Beulah Land (miniseries)

Beulah Land is a 1980 three-part television miniseries which aired on NBC.[1] The series was based on the novels Beulah Land, and Look Away, Beulah Land by Lonnie Coleman.

Beulah Land
Written byLonnie Coleman (novels)
JP Miller (under pseudonym Jacques Meunier) (teleplay)
Directed byVirgil W. Vogel (3 episodes)
Harry Falk (2 episodes)
StarringLesley Ann Warren
Michael Sarrazin
Jenny Agutter
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producerDavid Gerber
Release
Original networkNBC
Original release
  • October 7, 1980 (1980-10-07)

The Civil War themed series received heavy criticism as being racially offensive as it was being made.[2][3][4][5] This caused the series' release date to be pushed back from May 1980 to October, and some changes to be made to the script, including one scene where slaves freed in a will instead seemed to want to remain slaves.

The review of the final product were mixed, with the Associated Press calling it successful as a soap opera, "not uplifting, but nicely diverting"; the New York Times review was titled "Pure Corn Pone"; and The Washington Post review was decidedly negative, calling it an "idiotic, inept, cynically exploitative travesty."[6][7][8][9]

The story is set in Georgia, and the production was filmed in Natchez, Mississippi including at the Melrose mansion[10]

All three parts were among the top 10 American prime time television shows for the week of October 6–12, 1980, when they first aired. Part III was the third most watched program of the week with a 24.4 rating (19 million homes). Part II was sixth with a 23.2 rating (18 million homes), and Part I was seventh with a 22 rating (17.1 million homes).[11]

References
  1. Hanauer, Joan (7 October 1980). Beulah Land has something in it to offend almost everybody, UPI
  2. Hall, Carla (19 March 1980).Trouble in 'Beulah Land', The Washington Post
  3. Elliott, Jack (7 October 1980). The Mississippi Film Commission will videotape an airing of, UPI
  4. Shales, Tom (7 October 1980). The Blight on 'Beulah Land', The Washington Post
  5. Gilliam, Dorothy (24 March 19800. 'Beulah Land' -- TV That We Don't Need, The Washington Post
  6. Boyer, Peter J. (2 September 1980). NBC miniseries most racist film since 'Birth of a Nation?', The Desert Sun (Associated Press content)
  7. (6 April 1980). Controversial Mini-Series 'Beulah Land' Rescheduled, Santa Cruz Sentinel (Associated Press content)
  8. Montgomery, Kathryn C. Target: Prime Time, pp. 123-53 (Ch. 7 of book) (1989)
  9. O'Connor John J. (5 October 1980). 'Beulah Land'--Pure Corn Pone TV VIEW 'Beulah Land', The New York Times
  10. (7 November 2012). See Melrose come to life in movie, Natchez Democrat
  11. (16 October 1980). Baseball helps ABC in ratings, Santa Cruz Sentinel, p. 45
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