"The Thorn Birds" Celebrates 25th Anniversary

"The Thorn Birds", which celebrates its 25th anniversary this week, debuted on March 27, 1983 and ran four nights. The miniseries was based on the Colleen McCullough novel that followed several decades in the lives of the Austrailian Cleary family and starred Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward. Variety called the miniseries a "fast-paced grabber" and in addition to its high ratings, it scored several Emmy nominations, with wins for actors Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Kiley, and Jean Simmons as well as wins for art direction, make-up, and editing.

WATCH THIS EXCLUSIVE CLIP of then-President of ABC Motion Pictures and Senior Vice President of ABC Entertainment Brandon Stoddard talking about the miniseries in his recent Archive of American Television Interview: