North and South
Yeah, they just don't make them like that anymore.
It's actually a lot more enjoyable than the books they were based on..(Which go in a completely different direction at the conclusion of the 2nd one-'Love an War' As if memory served I think they killed off characters that survived in the series..)
And as I remember it, when it was shown over here in the UK for the first time, it was a pretty big television event..(As was Jeffry Archer's Kane and Abel) But then back then that was pre-internet, dvds etc.. So given the subject matter and the excellent cast, I can only imagine the type of initial impact it had when it was first shown in the US.
So yeah I have very fond memories of it, and actually have more regard for it than Gone With the Wind..(Not to say that's a bad film, but I preferred North and South.)
And yeah a beautiful friendship shouldn't have to be downplayed..In the comics world I've always quite liked the regard between Thor and Captain America. I think it actually succeeds in being just that. Whereas with Supes and Bats, it does seem like the writers are quite often deliberately playing up the slash aspects of it...in a wink, wink, nudge, nudge type of fashion..
Oh and Scans Daily did introduce me to the delights of Stephanie and Cass in the bat books. That to me seems like a really nice female friendship..