Was Bonanza a Good show ?

[Temis the Vorta]

I recently stumbled across Bonanza on TV Land. It was an episode about a gang of survivors of a Confederate prison where the conditions had been horrible. The warden of the prison was now an old man with a mining claim near the Cartwright ranch. The gang had sworn to bring the warden to justice for his war crimes but now the old guy was Ben's friend...of course the whole thing ended in a standoff at the miners' cabin but it was more than just a story about a shootout.

Better show than I remembered. Or maybe that was just an unusually good episode. TV in the 60s wasn't serialized or complex, and characters generally did not evolve. An episode that tackles a serious issue, without any ongoing repercussions into subsequent episodes, may seem pretty trite and shallow by our standards, but that was very good for TV back then.

I've heard that early Gunsmoke was a very good show.

 

[Dayton3]

I recently stumbled across Bonanza on TV Land. It was an episode about a gang of survivors of a Confederate prison where the conditions had been horrible. The warden of the prison was now an old man with a mining claim near the Cartwright ranch. The gang had sworn to bring the warden to justice for his war crimes but now the old guy was Ben's friend...of course the whole thing ended in a standoff at the miners' cabin but it was more than just a story about a shootout.

Better show than I remembered. Or maybe that was just an unusually good episode. TV in the 60s wasn't serialized or complex, and characters generally did not evolve. An episode that tackles a serious issue, without any ongoing repercussions into subsequent episodes, may seem pretty trite and shallow by our standards, but that was very good for TV back then.

I've heard that early Gunsmoke was a very good show.

That was a great episode.

It turned out the character played by Larry Linville (of MASH-Frank Burns fame) was the bad guy behind it all.

 

[Steve67]

I'm a big fan of Bonanza, especially the Adam years (seasons 1-6). However, there are several excellent episodes from the subsequent seasons. One that comes to mind is from Season 13, "Bushwhacked", which has some interestingly surreal imagery and is well worth your time. And like any other TV show, there are a fair number of turkeys, too.

Now why isn't Bonanza on DVD yet???

 

[TGTheodore]

Now why isn't Bonanza on DVD yet???

I'm really not sure. There are about 12 episodes that have been released in various combinations by various cheap-o companies on VHS and DVD through the years, yet the entire series has never received an official Warner Brothers season-by-season release.

I put together the four flashback episodes dealing with Ben's three wives and gave it to my sister on Mother's Day a few years ago. (She's a big Bonanza fan)

The last three of four post-Bonanza TV-movies are available, though I really wouldn't recommend them, even though some feature Michael Landon, Jr. and Dirk Blocker. The kid that played Hoss' illegitimate son was pretty good, but the scripts were just really bad. Leonard Nimoy starred as an aging Jesse James in the very last TV-movie.

Ironically, the only surviving original Cartwright character in the TV movies was Adam, who we finally discover had moved to Australia to make his own way. (Yet, never appeared on camera). And the headstones in the family cemetery finally show some ages of the characters.

--Ted

 

[Kryton]

Oddly enough, just yesterday I discovered a local carry-out Chinese place called "Hop Sing's"!

For real!

Also, there were LYRICS to the Bonanza Theme:

We chased lady luck till we finally struck - Bonanza
With a gun and a rope and a hatful of hope
We planted our family tree
We got ahold of a potful of gold - Bonanza
With a horse and a saddle and a rig full of cattle
How rich can a fella be?

On this land we put our brand
Cartwright is the name
Fortune smiled the day we filed
The Ponderosa claim

Here in the west we're livin' in the best - Bonanza
If anyone fights any one of us
He's gonna fight with me

Hoss and Joe and Adam know
Every rock and pine
No one works, fights, or eats
Like those boys of mine

Here we stand in the middle of a grand - Bonanza
With a gun and a rope and a hatful of hope
We planted our family tree
We got ahold of a potful of gold - Bonanza
With a houseful of friends where the rainbow ends
How rich can a fella be?

On this land we put our brand
Cartwright is the name
Fortune smiled the day we filed
The Ponderosa claim

Here in the west we're livin' in the best - Bonanza
With the friendliest, fightenist, lovingest band
That ever set foot in the promised land
And we're happier than them all
That's why we call it - Bonanza -
- Bonanza -
- Bonanza -

 

[Dayton3]

David Canary had some great Candy episodes.

Like the one where Candy kills a guy who draws on him in a gunfight, only to discover the man has a wife and young sun and a farm in desperate need of attention.

 

[Kryton]

David Canary did some FINE work as twins on One Life To Live.

 

[Star Wolf]

David Canary did some FINE work as twins on One Life To Live.

Althought they belong to the same fictional universe I do believe his work was primarily on All My Children

 

[Steve67]

Ironically, the only surviving original Cartwright character in the TV movies was Adam, who we finally discover had moved to Australia to make his own way. (Yet, never appeared on camera). And the headstones in the family cemetery finally show some ages of the characters.

--Ted

Something that sticks in the Bonanza Fan "Collective" is a season 13 episode, "The Grand Swing", which introduced the hugely unpopular Jamie character, whom Ben adopted. Anyway, after Jamie wrecks a wagon and causes a horse's death, Ben takes the youngster on a "swing" around the Ponderosa, where they stop at a gnarled old tree. Ben makes Jamie feel welcome by asking him to carve his (Jamie's) name into the tree next to the old carved names of Hoss and Joe...but Adam's name is absent! I realize that it might have become a joke to newer Bonanza fans if the remaining cast continued to reference the "other" son, Adam, even though he had been gone at that point for seven years. But for those who liked Adam best, it was a slap in the face. And of the dozens of TV shows that Pernell Roberts guested on from 1954-1979, Bonanza wasn't one of them. A pity. Though I understand that his leaving the show wasn't filled with bitterness, as there are some nice pictures of Michael Landon and Lorne Greene chumming around with Roberts on the Paramount lot, when Roberts was guesting on an episode of Mission: Impossible.

 

[A beaker full of death]

Bonanza to me is one of the best shows ever made.

Agreed.

 

[Kail]

I love the show. It was great. I think it ran for like 15 years.

 

[A beaker full of death]

TV in the 60s wasn't serialized or complex, and characters generally did not evolve. An episode that tackles a serious issue, without any ongoing repercussions into subsequent episodes, may seem pretty trite and shallow by our standards, but that was very good for TV back then.

You're partly mistaken - sure it was complex, and sure the characters changed - just not the main characters. Like Star Trek, most of the episodes weren't about the main characters - they were about the guest characters. Because you're partly right - the shows weren't serialized. There were no arcs. And that meant that the main characters couldn't be the dramatic protagonists. As one of TPTW at Star Trek observed, you can't ruin Captain Kirk's life every week.

 

[A beaker full of death]

Also, there were LYRICS to the Bonanza Theme:

Also, Lorne Greene sang them!

http://www.washingtonheightswarlord.com/Bonanza.wma

 

[Steve67]

Now that Bonanza's first season has received a DVD release, I thought I'd regale the population with my top ten episodes from it.

Bonanza's first season was in 1959-60 and consisted of 32 episodes. My ten favorites:

The Paiute War- Almost epic in scope and all in a mere fifty minutes! Jack Warden ignites an Indian war when his renegades kill two indian women and blame another tribe. Adam Cartwright is kidnapped and the town's drunken posse is slaughtered by the Paiutes.

The Julia Bulette Story- Joe falls in love with older woman and saloon owner Julia (Jane Greer). Landon's acting has improved leaps and bounds just from the pilot episode.

The Hanging Posse- Adam and Joe accompany a search party for the three outlaws who killed a man's wife. Great bonding between Adam and Joe, who do a cool simultaneous "quick draw" on weasel Arthur Hunnicutt.

The Truckee Strip- James Coburn--brilliant as always--as an evil henchman who instigates hatred between the Cartwrights and the Bishops.

A House Divided- Adam and Joe are estranged over the increasing politics of the upcoming Civil War. A wonderful ending with a fine piece of music by David Rose. The Cartwright bond was evident fairly early on Bonanza. Cameron Mitchell is fantastic here.

Enter Mark Twain- Howard Duff as Samuel Clemens, whose witty articles fuel the ire of a corrupt mayoral candidate. Adam punches out Twain!

The Last Trophy- Bonanza does the Hemingway story "The Short-Happy Life of Francis maccomber." Bert Freed is a great heavy and Hazel Court is just...hot!!!

The Philip Deidesheimer Story- Adam and Hoss help the renonwned designer of the innovative mine timber technique. RG Armstrong also guest stars. Not a popular episode, but one I've always liked. Hoss gets some great lines in this as well as a good brawl.

Death at Dawn- A crime boss controls the town and when the deputized Cartwrights ensure that a murderer goes to the gallows after he is found guilty, the crime boss captures Ben. The boys decide to still go ahead with the hanging.

The Sisters- Faye Spain guests as a girlfriend of Adam's who is killed. Adam is blamed and the sheriff (Buddy Ebsen) an old friend of Ben's, seems to want to help him...

 

[Dar70]

I really want to get the set, but Im afraid they will screw up the releases of the series somewhere within the 14 years. Think I will wait for a complete series set. Man that will be a whopper.

 

[ThunderAeroI]

Here little bunny....

 

[Steve67]

I like how the inlay cards contain an episode synopsis, original air date, director, writer (and another TV credit that said writer/director did), and filming dates and location information. That was great! I always want to know where such-and-such and episode was filmed, and now I can scan the box for that stuff. Loveit!

David Rose's music score never sounded this good, either. I'm appreciating his stellar contributions to the series even more now. Watching these episodes anew makes me think I'm taking in an MGM Cinemascope film of the 1950s. The quality is that good. And I can say that Bonanza's quality surpasses just about any release I already own.

It isn't often that the product behind anything lives up to the hype, but I can state with confidence that these new Bonanza DVDs are, in fact, "The Real Deal."

FYI- Bonanza episode numbers by season:

Season 1: 32 Episodes
Season 2-6: 34 Episodes
Season 7: 33 Episodes
Season 8 - 9: 34 Episodes
Season 10: 30 Episodes
Season 11 -12: 28 Episodes
Season 13: 26 Episodes
Season 14: 15 Episodes

We're in for a lot of discs if the show continues to get a timely DVD release schedule

Extras are okay, with the best being the extensive photo galleries that accompany each episode. That is, each episode's stills can be viewed as an option on each episode. There are dozens of color and black & white photos, a lot I've never seen.

There are also some brief interview segments with Bonanza creator/producer David Dortort where he discusses each member of the cast.

The pilot episode and the potential pilot spin-off "The Avenger" (guest starring Vic Morrow) have an option to play RCA promos, NBC peacock opening, and commercial bumpers. There are vintage episode promos, too.

I'm enjoying the show like never before, because they finally did the show right. No more shoddy public domain prints with hacked out Bonanza theme and sped-up PAL transfers like the double-sided German DVDs that I didn't buy because I held out hope that CBS/Paramount would come through on this program.

The third season is arguably the best year for those interested in only the "Adam Years", but the quality overrall is rock solid through the show's entire run, even if some "Little House" vibe creeps in as Michael Landon's influence was consolidated by the twelfth season.

 

[Broccoli]

Wasn't there a prequel series that came out in the early 2000s? I remember reading something about that.

 

[TGTheodore]

Ponderosa starring Daniel Hugh-Kelly as a younger Ben Cartwright, preparing to found the Ponderosa with his three young sons.

The pilot was pretty good, but the stories and quality dropped quickly.

--Ted

 

[Star Wolf]

The Avenger was going to be a spinoff? I just figured he was the guest star for that week. I do admit when I see Bonaza on the listings I check and see if it was The Avenger. It was one of the better serious episodes. Generally the comedy episodes work better for me. Maybe because of all the historical jumps from the 1850s to the 1880s the family makes.