I am a historian and this is a great series. I read the book right before the series started. My daughter had just been born and was in Children's hospital in Chicago undergoing surgeries right after her birth. I spent many hours in a bedside chair with the book.

"Centennial is a 12-episode American television miniseries that aired on NBC from October 1978 to February 1979. The miniseries follows the history of Centennial, Colorado, from 1795 to the 1970s. It was based on the 1974 novel of the same name by James A. Michener, was produced by John Wilder.

It was one of the longest and most ambitious television projects ever attempted at the time (c. 21 hours or 26 hours with commercials). It had a budget of US$25 million, employed four directors and five cinematographers, and featured over 100 speaking parts."

It is a great story that starts with the Indians, mountain men, fur traders, cowboys, etc. I have it on VHS and have watched it many times. I think the actors do a great job with Michener's characters. Over the years, I have used many of the character's names when making a reservation or ordering pizza.

Two of my best friends, who live in separate cities turned out to be fans also.

If you like American history or just shows about the West, I think you will enjoy it.

It starts tomorrow on INSP at 8AM CST.

Thanks for the heads up. Setting my DVR now.

Great series in my opinion. I have the disc set that gets pulled out once every year and watched one episode per night. Never gets old.

Well worth the investment in time. The series is great but the book is phenomenal. I have read it four or five times. If you enjoy American history, I highly recommend you add it to your reading list.

Thank you. Love the detail the mini-series format allows for ... too much for today’s short attention span. Wish they did a series on Poland - one of my favorites by Michener.

I watched the first 3 hours this afternoon. Lots of actors from the era: Robert Conrad, Richard Chamberlain, Michael Ansara, Sally Kellerman, Barbara Carrera, and Aaron Burr so far.

The tv series is an interesting mixture of good and bad. Hearing Conrad speak with a French-Canadian accent is pretty funny. Michael Ansara is playing an Arapaho “chief.” He played a lot of American Indians in those years. Did you know he was of Lebanese descent?

The good? Well, in those years I read quite a bit of Michener, including Centennial. I recall thinking that it was a great book. The storyline, at least so far, is equally good.

I recorded the first 2 and was disapointed at some minor scenes that were left out. I remembered them and thought them important to the story. I bought the DVD set off Amazon and am now very happily watching.

I remember the TV series. Read the book when it came oot and enjoyed it.