Review of Return to Lonesome Dove

"Lonesome Dove" is one of the two best miniseries ever made for television. Author Larry McMurtry wrote one sequel and two prequels to "Lonesome Dove", but "Return" was not one of them and thus "Return" cannot be considered "canonical". "Return" is okay, but basically a fairly standard Western, and it lacks the "poetry" of McMurtry's classic. The only returning significant cast member from "Lonesome Dove" is Ricky Schroder, plus Tim Scott, and Chris Cooper in supporting roles. Unlike Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones, Schroder is not skilled enough an actor to carry the story. Despite his egotistic opinion of himself, Jon Voight turns the Woodrow McCall into a quite different and less memorable character. One "plus" is that, unlike "Lonesome Dove", "Return" was actually filmed at several locations in Montana. It should be noted that, like in "Lonesome Dove", the Miles City area in far eastern Montana is nothing like the Western Montana scenery where "Return" is filmed.