''The Manions of America'' is a miniseries for American television made in 1981, which was broadcast over six hours on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. The subject of the series were Irish immigrants to the United States during the Great Famine of the mid-19th century. It was directed by

Joseph Sargent Joseph Sargent (born Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente; July 22, 1925 – December 22, 2014) was an American film director. He is best known for his feature-length works, like the action movie '' White Lightning'' starring Burt Reynolds, the biopi ...

and created by

Agnes Nixon Agnes Nixon ( Eckhardt; December 10, 1922 – September 28, 2016) was an American television writer and producer, and the creator of the ABC soap operas ''One Life to Live'', ''All My Children'', as well as '' Loving'' and its spin-off '' The ...

, creator of ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2 ...

''. British dramatist

Rosemary Anne Sisson Rosemary Anne Sisson (13 October 1923 – 28 July 2017) was an English television dramatist and novelist. She was described by playwright Simon Farquhar in 2014 as being "one of television's finest period storytellers", and in 2017 fellow d ...

joined Nixon as co-writer. ''Manions'' was the first American role for actor

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He was the fifth actor to play the fictional secret agent Portrayal of James Bond in film, James Bond in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film series, starri ...

and co-starred

Kate Mulgrew Katherine Kiernan Maria Mulgrew (born April 29, 1955) is an American actress and author. She is best known for her roles as Captain Kathryn Janeway in '' Star Trek: Voyager'' and Red in ''Orange Is the New Black''. She first came to attention ...

David Soul David Soul (born David Richard Solberg; August 28, 1943 – January 4, 2024) was an American-British actor and singer. With a career spanning five decades, he rose to prominence for portraying Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the Americ ...

Linda Purl Linda Purl (born September 2, 1955) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Ashley Pfister (Fonzie's girlfriend) on ''Happy Days'' (she originally played Gloria as Richie’s date in season 2 episodes 1, 2, 6 and 7), Sheila Munroe in ...

and Steve Forrest.

Plot

A six hour television miniseries about an Irish farmer who comes to the United States. He's worn tired of repression in England and the Great Famine. After arriving in America, he takes a job in a gunpowder factory, which he eventually becomes the manager of. He is also reunited with a woman from England he fell in love with a long time ago. Then the American Civil War breaks out.

Cast

Kathleen Beller Kathleen Jennifer Beller (born February 19, 1956) is an American actress who was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in ''Promises in the Dark (film), Promises in the Dark'' (1979) a ...

as Maureen O'Brian *

as Rory O'Manion * Steve Forrest as James Kent *Peter Gilmore as Jim O'Brien *

as Deirdre O'Manion *

Nicholas Hammond Nicholas Hammond (born 15 May 1950) is an American and Australian actor and writer who is best known for his roles as Friedrich von Trapp in the film '' The Sound of Music'' and as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the 1970s television series ''The Am ...

as Padric O'Manion / Sean O'Manion *

Simon MacCorkindale Simon Charles Pendered MacCorkindale (12 February 1952 – 14 October 2010) was a British actor, film director, writer, and producer from Ely, England. He spent much of his childhood moving around owing to his father's career as an officer wit ...

as David Clement *

as Rachel Clement *

Anthony Quayle Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was a British actor. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Thomas Wolsey in the film '' Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969). He also played impor ...

as Lord Montgomery *

Barbara Parkins Barbara Parkins (born May 22, 1942) is a Canadian-American former actress, singer, dancer and photographer. Early life Parkins was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. At the age of 16, she and her adoptive mother moved to Los Angeles, where she ...

as Charlotte Kent *Simon Rouse as Eamon *

as Caleb Staunton

Reception

Judy Flanders from ''

The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second-longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after '' The Express-Times''. The newspaper is owned by Alden Global Capital ...

'' panned the series, calling it a "lugubrious lump of trash, as rotten as the potatoes that caused the Irish famine of 1845 from which this series was sprung". William Hickey of ''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio; it is a major national newspaper. In the fall of 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily an ...

'' wasn't impressed with the miniseries either, saying it "is the kind of work that will be most appreciated by ' Bicycle Irish', the ones who wear shamrocks on their sleeves and root their heads off each Saturday autumn afternoon for the Fighting Slovenians who play football for Notre Dame". In his review for ''

The Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

'', John O'Connor opined that the series is "less an exploration than a construction, jumping to a panting bed scene whenever the more violent actions subside temporarily". He did find the cast to be "competent" with Pierce Brosnan and Kate Mulgrew "managing to be sympathetic and believable despite the generally wooden dialogue". He also noted that the production "was good" and "occasionally the plot machinations generate a perverse interest of their own, however, the only thing lacking is substance".

References

External links

*
The Manions of America
at Rotten Tomatoes

{{Joseph Sargent 1981 American television series debuts 1981 American television series endings 1980s American television miniseries American Broadcasting Company television dramas