(ABC Primetime, 1978 - 1979) [3 years after the end of the CBS Network's prototypical TV western series "Gunsmoke", its star, James Arness made a return to series television; in this western he played a former cavalry scout named Zeb Macahan who takes his family to the new frontier during the pioneer days which tamed the wild west; a young Bruce Boxleitner played his nephew Luke McCahan; The TV series was loosely based upon the 1963 MGM epic film of the same name, filmed in triple wide-screen Cinerama, scored in the grand tradition by Alfred Newman which had a glorious Main Title THEME; To test the concept of translating it for the "small screen" a 1976 TV Movie called "The Macahans" was tested in 1976, the year after Gunsmoke bit the dust; just to make sure, a 6-hour mini-series was produced the following year; since both had positive ratings, the green light was given to the series, but it died after 20 episodes...perhaps it was one of the last true westerns, since the genre was losing popularity]
[vocal title aka: "God's Chosen Country"; Although the Alfred Newman film THEME was one of the great western THEMEs of motion pictures, the producers of the TV series decided to commission a THEME from the composer of a more contemporary disco-western THEME for the prime-time soap opera "Dallas" which began the same year and grew to become a popular hit; a lyric was added, and it was filed for copyright under the vocal title] Composer: music by Jerrold Earle Immel (ASCAP) with lyric added by Pamela Phillips (ASCAP) [professional name of Pamela Phillips Oland] 1978 Publisher: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. 2001 Publisher: Affiliated Lion Music, Inc. (BMI) c/o EMI Entertainment World, Inc. a div. of EMI Music Publishing of New York, NY [as "God's Chosen Country"]: Vocal Copyright Date: Jun. 5, 1978; PAu-25-186. Vocal Renewal Date: Recordings: