About Damn Time!

Years of my whining and moaning have potentially come to an end. My prayers have been answered. Comanche Moon is finally coming to us in mini-series form.

I love, love, LOVE the Lonesome Dove series by Larry McMurtry. My mother handed me Lonesome Dove when I was in the 7th grade. This was around the time that the kick ass mini-series on that book came out. This was the beginning of many discussions between her and I that have yet to end. It was my first adult novel and one I will always hold dear.

I have seen a lot of movies come from books I love. They almost always disappoint me*. The Lonesome Dove mini-series was most definitely not one of them. It was so beautifully cast that tears come to my eyes just thinking about it. Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones were absolutely perfect for the roles of Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call. I really don't have complaints about any of the cast. Danny Glover made me cry with Deets, Robert Urich did a great job playing Jake Spoon, Barry Corbin made me smile with Roscoe Brown, and Frederic Forrest made me hate Blue Duck.

When I was at my mom's house for summer vacation at the age of 15, we discovered the existence of Comanche Moon. We made the mistake of buying only one copy and spent the next week stealing it from each other. In the end she won (Damn her!) and finished it a day before me. We drove my step-dad insane discussing it over the next two weeks. Neither one of us had any interest in talking about anything else. We had new characters to love (Inish Scull) and hate (Ahumado). Most importantly, we were able to enjoy a few new experiences with characters that did not survive Lonesome Dove (the books were not written in chronoligical order).

We immediately agreed that it deserved it's own mini-series. Of course, with my luck, the other two books got their own movies long ago. Don't get me wrong. I do love both Dead Man's Walk and Streets of Laredo, but in my opinion, neither book deserved to be put on the screen before my beloved CM. To tell the truth, I really don't feel that their movies did the books any justice either.

Today I was starting to read this article that I assume is about the anger some border resident's have about the fence. I did not make it past the second paragraph, so I couldn't tell you. The guy they began the piece with mentioned the filming of CM, and I lost interest in anything else. I'm finally getting my mini-series. I don't think I've giggled this much since 2nd grade.

I immediately looked it up to make sure I wasn't dreaming, and sure enough, it is coming to CBS in November. Maybe they will do the book some justice. I have some doubts about the casting (Steve Zahn as Gus?), but it isn't all bad (Val Kilmer! Yea!).

I am crossing my fingers and holding out hope that this will be worth my time. The Lonesome Dove movie proved that it can be done well. Anything less from CM will break my heart. November can't come quick enough.


*Don't even get me started on the movie version of The Plague. My head will explode.