Bonanza is one of those shows that most people have heard about, maybe hum the extremely well-known theme song too, yet haven’t seen or wouldn’t really bother seeing. I certainly never went out of my way to look for it, nor did I care to, since I was content with it being one of those things I just missed the boat on, like being an Edo-era ronin or attending Caligula’s cocktail parties.
Started airing fifty years ago on NBC, the long-running western (14 seasons, for a total of 430 hour-long episodes) is one of those TV landmarks that new viewers today might assume daunting to get into—even for Western fans like myself—but now that Paramount has officially released a sharply remastered DVD of the first season, watching it for the first time, it’s surprisingly easy to sit back and get into, as it has a bit more going to it than just ranch-side machismo and shoddy gunslinging.
Part of the appeal is that the characters are instantly relatable, as old-fashioned cowboys go. No “Man with No Name” rascality here—Bonanza tells the story of the Cartwright family, consisting of thrice-widowed patriarch Ben (Lorne Greene) and his three sons from different mothers: the gentle-hearted bear Hoss (Dan Blocker), the stern Yul Brynner-esque Adam (Pernell Roberts) and raised-collar pretty boy Joe (Michael Landon, who became a teen heartthrob thanks to this role). They run the Ponderosa ranch, selling cattle to the nearby Virginia City in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. As much as they are businessmen, they also spend a lot of their time lending a helping hand to people, favoring honor over wealth.
The second episode, “Death on Sun Mountain,” addresses this directly, when the Cartwrights run into a businessman selling antelope meat to the working class at exorbitant prices. Ben refuses to condone maximizing profits at the cost of people’s families. “We work an honest day’s job and we want an honest day’s pay in return. Nothing less, nothing more.” For something written half a century ago, it’s quite topical, no? Despite the good-ole-boy attitude of the show, it does have moments of progressivism—the introduction of their cook Hop Sing (Victor Sen Yung), despite the stereotypical acting, is of him threatening to quit if Ben Cartwright doesn’t treat him with respect. Hop Sing plays a big part in the “San Francisco” episode about shanghaii-ing, which has brief appearances by Tor Johnson as a Barbary Coast boxing champion and James Hong as Hop Sing’s cousin.
This set, separated into two volumes of 4-discs each, covers the first season. It was one of the first to broadcast in color and its viewers are now known as the first generation of TV watchers—though at the time it was so unpopular that it was almost canceled, until its timeslot was moved and it became a Top 5 show for nine consecutive seasons afterwards.
DVD Bonus Features
Most of the features are photo galleries of each episode’s production photos or from around the old NBC HQ. There’s a series of video interviews from 2002 with creator David Dortort talking about the famous Ponderosa map, the origin of the ranch’s name, and each of the five primary actors (including Victor Sen Yung). The most interesting of these is the one on Pernell Roberts, who famously left the show and declared his dislike for the stupid scripts—and his hatred of acting for the television medium in general. Leaning forward in his chair and looking straight into the camera, Dortort offers a kind-of-apology that he wasn’t more patient with Roberts, claiming that Roberts was the finest actor in the world “when he wanted to be.”
One hilarious extra is the alternate ending of the pilot that has the Cartwrights riding off into the prairie while singing a version of the theme song with lyrics. It’s positively ridiculous, and I can see why they chose to cut it.
Bonanza: The Official First Season is a pretty nice set to have for collection’s sake, even if it’s not always quick on the draw. The standouts are standouts, but not all eps are sure hits. While not outright bad, the show does get repetitive or bland, saved only by the likable players. The pattern is that of a typical western, despite the focus on the family dynamics. They always get into some kind of conflict (what do you expect, it’s a family of virile cowboys with no female figure) that has to be settled by the throw of a fist or the pull of a trigger.
"Bonanza: The Official First Season" is on sale September 15, 2009 and is rated NR. Action, Drama, Western. Directed by William F Claxton, Lewis Allen, Leon Benson. Written by David Dortort (creator). Starring Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Pernell Roberts, Victor Sen Yung, Ray Teal.
