Frontier House: A Preview

Three 21st century American families, the Clunes of California, the Glenns of Tennessee, and the Brooks of Massachusetts, live life 1880s style for six months in this PBS miniseries. See what it's like to trade in your SUV for a mule, your Maytag for a washboard, and your split-level for a log cabin. Oh yeah, it's in Montana, too.

For those of you who watched the British series 1900 House a couple of years ago, you know the drill: a modern family is transplanted to a pre-Playstation universe where they have to live like the natives, while remembering all the creature comforts they left behind. ("No, no, I won't dream about the bottle of Pantene ProV in my bathroom back home while I'm washing my hair with the same slimy goo I scrubbed the skillet with!) In this American PBS version, three families face "19th-century life in the Montana wilderness in this six-part 'hands-on history' series. Chosen from more than 5,000 applications, the Glenn family of Tennessee, the Clune family of California and the Brooks family of Massachusetts live for six months as 1880s homesteaders, with only the tools and technology of the period at their disposal."

Each family has their own 160-acre plot of land in a Montana valley to homestead. The series follows the Clune, Glenn, and Brooks families from spring to early fall as they build their homes, tend their livestock, plant their food, cook their meals, scrub their clothes, and all the other stuff everybody dreams of doing in a place like Montana -- but like they did in 1880. (Notice how they're not living there in the winter.)

The series starts with a "making of" special April 29 at 7 p.m., followed by the premier episode "The American Dream/The Promised Land," at 9 p.m. In this episode, we'll see how these modern day pioneers begin to settle in after six weeks and prepare for a frontier wedding.

(All times are Eastern, but on some PBS stations vary the times. Check your local listings.)

Melinda Smith is a technical illustrator and writer with a background in graphic arts. She and her family live in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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