| Young Pioneers' Christmas | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama Western |
| Written by | Blanche Hanalis (screenplay) Rose Wilder Lane (novel) |
| Directed by | Michael O'Herlihy |
| Starring | Linda Purl Roger Kern |
| Music by | Laurence Rosenthal |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Ed Friendly |
| Producer | Ed Friendly |
| Production locations | Twentieth Century-Fox Studios, Los Angeles, California Southern Arizona, Arizona |
| Cinematography | Robert L. Morrison |
| Editor | Allan LaMastra |
| Running time | 91 min. |
| Production companies | ABC Circle Films ABC |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | December 1976 |
Young Pioneers' Christmas is a 1976 American made-for-television Western drama film which was broadcast by ABC in December 1976 as a Christmas special starring Linda Purl and Roger Kern. [1] [2] It was a sequel to the made-for-television movie Young Pioneers which aired earlier in March 1976 and was produced using the same creative team of Ed Friendly (producer), Blanche Hanalis (screenwriter), and Michael O'Herlihy (director). The movie is loosely based on the 1933 novel Let the Hurricane Roar by Rose Wilder Lane, which was reissued by Bantam Books in 1976 using the same title of Young Pioneers for the paperback book. [3] [4] [5]
This was a second attempt to interest ABC in a TV series after Young Pioneers was not picked up by the network. [6] [7] There were hopes this pilot would succeed [8] but it ranked only 37th in the Nielsen ratings. [9] Although not initially picked up by ABC, it was revived as a short-lived television series, The Young Pioneers , which was broadcast in April 1978 on ABC and canceled after three episodes. [10] [11] [12]
It is winter in the prairie town of Wildrose in 1874. Molly and David Beaton struggle with grief after the death of their baby son. [13] Their sense of loss is exacerbated when the railroad company invokes eminent domain over their neighbor’s property in order to bypass the Sioux Indian reservation. [14] It is a hard Christmas (their tree is made of pine cones because trees are hard to come by on the prairie) but their courage and spirit prevail. [15] [1]
Production began in mid-summer 1976 with set construction at the Empire Ranch near Sonoita, Arizona. [16] Complete buildings were fabricated for the town of ‘Wildrose,’ with the inclusion of a railroad spur and depot. [17] Some scenes were filmed at Fox Studios in Los Angeles, California due to a lack of available facilities in the Tucson, Arizona area. [18] Location filming in Arizona commenced in August and was completed in September. [19]
ABC Circle Films negotiated with a local aviation firm in Arizona for conversion of a hangar into a sound stage in anticipation of the project becoming a series. [20] When it was not picked up by ABC the entire set consisting of 18 buildings, a railroad station and track, two water towers and 20 utility poles were sold and carted off to Sierra Vista, Arizona. [21]
The Waltons is an American historical drama television series about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II. It was created by Earl Hamner Jr., based on his 1961 book Spencer's Mountain and the 1963 film of the same name. The series aired from 1972 to 1981.
Hey Dude is an American Western comedy series that aired on Nickelodeon from July 14, 1989, to August 30, 1991, consisting of 65 half-hour episodes produced over five seasons.
John Reford Ewart was an Australian actor of radio, stage, television and film. Ewart was a double recipient of the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Rex Elvie Allen Sr., known as "the Arizona Cowboy", was an American film and television actor, singer and songwriter; he was also the narrator of many Disney nature and Western productions. For his contributions to the film industry, Allen received a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1975, located at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard.
Linda Purl is an American actress known for her roles as Ashley Pfister on Happy Days, Sheila Munroe in the 1982 horror film Visiting Hours, Pam Beesly's mother Helene in The Office, and Ben Matlock's daughter Charlene Matlock for the first season of the television series Matlock.
Under Cover is an American secret agent drama series that premiered on ABC on January 7, 1991. The series starred Anthony John Denison and Linda Purl as Dylan and Kate Del'Amico, a husband and wife who share the same day job—as spies for a fictional U.S. intelligence agency.
Bret Maverick is an American Western television series that starred James Garner in the title role, a professional poker player in the Old West. The series aired on NBC from December 1, 1981, to May 4, 1982. It is a sequel series to the 1957-1962 ABC series Maverick, as well the short-lived 1979 TV series Young Maverick, and that series' pilot, the 1978 TV movie The New Maverick, all of which starred Garner in the same role. In the two previous series, Bret Maverick had been a solitary rounder who travels from riverboat to saloon looking for high-stakes games. In this series, Maverick has settled down in Sweetwater, Arizona Territory, where he owns a ranch and is co-owner of the town's saloon. However, he is still always on the lookout for his next big score, and continues to gamble and practice various con games whenever the chance arises. The series was developed by Gordon Dawson, and produced by Garner's company Cherokee Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.
Mark Wystrach is an American country music musician and actor. Wystrach appeared in the Academy Award-winning film The Eyes of Tammy Faye. He is the lead singer of the country band Midland.
Old Tucson is an American movie studio and theme park just west of Tucson, Arizona, adjacent to the Tucson Mountains and close to the western portion of Saguaro National Park. Built in 1939 for the movie Arizona (1940), it has been used for the filming location of many movies and television westerns since then, such as Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), Rio Bravo (1959), El Dorado (1966), Little House on the Prairie TV series of the 1970s–1980s, the film Three Amigos! (1986) and the popular film Tombstone (1993). It was opened to the public in 1960 as a theme park with historical tours offered about the movies filmed there, along with live cast entertainment featuring stunt shows, shootouts, can-can shows as well as themed events. It is still a popular filming location used by Hollywood.
Ray "Crash" Corrigan was an American actor most famous for appearing in many B-Western movies. He also was a stuntman and frequently acted as silver screen gorillas using his own gorilla costumes.
Arizona is a 1940 American Western film directed by Wesley Ruggles and starring Jean Arthur, William Holden and Warren William.
Let the Hurricane Roar, reissued as Young Pioneers starting from 1976, is a short novel by Rose Wilder Lane that incorporates elements of the childhood of her mother Laura Ingalls Wilder. It was published in The Saturday Evening Post as a serial in 1932 and by Longmans as a book early in 1933, not long after Little House in the Big Woods (1932), the first volume of her mother's Little House series.
Lin Bolen was an American television executive and producer. She was most noted for her role at NBC daytime television programming as the first female vice president of a TV network, a position she held from 1972 until 1976. In this role, Bolen was responsible for commissioning the long-running game show Wheel of Fortune and is credited with bringing successful long form to network soap operas. Bolen was mentioned in Who's Who in America as a trailblazer for women in television.
The Mine with the Iron Door is a 1924 American silent Western film directed by Sam Wood and produced by Sol Lesser. The film is based on the novel of the same name by American author Harold Bell Wright that was published in 1923.
The Young Pioneers was a trial-run ABC Western television series about young newlyweds who settle in the Dakota Territory during the 1870s. If the first three episodes had received good ratings the series may have found a place on the network’s fall lineup.
The Frontiersmen is a 1938 American Western film directed by Lesley Selander and written by Norman Houston and Harrison Jacobs. The film stars William Boyd, George "Gabby" Hayes, Russell Hayden, Evelyn Venable, Charles Anthony Hughes, William Duncan, and Clara Kimball Young. The film was released on December 16, 1938, by Paramount Pictures.
Heart of Arizona is a 1938 American Western film directed by Lesley Selander and written by Norman Houston. The film stars William Boyd, George "Gabby" Hayes, Russell Hayden, John Elliott, Billy King, Natalie Moorhead and Dorothy Short. The film was released on April 22, 1938, by Paramount Pictures.
Little Ladies of the Night is a 1977 American made-for-television drama film starring David Soul, Louis Gossett Jr. and Linda Purl. When it was broadcast, it became the highest-rated TV movie of all time.
Young Pioneers is a 1976 American Western television film which aired in March 1976 on ABC. Elements of novels Let the Hurricane Roar and Free Land by Rose Wilder Lane were used as the basis for the movie, with Roger Kern and Linda Purl starring as the focal characters David and Molly Beaton. Although produced as a TV series pilot by ABC Circle Films and ranked #7 in the Nielsen ratings for the week it aired, the movie was not immediately picked up by ABC as a series. A second pilot attempt was made in December 1976 with Young Pioneers' Christmas, but ranked lower at #37 in the Nielsen ratings. In 1978 The Young Pioneers (miniseries) was broadcast.
Blanche Hanalis was an American screenwriter and television writer best known for developing the Little House on the Prairie series as well as several made-for-TV movies based on Little House on the Prairie. Hanalis was born as Blanche Weiss in Ohio, but grew up in Chicago and graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School in 1932. She was of Greek and Jewish descent. She has been quoted as saying her family was poor and she grew up "in the slums of Chicago."
