Posted on 06/02/2012 5:25:21 PM PDT by Kid Shelleen
In the feud between the Hatfields and McCoys, the History channel proved the winner.
A miniseries about the warring families set basic cable viewing records, according to Nielsen Co. figures the channel released Thursday.
The three nights of “Hatfields & McCoys” were the top-rated entertainment telecasts ever for ad-supported basic cable, History said. Wednesday’s finale of “Hatfields & McCoys” was the most-watched of the three nights, with 14.3 million viewers. According to the History channel, that makes it the No. 1 non-sports and non-news program ever on ad-supported cable.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesherald.com ...
It was a good show and actually appears to have held fairly firm to real history. History channel could learn something from that.
As I understand it, Devil Anse Hatfield was really an ancient alien.
It was an excellent production
It was very good. In fact I plan on watching the whole thing again when I get home tonight.
I knowed Devil Anse had no soul!
I thought it might have a semi happy ending, but then I asked myself "how did you expect something like that to end?"
It was hard watching that cycle of violence.
There is a lack of evidence that he was not an alien. :)
One of the things the History channel did very well was thread the promo of the series into other shows like Pawn stars and American pickers.
The Program itself was very good, but the promotion was excellent IMHO
“It was hard watching that cycle of violence”
I agree and I personally think that was the point. On night 2, I said aloud, “When will enough BE ENOUGH?” Then I thought that this is what extreme hate can do. When “to get even” takes over every bit of soul and cell in oneself.. it becomes a cancer of sorts. Well, that is what I got out of it. Maybe I read too deeply into things....
I dvr’d the three episodes figuring after watching the first few battle scenes thinking that my wife would not have an interest. I watched the first episode and she watched the last two with me. We both enjoyed.
How did Devil Anse survive all that shooting?
Evidence seems to suggest that he was in possession of some sort of ancient shielding technology unknown to modern man.
Devil Anse and Randall McCoy outlived it by 30+ years, but they had to watch their Sons and Daughters get killed because of their hate.
It was very well done. All involved deserve kudos.
I did not watch this, because it seems trivial. It’s not a major turning point in behavior or law or control.
However, it’s good to see HC achieve this level of success. It goes to show how much we are interested in the truth. I don’t detect bias on the HC, perhaps I’m naive, but I just don’t see it.
Devil Anse took to religion just before he died.
Time Traveling Aliens gave them the technology, so Kevin Costner would make a 3 part TV series about it in 2012 and they would profit!
Sort of a man made hell on earth. What could be worse than to watch child after child killed? The bible verse, “Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord” kept popping in my head. I got to thinking that vengeance is the Lord’s work since He can handle it and knows what is fair and just. At the end, I saw two broken, miserable, demented old men with nothing left... like the hate had consumed all of their humanity.
It did shape law.
That scene at the hanging really brought it all together about how long it went on and how pointless the whole thing was.
“Why are they famous?”
“For killing each other.”
Yep, pure hatred. It hollows out a soul. It ultimately takes from the holder everything that they hold dear.
I think Johnse should have taken Roseanna and left. I couldn’t help but think him a coward after the scene where it was clear he was choosing family over his kid’s mother.
You know because Randall was the more religious of the two.
The replay is on tonight it started at 6 central. Part two on now. Part three next. William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield lived to 81 and was well off.
It was all crap
I agree. It was a good show. I’ll probably buy the DVD.
So, I guess people can expect the other networks to create feuding hillbilly shows in attempt to copy the success of this series? Maybe even a "Beverly Hillbillies in the 21st Century" sitcom?
I enjoyed it. Even Mrs. MAExile enjoyed enjoyed it. (That’s saying something.)
I didn’t even have to duct tape a 2x4 over Kevin Costner to improve the acting.
Powers Booth was excellent as Judge Hatfield
Ronan Vibert was excellent as Perry Cline
The scene with Randall McCoy on being interviewed on the porch and the muckraker wanted a picture of him with a gun really drove home to me how that whole thing got blown out of proportion.
That is when the became "famous for killing each other".
It was poignant that the Towheaded retard was the only one hung.
There were many feuds during that time that were more violent and with higher body counts. The thing that made this feud famous was that it involved two states and therefore the federal govt which attracted the attention of the press. History Channel did a very good job. I enjoyed it.
Suggested?
Heck, that’s what they portrayed.
I Liked the Devil Anse line “I must bend because Randall McCoy cannot”.
It was great,
So unlike Hollywood today
1) The men actually acted like men acted back then. In too many historical movies today, the characters act like today’s 21st century metrosexuals set back in whatever time period the movie is set.
2) No token ultra moral black guy to consistently point out how evil and stupid the white male characters are behaving.
3) The women acted like women of the time. There was no modern empowered super women that seemingly infect every historical movie. I was just waiting for 79lb Rebecca or Nancy McCoy to take on multiple 250+lb Hatfields and easily beat them up, but thankfully it never happened.
So I guess he wouldn't have been able to call off the feud.
I liked the fact that they touched on the civil war being a lot less north vs south than we believe today. As Asa McCoy told Jim Vance, There are as many folks around here fighting for the union as for the confederacy.
Some recent family history has emerged that shows how common the mixed loyalties were. Turns out that my great grandmother’s grandfather and his brother signed up to fight for the union on the same day but the brother never returned north. Her grandfather simply said he’s still living. It appears that he went south with the union and switched sides or remained after the war.
I thought it was very entertaining. I’ve saved it and will eventually watch it again. A tremendous tragedy.
After the trials, Randall seemed to live a quiet life in Kentucky. He operated a ferry in Pikeville for some time. He died in 1914 from injuries he suffered after falling into a cooking fire. Once a leading player in one of history's most notorious family feuds, McCoy seemed to slip from this world without much notice. He was buried in the Dils Cemetery in Pikeville, Kentucky.Randall McCoy-Death and Legacy
Good historical video of the affair here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hekALWtiWm0
That show had me at
“I’m prepared to do my duty as your wife, but I ask that you spill your seed outside of me.”
I hearing the WW2 channel going have next summer mini series about Vikings that story coming from same dude brough you the Showtime series the TUDORS that be awsome
The election day fight didn't happen quite like that...which is why killing the 3 McCoy boys was so murderous. One of the boys wasn't even there...and didn't show up until the time the other two were rounded up. AND...deacon started it. Everyone was actually getting along but he owed on of them money and wouldn't pay up...and he drew the knife.
The cabin fire: Ellison mounts shot Alifair inside the cabin at Jim Vance's prompting (well...he was actually prompting Cap). And in that fight, Rose Ann was actually in teh cabin with Johnse's and her's son...who was 7 at the time...and Johnse almost shot him. He hit the blanket he was hiding under and it became a Hatfield joke.
And by all accounts...the pig actually did belong to Floyd Hatfield. Randall Stole it and marked it. Floyd stole it back. Said pig was actually in the courtroom during the trial. Randall produced no witnessed and Floyd had numerous witnesses about the pig.
There are other problems...such that Jeff McCoy was shot in the back...but other than that...it was a good show. Good entertainment...but don't take a history test from it.
That was one of the most depressing series I have ever seen.
High production values, but the fact that I knew it had been shot in Romania rather than Appalachia gave it a surreal feeling to me.
There was just something wrong with the landscape. Always got the same feeling with Lord of the Rings. The New Zealand landscape looks alien to a midwestern eye.
You realize that she was having babies year in and year out didn’t get a chance to recover it I notice it while I was watch this mini series WOW
wonder ho many watched it online like i did?
It became so famous because of the paparazzi from the "civilized" world. It was reported in the papers and caught the attention of people "up East" who had not known that such a place as WV & KY existed. For them it was like looking at tribal warfare in Africa. Intriguing. But the Hatfields or the McCoys were not ignorant people. They were well to do, especially Devil Anse.
I agree with you about the location. The terrain was not WV. That is why I like the documentary so much. Besides some of my re-enacting buddies acted in the documentary. One of them acted in the movie too. Dirty Jim.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.