Product Details

• Actors: Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Pernell Roberts, Bill Clark
• Writers: David Dortort, Fred Hamilton
• Format: Box set, Color, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: December 7, 2010
• Run Time: 895 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0044RFTDI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,839 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Bonanza: The Official Second Season, Vol. 1" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

One of the longest running and most popular of all television westerns, Bonanza was both an action/adventure classic and family drama. For fourteen seasons, audiences enthusiastically tuned in to see the High-Sierra adventures of the Cartwright clan. Nestled amongst the pines above the shores of Lake Tahoe is the Ponderosa ranch, the thousand-acre home of Ben Cartwrignt and his sons, Adam, Hoss and Joe (aka "Little Joe.") Plots featuring revolving cast of interesting guest players helped to set Bonanza apart from the usual gun-slinging formula Westerns of the day.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 79 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Would have been 5 stars but... August 8, 2007

By John Davis

Format:DVD

Lovers of the original Bonanza will like these episodes. The video is good, the audio is loud & clear, you don't have to turn the volume up like other dvd's but....

That wonderful theme music is missing both at the beginning & at the end - that cost this one star

BUT EVEN WORSE !!! ... (and costing another star)

The Platinum Video people must think it's OK to put their name and a logo in the bottom right of the screen. I DON'T !!!

I hate it on broadcast & cable TV and I wouldn't have bought this if I'd known about the logo.

Platinum Video in on my "no buy list" because of that logo policy.

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth Waiting For! December 7, 2010

By Nyaguthie Ngetha

Format:DVD

This is classic BONANZA the way it was meant to be -- in a wonderful, new collection well worth waiting for after years of bootleg, unauthorized sets of poorly packaged, inferior quality transfers, lacking the original music and sold in bargain basement bins. The picture and sound quality here is excellent. Every episode starts with the iconic NBC Peacock and contains the legendary original theme song (one of the greatest of all time) by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. David Rose's wonderful music, specially composed for each episode, is intact. To be able to see scenes cut out of TV Land broadcasts is so gratifying! And the extras! Pages and pages of magnificent photos I've never seen before (many in color), including on the set, off the set, cast relaxing "at home," making personal appearances . . . audio commentary on some episodes by guest stars (you should hear what Julie Adams recalls about Dan Blocker in "The Courtship" and what Stella Stevens says about working with Michael Landon in "Silent Thunder . . .), footage of David Dortort in his home, and perhaps my favorite extra, a gem of an interview with Dan Blocker giving an eloquent account of differences and similarities between himself and "Hoss." Executive Producer Andrew Klyde and the rest of the team at CBS Home Entertainment outdid themselves and delivered a great follow-up to last year's Bonanza: The Official First Season, Vol 1 & 2. Even the on-screen menu pages featuring a gorgeous screen-capture of each "Cartwright" is great and easy to navigate. Get this DVD set right away! And then vol. 2 ASAP next year. It's a BONANZA for sure!

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank God; it's about time! October 15, 2010

By Lisa Earls

Format:DVD

I was so afraid this would never come out! Thank God it's coming! I don't even have to see it to know it is going to be great. The first-season DVDs were wonderful... complete un-cut episodes, clear color and film quality, and the CORRECT ORIGINAL MUSIC, not to mention you can be sure you get EVERY episode, unlike all that I dislike with the "other" Bonanza DVD collections out there. I would be thrilled with just the episodes themselves, but the special features are icing on the cake. My mother's favorite from the first-season set are the photo galleries. She was a Bonanza fan when the show first aired and I have now fallen in love with the show. Please, please, please, please, release the official DVDs for all the other seasons, too! Women of the younger generation need more Pernell Roberts.