Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

I think you might be on to something, John. Certainly CBS Paramount has done 50th anniversary releases for "Gunsmoke" and "Perry Mason," so maybe they're priming "Bonanza" for something similar. There are a number of episodes in the second half of season 1 that are public domain and have been released by numerous companies specializing in PD material, but that hasn't stopped CBS Paramount from releasing shows where a number of episodes were in the public domain like the first 50+ episodes of "The Beverly Hillbillies" and 16 season 3 episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show." Add the fact that "Bonanza" plays on TVLand and, yes, I could definitely see the possibility of an official "Bonanza" release. As always, time will tell.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

Paramount are doing good work with their classic TV shows, so fingers crossed.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

That would be awesome. The cowboy TV era of the 50s and 60s was before my time, but I always thought Bonanza was extremely well written, especially the Adam years. I'd definitely pick this up.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

I'd love to see season sets of BONANZA issued in R1...it's amazing that 8 seasons of the show have been released in Germany...allthough I'm aware of a subculture there devoted to the mythology of the old west and native American cultures...I envy them also for the ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR collections...but back to BONANZA, I think the show really hit it's stride in seasons 3 - 8, 1961 - 1967 IMHO...so, I'd hope for the releases to get that far in...hopeful anyway...in the meantime, I continue to enjoy RAWHIDE and GUNSMOKE...

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

That would be great. Then I can get rid of my bootleg sets.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

Oh no! John, that is horrible news! Are you sure the person that shared this with you is positive about no RAWHIDE anywhere in sight on the schedule? I tried a contact myself at CBS/P a few weeks ago asking about RAWHIDE and never got an answer. I took that as bad news, but was hoping I was wrong. But this looks to possibly confirm it. Ugh...

Gary "this will really be a big blow - Rawhide had become one of my absolute favorites with these dvd releases" O.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

Perhaps a focus on a color western like BONANZA is the reason some of the B&W shows are taking a back seat this year.

I recall hearing that BONANAZA is one of the most request shows from the CBS/P library.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

Darn it. That really does stink. I'm sure your contact is correct, John. I've had a sinking feeling for some time that RAWHIDE was going to be abandoned. I hate when I get that feeling. Sigh...

Gary "glad for the Bonanza fans, but quite sad for Rawhide fans" O.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

Ditto on this one, Gary. But I'll put out something that may help us keep the faith....


You never know about this TV/DVD scene. Father Knows Best, Donna Reed, Route 66...etc...

Regarding Bonanza, I haven't kept up with this one on the Bd. This is the long-awaited R1 S1 release, right? I think I'll have to put that one on my "Ponderosa" runway.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

Yeesh -- that's really terrible news. BONANZA is inferior to RAWHIDE in every way. It's really one of TV's great lowest-common-denominator popular hits, akin to THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES.

And RAWHIDE improves as it goes along, so it's a shame to see it get dumped just before the most interesting producers & writers joined the show.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

I know there are plenty of BONANZA fans, and since this thread is a "Bonanza" thread, I don't want to rain on those fans' parade. Having said all that, I am heartbroken over the news about RAWHIDE. Frankly, it's become my #1 favorite western series of all time. I can not emphasize enough just how far up the ladder this show climbed in my personal "Favorite Shows of all Time" list since I started watching the dvds a couple of years ago. And adding insult to injury is the fact that we had the one and only Christmas-themed episode from RAWHIDE scheduled to show up on the next set. It's a weird kinda outing, not taking place at Christmas time, but it was a "Christmas" episode nonetheless. Darn it!

Gary "congrats to Bonanza fans - enjoy it while you can" O.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

I still want BONANZA season sets, some of my favourite episodes were the comedic ones...and I think it's a show with many truly great episodes during it's long run...but with a lot of blah eps also... despite the great Tahoe, Truckee and Incline Village color scenery...which have their appeal...the well known and lovable cast being another great strength...but I would agree with Gary and others that RAWHIDE offers more in darker themes, with edgy stories and more brutal and realistic action...making it my personal western favourite...but my classic TV collection will allways have a huge hole in it if BONANZA isn't there...there's some great eps in season's 1 and 2, but I think the show got better and really hit it's stride in season's 3 - 8...which one again raises the commitment issue for studios in releasing a long running show, especially with half season sets...and we baby boomers only grow older...and thus represent a smaller market share...but hope lives on...

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

When did season 8 get released? I've been waiting for it to come out since last Summer.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

Kenneth, forgive me if I'm wrong about season 8 of BONANZA being issued in Germany...I'm no authority on that...I suppose if it's not showing on Amazon.dk it hasn't been...I don't own any of them as I don't have a region free player...which I'm thinking I need because of the BONANZA and HITCHCOCK HOUR releases available there...it's just remarkable and frustrating to me that there's a good market for these shows on DVD over there but apparently not as yet in R1 (I'm in Canada)...I envy you if you have 7 seasons of BONANZA for ready viewing...it really is a part of the American TV landscape of the '60s...and on the whole, a very enjoyable show...as I've said, the frequent comedic episodes are the ones that most quickly come to mind when I think about the show...but it had great action too...many great guest stars...and a social conscience as the years went by...and no other cast could be more well known or loved from that era of TV westerns...

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

Randall, A region free DVD player is the way to go. Not just because of Bonanza or Hitchock Hour. There are many great shows released in Europe that haven't come out here yet. As for Bonanza, I think it's one of the best westerns ever made. Second only to Gunsmoke. If Bonanza is released in full season sets like Hawaii Five-0 and Mission Impossible, then I see no problem with the whole series coming out. What turned people off to Gunsmoke was split season sets, and with 20 seasons it will take a lifetime to release.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

I don't see the studio reason behind abandoning shows, if you start something you finish it, otherwise it's screwing the customer/faithful fan. Unless sales go down drastically, you darn well continue what you started, that's my policy. /;-p

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

One thing that kept me away from buying TV for awhile was the investment required to own an entire series. As a result, I started out with just the Avenger's (Peel years) that I bought when they first came out. They don't air that often and there were only a few years so I felt it worth it.

In the last two years everything changed and I've really gotten into TV. Especially, older series I rarely was able to watch if any. Now I don't mind the investment.

I wonder if studio's find that each season of a series brings in a little less then the previous. That only the truly faithful will keep buying and at that point pull the plug. Or another option is that they keep looking for another Star Trek that will sell no matter what. So they are willing to try a season or two and if it doesn't take off they abandon it.

Another negative is that these types of series are only going to bring in so much, so they break up seasons into two volumes to get more revenue. Then you get people complaining refusing to buy like they can really change anything. Next you know it gone for good.

Personally, for older series that had more episodes per season, say 30 or so, I would buy in volumes for up to $25-$30 a volume or $50-$60 a season if they would just keep them going.

While I'm a fan of some extra's focused around interviews of critical players (which we generally do not get), if there is extra cost attributed to these so called fancy boxes, I'd rather they skip them. Just give basic containers that don't damage the disks to minimize cost to get them out.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

I have all 7 of the German sets & can vouch for the picture quality & the fact they are uncut. It seems it has joined the 'abandoned' list in Germany now though & I would be surprised if US releases got as far as S7.A lot of the more dedicated US fans purchased the German sets & may not be inclined to double dip, whilst many S1 & 2 episodes are out in PD for the casual fan.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

I noticed that the marketing of rawhide focused on Clint Eastwood being in the series when in fact Erik Fleming was the star. I also believe that Eastwood left after season 5 so there is hope for some more Rawhide IMHO.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

I'm not sure the logic here of why that would mean more Rawhide. But according to IMDB you're in error. It was Fleming that left before the last season. Eastwood was in it to the end.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

I know I'm definitely in the minority here...but I 'd be happy with a release of the best episodes from the Adam Cartwright era as I recollect would amount to about 25 episodes or about one season's worth.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

Yes they are, I think Mark Heyes' new age synthesizer symphonys will really improve the show, who needs the old outdated Bonanza music.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

That was hardly what I meant...

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

I think we know what you were saying, Henry

Excepting for the Fugitve and the MTS music issues, imo, CBS/P has been consistant with getting some quality classic TV/DVD releases out there, better than most of the other majors.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

Jeff, just had to say I love the quote you added to your signature from "See Hollywood and Die". One of the best lines in the entire series, IMHO.

Gary "that really brought a smile to my face today" O.

Re: Bonanza Season 1 - some hope?

I'd concur with that, to the degree that I would like to see S1 *and* a best of set covering all 14 seasons similar to the two "Gunsmoke" sets. One reason why I, as a casual fan of "Gunsmoke" who was just introduced to the show on DVD am not quite as upset over the fact that it looks to be stalled after S3 is that at least thanks to the two best of sets, there's at least one episode of every season of its run on DVD and that's enough to give the casual fan at least a "flavor" of the show's entire run and "Bonanza" with its length (especially if it doesn't get a full season release) could use the same for those of us who aren't fans of it, but would like to get introduced to it.