Category: Larry McMurtry

Lonesome Dove Theme

Lonesome Dove : Spinoffs and Wannabes

The immense success and popularity of the Lonesome Dove (1989) Mini Series starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones spawned a veritable industry surrounding Larry McMurtry’s iconic characters Augustus ‘Gus’ McCrae (Duvall) and  Woodrow F. Call (Jones) that extends to this very day with obvious influences in several succeeding TV and Mini Series like Hell on Wheels – which seems to me to have ‘Dove‘ flavour written all over it – each attempting to recapture or exploit the magic of the original epic. Some succeed – to a degree. Others? … Not so well.

3? Successive ‘Dove‘ Mini Series – plus a TV show – have attempted to take us back.

All that being said let’s look at those who have portrayed McMurtry’s two main characters over the last 25 years.

I’ve debated over and over (with myself) whether I want to issue any commentary on Lonesome Dove itself – which has been covered extensively – and well – by other fans and Western critics – smarter than myself. But it seems some commentary is inevitable. So … I will get to that later.

In the meantime …

The four descendants of McMurtry’s saga:

Lonesome Dove (1989)

Return to Lonesome Dove (1993) – set a year after the events of Lonesome Dove, isn’t affiliated with McMurtry in any way. He does not condone the movie nor approve of it.

Streets of Laredo (1995)

Dead Man’s Walk (1996)

Comanche Moon (2008)