User Reviews

I saw this film on Encore Westerns at 7:10 a.m. yesterday morning, and its plot was: Maggie Sergeant (Joanna Pettet) is chronicling in her diary the hardships that she, her husband John (William Shatner) and their 2 children (Helen Hunt and Russell Baer) faced, starting with their move to Nebraska in March of 1867 (March 10, in fact) to settle on land that John had bought there, only to find on arriving there in late April that the area had been settled 7 years ago. In the argument between John and the people already settled there, Maggie suffers a miscarriage, which forces John to relinquish the property rights and ask Maggie if she wants to go to Wyoming and settle there instead. They arrive at a parcel of land next to a ranch owned by Robert Douglas (David Janssen), just outside the town of Big Pines, and settle there, planting wheat and vegetables. One day, John is returned to Maggie and the children by Mr. Douglas, who found him dead after he drowned in a flash flood while returning home from filing their settlement claim. Maggie takes on caring for her family, even banding together with her neighbors to save all that everyone owned from a prairie fire. While in town the following day, Maggie runs into Mr. Douglas, who asks her if she's heading back east with her kids. She says no, that that they're staying, and the story ends with her August 21, 1867 diary entry in which she says that she's sending for a teacher to establish a school for the children of the Pines Ridge community, and a minister to attend to the religious needs of all the families there, adding that she doesn't feel like an outsider anymore. I found this to be one of Ms. Pettet's best roles in her acting career since she was portraying a character determined to overcome the challenges presented to her. I even wept several times over the film's course. I'd really like to find this film on DVD, so I can view it again and again. Spoiler Alert: This wasn't Ms. Pettet's only appearance alongside David Janssen. She appeared in an episode of The Fugitive 7 years prior to this film, and in 3 episodes of Harry-O after this film aired on CBS.

This is not normally the sort of film I would want to see--after all, the subject matter isn't the most exciting I've ever seen. The film is a lot like "Little House on the Prairie" but without all the schmaltz. However, in recent months I have taken great delight in watching the films of William Shatner--which range from decent (such as INCUBUS) to the amazingly bad (IMPULSE)--so bad that they really should be seen as cult classics for bad film addicts like myself. Here, though, there are two major problems. First, Shatner is pretty good in the film and seldom over-acts. Second, as the film is about the pioneer WOMEN, you know that sooner or later Shatner had to start "pushin' up the daisies" (a nice Old West euphemism)--plus the plot summary on IMDb says this, so there isn't a lot of suspense in this regard.

The film plays like a pioneer woman's diary that is being dramatized. You hear the long-suffering wife narrate at times and her life is recreated in little vignettes. Most of this might seem a bit dull, but it's also a good history lesson--something most people take for granted. If you can get your kids to actually sit still during the film, they might learn a lot about just how hard it was for homesteaders in the 19th century. They might appreciate what they have just a bit more.

As far as the quality of the production goes, it's pretty good and obvious that the folks who made this really cared. I was also impressed that Joanna Pettet was willing to play a less than glamorous role as the mother and the film stands up pretty well 36 years later.

By the way, the young daughter is a very young Helen Hunt and it's sure hard to recognize that it's her.

The film begins with the Sergeant family in an Indiana town. They are: papa John, mama Maggie, and half grown children Sarah and Jeremy. John, who spent his youth on a farm, is itching to change his life from a drug store clerk living in a rented house, to a farmer, who owns his own land, and builds his own house. But, he figures Indiana land will always be too expensive for him. Thus, he has decided to fulfill his dream of heading west where land was cheap or free. He took the liberty of buying some railroad land in Nebraska, without consulting his wife or children, who weren't enthusiastic about such a move. They sold everything they could, to buy supplies for their trip and train tickets for Lincoln, NE. From Lincoln, they traveled by prairie schooner, pulled by 2 oxen, with a milk cow in the rear.

When they arrived at their land, they discovered they are regarded as claim jumpers by a group of men and women, who claim they have worked the land for 7 years, thus qualify for a claim to the land. A fight erupts, and John nearly drowns, before giving up. Instead of returning to Indiana, they agree to head west for Wyoming. They stop by a small crossroads , and the proprietor of a store welcomes them to settle on a peace of land next to his wheat farm. John miraculously breaks the sod for a large wheat field, builds a sod house, using the sod he plowed up, and plants his field in wheat, all within a few weeks, this being spring. They are lucky there are a few small trees around to provide roof support.

The first rain storm is welcomed, but reveals a major leak or two in the roof. A much more serious consequence is the death of John, who drowned in a flash flood. Now, Maggie is in a quandary what to do: head back home, look for a job elsewhere, or find a new husband. Neighbor Douglas keeps hinting that he would be agreeable to a marriage. They decide to stay until the wheat is harvested to hopefully obtain enough money for a trip back to Indiana. They almost lose all their wheat, as well as their house, when a large prairie fire nearly engulfs these. They only lost a small percentage of their wheat in making a firebreak... I will stop my summary here.

I'm impressed that oxen, rather than the more commonly portrayed horses, pulled their prairie schooner. Oxen were cheaper to buy, could pull more weight, and could better live off the prairie grasses. Thus, most pioneers used oxen, or mules, rather than horses to pull their wagon.

Several criticisms: That was an awfully big wheat field for John to plant, using primitive seeding methods. Also, how were they going to market their wheat, being far from any population center or railroad. Also, they arrived in very early spring, when there might still be snow on the prairie and they should be wearing cold weather clothes.

As others have mentioned, this film appears to have been regarded as a pilot for a TV series, hence the rather unsatisfying ending. A few years later, another film on the same subject: "Young Pioneers" was released, being 25 min. longer than the present 70 min. film. It too was a pilot for a TV series, which fizzled after 3 episodes: perhaps an indication of what would have happened if the present film had been followed by additional episodes. I would choose this later film over the present one, partly because it's long enough to dramatize more challenges. However, the stories are sufficiently different that, if you like this sort of subject, I would recommend seeing both. Both are presently available on You Tube, or DVDs.

It does appear as though this movie was made as a pilot for a possible TV series, and in some ways it's too bad it didn't get a chance. The premise was good, and the potential for good future stories was laid out well --- including the discovery little Helen Hunt made of those strange rocks in the water bed. The basic story presents an element of realism that was missing in many of the western television shows from those days, and the idea that a woman with two children could successfully run a farm by herself was a subject unheard of. Perhaps William Shatner's brief appearance was meant only as way to get people to watch... as for me, I enjoyed seeing him looking young again and in a roll other than James T. Kirk. Maybe someday another producer will consider doing an updated version of this story, and that would be a plus.

The title of "Pioneer Woman" pretty well tells you what this TV movie is all about. It's a family orientated movie to be sure, and could have been sub-titles "Little Sod Hut on the Prairie".

It's 1867 and John Sergeant (William Shatner) buys an 80 acre tract of land in Nebraska. He returns home excited but his wife Maggie (Joanna Pettit) is less than enthusiastic about the move. You see, she is pregnant and hasn't told her husband. Their children, Sarah (Helen Hunt - her debut) and Jeremy (Russell Baer) have mixed feelings over leaving the security of their Indiana home.

John's wishes prevail and they sell their belongings and set out for Nebraska first by train, wagon train and alone. When they arrive at their land, they are "greeted" by a group of nesters who refuse to give up the land that they have been cultivating for the past seven years. They force John to sign over his deed and while this is going on, Maggie loses her baby and run the family out of town so to speak..

The family decides to press on to Wyoming where they meet up with Joe Wormser (Lance DeGault who shows them the way to an available tract of land near his. On the way they meet cattleman Robert Douglas (David Jannsen) whom they well encounter later. John works hard cultivating the land and builds the family a sod hut to live in. As their crop of wheat is nearly ready for market, John goes off to town to register their claim.

Unfortunately, Douglas brings John's body home having found him killed in a violent rain storm. Maggie discovers that the family is near broke and despite wanting to return home, is forced to stay and sell the wheat crop to raise money. Just as the harvest is about to begin a prairie fire breaks out. Douglas and the surrounding neighbors rush to the Sergeant farm to fight the fire.

With the fire extinguished and the bulk of her crop saved, Maggie must now decide whether to return to Indiana or stay having developed an attraction for Douglas. Hmmmmmmm.

Joanna Pettit had been a glamorous leading lady in the 60s. She sheds all of that for her role as the widowed mother of two left ito fend for herself. Shatner hams it up as usual and Jannsen has little to do other than to suggest his attraction to Maggie.

Filmed in the "wilds" of Alberta, Canada.

Yet another failed pilot for a 1970's network television show finds its way onto a public domain DVD. Despite an interesting cast and location filming, there is little here. In 1867 Indiana, Maggie (Joanna Pettet) lives a nice life. She has a clerk husband, John (William Shatner), and two kids (Russell Baer and Helen Hunt) with another on the way. John runs home to announce he has bought eighty acres to farm and they are all moving to Nebraska. Maggie protests, hasn't broken the news about the lil' Star Fleet commander in the oven, but the family boards a train, then a wagon, before finally getting to the land they bought- and the first of many a hardship falls on our title character. Stop reading now if you'd rather watch Pettet suffer through every prairie complication imaginable with surprise.

Some land grabbers have taken John's land. After Shatner gets his toupee and porn star moustache forcibly dunked in a watering hole, Maggie miscarries and the defeated family rides on to Wyoming. They find a homestead that borders gruff rancher Douglas' (a wasted David Janssen) land, and the family plants wheat. John leaves for Cheyenne, something awful happens, and Maggie must fend for herself in the wilderness, waiting for her crop to come in so she can get back to the Hoosier state.

The series would have provided weekly problems for our heroine to deal with. The film touches on a possible romance between Maggie and Douglas as the small community would have started to civilize. As a stand-alone film, "Pioneer Woman" is very mediocre. Pettet goes through every clicheed disaster except for constantly mentioned Indian attacks which was probably being saved for a future episode to the point where her stoicism turns comical. You'll want to boldly go punch Shatner in the face the minute he delivers his first line, his John is annoying, shallow, and possibly requires special needs. The film is narrated from Maggie's diary entries, as Pettet pines and writes. Maggie does toughen, but that's no surprise because she obviously lives through the peril because we hear her diary entries. Helen Hunt's whiny character could use a good spanking. An aspect that works is the location shooting, with Alberta boldly standing in for Wyoming and Nebraska. Other than that, "Pioneer Woman" is about as flat as the fields the Pioneer Woman farms, making "Little House on the Prairie" looks like "The Wild Bunch."