<Tr> <Th> Original network </Th> <Td> CBS </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Original release </Th> <Td> January 3, 1998 (1998 - 01 - 03)--July 3, 2000 (2000 - 07 - 03) </Td> </Tr> <P> The Magnificent Seven is an American western television series based on the 1960 movie, which was itself a remake of the Japanese film Seven Samurai . The series premiered on January 3, 1998, and ran for two seasons on CBS, airing through July 3, 2000 . The cast of The Magnificent Seven included Michael Biehn, Eric Close, and Ron Perlman . Robert Vaughn, who played one of the seven gunmen in the original 1960 movie, had a recurring role as a crusading judge on the series . </P> <P> Seven men from the western United States band together and form the law in a town that, for better or for worse, needs their protection from the lawlessness of the west . They consist of an infamous gunslinger, an ex-bounty hunter, a smooth - talking con artist, a young eastern amateur, a womanizing gunman, a freed slave turned healer, and a former preacher seeking penance . While they originally band together to protect a dusty Seminole village from renegade former Confederate soldiers (whereas the movie was about protecting a Mexican village from bandits), they later come together to protect a budding town from the constant riffraff that threatens to destroy it . Each character gets shot at least once, with varying degrees of severity, and five--Chris, Ezra, Buck, Josiah, and Vin--are jailed during the course of the series . </P>

How many seasons of the magnificent seven were there