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Honored Contributor
Posts: 28,722
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Yesterday, Encore MoviePlex Channel ran the original mini series from 1976 all afternoon, ended at midnight ET. What a treat for me, had never seen it before. Outstanding story with stellar cast, including young Nick Nolte and Peter Strauss and Susan Blakely.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 21,849
Registered: ‎10-03-2011

OMG! I was hooked on that, back in the day.

Super Contributor
Posts: 1,365
Registered: ‎12-22-2010

Shelbelle, I have such great memories of Rich Man, Poor Man: the trials, tribulations and triumphs of Tom and Rudy Jordache, as originally told in Irwin Shaw's novel. That 1976 mini-series brought ABC some of its highest ratings ever. That was before video recorders became ubiquitous. We didn't get our first, a Sony Betamax, until later that year. I sat transfixed each night as I watched RM,PM, barely able to contain the anticipation of what would unfold each successive night.

I re-discovered RM,PM last year on Xfinity's VOD. Encore is wonderful; especially with their Sunday Mini-series Marathons. If you miss the marathon, Encore VOD has it, usually for a year or more.

There was a sequel, Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II, that ran from 1976-'77. It began where RM,PM ended, but somehow the quality just didn't match the original.

If you enjoyed the original RM,PM, here's another mini-series to watch for with a similar storyline: Jeffrey Archer's Kane & Abel (1985), starring Peter Strauss, Sam Neill, Ron Silver. According to the IMDb plot summary: "Kane and Abel are born on the same day the same year on each side of the Atlantic. William Kane is born in one of the richest families of Boston and grows up to be a banker on Wall Street. Abel Rosnovski is born in the Polish countryside and has to spend many years in Siberian prison camps before he travels to New York and eventually creates one of the world's largest chains of hotels. The confrontation between these two men, both striving for power and success, will make the finance capital of the world tremble." - Written by Mattias Thuresson

Super Contributor
Posts: 296
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Oh, how I wish I'd known it was on!!! I haven't seen it since the first airing in 1976 and think about it all the time. Hopefully, It will be rerun sometime in the near future.

War Eagle!
Super Contributor
Posts: 1,365
Registered: ‎12-22-2010
On 10/27/2014 MESPal said:

Oh, how I wish I'd known it was on!!! I haven't seen it since the first airing in 1976 and think about it all the time. Hopefully, It will be rerun sometime in the near future.

Don't fret, MESPal, it's still available on Encore VOD. Just go to Premium Channels and in Encore, select Mini-series. All eps are there for your enjoyment and at your convenience.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,256
Registered: ‎05-11-2012
On 10/27/2014 keri said:
On 10/27/2014 MESPal said:

Oh, how I wish I'd known it was on!!! I haven't seen it since the first airing in 1976 and think about it all the time. Hopefully, It will be rerun sometime in the near future.

Don't fret, MESPal, it's still available on Encore VOD. Just go to Premium Channels and in Encore, select Mini-series. All eps are there for your enjoyment and at your convenience.

Is this on cable??

Honored Contributor
Posts: 28,722
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Keri, thanks so much. I had never read the RMPM book either. But, as far as Kane and Abel, I did read the book back in the day, and the movie was sheer perfection, word for word the book, fabulous story telling by Jeffrey Archer.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 28,722
Registered: ‎03-09-2010
On 10/27/2014 loveschocolate said:
On 10/27/2014 keri said:
On 10/27/2014 MESPal said:

Oh, how I wish I'd known it was on!!! I haven't seen it since the first airing in 1976 and think about it all the time. Hopefully, It will be rerun sometime in the near future.

Don't fret, MESPal, it's still available on Encore VOD. Just go to Premium Channels and in Encore, select Mini-series. All eps are there for your enjoyment and at your convenience.

Is this on cable??

Yes, we get Encore MoviePlex on our basic cable thru Comcast Xfinity. No premium box needed for this channel.

Super Contributor
Posts: 1,365
Registered: ‎12-22-2010

Yes, loveschocolate. ENCORE (http://www.encoretv.com/) is a premium cable channel, just like HBO, CINEMAX and SHOWTIME, but not as well-known as the industry leaders. When we got our bundle six years ago, COMCAST offered it free for the first year. I haven't waded through my cable bill lately to determine the actual stand-alone cost, but I remember after that introductory period, the subscription rate was lower than industry giants HBO, CINEMAX and SHOWTIME etc.

Another little-known, but great premium cable channel is STARZ (http://www.starz.com/).

Honored Contributor
Posts: 28,722
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Plenty of old timers were in RMPM as well, Ed Asner, Dorothy Maguire, Norman Fell, Bill Bixby, Van Johnson, Dorothy Malone, Robert Reed, Kim Darby, Ray Milland, Linda Day George, Kay Lenz. Some of the episodes were directed by Bill Bixby.