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| Best of Bonanza (34 episodes) | 
 enlarge | Directors: Lewis Allen, Christian Nyby, Arthur Lubin
Actors: Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon, Lee Van Cleef
Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $5.99
You Save: $8.99 (60%)
New (56) Used (17) Collectible (2) from $4.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 3772
Format: Box Set, Color, Ntsc, Full Screen
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 4
Running Time: 1530
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.8
MPN: DOSDMV50564D
UPC: 683904505644
EAN: 0683904505644
ASIN: B000NY1EAI
Theatrical Release Date: September 12, 1959
Release Date: April 10, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Digital1stop Release Date: 05/15/2007
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| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
 BELOVED FAMILY WESTERN SERIES November 24, 2008
THIS CLASSIC SHOW IS VERY SATISFYING. The show chronicled the weekly adventures of the Cartwright family, headed by wise, thrice-widowed patriarch Ben Cartwright (played by Lorne Greene). He had three sons, each by a different wife: the oldest was the urbane architect Adam Cartwright (played by Pernell Roberts) who built the ranch house; the second was the warm and lovable giant Eric, better known by his nickname: "Hoss" (played by Dan Blocker); and the youngest was the hotheaded and impetuous Joseph or "Little Joe" (played by Michael Landon). The family's cook was the Chinese immigrant Hop Sing (played by Victor Sen Yung). "Bonanza" was considered an atypical western for its time, as the core of the storylines dealt with Ben and his three dissimilar sons, how they cared for one another, their neighbors and their land.
The family lived on a thousand-square-mile ranch called "The Ponderosa," on the shore of Lake Tahoe in Nevada; the name refers to the Ponderosa Pine, common in the West. The nearest town to the Ponderosa was Virginia City, where the Cartwrights would go to converse with Sheriff Roy Coffee (played by veteran actor Ray Teal), or his deputy Clem Foster (Bing Russell). Greene, Roberts, Blocker, and Landon were equal stars. The opening credits would rotate the order among the four stars. As the series advanced, writers began to showcase one or two Cartwrights in each episode, while the others would be seen briefly in the prologue and epilogue. Not only did this provide for more thorough character development, it also gave all four actors more free time.
Originally, the Cartwrights tended to be depicted as put-off by outsiders. Lorne Greene pointed out to the producers that as one of the region's most affluent timber and livestock producers, they had better moderate their clannishness. The producers agreed with this observation and changed the Cartwrights to be more amiable.
Early in the show's history, the thrice widowed Ben Cartwright, recalls each wife in flashback episodes. A recurring situation (which also occurs in the TV western The Big Valley), was that every time one of the Cartwrights became seriously involved with a woman, she died from a malady, was slain, or left with someone else. As with all hit programs, disturbing a successful formula could be a major blunder.
In a few 1964 episodes, Ben has a nephew named Will (Guy Williams aka Zorro), who visits the Ponderosa ranch.[1] He was the son of Ben's deceased brother.
 Yes, not the original music November 21, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a 4-Disc compilation of Bonanza TV shows. The original theme music is not present in the opening credits, for any of the episodes contained therein. Presumably this is because the music is still under copyright, and perhaps the video company that put this together did not want to pay royalty for the music, as it presumably must. But of course if they did pay the music royalty, then you probably would not find this gem in the discount-bin at walmart. As a side note however, if you really miss the theme music (which I missed too), if you pay close attention, you hear it at least once in the background of one of the episodes. An alternative might be to record the music and play it on your ghetto-blaster every time an episode starts and keep the TV on mute.
I am a fairly new fan to Bonanza. The TV show was a decade or two before my time, and I did not even know about it before watching it on Saturday mornings last year on "My Michiana" TV. (A local TV station around South Bend IN.) Although, I was very familiar with lil' Joe from his later work with "Prairie" and "Angel" and somewhat familiar with Pernell Roberts from his "Trapper John" TV show. Also I remember Lorne Greene from some commercials.
Most of the episodes on these discs are good and I would watch them again. Some are a little silly, e.g. there is one concerning gypsies which I found hard to believe. Not only that, lil' Joe falls in love with a bewitched gypsy girl. This girl, who thinks she's a tree, kills a chicken in Pa's house and does other strange things. Not only that, but when Joe tells Pa he wants to marry her, Pa does not object. I found that even more difficult to believe. Admittedly, she had some good genes, so I guess Pa was looking at the situation from a Cattleman's prespective.
But as it is always in the end, a steady relationship never ensues and so we start fresh with the next episode. I don't know if this is true for every Bonanza episode (I am new fan) but it seems like you can't go thru an entire epsode where one of the Cartwrights does not shoot somebody. I have looked at 3 of the 4 discs so far, and in every episode, a Cartwright shoots someone. Always plenty of action. And always, the difference between good and evil is crystal clear and the good always triumphs over the bad (and ugly).
Well, there is an episode or two where someone who initially seems all right is really a crook. In one episode in this set, Claude Akins (another 70's TV star) plays a belligerant US Marshall and cruelly hauls a Ponderosa farmhand back to Los Angeles to face trial. (This is before the city became known as the "People's Republic" of L.A. and although there was lawlessness then, generally there was not lawlessness in the courts as it is now.) Claude Akins plays in atleast two episodes in the set. In the other role, he plays a creep.
Lots of violence, but I would recommend it for younger viewers anyway. No one ever went to a high school and shot it up because they watched too much Bonanza. That's my guess anyway. If you want your boy to see some decent role models (tough, individualistic) then there is no harm in exposing him to this.
Bonanza: 5 stars
DVD: quality: 3 stars
Therefore 4 stars overall
AWESOME! And I LIKE the theme song substitute :) September 10, 2008
This is the best $5 I ever spent in my life. The original theme song is not there, but I agree with the reviewer who said those that miss it that bad, get a CD of the themesong, or find it on the computer and play the song while the opening credits roll if it's that big a deal to you. I LIKED the music they put on the DVD, and don't miss the theme song at all. The cost of using the theme song probably are more than the shows cost themselves, so I'll take a low-priced collection of shows alone anyday. I am halfway through the disks and they play absolutely fine so far. I feel I've already more than gotten my money's worth!
 Disappointed June 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was disappointed in this set. Some of the tracking on the disks is poor and the awful theme music is different than the series. This wonderful series deserves better.
Title is a Mis-nomer June 14, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The correct title should have been "Uncopy-righted Episodes of Bonanza". Obviously, Mill Creek didn't want to pay any royalties so even the theme song was substituted with a cheesy recording of the company owner's brother strumming a guitar (just my guess). My poor review is not a slight against the Bonanza series. These are actually excellent. I just feel duped because I can pull these epsidoes down off the Internet for free.
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