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摘要

Groundbreaking in 1976, this once-scandalous television adaptation of Irwin Shaw's 1970 best seller seems rather quaint by today's standards. Yet it offers lots of entertainment value for couch potatoes patient enough to sit through all 34 episodes of the initial miniseries and its inferior follow-up. Peter Strauss and Nick Nolte star as, respectively, ne'er-do-well Rudy and ambitious Tom Jordache, brothers locked in an incessant rivalry owing in large measure to their bitterly cynical father, Axel (Ed Asner). Free-spirited Julie Prescott (Susan Blakely) also figures in this toxic triumvirate. Ray Milland, Fionnula Flanagan, Bill Bixby, Robert Reed, and many other veteran actors memorably fill key supporting roles. Subsequent nighttime soap operas owe a debt of gratitude to this sensational forebear, which is recommended for its baby boomer fan base and time-capsule-worthy niche.