The High Chaparral

This television series originally aired on NBC-TV on September 10,1967 as part of its Sunday Night Lineup of shows where it aired at 10:00e/9:00c right after the long-running "Bonanza",and faced stiff competition with "Mission:Impossible",and the "ABC Sunday Night Movie" for all 28 color episodes of Season One that aired from September 10, 1967 until March 31,1968. Then from Season Two onward the network moved the series to a different time slot from Sunday nights to Friday nights for the remainder of its four-year run from September 20,1968 until the series finale on March 12,1971 where it aired at 7:30e/6:30c on its Friday night schedule(where it replaced the action-adventure series "Tarzan" after 2 seasons and 57 episodes) right before another one of television's greatest programs,"The Name Of The Game",and the wildly popular science-fiction series "Star Trek".

My very first memory of colour TV was watching The High Chaparral at my pals house at the age of 11 in 1967. I never forgot it and now over 50 years later I still remember the impact it had on me back then.

There are certain western series that I liked ( Maverick especially), but only one that I loved: The High Chaparral. What made it work was the setting ( actually filmed in Old Tucson, Arizona), and the producers actually took the effort to cast Hispanic actors ( Linda Cristal as Victoria ( always a knockout) and Henry Darrow as her brother Manolito as Mexicans.

Here we are 40 years down the track and I've just discovered this series. I was a young lad during the first runs of the show and too busy growing up to spend time watching too much TV.

I used to watch this show back in the seventies and I loved every minute of it, unfortunately that was before the VCR or the DVD. I anxiously waited for Saturday night to come around so I could find out what had happened to Big John and Victoria, it was a big night in our house when it was High Chaparral night.

Each decade seems to have a favorite genre, and in the 1960's, it was westerns that saturated the airwaves. Some of the more popular ones included Gunsmoke, Bonanza and The Big Valley.

This series is worth watching. I had never heard of it until I stumbled upon it recently on one of the tv channels I do not normally watch.

This was an expensive western for the producers to deliver and it shows. Unlike other shows of its time and genre, the creators of The High Chaparral tried to move away from shallow hero/villain stereotypes and tired shoot-em-up story lines.

The High Chaparral was the best western series ever. It 'touched' many interesting subjects.