James Garner stars in the latest incarnation of Larry McMur-try's "Lone-some Dove" legend.
Finally.Garner, who stars in the sequel "The Streets of Laredo," was originally slated to play a major role in the original "Lonesome Dove."
"I was really looking forward to it," Garner told TV critics. "Matter of fact, I was in Hawaii reading the scripts when my doctor called and said, `I don't want you riding a horse.' "
But while he's playing Woodrow Call in "Streets," Garner would have played Gus McCray in "Dove."
"I really regretted missing out on that," he said. "But I have to say, (Robert) Duvall probably did a better job."
As it turns out, Garner's may be the definitive Call. His performance is certainly the equal of Tommy Lee Jones' in the original miniseries, and far superior to Jon Voight's performance in the inferior first sequel, "Return to Lonesome Dove."
Of course, "Streets of Laredo" - based on Larry McMurtry's book and with a script McMurtry co-wrote - is far superior to "Return to Lonesome Dove," which had no link to the author except for its use of his characters.
This time around, Call is older and considerably more world-weary. The lawman turned bounty hunter is on the trail of a crazed killer, a journey that takes him places even he did not expect.
The two-parter, which airs Sunday from 7-10 p.m. and Tuesday from 8-10 p.m. on CBS/Ch. 2, is the best Western to hit television since the original "Lonesome Dove."
As for that original "Lonesome Dove," things didn't turn out exactly as expected with that project for a lot of actors other than James Garner. Nor for its author, who did not even plan it as book originally.
"It was actually a film script written around 1971 for John Wayne, James Stewart and Henry Fonda," McMurtry said. "With Peter Bogdanovich, fresh off his triumph of `The Last Picture Show,' to direct."
(McMurtry, of course, wrote "The Last Picture Show.")
As originally conceived, the film would have starred Wayne as Woodrow Call, Stewart as Gus McCray, Fonda as Jake Spoon and Cybill Shepherd as Lorena.
"It was quite a good script, I
think, and the studio loved it," McMurtry said. "It didn't work because John Wayne, having made `Liberty Valance' and having seen James Stewart get to be the poet, wanted to be the poet . . . . And this block existed for years."
Eventually, both Wayne and Fonda passed away. There was talk of doing the movie with actors like Gregory Peck or Burt Lancaster, but nothing came of it.
"I waited 10 years. . . . And then I bought it back from Warner Bros.," McMurtry said.
It was only then that he wrote "Lonesome Dove" as the book that eventually was made into the miniseries, two sequels and a weekly syndicated series.
CBS REVAMPS FRIDAY: CBS has just announced what amounts to an entirely new Friday schedule - featuring entirely old shows.
Beginning Dec. 8, the struggling Big Eye will air "Due South" at 7 p.m., Dick Van Dyke's "Diagnosis Murder" at 8 p.m. and move "Picket Fences" from 8 p.m. back to 9 p.m.
"Due South" and "Diagnosis Murder," of course, were both on CBS last season but did not make the fall schedule.
CBS has already axed "Dweebs" and sent "The Bonnie Hunt Show" on hiatus. Joining "Bonnie" will be the extremely strange (and low-rated) "American Gothic," although CBS Entertainment President Leslie Moonves voiced support for the show, vowing that it will return "after the first of the year in a new time period."
(The show had its final Friday airing last week.)
What all of this signals is a shift in CBS's thinking. The network failed miserably in an attempt to attract a younger audience on Friday nights. "Gothic" currently ranks 76th out of 120 series that have aired this season on the four major networks, "Dweebs" 92nd and "Bonnie" 98th. And the shift to an earlier time slot hurt "Fences," which ranks 80th.
So CBS is going back to shows that attract older viewers.
REVAMPING "CPW": It's official. Mariel Hemingway is out at the CBS series "Central Park West."
And her replacement is - Gerald McRaney.
(I am not making this up.)
It's been rumored for weeks that CBS wasn't happy with Hemingway's lack of small-screen presence on "CPW." So she's being written out after the show's 13th episode.
McRaney - late of "Major Dad" and "Simon & Simon" - comes aboard in January as the new head of Communique magazine, who also has the hots for the publisher's wife (Lauren Hutton).
And, yes, this also seems to be an attempt to appeal to CBS's traditional audience - older viewers.
RUMOR IS: Reportedly, Mary Tyler Moore is more than a bit unhappy about her role in the CBS series "New York News."
Some reports go so far as to say that our Mary is throwing tantrums on the set and feuding with co-star Madeline Kahn.
If Moore does quit the show, the only question is whether she'll get out before it's canceled. "NYN" currently ranks 84th of 120 series this season.