As I was browsing through Starz Play I discovered a miniseries called Centennial. I had never heard of it before, so I thought I'd give it a go- It's really good. It has a huge cast, including Robert Conrad, Raymond Burr, Richard Crenna, Richard Chamberlain among others.

I'm surprised I'd never heard of this late 70's miniseries before. I've seen most of the others like Roots, Shogun, etc. This appears to be one of the better ones.

What are some of your favorites/recommendations?

V: The Original Miniseries
V: The Final Battle

The Odyssey with Armand Assante. I don't know why either.

Band of Brothers
From the Earth to the Moon
V
Shogun

Battlestar Galactica
The Prisoner
Pride and Prejudice
Shogun
Chiefs

Lonesome Dove

The Beast (starring William Peterson, and Karen Sillas).

Band of Brothers hands down.

But if we're talking solely old school network "event" miniseries' then The Stand.

There was kind of a fun era when I was younger when the networks were putting out Stephen King miniseries' on a semi-regular basis.

generation kill
From the Earth to the Moon

I know everyone is going to mention the HBO series, as they're huge standouts.

I've never seen The Winds of War, I'll need to check that out.

I liked The Odyssey too. I really dig those old school Hallmark miniseries- not the shit they put out these days.

I really like some of the PBS/BBC productions too. Bleak House (the 2005 production with Gillian Anderson) is quite excellent.

Network mini-series in the 70s and 80s were often considered prestige projects and rightfully accorded budgets nearing theatrical movies. It was often the only format possible for quality television before premium cable became a bigger presence.

North and South was one of my all-time favorites. Book 1 and 2 were awesome. I was hooked to it when it originally aired. Great cast.

Book 3, which aired in the early 90's, wasn't very good. Plus, Patrick Swayze was a huge star then and didn't participate.

When you're done the story continues in a second mini-series, War and Remembrance. It's even better.

I'm gonna be the oddball and pick The Dain Curse. James Coburn as a private eye named Hamilton Nash. Circa 1920s-30s. Based on book or stories by Dashiell Hammett(The Maltese Falcon).
Originally four parts, each 90min. sans commercials. If you look for it you want the six hour version. There are edited versions.

Band of Brothers
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Frank Herbert's Dune
Tin-Man
The Odyssey

V: The Original Miniseries

I liked Winds of War better, but they're both great.

I can't believe I forgot Lonesome Dove. It was kind of short by miniseries standards, but it was phenomenal

Lonsome Dove and it's sequel are both on Starz too. I have the first on Blu-Ray (along with Pride and Prejudice). I haven't seen either.

The greatest mini-series of all time is of course, I, Claudius, followed by Brideshead Revisited. Of course there's the two wonderful Le Carre mini-series, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley's People.

I noticed someone mentioned the great reboot of Battlestar Galatica, but of course that's not a mini-series.

I watched this when it first aired. All I remember was wishing it was better.

Nobody mentioned The Thorn Birds. How is that?

Lonesome Dove is brilliant, a near perfect adaptation of a Pulitzer Prize winning book. Whoever did the casting was a genius. The actors were exactly what I had envisioned reading the book. Damn shame it isn't better quality.
Don't get me wrong, I really like several of the others mentioned but of those you say you haven't seen this is the standout.

"V" was a huge deal when I was a kid and even though I own the DVDs it really doesn't hold up all that well. "Shogun" is still amazing. And one that hasn't been mentioned yet is "Holocaust." Not an easy watch but it sure gut-punched me as a kid.

Didn't hold up well when it first came out.