Ted Gunderson passes through the story, for those fascinated/horrified by conspiracy nuts, Devil cult hunters, and the brave exposers of the Illuminati.

Forgive me, but I love this stuff. Acid is groovy. Kill the pigs.

D'oh! How could I forget to mention quite possibly one of the greatest horror mini-series ever - SALEM'S LOT. Ahem...that would be the 70s version.

NOBLE HOUSE made Hong Kong look so exotic and interesting, I actually moved there for three years. The power of television. :)

HOLOCAUST was almost as good as ROOTS. I imagined a different film from LONESOME DOVE but what they made from it was pretty fine.

I liked SHOGUN, too. Anything with Richard Chamberlain in a period costume was OK with me back in the late 70s and early 80s, when I was reading the books on which the shows were based.

THE WINDS OF WAR and subsequent WAR AND REMEMBRANCE are, what, something like 54 hours of TV combined? Spotty but I watched them all, and Robert Mitchum held it together.

The syndicated ones were trashier than their upscale network cousins, but more fun. I recall John Jakes' THE BASTARD, and EVENING AT BYZANTIUM, where Shirley Jones blows up real good. GOLIATH AWAITS, which got some play here a while back, was another.

AMERIKA, a flop in 1988, was pretty much the last of its kind. Subsequent minis were mini-er in length.

THE THORN BIRDS made a big splash back in the day, but it didn't make much of a lasting impression. When I think of it, I think of the book not the mini, but I always thought Richard Chamberlain was a total stiff as Father Ralph.

For a while there were a number of interesting Australian miniseries playing on US tv. I remember one about the convict days. The heroine was an Irish lass named Mary Larkin, which I only remember because that was grandmother's name. I think the title had WIND in it. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Edit: It was called AGAINST THE WIND and Mary Larkin was the actress's name, not the character name. Bryan Brown was in it though I don't remember him at all. It was a 1978 production.

There was another I remember about a riverboat starring Sigrid Thornton of MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER fame and John Waters, the actor not the director [of BREAKER MORANT fame].

Edit: ALL THE RIVERS RUN (1983)

CHIEFS (1983)

good cast with Charlton Heston, Billy Dee Williams, Brad Harris, Keith Carridine, Tess Harper. The shows details three generations of Police Chiefs to solve the murders of a serial killer. The mini series was such a good format. S shame they don't make them like this anymore.

Ah, THE THORN BIRDS. Maybe not one of Chamberlain's best outings (he starred in a 1996 followup) but given the era it would have been inconceivable without him. But it brought Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown together (married 25 years this April) and gave Barbara Stanwyck her last truly memorable role.

No love yet for V? I love this ratings smash that combines pulp action and a daring concept (aliens take over Earth a la the Nazis during the '30s), and writer/director Kenneth Johnson's commentary on the DVD is outstanding. This guy has a sharp memory (I like his INCREDIBLE HULK tracks too). Johnson dropped out/was forced out of the followup, V: THE FINAL BATTLE, which is good fun, but not as special as the original. A lame weekly series followed.

I too loved V. It's easy to forget how big this was at the time.
I also though Band of Brothers was a great mini series. Saving Private Ryan over six episodes and no Tom Hanks? You can't knock that. I found the Battle of the Bulge episode that focused on the doctor rather than the combatants particularly moving and engrossing.

I favor historical epics such as MASADA and SHOGUN.

I also like the political thriller FAVORITE SON. However, the video version had a lot of important information deleted in favor of a shorter running time, so that cut should be avoided.

This might be my favorite miniseries of all time. The Battle of the Bulge episode was one of my favorites as well, but the whole series was completely engrossing. Of course half the cast is British. Kind of like the 2007 US tv season. ;)

Being the only chick in this thread, I have to speak up for the great chick miniseries: PRIDE & PREJUDICE (1995), NORTH & SOUTH (2004), JANE EYRE (2006). The early 80s JANE EYRE with Zelah Clarke and Timothy Dalton is also quite good, if a little low on production values by modern standards. WIVES & DAUGHTERS (1999) is another good one.

I've been pretty underwhelmed by the current Jane Austen series on MASTERPIECE THEATRE. Oh sorry, that's MASTERPIECE now. They are so strapped for cash these days, they dropped the THEATRE. The biggest problem with the new productions? Not enough time. They crammed them all into 90 minute episodes, which is really about 75 minutes once you chop out the Gillian Anderson intro, the ANTIQUES ROADSHOW ads and teasers for next week's show. The whole story goes by in a rush with no time to savor it. Come Feb. 10, they are repeating the 1995 P&P in three weekly installments, followed by the 1996 tv EMMA (with Kate Beckinsale), which I didn't like, and finally a new two-part SENSE & SENSIBILITY. Hopefully that one will have room to breathe.

For me, Masterpiece Theater programs are in a class of their own. Now out on DVD is its 1972 WAR AND PEACE, with Anthony Hopkins.

But the new Austens indicate fatigue and exhaustion with the whole thing. Maybe best to retire it permanently, or reserve it for an occasional "long-form" like BLEAK HOUSE. All good things, etc.

It should be noted that the two Jane Austens aired so far were ITV productions, not BBC. The upcoming repeats are BBC/A&E co-productions, if memory serves, and the new SENSE & SENSIBILITY is BBC. There's a new MANSFIELD PARK from ITV as well.

While there certainly has been a glut of Austen in recent years, I was really hoping they'd do NORTHANGER ABBEY and MANSFIELD PARK right, since the existing versions leave a lot to be desired. NA was not bad. I thought they did a pretty decent job with the casting. But it was so rushed. A friend who is a member of JASNA and more on top of these things told me that Andrew Davies was offered 4 hours for S&S and he insisted on 3. As she said, what's the damned rush? It's television. You can take all the time you need.

Like The Martian Chronicles for example.

Two that haven't been mentioned yet:

LONESOME DOVE - A great cast and story. Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones make a great tired old cowboy duo, presaging Eastwood and Freeman in UNFORGIVEN. The sequels kinda milked the premise dry, but this first mini was practically perfect. Like a lot of minis, I wish the opening and closing titles were a bit classier - the freeze frame endings are so POLICE SQUAD.

I, CLAUDIUS - HBO's ROME outdid it in many ways (especially the visuals), but this drama focusing on a succession of Caesars is still the best vesion of the subject. What a cast! Derek Jacobi, Siân Phillips, Brian Blessed, John Hurt, Ian Ogilvy, George Baker, Patrick Stewart, John Rhys-Davies for a start. I tend to watch this through about once a year, and always find myself having to resist the urge to start all over again immediately after the last episode.

I've been looking at the QB VII DVD on my shelf for years. Should I finally put the darn thing in and watch it?

Sure, although it's not as good as the book.

Many thanks for recommending this one. I found it on eBay for cheap a few weeks ago and just watched it tonight. A great thriller with three really nice plot twists in the beginning. This is the first thing I have seen Brian McCardie in and I thought he was fantastic.

BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ - Devestatingly powerful. A genius at the height of his powers.

BRIDESHEAD REVISITED - Perfectly cast and flawlessly executed. It depends a lot on whether you can relate to these forlorn characters but I had no trouble. The ultimate themes involving faith were challenging.

I CLAVDIVS - Suffers slightly from lack of budget. Livia's speech to the gladiators is great but they could go nowhere near the ring. Still I watched each chapter thinking they could never top this weeks outrage but they always did. At least a dozen towering performances

BLEAK HOUSE - The problem with adapting old books, like with most of the Austins, is that you can't just put people in costumes and have them ride around in carriages reciting the dialog. The director has to use picture and sound to make it vital. This Dickens adaptation almost took that idea over the edge at times but this was pretty compelling.

I recently took in Martin Campbell's 1985 mini-series EDGE OF DARKNESS. I discovered it when it was recently announced that Campbell is mounting a remake with Mel Gibson (in his first starring role in years) in the lead. I don't want to ruin anything with a plot synopsis, but I will say this is really good. I actually think it will work better in a film format as I found the 5-hour running time to be too dragged out. Bob Peck is incredible in the lead Inspector role and Joe Don Baker is perfectly cast as the loud American. The end is pretty sinister and I am definitely wondering how they will handle it in the remake.

Great, isn't it? And as good a fit as Mel is for the Peck role, he would kill in Baker's.

RICH MAN POOR MAN gave us Nick Nolte, Fionulla Flanagan and an unforgettable role for William Smith!

As a kid, I enjoyed THE DAIN CURSE with James Coburn...very catchy opening theme music...but it seems to be not particularly well-regarded these days.

One I'd like to see again is EVENING IN BYZANTIUM. It may have been only a two-parter...Does that disqualify it from mini-series standing? All I really remember about it is ze old exploding bathrobe ploy, but apparently the plot has some prescient 9/11 similarities.

As far as Dickens goes, My favorite is the 1998 version of OUR MUTUAL FRIEND. Very atmospheric with the river as a centerpiece, in the days when people made livings by scavenging from dead bodies dragged from the Thames. The cast is excellent: Steven Mackintosh, Anna Friel, Keeley Hawes, Paul McGann, Kenneth Cranham, Timothy Spall, David Bradley and especially David Morrissey as the menacing Mr. Headstone.

Another UK series that I like a lot is ULTRAVIOLET. It's basically a police procedural with vampires and it played over here on SciFi years ago, but they chopped a lot out of it making it fairly incomprehensible. It's available on DVD. The cast includes Jack Davenport, Idris Elba, Susannah Harker and Corin Redgrave.

Now that the Austen well has run dry, the Beeb has turned to Elizabeth Gaskell with great success. The currently airing [on MT] CRANFORD is enjoyable. I also loved both WIVES & DAUGHTERS and NORTH & SOUTH.

. . . I don't know if this was one long mini-series spread over three parts, or a little series, but we loved the BBC/Masterpiece Theatre productions of HOUSE OF CARDS, TO PLAY THE KING, and THE FINAL CUT, which told of the rise and fall of Francis Urquhart (Ian Richardson in his greatest role), a nasty British politician who lies, cheats, schemes, backstabs and murders his way up the ladder of party politics right into the Prime Minister's residence, while all the time doing very funny shakespearian asides to the viewing audience so that we will always be aware of how clever he thinks he is . . . it was quite the thing when originally shown on television in the early to mid-90s . . . we have this one on video tape; there was a DVD set, but it appears to have discontinued . . .