The Forgotten Michael Landon TV Show That Never Made It to Air
By 1991, Michael Landon — who was born on October 31, 1936 — had already created an extraordinary television legacy: From playing Little Joe Cartwright on Bonanza to Charles Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie and Jonathan Smith on Highway to Heaven, he had become one of the most recognizable and beloved faces on TV. That year, Landon was preparing to launch what would have been his fourth consecutive television series — this time on CBS instead of NBC, the home of all his previous hits. The new project, called Us, was developed into a TV movie that was supposed to serve as a pilot for a series — but the show never made it to air, due to Landon’s untimely death.
Landon didn’t just star in Us; he was deeply involved in every aspect of it. He wrote, directed, and produced the TV movie/pilot, which aired on September 20, 1991. He played Jeff Hayes, a man released from prison after being wrongly convicted of killing a wealthy man’s wife and serving 18byears. Though he finds that his wife has remarried and his son believed him dead, Jeff has a positive attitude, reconnecting with his bachelor father and lending a helping hand to the people around him. The character’s journey was about redemption and second chances. The film co-starred Barney Martin and Casey Peterson, with music composed by Steve Dorff and production handled by Landon’s longtime collaborator Kent McCray.
CBS/Everett Collection
When Us premiered, critics and fans alike saw both the familiar Landon trademarks and the potential for another successful series. In a review for Entertainment Weekly, critic Ken Tucker called the film “a heart-tugger fully in the tradition of Landon’s other creations.” While he noted that it leaned heavily on melodrama, he acknowledged that Landon’s sincerity made it compelling. The final scene hinted at what the series could have become, with Jeff Hayes being assigned to write a newspaper colum titled “Us;” it was suggested that through the rest of the series, Hayes and his family would road trip, spreading goodwill across the country.
But Us never had the chance to move beyond the pilot. In April 1991, just months before its scheduled broadcast, Landon was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He died on July 1 at the age of 54, only eleven weeks after announcing his illness publicly. CBS chose to air the pilot that September as a tribute, allowing viewers to see Landon one last time. Looking back, Us is bittersweet. As the Los Angeles Times observed after his death, “He was only human. That’s what made him a great man.”
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