East of Eden is a 1981 American television miniseries based on John Steinbeck's 1952 novel of the same name. It aired in three parts on ABC from February 8–11, 1981. It was directed by Harvey Hart from a teleplay by Richard Shapiro, and starred Timothy Bottoms, Jane Seymour, Bruce Boxleitner, Soon Tek-Oh, Sam Bottoms, Hart Bochner, Karen Allen and Lloyd Bridges. It ran for roughly 382 minutes.

Plot

Following the Civil War, Union veteran Cyrus Trask has two sons: Adam, a gentle, idealistic soul; and Charles, a hellraiser. Cyrus favors Adam and Charles is very aware of it, creating friction between the brothers. Cyrus, by now an influential diplomat who has amassed a fortune by embezzling from the government, pulls strings to get Adam into West Point. Adam rebels, however, and goes off to lead the life of a vagabond. Following Cyrus' death, Adam returns to the family farm in Connecticut and mends his relationship with Charles, with whom he shares a large inheritance.