The Magnificent Seven | |
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![]() Season 1 DVD cover | |
Based on | The Magnificent Seven by William Roberts |
Developed by | |
Starring | |
Music by | Don L. Harper |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 22 |
Production | |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | January 3, 1998 July 3, 2000 | –
The Magnificent Seven is an American western television series based on the 1960 film, which was itself a remake of the 1954 Japanese film Seven Samurai. The series was developed by Pen Densham and John Watson and premiered on CBS on January 3, 1998, running for two seasons through July 3, 2000. The cast of The Magnificent Seven included Michael Biehn, Eric Close, and Ron Perlman. Robert Vaughn, who played one of the seven gunmen in the 1960 film, had a recurring role in the series as a crusading judge.
Seven men from the western United States band together and form the law in a town that, for better or for worse, needs their protection from the lawlessness of the west. They consist of an infamous gunslinger, an ex-bounty hunter, a smooth-talking con artist, a young eastern amateur, a womanizing gunman, a freed slave turned healer, and a former preacher seeking penance. While they originally band together to protect a dusty Seminole village from renegade former Confederate soldiers (whereas the movie was about protecting a Mexican village from bandits), they later come together to protect a budding town from the constant riffraff that threatens to destroy it.
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
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First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 9 | January 3, 1998 | March 21, 1998 | |
2 | 13 | January 8, 1999 | July 3, 2000 |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
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1 2 | 1 2 | "The Ghosts of the Confederacy" | Geoff Murphy | Teleplay by : Frank Q. Dobbs and Chris Black Television story by: Pen Densham & John Watson | January 3, 1998 | |
Chris is approached by a Seminole man asking for protection for his village from the Ghosts of the Confederacy; he offers as payment a piece of gold worth $35, which, split into $5 per man, equals seven men. The band of seven — Chris, Vin, Buck, Ezra, J.D., Josiah and Nathan — each from different walks of life, come together to protect the village.
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3 | 3 | "One Day Out West" | Peter Markle | Story by : John Watson & Pen Densham Teleplay by : Josef Anderson | January 10, 1998 | |
A federal judge arrives to straighten out the town and J.D. volunteers to be sheriff; the local cattle baron is trying to run the homesteaders out which gives the judge a reason to ask the seven to stay and become peacekeepers to the town. | ||||||
4 | 4 | "Working Girls" | Christopher Cain | Melissa Rosenberg | January 17, 1998 | |
The town takes in a group of working girls who are running from their cruel employer and the seven have to protect the women from him and his henchman who see them as property and want them back. | ||||||
5 | 5 | "Safecracker" | T. J. Scott | Rick Husky | January 24, 1998 | |
Buck and Nathan fetch a prisoner that turns out to be a woman with a young daughter; once a safecracker, her ex-partner comes to town to blackmail her into working for him and rob Four Corners bank. | ||||||
6 | 6 | "Witness" | Bill Wages | Melissa Rosenberg | January 31, 1998 | |
Mary's young son Billy returns to town and is haunted by the demons of his father's murder. Meanwhile Ezra's mother shows up in town to check up on him. | ||||||
7 | 7 | "Nemesis" | Jerry Jameson | Steve Hattman | February 28, 1998 | |
Chris hunts down the man he believes is responsible for the deaths of his family, and the rest of the band follow him to prevent him from doing something he'll regret. | ||||||
8 | 8 | "The Collector" | Gregg Champion | Michael Norell | March 7, 1998 | |
A vindictive rancher called Guy Royal viciously takes land that will one day be the home of the railroad to make a profit, but his methods invoke the wrath of the seven. | ||||||
9 | 9 | "Manhunt" | Steve Beers | Story by : Tim John & Rick Husky Teleplay by : Rick Husky | March 14, 1998 | |
Vin hunts down a Native American he believes has kidnapped a missionary's daughter, but soon it becomes clear he only has half the story. | ||||||
10 | 10 | "Inmate 78" | Gregg Champion | Robert Franke | March 21, 1998 | |
Chris gets tossed into a corrupt prison camp and when he doesn't return, the others go looking for him. |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
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11 | 1 | "The New Law" | Christopher Cain | Melissa Rosenberg | January 8, 1999 | |
To protect their interests, the railroad sends a federal marshal into town that dismisses the seven, but after they leave all hell breaks loose when Guy Royal and Stuart James team up to turn the town into a ghost town. | ||||||
12 | 2 | "Sins of the Past" | Gregg Champion | Steve Hattman | January 15, 1999 | |
Vin's past comes back to haunt him when he is accused of a crime he didn't commit; Ezra's biggest competition in his dream of owning the saloon is his own mother. | ||||||
13 | 3 | "Love and Honor" | Gregg Champion | Rob Wright | January 22, 1999 | |
Buck attempts to protect a young woman's honor by defending her against the men that come looking for her. | ||||||
14 | 4 | "Vendetta" | William Wages | Mark Haskell Smith | January 29, 1999 | |
Chris's father-in-law comes to town, bringing in his wake a bloodthirsty family bent on vengeance for a crime he committed against them. | ||||||
15 | 5 | "Wagon Train: Part 1" | Christopher Cain | Story by : Melissa Rosenberg and Sara Davidson Teleplay by : Melissa Rosenberg | February 12, 1999 | |
Vin is attracted to a married woman and considers leaving the group while the seven escort a wagon train to their disputed territories. | ||||||
16 | 6 | "Wagon Train: Part 2" | Christopher Cain | Story by : Neil Landau Teleplay by : Richard Kletter | February 19, 1999 | |
A rancher who wants the land awarded to the settlers follows the wagon train with the idea of revenge. | ||||||
17 | 7 | "The Trial" | William Wages | Michael Nobell | March 5, 1999 | |
Nathan's father is falsely accused of a crime he did not commit but the odds of the town are stacked against him. Ezra is forced to ferret out the truth after his mother claims she has been framed for petty theft. | ||||||
18 | 8 | "Chinatown" | Christopher Cain | Neil Landau | July 9, 1999 | |
The group investigates claims of corruption along the railroad with disappearing Chinese workers. | ||||||
18 | 9 | "Achilles" | Gordon C. Lonsdale | Mark Haskell Smith | July 16, 1999 | |
J.D. accidentally kills an innocent bystander while catching, and killing, a bank robber and the brother of the slain man comes to collect the body. He also wants revenge. Meanwhile, Ezra finally meets his match in a fellow gambler he can't beat. | ||||||
20 | 10 | "Penance" | Gregg Champion | Story by : Jeff Vlaming Teleplay by : Don Michael Paul | May 3, 2000 | |
After returning from an extended absence Josiah becomes the prime suspect in a string of murders where all the victims were young independent women. Meanwhile, Nathan learns Rain is getting married. | ||||||
21 | 11 | "Lady Killers" | William Wages | Melissa Rosenberg | May 31, 2000 | |
The seven help a pair of female bounty hunters who are in town targeting a gang leader, but all is not what it seems. | ||||||
22 | 12 | "Serpents" | Steve Beers | Story by : Melissa Rosenberg Teleplay by : Mark Haskell Smith & Richard Kletter | June 7, 2000 | |
When a legendary assassin is found dead with $10,000 in his hotel room, it is up to the seven to find out who he was after, who killed him, and what to do with the money. | ||||||
23 | 13 | "Obsession" | Kevin Dowling | Richard Kletter | July 3, 2000 | |
An old flame of Chris' comes to ask for help in defending her honor and he finally comes face-to-face with the person that killed his family. |
The series was largely filmed in Newhall, California.[1] The pilot, directed by New Zealander Geoff Murphy (Young Guns II), was shot in Mescal, Arizona and the Dragoon Mountains of Arizona, near Tombstone. The pilot was scripted by Chris Black and writer/director Frank Q. Dobbs (Streets of Laredo).
MGM Home Entertainment (distributed by Fox) has released the entire series on DVD in Region 1. Season 1 was released on December 6, 2005 and season 2 on May 22, 2007. They also released a complete series set on May 13, 2008.[2]
Won
Nominations