Rich Man, Poor Man is a 1976 American television
miniseries based on the
1969 novel of the same name by
Irwin Shaw that aired on
ABC in one- or two-hour episodes mostly on Monday nights over seven weeks, beginning February 1. It was produced by
Universal Television and was the second time programming of this nature had been attempted. The first TV miniseries,
QB VII, had aired — also on ABC — in 1974. These projects proved to be a critical and ratings success and were the forerunner for similar projects based on literary works, such as
Roots and
Shogun. The film stars
Peter Strauss,
Nick Nolte and
Susan Blakely.