Centennial poster

Centennial

★ 8.3 4K votes 1978–1979 1 seasons · 12 episodes Ended NBC
Sprawling sagaA many-threaded epic that unfolds across seasons.This show: 10/10Family sagaBonds and fractures across generations of one family.This show: 9/10Real historyReal historical events and figures woven into the story.This show: 9/10Period pieceSet meaningfully in a past era.This show: 9/10Rural & frontierCountryside, wilderness and frontier living.This show: 8/10Event miniseriesPrestige limited television built as an event.This show: 8/10Ensemble castMany characters carrying equal weight.This show: 8/10
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Starring
Raymond BurrBarbara CarreraRichard ChamberlainRobert ConradRichard CrennaChad Everett
Written by
John Wilder
Starring
Raymond BurrBarbara CarreraRichard ChamberlainRobert ConradRichard CrennaChad Everett
Written by
John Wilder
Ratings per Episode
246810
Votes per Episode
063125188250

Centennial Episode Ratings Heatmap

AvgE1E2E3E4E5E6E7E8E9E10E11E12
S17.98.27.98.18.08.28.27.97.67.97.97.66.9

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About

"A whole century of the West, unhurried"

Centennial follows a fictional Colorado settlement from its earliest days through generations of settlers, trappers, Native Americans, and ranchers, tracing how the American West was built, fought over, and changed. Adapted from James Michener's doorstop novel, it moves at a deliberate, old-fashioned pace across twelve long episodes, favoring sweeping historical scope over quick payoffs. The feel is stately and novelistic rather than thrilling: patient character studies, period detail, and a real sense of time passing across decades. It rewards viewers who want an immersive multi-generational saga rather than tight, fast-moving drama.

Watch it for

the sprawling, generations-spanning portrait of the American frontier rarely attempted at this scale.

Maybe skip if

you want tight pacing rather than a slow, novelistic multi-decade saga.

Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.

All Seasons

Season 11978
7.92K1220h 47m
EpTitleRatingYoursVotesRuntime
1Only the Rocks Live Forever8.2
243144 min
2The Yellow Apron7.9
18394 min
3The Wagon and the Elephant8.1
18696 min
4For as Long as the Waters Flow8.0
16496 min
5The Massacre8.2
16696 min
6The Longhorns8.2
16598 min
7The Shepherds7.9
14692 min
8The Storm7.6
14594 min
9The Crime7.9
14696 min
10The Winds of Fortune7.9
14495 min
11The Winds of Death7.6
13799 min
12The Scream of Eagles6.9
153147 min

Full Cast & Crew

Cast

Raymond Burr Herman Bockweiss
Barbara Carrera Clay Basket
Richard Chamberlain Alexander McKeag
Robert Conrad Pasquinel
Richard Crenna Colonel Frank Skimmerhorn
Chad Everett Major Maxwell Mercy
Alex Karras Hans Brumbaugh
Brian Keith Sheriff Axel Dumire
Sally Kellerman Lise Bockweiss
Donald Pleasence Sam Purchas

Crew

John Wilder

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