Eight Seasons or Nine? Men From Shiloh: Apocryphal?

I'm relatively new to THE VIRGINIAN and am watching and learning as I go. I notice some people on this board will refer to the series running "eight seasons" and some people write about THE MEN FROM SHILOH as if it were a whole different series. I know that for that last/ninth season the title was changed and that popular elements of the spaghetti westerns were brought in, but isn't it still THE VIRGINAN just under a new name?

The way some people write, MEN FROM SHILOH is an "apocryphal" sequel that can (and perhaps should) be ignored by fans, similar to GALACTICA 1980 or any number of sequels and revivals that fell short of the original.