Return to Lonesome Dove: the overlooked sequel

If you've spent any time in the Western space, you know the four-part CBS miniseries Lonesome Dove made a lasting mark, with Tommy Lee Jones as Woodrow F. Call and the late Robert Duvall as Augustus "Gus" McCrae. Many viewers treat the six-and-a-half-hour story as a single film rather than a television event, and its success prompted CBS to continue the saga beyond Larry McMurtry's original novel.

That continuation came in the 1993 follow-up Return to Lonesome Dove, produced without McMurtry source material. Tommy Lee Jones declined to return, and the network cast Jon Voight as Call and Barbara Hershey as Clara Allen. Voight said, "We know that there's a job left for Woodrow to do," adding, "And indeed, we want him to fulfill those last wishes of Gus." Mike Robe replaced Simon Wincer as director and John Wilder took over writing duties from William D.

Wittliff, changes that help explain a perceptible shift in tone.

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