The Thorn Birds (miniseries)

The Thorn Birds
DVD cover
GenreDrama
Romance
Based onThe Thorn Birds
by Colleen McCullough
Written byCarmen Culver
Lee Stanley
Directed byDaryl Duke
Starring
Theme music composerHenry Mancini
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes4
Production
Executive producers
ProducerStan Margulies
Production locations
CinematographyBill Butler
Editors
Running time467 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseMarch 27 (1983-03-27) –
March 30, 1983 (1983-03-30)
Related
The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years (1996)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

The Thorn Birds is an American television miniseries broadcast on ABC from March 27 to 30, 1983. It starred Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward, Barbara Stanwyck, Christopher Plummer, Piper Laurie, Jean Simmons, Richard Kiley, Bryan Brown, Mare Winningham and Philip Anglim. It was directed by Daryl Duke and based on the best-selling 1977 novel of the same name by Colleen McCullough.

The series was enormously successful, being the second most widely watched television miniseries in history at the time, behind Roots. The Thorn Birds scored a staggering 41.9 rating and 59 percent of the audience, and was nominated for sixteen Emmys, winning six.[1] It was followed by a sequel miniseries in 1996, The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years, showing some of what the characters experienced during the nineteen-year time gap in the original.

  1. ^ "Retro : Forbidden Lust Redux : 'THE THORN BIRDS' AIRS AGAIN, PAVING THE WAY FOR AN ABC SEQUEL". Los Angeles Times. 1993-07-18. Retrieved 2024-08-07.