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6 Episodes 2002 - 2002
Episode 1
Mon, Apr 29, 2002 60 mins
Three 21st-century families live 19th-century style on Montana homesteads in this reality series. Part 1, "The American Dream," introduces the families and follows them as they're introduced to what the next five months of their lives will be like (it'll be like 1883). "It's not a camping trip," one expert warns as they practice chopping wood (and chopping off chickens' heads), firing 12-gauge shotguns and get used to life without makeup and toilet paper. Then they must take a two-day wagon-train journey to their homesteads. It would help if the horses would cooperate.
Episode 2
Mon, Apr 29, 2002 60 mins
In Part 2, the Brookses, the Clunes and the Glenns arrive in the "Promised Land" (160-acre parcels in Montana's Boulder Valley). But it's not heaven. For starters, only the Glenn lot comes with a cabin; the others must build (although the affluent Clunes have hired carpenters to help). And tensions surface between the Clunes and the Glenns, who don't think their neighbors are adequately prepared for the rigors of 1883 life. They almost come to a head when the Clune girls trek through a freak June snowstorm to milk their cow in the Glenns' corral.
Episode 3
Tue, Apr 30, 2002 60 mins
Romance---and the lack of it---are explored in "'Til Death Do Us Part" (Part 3 of six), as Nate and Rudy rush to finish Nate's cabin in time for his wedding. But Gordon and Adrienne's love life is losing its spark (they both complain that they're too tired for sex); and the Glenns' marriage could be in trouble ("We're at divorce level," Karen admits). Meanwhile, the Clune kids are hungry (a problem solved by a 10-mile trek to an 1883-style general store), and Karen's sick. She sees a doctor, whose bill ($46) represents a quarter of the family's savings.
Episode 4
Tue, Apr 30, 2002 60 mins
Part 4: It's summertime but the living isn't easy as the three families plot different strategies to ensure "Survival" during the Montana winter. The Glenns go with cattle, but that means they'll need lots of hay. The Brookses buy goats (Kristen will make cheese), while the Clunes decide on chickens. But they don't put all their eggs in that basket; Gordon has bought a still and plans to go into the moonshine business. He will, that is, if he himself survives. He has lost 30 pounds and complains of dizziness. Meanwhile, Karen and Mark Glenn won't stop complaining about each other.
Episode 5
Wed, May 1, 2002 60 mins
"A Family Affair" (Part 5). It's late August and school is beginning for the children, but the one-room schoolhouse must be fixed up before teacher Judy Harding arrives, and everyone (including the childless Brookses) pitches in. The kids like school because it gets them out of doing chores, and Adrienne and Gordon Clune like it because it gets the kids out of their cabin and gives them privacy. As for the Glenns, the tension between Mark and Karen hasn't abated, but it's put aside on Logan's ninth birthday because Karen's mother has arrived for a visit.
Episode 6
Wed, May 1, 2002 60 mins
Conclusion. "The Reckoning" follows the homesteading families during their last two weeks in the valley as they "dig in" for winter. "It's something we're preparing to do battle with," says Nate Brooks. They also prepare for a Harvest Fair, and one of the preparations is the slaughtering of the Glenn pig, JoJo Pumpkin. Logan's very upset. Also upsetting is the news from the 21st century of the Sept. 11 attacks. So Adrienne Clune sews a flag---with 38 stars, signifying the number of states in 1883. Then come the assessments from the experts on how they might have fared during the winter of 1883-84.