The Pacific HBO

Graham Yost may have brought the noir western back to television with the hit FX series 'Justified,' but it's not his first foray into the wild west. That is if you can actually call his first western "wild."

According to his IMDB page, Yost's first writing job was for the short-lived Nickelodeon series 'Hey Dude' in the late 80s and early 90s, an afternoon sitcom about the day in the life of an Arizona dude ranch. He wrote 13 episodes of the series, the most of any other writer on the staff.

He went on to write a number of screenplays for hit action movies such as 'Speed' and 'Broken Arrow,' and even contributed to critically acclaimed mini-series including 'From the Earth to the Moon' and 'The Pacific.' Still, it just amuses me to know that such a storied and impressive career all started on Mr. Ernst's ranch. It also shames me a little bit to admit that I remember watching that show.

'The Pacific' (Sun., 9PM, HBO) series premiere
Is this 10-part World War II miniseries reminiscent of 'Band of Brothers' and 'Saving Private Ryan'? It is indeed, which is no surprise, since the producers of that classic TV miniseries and that Oscar-winning movie, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, are also the producers of 'Pacific.' And that's a good thing, because 'The Pacific' is as emotional and powerful as both of those projects, as it unfolds the story of the war in Japan, through the eyes of three U.S. Marines (all based on real-life U.S. Marines). '24' alum James Badge Dale, Jon Seda and Joe Mazzello star, after going through a 10-day boot camp to prepare for the 10-month shoot that has resulted in an unflinchingly realistic portrait of our heroic, and often tragic, Marines in action.