DakotaGal I saw this series when it was on TV and then read the book. As usual, I loved the book more than the series, but overall the series was true to the novel.The casting was perfect. Charlton Heston was great as Hugh Holmes, the guiding hand of Delano. Wayne Rogers played the first police chief of Delano. The next focused on was Sonny Butts, the "returning hero" from World War II who was vicious in his life and in the manner in which he executed his functions as Police Chief. Finally, Billy Dee Williams was superb as Chief Watts.The series is available on DVD now, but I could not get it through Amazon. They have it listed today as currently unavailable. I did find it through eBay on DVD and new. Good luck if you are looking for it. This series is WELL worth watching!

Vassago I still place Stuart Woods's "Chiefs" among the best police dramas ever written. Since I learned that a TV adaptation of the book was made, I've always wanted to see it, and, a few months ago, I finally bought the DVD release of the series. I actually did not expect much, but what I received surprised me - and it was a positive surprise. The series is an excellent adaptation of the novel and manages to do it justice, which is a rarity... as is the fact that very little of the book's plot is omitted. Certainly, some of the details - such as Will Henry's growing obsession with the mysterious murders, and the technical sides of his investigation - have to be treated superficially, but every important subplot and aspect of the book is present in the film; consequently, the series manages to be just as thrilling and involving as the novel. Amusingly enough, the credits on the box of the DVD misled me slightly - I assumed Charlton Heston, Keith Carradine and Billy Dee Williams would be playing the three chiefs, chronologically; of course, this is not the case.

wlmlbl This was one of the best mini series I have seen. The plot was well written, and had a great cast. Charlton Heston was outstanding as Hugh Holmes, the man behind the town of Delano. It is a small southern town in need of a police chief. the mini series is in three parts, covering three generations. The first part is 1924. A meeting is held, and there are only two candidates for the job. One is a well known farmer, Will Henry Lee. The other is a World War I veteran named Foxy Funderburke. Foxy is breeding dogs, but a lot of people in the town think he is strange. Will Henry Lee is a fair man, and well liked. He has to deal with a county sheriff named Skeeter Willis. Willis is very bigoted, and has the backing of the Ku Klux Klan. Will Henry investigates a death, and leads him to begin an investigation of disappearing young men. As is turns out, they are being murdered by Foxy. Will Henry dies after being shot by a man that has malaria. The man mistakenly shoots Will Henry, and sends his son away before being executed for his crime. The second part takes place in 1945. Many of the towns soldiers are returning after the war, including a very bigoted Sonny Butts, who becomes police chief. He is involved in the beating of a returning veteran named Marshall Peters. Peters was set up in business by Hugh Holmes, and befriended by Will Henry Lee's son, Billy. Butts happens upon the investigation that Will Henry Lee began 20 years before, and goes to visit Foxy. Foxy kills Sonny, and buries him and his motorcycle. The third part takes place in 1962, and Delano is again in need of a police chief. Billy Lee is running for governor, and suggests a retiring army officer named Tyler Watts be given consideration for the job. Watts gets the job, and it is revealed that he is the son of the man that shot and killed Will Henry Lee almost 40 years before. Again young men are disappearing, and Tyler Watts begins an investigation of his own. He runs into trouble when he wants to search Foxy's property, but eventually does get permission to search the property. One of the agents there trips over what he thinks is a pipe, but it turns out it is the handlebar of Sonny's motorcycle buried almost 20 years before! Foxy gets his rifle and shoots Tyler, and then is shot by agents. More than 40 bodies are unearthed on his property. Billy, Tyler, and Hugh are saddened by what they have found out. In the end, Billy is elected governor, and Tyler reveals his true identity to Billy by recalling a conversation they had almost 40 years before. Billy is brought to tears as he realizes it is his long lost friend.

*Prometheus* If you like movies that involve the lives of people from their childhood to their death, mystery, history,a little action, and actors in their early years, then this is the show to watch. The story spans from the late 1800's to present day. It mainly centers around the various Chiefs of Police that were elected during that time frame, and how they changed the town. But the main center of the story is about a murder that happened in the early 1900's and how the murder is not discovered until present day,who did it, and how he hid it for so long. A very long movie, but worth watching.