Best Sellers

Best Sellers (also known as NBC Best Sellers) is a television series broadcast by NBC during the 1976–77 season. It is an anthology series consisting of miniseries, each one based on a best-selling historical novel that had been written in the last 10 years. In total, four miniseries were aired: Captains and the Kings, based on Captains and the Kings (1972); Once an Eagle, based on Once an Eagle (1968); Seventh Avenue, based on Seventh Avenue (1967); and The Rhinemann Exchange, based on The Rhinemann Exchange (1974). The theme music was composed by Elmer Bernstein, who also scored Captains and the Kings. The concept was similar to 1950s television serialised dramas, when plays and novels were formatted into several broadcast episodes under a single umbrella program title. It was one of the earliest examples of the modern mini-series format. The format, however, apparently did not seem to work for NBC in the mid-1970s, which ended the series after one season. Miniseries Captains and the Kings is based on Taylor Caldwell's 1972 novel Captains and the Kings. It consists of eight episodes, running 9 hours total, and was broadcast from September 30 to November 25, 1976. It is a rags-to-riches tale of an Irish immigrant family during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and stars Richard Jordan, Perry King, and Patty Duke among others. Once an Eagle is based on Anton Myrer's 1968 novel Once an Eagle. It consists of 7 episodes, running 9 hours total, and was broadcast from December 2, 1976 to January 13, 1977. It tells the story of two Army officers, one a ruthless, career-obsessed schemer, the other his exact opposite from World War I through World War II. It stars Sam Elliott, Cliff Potts, and Darleen Carr.