Well, you are probably aware the Beggarman, Thief mini-series was based on the novel by Irwin Shaw, which was the actual sequel to his Rich Man, Poor Man novel. But the audience had already seen the ABC TV sequel (RM, PM Book II), which was not written by Shaw and not based on his actual sequel novel. RM, PM Book II took the story in its own direction, while Shaw's sequel novel (Beggarman, Thief) took a completely different course.
So any viewers of the two ABC mini-series who tuned in to Beggarman, Thief on NBC (including myself in my late-teens), likely thought "What the hell is this? It doesn't have continuity with what I've already experienced on the ABC versions." I remember getting about half-way through the first episode of Beggarman, Thief and turning it off because it seemed to have little connection to the earlier mini-series. It was completely confusing to viewers. But that was not the fault of the producers of Beggarman, Thief -- it was actually due to ABC's insistence on writing their own sequel to RM, PM which essentially made Beggarman, Thief irrelevant.
Now, I have no idea if Beggarman, Thief was a good sequel to RM, PM. It may have been wonderful, or perhaps it was dreadful. I just don't think the viewers gave it a chance. I certainly did not at the time.
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Tisy-Lish ·
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