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Hatfields and McCoys big draw for History (TV series draws highest ever viewers for History Channel)
Houston Chronicle ^ | 05/30/2012 | DAVID BAUDER,

Posted on 05/30/2012 5:38:14 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

There's nothing like a backwoods blood feud to excite television viewers on Memorial Day.

The first part of the History network's miniseries "Hatfields & McCoys" was seen by 13.9 million viewers on Monday night, more than 17 million when the immediate repeat was added in, the Nielsen company said. The numbers held up for part two on Tuesday, which was watched by 13.1 million, Nielsen said.

Those are huge numbers in the cable television world. No scripted series on the broadcast networks last week came close. By contrast, Fox's series finale of "House" last week reached 8.7 million people.

"Hatfields & McCoys" had a couple of big-name stars in Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton and is airing over three nights in two-hour chunks. Broadcast television was dominated by competition shows again last week, led by the 21.5 million people who watched the "American Idol" finale on Fox. "Dancing With the Stars" and "America's Got Talent" also did well.

Perhaps crowded by the marketplace, ABC's "Duets" finished a modest No. 23 in the ratings, with 6.8 million viewers. Fox's summer series "So You Think You Can Dance" also came out of the gate slowly, with 6.3 million viewers.

(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...


TOPICS: History; Society; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: feud; hatfields; history; mccoys
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To: PubliusMM

I too have been hot and cold on Costner. However given the paucity of talent in Hollywood today, there are few male leads who can convincingly portray a cowboy, Costner is one of them.


21 posted on 05/30/2012 7:56:37 PM PDT by Crapgame (What should be taught in our schools? American Exceptionalism, not cultural Marxism...)
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To: SeekAndFind

Yep - good show. Watching part 3 now (had to check in).


22 posted on 05/30/2012 8:25:21 PM PDT by mykroar (October race riots bring November martial law.)
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To: Crapgame

I remember staying at the Fairmount Chateau Lake Louise ten years ago and was eating dining where you had a tie and jacket at all times. Costner came in without a tie and was denied entry into the dining area. Rather than making a fuss, he said okay and ate at the bar instead.


23 posted on 05/30/2012 8:49:16 PM PDT by chrisinoc
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To: SeekAndFind

Seems like they took a lot of autistic license.


24 posted on 05/30/2012 8:58:18 PM PDT by Clint N. Suhks
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To: Clint N. Suhks
How Realistic is ‘Hatfields and McCoys’?
25 posted on 05/30/2012 9:05:47 PM PDT by Bratch
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To: SeekAndFind
Ah yes, I remember fondly that hit song from my childhood back in the '40's:
I am sure that you will all recall the story
Of the Hatfield and McCoy mountain feud
Which was very, very bloody
An which killed off everybody
'cept one McCoy boy and Hatfield gal he wooed
(a bit of artistic license there) - they don't write 'em like that anymore......
26 posted on 05/30/2012 9:08:22 PM PDT by Intolerant in NJ
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To: Bratch

Thanks for the link.

Still trying to figure out the 11th dead, was it the kid who Anse wouldn’t let go on the New Year’s raid and in the last raid in the open field I can’t find any reference to that got shot after he shot an adult?

“1888 January 18: Bill Dempsey killed by Jeff McCoy and Frank Phillips”


27 posted on 05/30/2012 9:37:49 PM PDT by Clint N. Suhks
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To: Clint N. Suhks
On Jan. 18, 1888 the cauldron of tension finally erupted into the largest, open gunfight of the feud. Frank Phillips and a party of eighteen men met a Hatfield party of thirteen at Grapevine Creek, a West Virginia tributary of the Tug. In the ensuing gunfight, a number of injuries were sustained. Young Bill Dempsey, fighting for the Hatfields, suffered a gunshot to the leg and hid himself in the underbrush for safety. He too met his fate when the gun of Frank Phillips answered his cries for help.
Old Free Republic thread
28 posted on 05/30/2012 10:02:22 PM PDT by Bratch
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To: Bratch

Perfect thanks! They didn’t exactly portray that in this version.

Also wondered how Frank Phillips dies by the hand of his own deputy when they had a “?” for the date of his death.

Like I said, they took some autistic license.


29 posted on 05/30/2012 10:15:08 PM PDT by Clint N. Suhks
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To: PubliusMM

I feel the same about Costner. You should try pushing yourself away from Fox News and not waiting to be pulled, it’s healthier.


30 posted on 05/31/2012 5:37:28 AM PDT by stuartcr ("When silence speaks, it speaks only to those that have already decided what they want to hear.")
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar
A TV movie or mini-series was made about this feud many years ago starting Jack Palance.

That is true. It was one of those made-for-TV ninety-minute "ABC Movies of the Week." Palance played Devil Anse and it aired in 1975. I remember it well. I've been trying to find it online but so far I can't.

Ninety minutes vs. six hours, though . . . not much competition there.

31 posted on 05/31/2012 12:37:19 PM PDT by Zionist Conspirator (Ki-hagoy vehamamlakhah 'asher lo'-ya`avdukh yove'du; vehagoyim charov yecheravu!)
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To: SeekAndFind
I just learned about this miniseries from ads during Memorial Day weekend war movies, so I had to catch it.

I'm gratified that people even in "new age," post-modern, urban, multicultural America are interested in "hillbillies." I would not have thought so.

I can't answer for the historical accuracy, but I know it was extremely violent and bloody and contained a you-know-what load of bad language. I watched it till the end, though I was getting kind of sickened and depressed by it.

It was also nice to see actual history on the "History Channel" instead of their usual "look and laugh at the funny rednecks" reality shows.

32 posted on 05/31/2012 12:42:42 PM PDT by Zionist Conspirator (Ki-hagoy vehamamlakhah 'asher lo'-ya`avdukh yove'du; vehagoyim charov yecheravu!)
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To: Clint N. Suhks
Here's a report on the feud by the Adjutant General of Kentucky, in March of 1888, to the Kentucky Governor.

What in Sam Hill ... started the Hatfield and McCoy Feud?

33 posted on 05/31/2012 1:06:21 PM PDT by Bratch
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To: Bratch

Now there’s a version Wiki and The History Channel should have read however biased Sam Hill may have been for the McCoy’s. Six hours with commercials Kevin Costner and The History Channel should have devoted more time to the facts instead of so much fluff.


34 posted on 05/31/2012 1:57:23 PM PDT by Clint N. Suhks
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