Customer Reviews

Bonanza: The Official First Season, Vol. Two

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We've been watching the DVD's as a family. Nice, clean picture, good sound, decent packaging, a few extra features and the original titles make this a nice DVD set. Here's hoping that they bring (at least) several seasons of this show to DVD. This show was a classic and they really don't make them like this any more. The set consists of single sided disks in a plastic sleeve holding several DVD's. The episode titles and descriptions are printed on the inside of the front sleeve which can be read through the clear plastic cover (very similar to Gomer Pyle packaging - IF you have that set).

Every Volume of Bonanza gets better and better.The Second season first half has such wonderful dramatic stories that leave you with, that was a good episode man even with tear in your eye.The episode Day of the Reckoning with Ricardo Montalban and Madelyn Rue was soo Sad.The Actors and guest stars really did great acting in those days plus the early days of color television looks awesome on these dvd transfers.Its great they started color filming the show way back in 1959. Not many shows got that treatment.We all want to see the series full I think 14 season come out. I am sure the sales are great so why are they torturing us with half volumes every year. I love season five with the Guy Williams character appearing a few times that season but its gonna be a while till we get there.I'll keep buy as long as they keep providing hope my sale helps this fact.

This is the second half of the 1959/60 Bonanza season, and continues with the gradual increase in quality that the later episodes of volume one (for which see my review) began. Many of the iconic features of the series have begun to arise, including the lovely watercolors that introduce the credits at the beginning and end of the episodes, the costumes of the central characters, their individual personalities and interpersonal relationships, etc.

The bad guys continue to have very little by way of "grey" areas to them. However, though they have very few redeeming features, the writers are now beginning to realize the benefits of exploring grey areas in order to vary their plot lines and add depth to the series. While they provide a script like that for "Blood on the Land" where "bad" is way bad--for which think virtually psychotic--they also provide that for "The Stranger," where a "bad" guy comes to realize that his hatred of Ben has been an excuse for his own personal failures.

Plot lines are generally good, though they moralize rather heavily which was characteristic of the time. The viewer might well believe that virtually every day harbored unique and often unpleasant major events during life in the Old West, where in fact, as in every age, 99.99% of life was probably more deadly-boring than deadly-deadly. The riskiest events in one's life at the time probably involved working oneself to death with scant benefit in return.

The scripts seem more even in quality, though from time to time one is left wondering "where that came from," as with the episode "Dark Star." Here both the plot and the acting seemed a little over the top. I couldn't help feeling that it was a script for a modern dance production!

Again the series provides the viewer with selected comedic episodes. That entitled "San Francisco" (April , 1960) in which Ben, Hoss, Little Joe and Hop Sing tangle with Shanghai crews, is a good example. The fact that it is Ben himself who falls victim to all the perils of which he had warned the boys and is the one who has to be rescued, is especially delightful. It also shows the man off as more than just an "elderly parent" and "grandfather in waiting," but as a vital, physically active, and quite sexy guy who just happens to have three grown sons! The episode "The Gunmen" also shows that the authors of these scripts have at least a nodding acquaintance with the Greek classics, too, as this feature gives a noticeable nod to Aristophanes play, "Lysistrata." Here given a Western twist, the women of a small Texas town go on a sex strike to prevent their menfolk from killing one another in an on-going feud. Cute.

Again, kudos for the speed of development, for wonderful memories, and plain good fun.

Finally, after 50 years, the first season (the whole season) of Bonanza is coming in a 2 volume set! I can't wait to see it! Hopefully the picture and sound will be much improved from the other 32 random episodes that have come out from different producers over the years. Lets hope the other 13 seasons will be appearing soon!

The DVD arrived in perfect condition. I'm very happy with this, as it's what I've always wanted.