From the first silent Westerns to the mass appeal of reality television, the true American cowboy has continued to play an important role on TV and in film. Reality shows such as "Dancing with the Stars," "The Last American Cowboy" and "The Amazing Race," have featured the iconic figure of the American Cowboy.

It’s easy to see why many people relate to the story of Lonesome Dove as their own. In it they see their grandparents, or more abstractly the story of our country at the point its uniquely American character was laboring to be born. That the story is told so well is testament to the clear-eyed vision of Larry McMurtry as he penned his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, and to the cast and crew who transcended the limits of television to bring his epic tale to the small screen with integrity intact. As the 20th anniversary of the Lonesome Dove miniseries approaches this February, we recognize it not only as the most successful miniseries of all time; we celebrate it as the first time anyone got the story right.