Lonesome Dove is a American epic Western adventure television miniseries directed by Simon Wincer. It is a four-part adaptation of the novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry and is the first installment in the Lonesome Dove series. The novel was based upon a screenplay by Peter Bogdanovich and McMurtry. The series was originally broadcast by CBS from February 5 to 8, , drawing a huge viewing audience, earning numerous awards, and reviving both the television Western and the miniseries.
An estimated 26 million homes tuned in to watch Lonesome Dove , unusually high numbers at that time for both a Western and a miniseries. By the show's end, it had earned huge ratings and virtually revamped the entire β television season. A favorite with audiences, as well as critics, Lonesome Dove garnered many honors and awards. At the Emmy Awards , the miniseries had 18 nominations and seven wins, including one for director Simon Wincer. Gus is an upbeat womanizer and twice a widower, and Call is a strict, stoic workaholic.
Also living with them is Newt Dobbs, a year-old whose mother was a prostitute named Maggie and whose father may be any man on the ranch, save for Gus who secretly knows who Newt's true father is. He reveals that he is a fugitive after having accidentally shot the dentist and mayor of Fort Smith, Arkansas , in a bar-room gunfight. Reunited with Gus and Call, Jake's glowing description of Montana inspires Call to gather a herd of cattle and drive them there, attracted by the notion of settling pristine country.
Gus is less enthusiastic, pointing out that they are getting old and that they are Rangers and traders, not cowboys. But, he changes his mind when he realizes Lonesome Dove has little left to offer him by way of excitement, now that much of the land has been "civilized".
At the continued insistence of the dentist's widow, Sheriff Johnson sets off in pursuit of Spoon, accompanied by his young stepson Joe who travels at the request of Joe's mother and Sheriff Johnson's wife Elmira. Sailing up the Arkansas River on a whiskey boat, she falls in with a pair of buffalo hunters. Meanwhile, the men of Lonesome Dove make preparations for their adventure north, including stealing 2, horses and cattle from across the Rio Grande in Mexico , befriending two lost Irish immigrants, Allan and Sean O'Brien, and being joined by nearly all of the male citizens of the town.
