eileenknows This was a great movie but the characters all had interesting view points. Mistress Bartram was the school teacher who was educated. She is thrown into an affair with the married (highly educated)man to Elizabeth Montgomery's character, who was uneducated. The mistress became pregnant. This was the real awakening for me. Because her lover was married she set out one night to the local tavern to pick up whoever she could so she could get married and have her baby. There were no educated men that were available so she married someone beneath her intelligence and that was the most horrible punishment anyone could pay. No way out. Elizabeth's character rose above and met the higher standards of her husband and worked to become educated. Dorrie Kavanaugh who was also a beautiful woman sadly died a few years after making this film. I will always remember her as having a style that no one has ever duplicated. She was graceful with culture and intelligence, a very beautiful woman.

spike66 Here is a wild one for you. I saw The Awakening Land almost accidentally when I was getting ready to go to college in 1978. It has been rattling around in my brain all these time, almost 30 years, as a singular example of excellent television. The story and the characters stuck in my mind as a paragon of excellent writing, the best I have seen in a TV script. It wasn't until this night that I learned that it was a three part miniseries. I never knew that. I only saw the one episode (I think the first) where Saird meets and marries the Solitary. Now I am going nuts trying to find where I can get the other two episodes on DVD. Looks like I can't. Guess I will get the books. spike

avalentine001 I remember seeing this remarkable production on British TV when I was a student in the early 1980's. I enjoyed it enormously, and was riveted to the screen for 3 successive Sundays. Out of all the American mini-series that have been broadcast over here, this is the only one that sticks in my mind. I've waited in vain all these years for it to be broadcast again, or better still, released on DVD. The casting, storyline, characterisation and acting were all superb. Not only is it THE American mini-series, but I would also rate it up alongside the best of the BBC classic dramas. I do hope that it can one day be released on DVD or even on video - I will be one of the first buyers.

meganmushrat The Awakening Land is one of the best mini-series I have ever seen. I well remember when this first came out on TV. I called in sick to work in order to finish watching it. Elizabeth Montgomery did a marvelous job, and I can't believe it hasn't been made available commercially. If you have any interest at all in how the pioneers handled the settling of new territory, this is an absolute must. It reminded me a bit of 'How the West Was Won' in scope, although it doesn't cover as many generations. Hal Holbrook gave a great performance too. I have always admired the courage of the early pioneers and the hard lives they led. The Awakening Land is a great showcase of this courage and how these pioneers handled the tough circumstances under which they lived.