CBS HAS ORDERED A MINI-SERIES BASED ON LARRY McMURTRY'S "COMANCHE MOON," THE PREQUEL TO "LONESOME DOVE"

From Golden Globe Award Nominated Writers of the Feature Film "Brokeback Mountain"

CBS has ordered a mini-series based on Larry McMurtry's "Comanche Moon," the prequel to the multiple Emmy Award-winning mini-series "Lonesome Dove," for broadcast on the CBS Television Network from Golden Globe Award nominees Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, the writers and executive producer and producer, respectively, of the feature film "Brokeback Mountain." "Commanche Moon" follows Texas Rangers Augustus McCrae and Woodrow F. Call, now in their middle years, as they continue to deal with the ever-increasing tensions of adult life -- Gus with his great love, Clara Forsythe, and Call with Maggie Tilton, the young prostitute who loves him.

Two proud but very different men, McCrae and Call enlist with a Ranger troop in pursuit of three outlaws: Buffalo Hump, the great Comanche war chief; Kicking Wolf, the celebrated Comanche horse thief; and a deadly Mexican bandit king with a penchant for torture. Assisting the Rangers in their wild chase is the renowned Kickapoo tracker, Famous Shoes. The beloved heroes are joined by their comrades-in-arms, Deets, Jake Spoon and Pea Eye Parker, in the bitter struggle to protect an advancing western frontier against the defiant Comanches who are determined to defend their territory and their way of life.

McMurtry and Ossana will write the teleplay. McMurtry won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for "Lonesome Dove."

McMurtry was nominated for an Academy Award for his 1971 screenplay for "The Last Picture Show." The feature films "Hud," which won three Academy Awards, and "Terms of Endearment," which won five Academy Awards, were both adapted from his novels.

"Lonesome Dove," which was broadcast Feb. 5-8, 1989, remains the highest-rated mini-series since the advent of people meters, averaging a 26.2/39.

COMANCHE MOON will be produced by Paramount Network Television. Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana ("Brokeback Mountain") and Julie Yorn, Paul Frank and Adam Shulman of Firm Films ("The Exorcism of Emily Rose," "Criss Angel: Mindfreak") are the executive producers.