Rich Man, Poor Man

[Monzo]

Rich Man, Poor Man was the first major miniseries on U.S. television. 12 episodes aired on ABC in February and March 1976. The average rating was 28.0, making it the second most-watched show of the 1975-76 season (All in the Family was first).

The unexpected success prompted ABC to want more of Rich Man, Poor Man, based on Irwin Shaw's 1970 best-seller. Since no sequel to the best-seller had been released at the time, ABC was forced to produce its own sequel. In September 1976, Rich Man, Poor Man Book II premiered on Tuesday, against CBS hits M*A*S*H and One Day at a Time. Ratings dropped, with the season average being 21.6, putting the series in 21st place. Most importantly, Eight Is Enough, which took over the time slot after Book II ended in March 1977, was more successful than its predecessor and marked the end of Rich Man, Poor Man.

There is a rumor that Irwin Shaw was so appalled by the poor quality of Book II of Rich Man, Poor Man that he wrote a sequel to his novel for that very reason, but the truth is that he was already busy doing it when the original Rich Man, Poor Man premiered. Beggarman, Thief, the novel sequel to Rich Man, Poor Man, was published in 1977 and adapted two years later into a two-part ABC movie starring Jean Simmons.

What did you think of Rich Man, Poor Man? How did you like the miniseries? Was a sequel necessary? Is Book II really that much worse than Book I?

 

[Toni]

I voted for Julie (the original drunken wife), Tom (Nick Nolte in one of his many great roles), and, of course, our Falconcrestian Maggie. I did enjoy the show back then, though I can´t remember if it was aired before or after the first 3 seasons of "Dallas" (probably in the hiatus between its first 13 episodes and the rest).

It was big in Spain, and, with no doubt, the precedent to the boom that "Dallas" was. I shouldn´t say it, but I think I enjoyed the sequel (fake Book 2) even more, with its soapy twists and turns, the long-lost relatives, the special guest stars from the Golden Hollywood, and that feeling that yes, everything was bigger, not only in Texas, but in all USA too.

I thought that Peter Strauss was a looker, though he earned a bad reputation when he was hired for a commercial in Spain as being "difficult", aloof, pretentious and self-absorbed. Anyway, I wish he had had a better career after that. The same thing happened to Susan Blakely, both were typed as the JFK politician and his drunk wife. She was (is) an amazing actress and deserved to be more successful than she was. And then they talk that the "Dallas" cast was typecast...

Nolte was in his only league, and that was quite obvious even then. No wonder he left as soon as he could (not that the book allowed him not to...) and pulled a Duffy (though Nolte did it first...). There were a lot of supporting actors who were absolutely wonderful and the popular Alex North title tune only was surpassed by "Dallas" in the late 70s.

All I read about the "threequel" (or whatever) tells me that it´s a turd. Glenn Ford was her love interest, I think, and Simmons played the "never mentioned" (in the miniseries) sister of the Jordaches. I´d love to know the opinion of someone who has really watched it. One of these days I could re-start the whole thing, the Book 2 is available out there...

 

[Monzo]

Beggarman, Thief is on YouTube:

I haven't seen Beggarman, Thief yet because I just finished my rewatch of Book II this week and am now taking a break from Rich Man, Poor Man.

I've always wondered why Peter Strauss never appeared in one of the classic primetime soaps, for example as Bart Fallmont on Dynasty or Fielding Carlyle on Flamingo Road. At least we did see Susan Blakely ön Falcon Crest, although that was too little, too late.

I think both Book I and Book II have something interesting to offer. The miniseries had structure and, in my opinion, better actors. If you really care about acting, you might enjoy Edward Asner and Nick Nolte as father and son. Axel Jordache was a terrible character, but I have hardly seen Edward Asner better.

As for Book II, it's obvious that the season finale was planned from the beginning, but I think the writers completely underestimated that there were 22 episodes to fill. The plot moved quickly in the beginning, then slowed down from episode 8, and by episode 14 it seemed to be coming to a standstill. Hardly anything happened until the penultimate episode, then action picked up again for the finale. Was Book II of Rich Man, Poor Man the first primetime soap to have 22 episodes per season? At times, Book II seemed like new soap territory, but it's funny that the villain of Book II lived on a ranch in Dallas.

Another big mistake for me was that Book II is not set in the here and now, but eight years in the past, which was bad not only because of the fashion, but also because of the music. Part of the plot revolved around a record company and you heard music from acts that resembled Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin or the Carpenters, so nothing that was really popular in 1976.

But what I like about Book II is we discover several actors that we would see in primetime soaps a few years later. First of all, Susan Sullivan is Rudy's new love interest, her daughter is played by Kimberly Beck, who was Danny's teacher in season 7 of Dynasty. In the same season of Dynasty, we met Cassie Yates, who is a singer in Book II. Penny Peyser, remembered as Danny's ex-wife on Knots Landing, plays the daughter of John Anderson, who was Kimberly Cryder's father on Dallas. Peter Haskell, seen as a doctor on The Colbys, is the villain in Book II. His assistant is Peter Donat, who not only saved JR as a surgeon io Dallas, but was also a series regular on Flamingo Road.

What I unfortunately couldn't find any information about is whether another season (Book III) was planned or not, so I'm still interested in that.

 

[Monzo]

Rich Man, Poor Man celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2026.

According to Peter Strauss, some restaurants are still closed on Mondays today because 50 years ago Monday had established itself as the quietest day, but what was the reason for this? The tables remained empty on Mondays because everyone stayed home to watch Rich Man, Poor Man.

Not much, but there were some media reports about Rich Man, Poor Man's 50th anniversary.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcberman1/2026/02/01/fifty-years-ago-rich-man-poor-man-redefined-event-television/

Who's Still Alive from the Cast of 'Rich Man, Poor Man'?

The blockbuster mini-series turns 50 on February 1.

www.remindmagazine.com