I am constantly amazed at how in the world they ever got a cast like that for a made for tv movie...unbelievable.

my aussie is named Lori

I love that movie

Great writing, great casting, and great acting. Duval is as good as it gets (how does a northeasterner play Gus that perfectly?--Wow!)

We have two beagles, Gus and Woodrow. We attached the names perfectly. Gus is the more gregarious and sedentary of the two and Woody is constantly patrolling the yard. And they are inseparable. Also married to a Lori.

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My wife is in Hell where I sent her. She could make good biscuits but her behavior was terrible - Po Campo

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I never realized until this go-round with the movie that the bar in Lonesome Dove is named The Dry Bean.

Who is everyone's favorite character OTHER THAN Gus or Call?

Mine would have to be Deets (sp?). My least favorite is Jasper...I would love the chance to kick his a$$.

I need me some Mexican strawberries.

mine is definitely Deets as well

When I was in school, my group of friends included a guy named Woodrow (no crap, real first name) and a guy who's last name was Dietz, but that's what everyone called him. It was sweet.

what about a "morrow"

That fool's an Aggie. You know that. When I said "school" I meant "college".

when you said "school" i didnt think you could POSSIBLY be talking about tech

i'm hanging out with him saturday night

Have I met you? Does your first name start with an R?

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I am constantly amazed at how in the world they ever got a cast like that for a made for tv movie...unbelievable.

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Danny Glover was really the only member of the cast who had an ongoing movie career at the time. Tommy Lee Jones was only getting TV work and Duvall had not had a lead role in a successful movie since 1983's Tender Mercies, for which he won Best Actor.

the Dry Bean saloon is a reference to McMurtry's first novel, Horseman, Pass By (aka Hud) which was set in Dry Bean County Texas

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Who is everyone's favorite character OTHER THAN Gus or Call?

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Several... not necessarily in order:

Deets
Pea Eye
Newt
Po Campo
Bolivar
Lippy

Great movie and book!

We had a stray cat named Gus and whose brother we also named after one of the characters. We started calling him "July Johnson" (the wimpy sheriff) after he was neutered.

i like july johnson, he wasnt really a whimp, he just coudlnt face the facts about his wife. nothing could go right for the poor guy

Every one in my family has read Lonesome Dove multiple times. We talk about Gus and Call like they are real people.

I finally finished the entire mini-series last night. I went into Part IV thinking, "Maybe this time Gus doesn't die and all remains right with the world." Alas, I was wrong.

I think Call is probably the most amazing character contradiction in the movie. He is constantly portrayed as such a hard and unwavering man, almost to a fault. However, he demonstrates just the opposite by maintaining his promise to Gus, despite it being completely illogical and fool-hearty. We can hope for similar friendships.

In a similar matter, this weekend my wife made me watch "Must Love Dogs" starring Diane Lane. It sucked. She sucked. She was much better when playing a *****.

The guy who played Blue Duck...I forget his name...what else has he been in? He looks so much like Charles Bronson, it's eerie.

***AG TAG*** (Since staff is apparently never going to give it, I'll grant it myself.)

Frederick Forrest played Blue Duck. He played Bette Midler's boyfriend in the Rose and was the wacked out saucier/soldier on the boat in Apocalypse Now.

He also played Deborah Foreman's dad in Valley Girl.

my boyfriend made me watch it and i went into it thinking I would hate it. After watching it, I realized that is one of THE best movies of ALL time.

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After watching it, I realized that is one of THE best movies of ALL time.

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It was a TV show, not a movie.

It isn't a show, it's a mini-series thus making it a movie.

My point was that it was made for television, not a theater. It is a totally different medium than movies. There is a huge difference in shooting something for a 2 foot wide 4:3 screen and shooting it to be projected onto a 150 foot wide 2.33:1 or 1.85:1 screen. There is also a huge difference in the writing and editing process because of all the stops and starts for commercials, dividing it into multiple episodes, etc.

Lonesome Dove was a great TV show, though.

the other difference is that you could not get a theater company to book a movie that lasted 6 hours (or however long it was)

Although Peter Jackson has tried his best on multiple occasions...

***AG TAG*** (Since staff is apparently never going to give it, I'll grant it myself.)

On another note, I always thought Dish got a bad rap in the movie, if you read the book, he is much more of a badass, in the movie they make him into this lovesick whiny baby.

Although Dish did seem to be who Call trusted the herd with the most, at least in the movie.

I'm starting to read Comanche Moon sometime later this month (working through Lone Star Nation by H.W. Brands at present), and then on to Lonesome Dove.

***AG TAG*** (Since staff is apparently never going to give it, I'll grant it myself.)

agree with the comment about dish, he was a really solid character in the book, just lovesick. but he was definitely a bad ass.

Lonesome Dove deserves to be made into a high production, big budget, large screen movie with one of those great directors that know how to appreciate the imagery and the open range like Speilburg, Ang Lee or Costner.

It'd be a HUGE success and then they could come back with the other supporting books.

Who would play the main characters?

It's hard to imagine anyone doing Gus better than R Duval or Call better than TL Jones.

***AG TAG*** (Since staff is apparently never going to give it, I'll grant it myself.)

My living room is decorated in Lonesome Dove memorabilia (and Tombstone)... I've got the black & white "senator" pic and a couple others all in barnwood frames, a tombstone movie poster, a lonesome dove movie poster, all in barnwood frames.

Recently, I added this...



And I haven't seen it in years, but the prequel to lonesome dove, "Dead Man's Walk" is in my netflix queue. The guy who plays the young Call in that movie is the same guy who plays SickBoy in Trainspotting.

Also, I definitely recommend Last Picture Show, Texasville, and Duane's Depressed. Read the three books, then rent the movies. They use pretty much the same cast in the 1990 "Texasville" as they did in the 1971 "Last Picture Show."

One more thing... If you like Rober Duvall, then "Secondhand Lions" is a must-see.