The Lazarus Man is an American Western television series produced by Castle Rock Entertainment which first aired on January 20, 1996, and ended on November 23, 1996. Starring Robert Urich as the title character, The Lazarus Man debuted on TNT and ran for 20 episodes.

Opening narration

Something has happened to me which I do not understand. All I know for certain is I am alive. How I got here? Who I am? I do not know, but I must've seen or done something, something terrible to be buried alive, to be left for dead. I can remember nothing of my life, my friends or my enemies but the key to my identity lies somewhere out there. I will search until I find the man I was...and hope to be again.

Plot

The setting for the series is Texas following the American Civil War. An amnesiac claws his way out of a shallow grave wearing a Confederate uniform and carrying a U.S. Army revolver. He is haunted by the memory of being attacked by a man wearing a derby. Calling himself Lazarus after the man resurrected by Jesus (John 11:41-44), he sets out to discover his true identity and the reason why he was buried alive. Near the end of the series, Lazarus is revealed to be James Cathcart, a captain in the US Army and a member of President Abraham Lincoln's personal bodyguard detail. The memory that plagues him is from the night of April 14, 1865, when Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre. Cathcart, realizing that the President was in danger, ran to stop the assassin, but was attacked by his superior, the treasonous Major Talley, who wanted to see Lincoln dead.

Cancellation

The series first season did well enough to warrant TNT to order a second season. However, the series' production company, Castle Rock Entertainment, cancelled the series after Urich was diagnosed with synovial cell sarcoma in July 1996. Urich later sued Castle Rock for breach of contract. In the suit, Urich maintained that although he was undergoing cancer treatments, he never informed Castle Rock that he would be unable to perform in the series. Castle Rock decided to cancel the series anyway and failed to pay Urich the $1.47 million he was to be paid for a second season. The lawsuit was later settled with both parties agreeing not to publicly disclose the terms.

Episodes

Home media

On February 13, 2018, The Lazarus Man: The Complete Series was released on DVD in Region 1 by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment via their Warner Archive Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release available via WBShop.com & Amazon.com. The episodes appear out of chronological order on the DVDs.