Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

keelhaul-80856 Bonanza was an awesome show, that really was ahead of its time(sometimes a bit too much, in its revisions of history). It featured some black and Asian ppl, and many other groups as a part of the magnificent tapestry of the West, and touched on many exciting frontier topics. To me, the show was more grounded and realistic in earlier episodes, and some later ones. There was a period(as the show went on for so damn long!) where the writers seemed to drop acid and then do a story at the last minute, and the gear was anachronistic and crazy at times. I always noticed that many episodes were supposed to be taking place before the Civil War, or around that time, yet every guy on the show has a lever-action rifle like a Winchester! I realize that the Henry rifle and others came out around that time, but it is very unlikely that every goofball and cattle thief on the Nevada frontier would have these things, as they were mainly used by US military units in small quantities. Then there were a bunch of episodes where Hoss or Joe would meet some nutty inventor or leprechaun, or vampire, or gypsy, etc. and a bunch of campy silliness and cheesy music would ensue. The show was on for so many years that it undoubtedly ran into trouble with new ideas, but man, did it get super cheesy in places. Another funny problem was that they never wanted to introduce a new character or love interest, and actually keep them! Seriously, I bet 5,000 women died or mysteriously left at the end of one or two episodes, leaving the brothers or Ben broken-hearted, but somehow "better" for the experience. Like, couldn't they just surprise us once, and have a new member join the cast and marry one of the brothers? If I was a woman, I wouldn't go anywhere near this family, as you are 99% likely to die, be kidnapped, or have to make a difficult life choice to leave and disappear. Cousin Will was one of the few exceptions to additional characters they kept, but he isn't a woman.Another funny thing they played out was the way the town or state viewed the Cartwrights. On one episode, the whole state would be trying to get Ben elected to governor, or very supportive of his problems, and in debt to him for helping the entire community. On the next episode, the entire town would be trying to sabotage the family, and everyone hated them.Other flaws-- Sheriff Roy Coffee(who replaced other earlier lawmen) was the most useless and comical old guy on the show. "Now Ben, I know you and your boys are great people, but we may have to just hang Little Joe if someone accuses him of a crime this week." Roy never got anything done, or solved a case-- it was always the Cartwright boys coming to his or the town's rescue, but he always had some "Dr. Phil" type wisdom or just plain dumb stuff to say about everything. He was so lame it was actually funny, in an unintentional way. Overall, way better than many shows on TV, and it broke ground in many diverse areas, but some really cheesy years as well. Still, a guilty pleasure that delivers if you're bored, or want decent family entertainment with basically good morals.

hackraytex Bonanza. A well made family oriented western that hit all of the marks allowed at that time. If we were not in church on Sunday night for some reason, we watched Bonanza.Having said that, I do not wish to speak ill of the dead but I cannot bring myself to watch it now. More than then, I enjoy programs that promote family values. There was a remake of it a few years ago called "Ponderosa" that only lasted two years and should still be going but that is fodder for another review.I cannot watch Bonanza for the same reason Pernell Roberts left the series. He said it could have been a lot better if the bean counters were not totally focused on wringing every dollar out of it. They could have replaced him after a couple of years but the three remaining stars did not want to divide the pie in four pieces again. His leaving disrupted the rhythm of the show and the hole was never filled successfully. Also, it looks like about that time, Michael Landon was running everything. It was on for 14 years and none of the sons (before Dan Blocker's tragic death) grew or progressed in their characters. The show was stuck in a time warp and such a path for a show would not succeed today. In other words, after 5+ years, three adults sons would not still be living in the home place with their father and still acting like they were not quite adults yet. Like Pernell Roberts said, he felt that Adam should marry and have his own house, maybe on another part of the Ponderosa and start his own family.It was not safe to be a woman who fell in love with a Cartwright. She would either die or fall in love with someone else, or one of them would change their mind. Also, I would not write Adam as they did in that he was a bit stuck on himself. It was a given that Hoss was not as smart as Adam but today, that would not be a source of amusement as it often was then. He certainly was not stupid. By the time 12 years had arrived: Adam, Hoss, and Joe would have married and started families. Remember, they got there around the time of the Mexican-American war and people got married and started families a lot earlier then than they do now. By that time, Ben would have probably taken a fourth try at marriage. If anyone wants to try to do Bonanza again, hopefully they will take these things into consideration.

calvinnme Bonanza explores the adventures of the Cartwright family consisting of three-time widower Ben Cartwright and his three sons Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe. Ben is a self-made man who has carved out a piece of Nevada - a large piece - as a prosperous ranch. Each of Ben's sons has a different mother and a very different background. Adam's mother is from New England, Hoss' mother had Scandinavian roots and met Ben out on the Great plains when Ben and Adam were on the way west after Ben's first wife died. Little Joe's mother was a southerner from New Orleans. This difference in roots is explored even in the first season when Little Joe almost joins the Confederate army after having someone come into town and stir up his feelings for his southern roots. However, the full story doesn't come out until later. There is one episode each in seasons two, three, and four that are dedicated to telling the story of each of Ben's wives.This first season follows the successful road map that all of the seasons did. Many have a guest star that is recognized even today. For example, Yvonne De Carlo is the guest star in the very first episode. Alan Hale Jr. (The Skipper of Gilligan's Island) also makes the first of several guest appearances he will make over the years during the first season.Most episodes involve heavy-hitting drama often involving some injustice which the Cartwrights, with their prominent place in the community, are in a place to right. The show often used the fact that it was set in the old west to explore some of the social issues of the 1960's without stirring present-day controversy. However, there are a few almost completely comedic episodes here and there. The odd thing is, nobody did comedy as well as Bonanza did when Bonanza decided to do comedy, and usually Hoss is at the center of it all.The show never really produces a long story arc. Each episode pretty much stands alone. The show really had only two disruptions. The first, which didn't prove fatal to the show, was when Pernell Roberts left in the late 1960's. His "place" was taken by Candy. Candy was not another son - he was a hired hand, but he was also a trusted friend of the Cartwrights.The second disruption probably was fatal by most accounts. Dan Blocker, who played Hoss, died suddenly of a heart attack in 1972. The show only lasted one more season before it was canceled. Blocker's character of Hoss wasn't the most handsome of the Cartwrights in the conventional sense, but he was the heart and very much the sense of humor of the show. His loss was irreplaceable.

bkoganbing It got to be a running joke around Bonanza about how fatal it was for any women to get involved with any Cartwright men. After all Ben Cartwright was three times a widower with a son by each marriage. And any woman who got involved with Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe were going to end up dying because we couldn't get rid of the formula of the widower and the three sons that started this classic TV western.Perhaps if Bonanza were being done today the writers would have had revolving women characters who came in and out of the lives of the Cartwrights. People have relationships, some go good, some not so good, it's just life. And we're less demanding of our heroes today so if a relationship with one of them goes south we don't have to kill the character off to keep the survivor's nobility intact. But that's if Bonanza were done today.But we were still expecting a lot from our western heroes and Bonanza though it took a while to take hold and a change of viewing time from NBC certainly helped, the secret of Bonanza's success was the noble patriarch Ben Cartwright and his stalwart sons. Ben Cartwright was THE ideal TV Dad in any genre you want to name. His whole life was spent in the hard work of building that immense Ponderosa spread for his three children. The kids were all different in personality, but all came together in a pinch.The Cartwrights became and still are an American institution. I daresay more people cared about this family than the Kennedys. Just the popularity that Bonanza has in syndication testifies to that. Pernell Roberts as oldest son Adam was written out of the show. Rumor has it he didn't care for the noble Cartwright characters which he felt bordered on sanctimonious. Perhaps if it were done now, he'd have liked it better in the way I describe.This was just the beginning for Michael Landon, how many people get three hit TV shows to their credit. Landon also has Highway to Heaven and Little House On the Prarie where he had creative control. Little Joe was the youngest, most hot headed, but the most romantic of the Cartwrights. When Roberts left. the show kept going with the two younger sons, but when big Dan Blocker left, the heart went out of Bonanza. Other characters had been added on by that time, David Canary, Tim Matheson, and Ben Cartwright adopted young Mitch Vogel. But big, loyal, but a little thick Hoss was easily the most lovable of the Cartwrights. His sudden demise after surgery left too big a hole in that family.So the Cartwrights of the Ponderosa have passed into history. I got a real taste of how America took the Cartwrights to heart when I visited the real Virginia City. It doesn't look anything like what you see in Bonanza. But near Lake Tahoe, just about where you see the Ponderosa on the map at the opening credits, is the Cartwright home, the set maintained and open as a tourist attraction. Like 21 Baker Street for Sherlock Holmes fans, the ranchhouse and the Cartwrights are real.And if they weren't real, they should have been.