It's a shame this show was never made available commercially, especially considering Francis Coppola's film is so incomplete without it. The series, created and produced by Coppola, starts up right where the movie ends, introduces the tomboy named "Scout," and continues on through about a year of the characters' lives afterwards as the Curtis brothers struggle to stay together. Sadly, the series lasted less than one season, despite Alan Shapiro & S.E. Hinton's pilot episode being the highest rated show in FOX's history up to that point. Jay Ferguson's intelligent portrayal of Ponyboy surpasses even C. Thomas Howell's in the film, and Tim Shepard (a major character in the show) blows his movie predecessor off the screen. The pilot and series end on a high-note, perfectly balancing out the tragic ending to the film.
Review of The Outsiders
