Bonanza Season 1 - some hope? (1 Viewer)

The CBS Television Distribution Syndication Bible now lists the first season of Bonanza as having been transferred into HD, as of 1/22/09. Perhaps this could lead to a first season release some time soon. It would be nice to see, just in time for its 50th anniversary!

CBS Television Distribution Syndication Bible

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.

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

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.

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...

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

Take it for what's it worth, but I was able to speak to someone in the know about things at CBS/Paramount, and it likes like they will in fact be releasing the first season of Bonanza this year!! It's subject to change, but the date they are aiming for is September.

But on the down side, it looks like Bonanza will be taking the place of Rawhide this year. It's subject to change, but there are currently no releases of Rawhide scheduled for the near future, definitely not for May, when we've seen a Rawhide release the last three years :frowning:

What is scheduled for May is Gunsmoke Season 3, Volume 2. However, Gunsmoke might be next for extinction, as there's currently no mention for any releases after that. If folks would like to see Gunsmoke Season 4, Volume 1 pop up in December or January 2010, they should really pick up the May release and tell all their friends to.

Maybe this is a pattern with CBS/Paramount, abandonment of their TV Westerns after 3 seasons. First Have Gun - Will Travel, now Rawhide, and possibly Gunsmoke next. Maybe its the economy that's behind this retrenchment, but it is disappointing nonetheless.

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.

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.

Yeah, Gary, the person looked and unfortunately couldn't find a mention of any future releases of Rawhide, at least through November 2009.

I was really hoping to see Rawhide: Season 4, Volume 1 in May with another release of Gunsmoke. I guess we'll know for sure in the coming weeks when CBS/Paramount officially announces its releases for that month. But again, at the moment, it looks like Rawhide: Season 4, Volume 1 will not be there. Horrible news :frowning:

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.

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.

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.

At the moment, it looks like the best case scenario is that Rawhide is taking a siesta for a year. Perhaps it would do well to contact or write CBS/Paramount telling them how much we'd like to see Rawhide continue. I agree, Rawhide is a great, high quality show, much more involving and deeper than Bonanza. Bonanza is really light-weight compared to it.

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.

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...

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

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...

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.

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