Bonanza on DVD!

[Little Garwood]

Finished watching the "Real Deal" first season and I am impressed with the quality of this set. Color looks great, sound is robust, and the deatail especially looks amazing! I'm blown away by the sound and picture quality of these shows! I can see textures on the Cartwrights' walls, the grain of the ceiling beams, the tooling on Ben's belt (in "The Outcast"; guest star pre-Five-O Jack Lord), and the detail on their red curtains! Amazing!

CBS/Paramount did a splendid job on these DVDs.

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. Love it!

I watched "The Last Hunt" this morning and will probably have to see it again tonight! Why? Because I was too busy being impressed by the gorgeous color and sharp picture to follow the story as much as I should have! 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."

Top 10 episodes of the first season coming up...

[SelleckLover]

Little Garwood wrote:

I'm blown away by the sound and picture quality of these shows!

Bonanza was one of the first TV shows filmed in color. Up until then all shows were all black and white. I remember our neighbors had a color TV and my parents would sometime go over there on Sunday nite and we kids would watch Bonanza...not because we liked Bonanza, but because it was in color!
As a family we never owned a color TV and just had one B/W TV from the early 1950's with a tiny screen. We were still watching that when I left home in 1970!. I finally owned a color TV sometime in the late 1980's...so yes, I originally watched Magnum mostly in B/W! (Yeah! I'm OLD!)

[Little Garwood]

More thoughts:

Extras are nice, 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.

Even though Bonanza is among my all-time favorite TV programs, I'm enjoying the show like never before, because they finally did the program 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.

[J.J. Walters]

You know, I don't think I've ever seen a Bonanza episode! It was before my time, and I can't recall it ever being shown in my area in syndication.

I'm glad to hear that it is being released on DVD. Bonanza's Wiki page as this interesting tidbit of info about the DVD...

This release is one of the few CBS DVD box sets to be issued uncut, in their original broadcast versions with all the original music as telecast. This is the first pre-1973 NBC show (part of the NTA package) to be distributed on DVD by CBS and Paramount...

[Sam]

James..it's on TVLAND.

http://www.tv-now.com/stars/lorne.html

[J.J. Walters]

Sam, I wasn't very clear, but I meant on "local affiliates", "in the past". I remember seeing old shows like I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, Star Trek, etc., but never Bonanza.

But now that I know it is on TVLand, I'll have to record a couple of episodes and watch it!

[Little Garwood]

My Top Ten episodes for Season One (out of 32 in the season (1959-60):

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 simulataneous "quick draw" on scum bag Arthur Hunnicutt.

The Truckee Strip- James Coburn as an evil henchman who instigates hatred between the Cartwrights and the neighboring Bishop family.

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 guest stars.

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 Macomber." Bert Freed is a great heavy and Hazel Court is just...friggin' hot!

The Philip Deidesheimer Story- Adam and Hoss help the renowned 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...

Honorable Mention: "The Outcast" guest starring a pre-FIVE-O Jack Lord as outlaw Clay Renton. Susan Oliver also guest stars (green chick in Star Trek pilot, "The Cage.")

[Little Garwood]

Pernell Roberts, who played Adam Cartwright on Bonanza, died on January 24, 2010 at age 81. He had been battling pancreatic cancer since 2007.

R.I.P.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Hi Garwood,
Thanks for your insights on Bonanza. I'm especially glad to hear your high opinion of the DVD release. I grew up on the series and enjoyed each season, even when the quality lagged for two or three years when producer David Dortort poured all his energies into the High Chaparral which is an overlooked gem.
Some trivia:
Dan Blocker(Hoss Cartwright) played a zombie/monster in the Three Stooges flick Outer Space Jitters(1957).
At age 14 and full grown, at his hometown's annual July 4 festival/rodeo, he took on all comers(grown men) in the wrestling ring and beat them all, one after another for hours.
He actually was a intellectual with a masters degree who taught before finding success in acting.
A Korean War combat vet like James Garner, Christmas Eve 1951 found him and a mere squad on Hill 255 surrounded by large Communist forces whom they savagely fought in a fight with no quarter given or received for 10 hours till relief got through.
Like Garner he despised the strutting tough talking Hollywood 'hard' guy with gym muscles(think Bruce Willis) when in reality a soldier is just your average guy doing his duty and keeping his buddies and himself alive.
According to Victor French in an interview, there is a rating (if I recall correctly is "Q") that Hollywood uses to determine the likability and charm of actors. Actors whom people from all walks of life immediately embrace and take to heart and love.
Blocker scored higher than anyone in Hollywood ever.
Bill Cosby later eclipsed him 10 years after Blocker had passed away.
Cosby and Seinfeld may be the current champs in syndication, but I bet in 100 years they will be watching Bonanza and Magnum on the Mars Colony while Cosby/Seinfeld are distant memories.

[MagnumILWU]

https://youtu.be/p3ZqKht4Vr4 Hoss and the Leprechauns! What a great episode! Grew up watching Bonanza. Sunday nights: Lassie, Walt Disney, and Bonanza!

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

https://youtu.be/p3ZqKht4Vr4 Hoss and the Leprechauns! What a great episode! Grew up watching Bonanza. Sunday nights: Lassie, Walt Disney, and Bonanza!

Hi Magnum,
What a great line up for kids! Disney's multi part Scarecrow movie (with Patrick McGoonan) so scared me when a screaming Scarecrow on horseback rode thru a storm with a maniacal laugh that I was sent to bed while my twin sister got to stay up and watch it. She teased me for the rest of our childhood about that one.
For my money the "Hoss and the Leprechauns" episode of Bonanza that you mentioned is one of the all time funniest episodes of television ever made. The entire cast down to the extras look like they are having a ball.
The Bonanza cast all put out music albums, Lorne Greene the most successful with many hits.
But Pernell Roberts(Adam) was far more talented musically and had a beautiful singing voice. He received critical praise for "Alberta" and his Hoyt Axton duets which along with his other songs are on Youtube.
Does anyone know if the Magnum cast put out any music, or if they had musical talent? Higgins singing "Bridge over the River Kwai" would have been great! Not whistling like in the movie.
Because the lyrics were dirty they had to have the British soldiers march into the POW camp whistling the tune, which turned a negative into a positive as it is one of the most stirring moments ever in a war movie.
It would not have been anywhere as effective if the squaddies were singing:
"Hitler, he only has one b---, Himmler has two but they are very small"

[Little Garwood]

How nice that someone bumped this old thread about a series that's near-and-dear to my heart!

The release of Bonanza's seventh and eighth seasons on DVD got me thinking about the show and how it evolved after Pernell Roberts departed the Ponderosa, never to return.

I prefer the "Adam Years" but I also enjoy seasons seven and onward for a few reasons. One being there was more location and outdoor filming which helped immerse the viewer into the story. Having that gorgeous Nevada and California scenery certainly helped, though there was still plenty shot on the lot.

Bonanza, albeit less than other programs, began to reflect the changes in American society taking place in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Portrayals of Native and African Americans were always sensitively rendered, even if they didn't receive the screen time and characterizations audiences would expect today, as some of those portrayals are quaint or condescending by the increasingly PC environment. However, Bonanza was always progressive and I believe that if Pernell Roberts had remained with the show throughout the 1960s, he would have appreciated the scripts and the social issues addressed on the program. Michael Landon was interested in this and wrote and directed several episodes. It's a shame he didn't get the chance to write something for Roberts.

I strongly disagree with those who say that Roberts' portrayal of Adam came off as aloof or disinterested. Roberts played comedy quite well yet his overall serious demeanor was a fine contrast to the often silly shenanigans of Hoss and Joe. Some of my favorite scenes are when Adam and Ben react to the younger sons' schemes. There was an excellent Ben-Adam dynamic, with Adam being the eldest son and heir apparent to the Ponderosa. The scenes where Ben and Adam discuss the business of the ranch reflected this. Adam was a subtle character and cut from the "strong, silent type" prevalent in the American Western mythos. Adam also appealed to a specific fanbase; if girls oohed and aaahed over Joe (such as my mother did in her teen years in the early '60s), then women swooned over Adam.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

[quote="Little Garwood"]
Bonanza, albeit less than other programs, began to reflect the changes in American society taking place in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Portrayals of Native and African Americans were always sensitively rendered, even if they didn't receive the screen time and characterizations audiences would expect today, as some of those portrayals are quaint or condescending by the increasingly PC environment. However, Bonanza was always progressive and I believe that if Pernell Roberts had remained with the show throughout the 1960s, he would have appreciated the scripts and the social issues addressed on the program. Michael Landon was interested in this and wrote and directed several episodes. It's a shame he didn't get the chance to write something for Roberts.

Hi Garwood,
You are spot on regarding Bonanza's social conscience.
Producer David Dortort took to heart his deeply felt Jewish faith's exhortation to make one's community a better place and thus the episodes with sympathetic African American, Jewish, Indian, Chinese, various other immigrant groups, Morman and Midget(short people? sorry I don't know what they are called now, no doubt a member of the PC Police will correct me) characters.
The episode with the midget Michael Dunn of Wild Wild West fame will break your heart.
Roberts thought the series could do more to promote civil rights and wanted "Adam" to marry a Black woman which would have doomed the show in Southern markets and caused it's cancellation when it was NBC's goldmine.
Roberts relented and said if Adam could marry an Indian then he might not leave the series after 7 years but it was a different world back then and NBC refused.
Check out Roberts in the outstanding Randolph Scott western "Ride Lonesome", he is superb; this flick would be perfect for Tom Selleck to remake, he could pass for 60 and the story would still work.
I can recommend to you David Greenland's
"Bonanza, A Viewers Guide To The TV Legend".
An excellent book and not just because I'm in the 'Acknowledgements' for having contributed to it in a very small way, or because the first paragraph in the Forward is about me as a kid. It is far better researched and written than most of the books about tv series.

[Little Garwood]

For a most interesting then-contemporary-issue episode, check out The Dream Riders from season two.

Plot: a U.S. Army major, an old friend of Ben's, plans a bank robbery with the subsequent getaway being made with the aid of the major's pet project, a hot-air balloon.

The major's dialogue from The Dream Riders ostensibly concerns his belief in the hot-air balloon he is testing for the army, but when you listen to the dialogue and consider the time in which this episode was aired (May 20, 1961), The Dream Riders is clearly about the U.S. space program. In fact, U.S. astronaut Alan Shepard had gone on his first manned flight that very month.

It's fascinating how a western tv series could so flimsily disguise itself as a space flight allegory. Great stuff from Bonanza.