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North and South on ABC

1985, TV Show

North and South: TV Guide News

A sprawling miniseries about unrest on each side of the Mason-Dixon line from 1842 to '61, adapted from John Jakes' bestselling novel. Most of the screen time went to pre-`Dirty Dancing' hunk Patrick Swayze and James Read as best friends from different parts of the country in the years leading up to the Civil War. The subsequent `North and South: Book II' in 1986 was equally successful, while the final installment of the series, 1994's `Heaven and Hell,' was a disappointment.

When I was posted overseas, I ... | Matt Roush | 2/20/2006
Question: When I was posted overseas, I found myself an avid watcher of a Brazilian telenovela called Terra Nostra. Luckily, I know some Spanish and was able to get the gist of the dialogue using Spanish and English cognates. It was a great story and made me realize that I'd like to see a series that had a beginning and an end. My question: Don't you think the telenovela format would be a welcome change from TV shows that you start to get invested in, such as Threshold or Love Monkey, just as they're prematurely canceled? Or do you think it would be more like a longer miniseries, such as Roots or North and South? Of course, Centennial doesn't count because they switched that around so much I lost track of when it was on. Maybe it was too long? Answer: If the networks' experiments with the telenovela format means a sideways return to the old-style miniseries, I'm all for it. (Actually, I've been saying for a long time that many of HBO's acclaimed dramas, most notably The Wire and Rome, ... read more

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North and South: TV Listings

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Premiered: November 03, 1985, on ABC

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Premise: A sprawling miniseries about unrest on each side of the Mason-Dixon line from 1842 to '61, adapted from John Jakes' bestselling novel. Most of the screen time went to pre-`Dirty Dancing' hunk Patrick Swayze and James Read as best friends from different parts of the country in the years leading up to the Civil War. The subsequent `North and South: Book II' in 1986 was equally successful, while the final installment of the series, 1994's `Heaven and Hell,' was a disappointment.

Cast