`Lonesome Dove' Sequel Falls Short Of The Original

"Return to Lonesome Love," CBS miniseries, 9-11 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday, 8-11 p.m. Thursday, Channel 7.

Trying to recapture the sweep, the scope and the excitement of the original award-winning "Lonesome Dove" miniseries is a tall order, one that the new seven-hour, three-part sequel doesn't measure up to a lot of the time, even though what's been put on the screen is generally lively, above-average viewing.

Although "Return to Lonesome Dove" is billed as a continuation of the original story, insofar as that several of the characters from the first drama continue to be in the forefront here, what is conspicuously lacking is the presence of Larry McMurtry who wrote the book upon which the first series was based. It was McMurtry's ability to both create three-dimensional, interesting characters and concoct an attention-holding story that made "Lonesome Dove" so memorable.

Written by Wilder

The script for "Return to Lonesome Dove" was written by John Wilder whose credits include writing for "Streets of San Francisco" and 134 episodes of "Peyton Place" and it shows. Wilder may be working with some of McMurtry's original characters but the plots he has invented often seem borrowed from stuff we've seen before. However, Wilder's credits also include his adaptation of "Centennial," the long-form dramatization of the Michener novel, and that has stood Wilder in good stead in shaping a story so it has thrust and continuity.

The three main characters from the original who appear again in "Return to Lonesome Dove" are Capt. Woodrow F. Call, the former Texas Ranger we last saw delivering the body of his friend, Gus, back to Lonesome Dove for burial; Newt Dobbs, the young greenhorn on the cattle drive, and Clara Allen, the Nebraska farm wife. The latter was made memorable by Anjelica Huston; Call was played by Tommy Lee Jones.

This time Barbara Hershey plays Clara Allen and Jon Voight portrays Call. While both are fine actors, neither will make you forget the earlier characterizations. That's partly because Wilder has not done much to provide further development of their characters.

True, lots of things happen to these two characters, but it's all on the surface. Hershey never projects any of the inner conflict of Clara, while Voight turns Call into a ramrod-stiff, unforgiving man who seems more like a minister than a former Texas Ranger, and is, I'm afraid, eventually something of a bore.

As for Dobbs, he is played once again by Rick Schroder and his virtuous Boy Scout appeal still works - or would if Wilder hadn't placed him in an impossible situation, one that is central to the story of "Return to Lonesome Dove."

Wilder has created a new character, wealthy landowner Gregory Dunnegan, who is building an empire in Montana. Wilder has also given Dunnegan a teen-aged wife, Ferris, played by Reese Witherspoon, who seems to be patterned after Shelley on "Northern Exposure." The character and Witherspoon's performance are not very believable.

After Newt

She spends all her time chasing upstanding Newt (who never succumbs to her charms) while Dunnegan keeps telling Newt he looks upon him as the son he never had. The idea that the power-mad, conniving Dunnegan wants to more or less adopt squeaky-clean, naive Newt into his family is ludicrous. If Wilder wanted this part of the story to work, he should have cast someone other than Schroder.

The framework of "Return to Lonesome Dove" involves taking a herd of wild mustangs from Texas to Montana, plus buying some good stock from Clara Allen's ranch to breed them with. So while Call sets out with the horses from Texas, Newt is supposed to go from Montana to Nebraska where the two will rendezvous.

As long as the story sticks with this plot line, "Lonesome Dove" is involving entertainment. Unfortunately, this is pretty much told in Parts I and II and the third episode focuses on skulduggery involving Dunnegan and other ranchers in a story line that is not only confused but confusing. Who ARE all these land barons?

Director Mike Robe is fond of showing us great sweeping (and stunning) shots of Montana in which there are no people or animals to be seen. But then we're also being shown great groups of ranchers all of whom seem upset by Call's "gol-durned" cussedness and unwillingness to join forces with Dunnegan. It's the kind of range war frontier stuff we've seen hundreds of times before in old Westerns.

There's plenty of violence in "Return to Lonesome Dove" - a head is cut off, there's a particularly realistic and nasty ambush of women and children, an almost-rape, a spectacular fire, a man dragged behind a horse for a long distance and plenty of assorted shootings. There is, however, almost no sex to speak of, except in the opening scenes that introduce one of the new characters, another former ranger, Gideon Walker, so well-played by William Petersen that he emerges as the most interesting person in "Return to Lonesome Dove."

Plenty of diversion

Subplots revolve around the African-American trail boss, played by Louis Gossett Jr., and his wife (C.C.H. Pounder), the cook for the operation; and a young Mexican-American woman, Agostina Vega, who convinces Walker that Mexican vaqueros will do the job better than American cowboys.

As played by Nia Peeples, Agostina is certainly a lively, beautiful character - but she's not very believable - and especially when the story has her pairing off with probably the dullest character in the whole story, July Johnson, played by Chris Cooper.

Other performers making important contributions are Dennis Haysbert, as the scum-of-the-earth Cherokee Jack; Oliver Reed, as the menacing Dunnegan; Kim Scott, excellent in reprising the role of Pea Eye Parker; Barry Tubb, as Newt's opportunistic co-worker, Jasper.

"Return to Lonesome Dove" will probably draw millions of viewers, simply because of the popularity of the original. But while this new film isn't painful to watch, it does point up the problems and pitfalls in attempting sequels.

A special `60 Minutes' "60 Minutes . . . 25 Years.," 7 p.m. Sunday, Channel 7.

CBS is turning this Sunday night into a very special one by offering an unusual two-hour edition of "60 Minutes" as the lead-in to "Return to Lonesome Dove."

While there are plenty of clips from outstanding past editions of "60 Minutes," producers Paul and Holly Fine have tried to give the program more depth than that.

Toward that end they've assembled the star reporters of "60 Minutes" and allowed them to talk about some of their favorite episodes and how they feel about working on the show. They've given us plenty of behind-the scenes looks at how "60 Minutes" is put together.

They've asked some of the individuals who were interviewed by "60 Minutes" to look at the programs again and comment. They've added a heartfelt tribute to the late Harry Reasoner, convinced Diane Sawyer to drop over from ABC (but not Murphy Brown), and given us some glimpses of the reporters' personal lives - watch Morley Safer barrel down those Connecticut roads! And they've brought in Charles Kuralt to serve as the perfect host for this kind of show.

The result is a wonderfully entertaining and nostalgic look at one of TV's longest-running programs, a show that could have been merely self-serving but manages, instead, to be as good in its own way as, well, as a regular "60 Minutes."