"You ride with Outlaws, You die with Outlaws!"

Does anyone remember what a mini-series was? They were popular in the eighties and for some reason always found there way to CBS. A mini-series was a longer than normal movie that would run somewhere around 6 hours (8 hrs TV time), and would be shown over several nights. You had to be in front of your TV screen each night for the better part of the week to see the entire movie. I remember when I was in high school my Dad was watching some western mini-series and I remember watching a part or two with him but not really getting into it too much. Only later in life did I learn that I was missing the best movie ever filmed, Lonesome Dove.

Lonesome Dove is a classic western novel written by Larry McMurtry. It was brought to the big screen via mini-series. The movie runs about 6 hours long because the book is about 1,000 pages full of excellent writing that could never be condensed down to fit a two hour time slot. The book tells the tale of two retired Texas Rangers trying to make a living as live stock brokers in a small border town in South Texas, Lonesome Dove. Captain Woodrow F Call and Captain Augustus McCrae own the Hat Creek Cattle Company and employ some of their old Ranger buddies. They end up on a long cattle drive to Montana and have their adventures on the way. The book is an excellent read, but watching the movie is a pure pleasure. The cast includes Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Ricky Schroder and a truly all-star cast. One of the reasons I like watching is because Robert Duvall is hilarious as Gus and he happens to look just like my grandfather in this particular movie, but the best reason for watching is for the great lines that are in the movie that me and my friends can quote at the drop of a cowboy hat. Some of them are as follows:

"I had a job waiting tables once." "Why'd you give it up?" "I was too young and pretty. The whores wouldn't let me alone"

"Suppose you've been up all night readin' the good book"

"Good evenin' my good friends"

"Deets aint one to give up on a garment just cause it's got a little age"

"It aint dieing I'm talking about, it's livin" !"

"you're in over your head Pea"

"What you need legs for any how? You don't do nothing but sit on the porch and drink whiskey all day." "I might want to kick a pig once in a while."

"Woodrow, it's been quite a party"

If you have got a few hours to spare on a rainy day, spend it with Call, Gus, Deets, Newt, Jake, Pea, Lori, and Clare. You want regret it!