It's not quite as dramatic as the proverbial cavalry thundering forward on horseback to save a besieged wagon train, but Timeless Media Group pulls off an impressive rescue by freeing The Big Valley from the barren, unforgiving desert of DVD limbo. The complete Season 2 set arrives 7 years after Fox ceased production after 1 ½ seasons. That's right, 1 ½. Fox released Season 1 in a single collection before splitting Season 2 but leaving fans hanging after the first volume.

Now all 30 episodes of Season 2 (1966-1967) are available on 5 discs. I doubt that I have to sell existing fans on this, though they may be concerned that 6 hour-long episodes are packed on each individual DVD. I will say that the prints themselves look solid—well preserved but not spruced up or anything—and though the picture may seem a little soft at times, I experienced none of the pixelation one might expect from cramming so much onto each single-sided disc. So while that may be a concern, I didn't find any obvious issues when going through the set. The image could be sharper, but after all, we are getting 30 hours for the same price if not less than the Fox half-season. Most importantly, each episode is uncut, clocking in at around 51 to 52 minutes. We even get the old multicolor Four Star Television production logo after the end credits.

I come to this DVD with fresh eyes, having seen reruns through osmosis as a child (my mother loved the show), but not experiencing it much since then. Though The Big Valley has appeared on niche cable channels, it has not enjoyed the kind of widespread national exposure achieved by Bonanza and Gunsmoke. If you are not already an aficionado of this 1965-1969 Western drama, you are missing one of the under-appreciated gems of the genre. In addition to the classic Western trappings, it offers adventure, family drama, romance, and even a healthy dose of action (including some serious violence). An effective combination of good writing and decent production values make the show stand out, and the use of location shooting is a plus. The cast offers both classic and new (at the time) star power in the form of Barbara Stanwyck and Lee Majors.

The Big Valley is the saga of the wealthy Barkley family, a powerful group that owns a vast swath of land in the post-Civil War San Joaquin Valley in the Stockton, California, area. The series boasts an impressive pedigree, with co-creators A.I. Bezzerides, who wrote films such as They Drive by Night, Thieves' Highway, and Kiss Me Deadly in addition to many Season 2 scripts; and Louis Edelman. The talented team of Arthur Gardner, Jules Levy and Arnold Laven produce Valley following their work on The Rifleman, one of my personal favorite Westerns. Here the team expands to a full hour in glorious color, using the running time and a good dose of exterior shooting to create a more epic feel. In the second Season, the series ran Monday nights at 10:00 on ABC.

'Miss Barbara Stanwyck,' as she is credited, plays Victoria, the matriarch who leads the family after husband Tom passes. Her 3 sons (a fourth, Eugene, mysteriously disappears after Season 1, presumably wandering to Milwaukee and becoming the great-grandfather of Chuck Cunningham) help run the family's interests—Lawyer Jarrod (Richard Long), ranch overseer Nick (Peter Breck), and their half-brother Heath (Majors). Linda Evans plays daughter Audra.

To a newcomer, that description might imply a soap opera about a wicked rich family lording it over the commoners and bickering amongst itself. The Barkleys are not the kind of villainous magnates you often see on television, though; to the contrary, they are good citizens, socially responsible, and just plain decent folk. Even with her regal bearing, Stanwyck's Victoria Barkley, for example, is a compassionate woman who loves her family.

Almost 50 years later, it's a treat to see a legendary silver screen queen as a silver-haired small screen matriarch. She lends gravitas to practically all her scenes, but also gets to show her lighter side—not only as an affectionate and kindhearted woman, but also someone with a sense of humor. Don't underestimate her, though. In the episode Down Shadow Street, she is forced into a sanitarium after being the only witness to a murder committed by the son of a powerful judge. Victoria has enough integrity to refuse to back down and enough courage to attempt a daring escape. Stanwyck won an Emmy and was nominated twice more for her work on Valley.

Richard Long brings a suitable intelligence and practicality as attorney Jarrod. Long later starred in the gentle comedy series Nanny and the Professor, and he is amiable but also believable as the wisest and oldest of the 3 brothers. He is in the background in many Season 2 stories, but does get to direct an episode, Plunder. For me, the character's high point is in Court Martial as he defends a former Union general from a band of ex-Confederate vigilantes, but he also demonstrates his legal acumen defending a murder suspect in The Martyr.

As Nick Barkley, Peter Breck (who bears a passing resemblance to Charlie Sheen in many shots) shows the intensity befitting the hotheaded Barkley boy. Several episodes have one of his brothers commenting on Nick's temper, but while he wears black and doesn't shy away from confrontation, he's not the dark brooder you might expect. He shows a softer side in several episodes that feature ill-fated romances, like when he falls for a girl who may not be what she seems in The Velvet Trap, or when he must convince a dying man's daughter (Lee Grant) to return home in The Lady from Mesa. You also can't help but respect Nick for the way he treats a pesky predatory bird in The Cage of Eagles—first refusing to execute him after he traps him, and then, in a symbolic gesture—well, to say more would be spoiling an emotional moment at the very end of this collection.

To those who remember Linda Evans from her Dynasty years, she looks almost impossibly young here. Audra doesn't receive near as many memorable moments as do her brothers or her mother. She is fine as a sweet if somewhat naive ingenue type and is mostly a background presence or someone who can be endangered so that the rest of the cast can do something extraordinary.

Good-looking and likable, Lee Majors seems positioned as the breakout star in Season 2. Resembling the All-American cowboy prototype—sensible and tender, but as tough as any hombre at the bar if things get out of hand. Most episodes feature all 3 brothers together in some fashion, but Majors seems to be featured more than the other two despite being billed third. The first episode in the set, Lost Treasure, addresses his parentage—he's the product of an affair Tom had with a Native American woman—and solidifies his place in the family. Believing he is not really a Barkley, he packs up and leaves the house because his own sense of honor tells him he can't take what he hasn't earned. Lost Treasure is a great start because it shows how much Heath loves his family and how much it loves him, setting us up for a season of episodes that showcase that unbreakable bond among the five Barkleys.

In Day of Grace, a nun (Ellen Burstyn, billed as Ellen McRae) who used to know Heath defends him after he is accused of sexual assault, telling a colleague she could have married him had she not become a nun. “I mean, he was wild, and he was headstrong, and sometimes he felt like he belonged to no one, and of course those were the times when he was most lost, but he was always gentle and...almost unspeakably brave.” The way she smiles when she adds that last part indicates the depth of feeling she has. This is a nun, mind you, talking about someone she just saw hauled off to jail and accused of a horrible crime. Her description is a nice summary of how the show actually depicts Heath, although after Season 1, he is already much less “wild and headstrong,” especially compared to Nick, and generally stubborn only for a good cause. In fact, in the boxing episode The Price of Victory, Heath is the one who tricks Nick into signing up as a sparring partner, chuckling as he puts one over on big brother. In Turn of a Card, Heath enters a poker game with a skilled gambler (Joseph Campanella) to secure the freedom of a Tahitian woman. He knows he's been baited into the contest, but he doesn't care, and we don't consider it reckless, because he's doing the right thing. He looks like a classic Western hero.

I love how many Westerns serve almost as anthologies, with core settings and casts of characters used to form backdrops for many different situations within the genre. Season 2 of The Big Valley delivers numerous familiar scenarios—hostage crises, Native American conflicts, high-stakes card games, deputies learning on the job, and so on. I mentioned the boxing episode; I would be surprised if a Western from the era didn't use at least one prizefighting plot. I'm not complaining, though, because I like boxing stories and gambling stories and all the rest. Besides, Valley also delves into political campaigns as well as more personal yet still universal themes like vengeance and familial relations.

The use of quality guest stars each week freshen the storylines. Another great classic Western element is the fact that you never know exactly who will show up in a given episode, but you can be pretty sure you'll recognize someone. The first scene in this collection (The Lost Treasure) features future Academy Award nominee Bruce Dern confronting Buddy Hackett. It's no surprise that Dern does menacing so well, but it's fun to see Hackett affect an Irish lilt as a con man with a treasure map who informs Heath he's his actual father.

Other notable guests in Season 2 include Dennis Hopper, Cloris Leachman, Karen Black, Warren Oates, Pernell Roberts, Harold Gould, and many more. The leads' charismatic but restrained personas make them good foils for some of the more colorful character actors who appear. It's not likely that anyone could steal many scenes from James Whitmore, but his fun turn as a Senatorial candidate who spreads libelous claims about the Barkleys contrasts well with Long's subdued intensity in Target.

One of my favorite episodes matches Stanwyck with the ever entertaining James Gregory as the rough-edged Simon Carter. In Pursuit, a young Native American is diagnosed with measles and flees to his tribe before receiving treatment. Carter is reluctant to pursue him, out of apathy and more significantly fear of catching the disease, but Victoria rushes to intercept him. When Simon follows her to the vast desert, we get a pairing reminiscent of The African Queenas the two develop a bond. The episode is not only a great showcase for Stanwyck, who gets to demonstrate her character's kindness and fortitude, but it also illustrates how a distinctive supporting player can mesh well with the series regulars. The chemistry the two share supplies a light touch without undermining the excitement of the pursuit as they struggle to find him before he spreads the sickness.

Some Big Valley players appear more than once. Longtime classic TV watchers may notice Bing Russell and Bert Freed make multiple guest shots in this second Season. Before Campanella' is a gambler in Turn of a Card, he's a Basque activist in The Martyr. Strother Martin also shows up twice, first in Target, then as an accomplice to a con man preacher in Brother Love.

Brother Love is a memorable episode. In addition to Martin and a young (and hirsute) Gavin McLeod, it stars Robert Goulet as the eponymous charming blue-eyed scoundrel who has his eyes on Audra and the Barkley bank account, not necessarily in that order. Heath is the clear-thinking Barkley who remains skeptical and seeks to expose Goulet's true intentions. One of the most welcome guest stars in Season 2 is Paul Fix, who had played marshal Micah on The Rifleman. In the charming episode The Stallion, Fix has a juicy part as a proud worker who balks when Heath attempts to ease him into less taxing duties.

As fun as it is to spot the familiar faces who turn up in each episode, The Big Valley is by no means dependent on them. The series is driven by the absorbing scripts, many written by Bezzerides; and effective if unspectacular direction by Virgil Vogel, Paul Henreid (yes, Victor Laszlo from Casablanca), and a few other regulars. Not to slight Sheree North, but her presence isn't what makes The Man from Nowhere a fine hour. It's the engrossing teleplay which puts Jarrod into a fix, suffering from amnesia and struggling to get his bearings.

Similarly, Boy into Man may catch your eye because of a young Richard Dreyfuss as a troubled teen and Diane Ladd as his absent mother, but what lingers is the strong story about the sacrifices family members make and the things that unite them. Colleen Dewhurst seizes our attention as the mother of a family of criminals in Day of Terror, but the suspense of the plot—she and her boys trap the Barkley ladies in a church—is what makes it one of the most gripping installments in the set.

Indeed, ultimately, it is the Barkleys who keep you entertained for 30 episodes in Season 2. Though the show is savvy enough to expand the scope of the action by devoting ample screen time to other characters, it's the compelling family members and the love they share that form the heart of The Big Valley. To put it simply, these are good people, and it's a joy to watch them help not only each other, but really anyone who needs a hand. Sure, they own a lot of land and live in a big, beautiful house, but they encounter problems that can't be solved with money—not that they would want to go that route. This Season 2 DVD release from Timeless Media Group has made me a big fan of The Big Valley. I can only hope that we won't have to wait another 7 years for Season 3.

Rick Brooks is the proprietor of Cultureshark, a blog in which he uses an often irreverent approach to express his reverence for the classics and the un-classics.