| Composer: | John Addison |
| Country: | United States |
| Num Episodes: | 12 |
| Runtime: | 1256 min. (12 episodes) |
| Company: | MCA/Universal |
| Network: | NBC |
Centennial is a 12-episode American television miniseries that aired on NBC from October 1978 to February 1979, and again from September 1980 to October 1980.[1] The miniseries follows the fictional history of Centennial, Colorado, from 1795 to the 1970s. It was based on the 1974 novel of the same name by James A. Michener and was produced by John Wilder.
With a runtime of 26 hours and a $25 million budget, it was one of the longest miniseries ever and the most expensive television show in history.[2] It employed four directors and five cinematographers, and featured over 100 speaking parts.[3] Centennial was released on DVD on July 29, 2008.
This epic television series chronicles the settlement and development of an area of Colorado that would eventually become the fictional town of Centennial. It begins with the arrival of the first white men, French trapper Pasquinel and Scottish trader Alexander McKeag. Other settlers who care for the land and attempt to co-exist with the original Pawnee and Cheyenne people are Mennonite Levi Zandt, who founds the town, German immigrant Hans Brumbaugh, who is the first to raise crops, and Englishman Oliver Seccombe, who sees the opportunity to graze large herds of cattle.
As the town grows and evolves, the land loses its unspoiled beauty. Later arrivals include the Wendell family who seeks to gain power and wealth, and Colonel Frank Skimmerhorn who believes only the white man belongs and that the Indians must either be killed or driven off. In the modern area, rancher Paul Garrett, who can trace his family line back to Pasquinel, fights to prevent exploitation of the land by Morgan Wendell, a wealthy businessman.
Principal filming occurred in 1978. There were numerous filming locations in several parts of the United States. Colorado filming locations included Greeley, the Pawnee National Grasslands, Denver, Central City, Orchard, Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site and the Rocky Mountain National Park. Several of the mountain men era scenes were filmed in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The scenes representing St. Louis in the late 18th and early 19th century were filmed in Augusta, Kentucky.[4] The White Hall State Historic Site in Richmond, Kentucky served as the Bockweiss mansion. Scenes representing the Zendt farm and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, were filmed in and around Coshocton, Ohio.[5]
The ranch house and surrounding buildings used for the Venneford Ranch house was the Highlands Ranch Mansion in Highlands Ranch,[6] [7] which is located near the real town of Centennial, Colorado. Years later the surrounding property was developed for housing by the Mission Viejo Company.[8] One of the streets in the development was named Venneford Ranch Road.
The Great Western Railway engine No. 75 was back-dated for scenes in the 1880s and then modernized for scenes in the 1910s.[9]
On November 27, 1978, actor Richard Kelton died on location south of Denver after one day of shooting his scenes. Cast as the adult character of Philip Wendell, Kelton's death was the result of accidental carbon monoxide asphyxiation due to improper ventilation in his dressing room trailer.[10] Universal Studios, which produced the mini-series, was fined $720 for the failure to provide a proper ventilation system for the trailer where Kelton was rehearsing his lines.[11] His wife received a $50,000 settlement per a statue in California Workers Compensation Law.[12]
Although Michener began his novel in prehistory, the series itself begins with elements from Chapter 4 of his book, "The Many Coups of Lame Beaver." The Wendells use the badger game to blackmail the town pastor out of his house in the miniseries, but in the book they get the house from a local businessman. The novel devotes an entire section to Kurt Brumbaugh's development of Central Beet company; the miniseries, however, makes only passing reference to it.
In the miniseries, Morgan Wendell tries to cover up his family's shady history, but in the book he speaks openly about the murder and his father's admiration of the sheriff to the author–who in turn agrees to publish the facts of the killing after the election. Paul Garrett is in his 50s and is Lloyd's grandson in the miniseries, but he is in his early 40s in the novel and is their great-grandson. The miniseries skips a generation for the sake of simplicity. This skipped generation would have revealed that Garrett is also a descendant of Maxwell and Lisette Mercy, Levi and Lucinda Zendt, and John Skimmerhorn.
There is no election pitting Garrett against Wendell in the novel. Wendell is elected Commissioner of Resources, and Garrett reluctantly accepts his offer to be his principal deputy. The novel also portrays Wendell as a more reasonable and balanced man than what is depicted in the miniseries. It is he, not Garrett, who makes the reference to Warren G. Harding as the anti-standard by which all politicians should be judged.
The Pasquinel character bears similarities to Jacques La Ramee, a French-Canadian, coureur de bois, fur trapper who explored the region, of the North Platte River, in southern Wyoming, in the early 19th century. The "Pasquinel brothers", the sons of Pasquinel and Clay Basket, are loosely-based on the four half-breed sons of trader William Bent, of Old Bent's Fort, near present-day La Junta, Colorado. During "The Yellow Apron", Pasquinel tells his son Jake that he was named after his good friend and early trapping partner, "Jacques La Ramee".
The character of Indian hater and religious fanatic Colonel Frank Skimmerhorn appears to be loosely based on John Chivington, a disgraced ex-Methodist minister who led the infamous Sand Creek massacre in Kiowa County, Colorado in 1864. The miniseries however seems to imply that the Skimmerhorn character is a Mormon since he refers to the Arapaho as "Lamanites", a term found in Mormon theology to refer to Indians, but not in Protestant or Roman Catholic doctrine. Captain John McIntosh's (Major Mercy in the novel) role in the incident and subsequent trial appears to be loosely based on Silas Soule.
The range war depicted in the series is similar in many respects to the 1892 Johnson County War in Wyoming. The scene where Nate Person, Bufe Coker, and Fat Laura are murdered by hired killers, the Pettis brothers, bears similarity to the lynching of Ellen "Cattle Kate" Watson with the Oliver Seccombe character taking a role similar to that of Albert John Bothwell. The character of Hans "Potato" Brumbaugh appears to be loosely based on the Colorado historical figure Rufus "Potato" Clark, a failed gold prospector who turned to agriculture and became a pioneer in irrigation. Like the character in Centennial, Clark grew wealthy by growing potatoes near Littleton, eventually switching to sugar beets and controlling more than 20000acres.
Despite the name and location, the city of Centennial, Colorado was founded in 2001 and is not based on the novel, but rather was independently inspired by Colorado's 1876 statehood.
Centennial originally aired during the 1978-1979 television season. It re-aired in the fall of the 1980-1981 season during the 1980 actors' strike which delayed the availability of new programs.
| Year | Award | Result | Category | Recipient | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Winner | Network Television Production: Television Series | John Wilder | ||
| 1979 | Nominated | Outstanding Film Editing for a Limited Series or a Special | Robert Watts (For chapter one: "Only the Rocks Live Forever") | ||
| Outstanding Art Direction for a Limited Series or a Special | John W. Corso (art director), John M. Dwyer (set decorator), Robert George Freer (set decorator), Sherman Loudermilk (art director), Jack Senter (production designer), Joseph J. Stone (set decorator) (For chapter seven: "The Shepherds") | ||||
| 1979 | Western Heritage Awards | Won | Fictional Television Drama | John Wilder | |
| 1979 | Won | Multi-Part Long Form Series and/or Any Production of More Than Two Parts | John Wilder (For chapter one: "Only the Rocks Live Forever") | ||
| 1980 | Nominated | Best TV-Series – Drama | |||
| Best TV Actor – Drama | Richard Chamberlain |