Between iconic films like Dances with Wolves and mega-hit TV series like Yellowstone, Kevin Costner has become synonymous with the American West. And beginning tonight, the legendary actor will explore the epic history of the nation's land in a new docuseries for the History Channel.
Premiering with the first two episodes on Monday, May 26 beginning at 9pm Eastern Time on the History Channel—a third episode will air on Tuesday, May 27, with subsequent episodes airing on Mondays at 9 pm ET—Kevin Costner's The West will delve "into the desperate struggle for the land itself –and how it still shapes the America we know today," per the official series description. Costner is narrating the eight-part series and serves as an executive producer.
"The West has fired the imaginations of Americans since the end of the Revolutionary War, when settlers first began their relentless push beyond the Appalachians," reads the official synopsis. "In their quest for new lands and better lives—or just hoping to strike it rich—many became legends: the explorers of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, migrant families in covered wagons beating the trail to Oregon, feared outlaws and the lawmen that hunted them down, abolitionists who fought slavery on this new frontier, cowboys and ranchers who sought to claim their piece of the American dream through hard work."
"But the pioneers who staked their claims to the West also sparked fierce conflicts with native nations, and The Miami, Blackfeet, Comanche and Lakota brought together powerful alliances to defend their ancestral lands," the description continues. "While the West offers a chance to explore, to build, to strike it rich or start anew, there is a powerful truth at the heart of all these dreams: this land has the unique power both to promise bounty…and bring bloodshed."
The premiere episode, entitled "Fallen Timbers," will detail the conflict between Chief Little Turtle of the Miami—who led the Indian Nations of the Northwest Confederacy to a major victory over the fledgling U.S. Army—and troops under General “Mad” Anthony Wayne, leading to a final battle that will see the Confederacy defeated, and open a new era of westward expansion.
To tune into tonight's premiere of Kevin Costner's The West, you're going to need access to the History Channel. History is included in most cable packages but if you don't have a cable plan, you can use a live TV streaming service to tune into the channel. Your options include Philo TV, Sling TV, Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, DirecTV Stream and YouTube TV—find prices for all of them below.
