Gunsmoke or Bonanza...discuss

[movieman1957]

It is from Season 1, Disc 5 to be exact.

[mrsl]

.
It may have something to do with the old half hour shows. I'll DVR them later this morning and see what the layout is. I've never paid attention before. I have noticed the difference in the Longbranch though, and in Miss Kitty.

They're rolling around to the first year of Bonanza again, and I find myself erasing them about half way through. I can see why it took a while for them to form a fan base. All four of the family were very unfriendly guys and really quick to pull out their guns, including Pa. I didn't notice this last time around but maybe because now I remember the story, I can focus more on the surroundings, and the plot itself. They are not very well liked in town either. Everyone considers them the 'high and mighty' Cartwrights, and even the Sheriff is not necessarily their friend, just a lawful man who listens to facts before jumping to conclusions. When any one of them finds someone on their property, they are quick to pull a gun and threaten with treaspassing, where in later years, they welcome strangers and help them settle if they can.

.

[klondike]

The Season 1 Cartwrights were much more violent, protective, distrustful, clannish, and Old Testament judgemental for a very good reason - David Dortort, creator, executive producer and script supervisor, deliberately set the show's genesis to reflect the actual date of exactly 100 years before - in other words, mid-September 1859 . . which happened to be just about the pinnacle of runaway silver fever in northwest Nevada, following the nationwide news of the great Comstock Silver Strike.
So here's the Cartwright clan, just working up to peak utilization of their empire-size Ponderosa Ranch, over half a million acres of prime grazing, logging, mining & haying land, surrounding the new 'bonanza' boomtown of Virginia City on two of its four compass points, and bounding most of the southeastern shore of Lake Tahoe.
And interrupting all of Ben's proto-capitalist labor is the critical need for him & his boys to ferret-out & repel squatters, wildcat prospectors, railroad speculators, rustlers, nomadic sheepherders, land-grabbers, religious colonists, Army deserters, fugitive Paiutes, and timber thieves who all want to carve themselves out a big old chunk of the Ponderosa pie.
Defend what you own, or lose it all.
As simple as that.

[pvitari]

I was really disappointed when they started showing the first season episodes again instead of continuing on with the show. I had been looking forward to the twelfth season and the one Bonanza episode with Ben Johnson I don't have on my DVR -- "Top Hand," which originally aired on January 24, 1971.

Anyone know why they suddenly went back to season one?

[moira finnie]

And interrupting all of Ben's proto-capitalist labor is the critical need for him & his boys to ferret-out & repel squatters, wildcat prospectors, railroad speculators, rustlers, nomadic sheepherders, land-grabbers, religious colonists, Army deserters, fugitive Paiutes, and timber thieves who all want to carve themselves out a big old chunk of the Ponderosa pie.
Defend what you own, or lose it all.

But, as we've mentioned before in this thread, despite the massive size of their spread, almost no ranch hands are ever seen and the boys never seem to have a hair out of place (well, maybe a toupee out of place is more like it).

As simple as that.

Well, simple-minded, anyway. Despite its seemingly endless run on TVLand, Bonanza still seems to be one of the most bizarrely disconnected-from-reality big time TV Westerns--even when they inject a Charles Dickens (Jonathan Harris, as epicene as ever) or a Henry Comstock (Jack Carson doing his big mouth con man bit) into the show. And the fakiness is not just because the pine trees and the distant mountains were made of cardboard and tempura paint.

Bring back The High Chaparral, dagnabbit. It had better scenery, some good eye candy and some deeper roots in historical realities, even if Blue Boy Cannon (Mark Slade) seemed awfully slow, as though he'd just lost his surf board and landed in the desert after dropping acid.

[MissGoddess]

When I was little, I couldn't make up my mind who I had a crush on more, Blue Boy or "Manolito". I even liked Buck sometimes, when he was cleaner (rare). Now I can't decide between John or Manolito. I guess I take Mano since Victoria has John and no way could I compete with that beauty.

I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to see my favorite western show finally return to television ("The Hight Chapparal's" last run was on The Hallmark Channel, I believe, before I had it). I would love even more to see the episodes restored and released on commercial DVD, but given the dismal future of DVD I know that is unlikely.

I guess I am in the minority in much preferring the early episodes of "Bonanza" to the later. I prefer the revved up energy, the snap and the roughness. I find that Hoss's gentleness stands out more in relief this way. And once Pernell Roberts left the show, I was much less into it.

I've noticed the tendency of a lot of long running television series to shift in tone from energetic and slightly edgy to slower and softer. Surly characters turn into "softies", too. I guess it's the natural progression, but it can be boring.

[klondike]

But, but Moira . . . . !
Bonanza's got those lovable brothers - friendlier than the Howards, meaner than the Marxes, always gettin' up to tricks:

[youtube][/youtube]

and they got the biggest, cleanest, best-lit barn, with the finest acoustics no less, in all of Nevada:

[youtube][/youtube]

and they always know how to welcome guests when they drop-by, especially if they're patrons of the arts:

[youtube][/youtube]

and despite being motherless boys, always keep it clean:

[youtube][/youtube]

[pvitari]

Klondike -- from my wanderings 'round the net, I get the impression that the more high-minded critical thinkers ;) about westerns don't have too much respect for Bonanza.

They like Dortort's High Chapparral a lot more -- as do I.

(The fakeness of Bonanza always bothered me a little, even as a kid.)

I had a real crush on Blue (Mark Slade) back then though I think as an adult if I were watching my eyes would be wandering more towards Henry Darrow and Cameron Mitchell. ;)

I don't know why High Chaparral isn't out on DVD. It's certainly one of the most-requested western series awaiting release.

When they did those two Bonanza TV movies with Ben Johnson in 1993 and 1994, at least they did film it on location at the Ponderosa ranch they had built out at Incline Village, and it looked a lot better, though there still didn't seem to be anyone else working out at the mega-sized ranch except Bronc Evans (Ben's character), his best pal Richard Roundtree, and whatever Cartwright heirs were around.

[klondike]

Klondike -- from my wanderings 'round the net, I get the impression that the more high-minded critical thinkers about westerns don't have too much respect for Bonanza.

I fear you're right, Paula - and I'm not sure why . . The Rifleman is fakey & cardboard as all get out, and yet most of us have deep affection for it . . . was color the problem?

and it looked a lot better, though there still didn't seem to be anyone else working out at the mega-sized ranch except Bronc Evans . .

Okay, THIS I can address, right here, right now -

Please turn your attention to these segments, from the episode "The Gamble" {interestingly enough, featuring Ben Johnson & Charles McGraw as evil lawmen}; please view this first one from 8:12, to its end:

[youtube][/youtube]

and then this segment, from 1:34 - 2:00:

[youtube][/youtube]

[klondike]

Whoah, this just in from the Ponderosa Employment Dept, Virginia City Office:

Prime of Life
view 3:20 -4:50
[youtube][/youtube]

then, 0:24 – 2:27
[youtube][/youtube]


First Born
view 6:04 – end
[youtube][/youtube]

[MissGoddess]

you can definitely, definitely disguise stage-bound sets in black and white much better than in color.

From what I read at the show's fan-site, for years now, "the High Chapparal" has been tied up in a legal dispute which is why there's no DVD release. It's sad.

[moira finnie]

From what I read at the show's fan-site, for years now, "the High Chapparal" has been tied up in a legal dispute which is why there's no DVD release. It's sad.

I agree. I wonder why the endless legal wrangling has occurred here in the states? There has been a DVD release of three seasons of The High Chaparral in Germany (in the original English, with German subtitles) that is available on Amazon.de. You can see more about it here on The High Chaparral Newsletter website.

In a coincidence, I just received an email this morning notifying me that the autobiography of Henry Darrow (Manolito), called Lightning in a Bottle, is being published in October, 2011 by BearManor Media. Darrow has had a multi-faceted career, playing in dozens of television shows and movies, in Shakespearean plays, and even a stint on stage in 2009 as Alfred Doolittle in My Fair Lady. His observations should be interesting reading.

Btw, there is a 2011 High Chaparral Reunion planned for Oct. 21-23 in Tucscon, Arizona. Darrow, Don Collier, Rudy Ramos, Ted Markland and behind-the-scenes people are scheduled for the event. More info here: http://www.thehighchaparralreunion.com/

I also discovered a channel on youtube called BigJohnCannon that features high quality videos of entire episodes of The High Chaparral:

http://www.youtube.com/user/BigJohnCannon#p/u

[pvitari]

I have The Gamble -- actually I screencapped Ben's scenes (what I call a "light screencapping") and uploaded the pictures onto my Ben Johnson page. It has some wonderful riding (Michael Landon's riding double gets to show off and it was directed by the great William Witney, which always means beautifully staged action) and some nice location work, and also fabulous photography by Haskell Boggs* (who shot over a 100 Bonanza episodes and also Bonanza: The Return in 1993). Unfortunately the screencaps don't look so great because TVLand's picture quality is terrible but what are you going to do when Bonanza DVD releases slither out more slowly than a drugged slug. They've released seasons 1 and 2 but "The Gamble" is season 3, which seems to be stuck in Never-Never Land.

Errrr... what about the youtube excerpts?





*Boggs also shot two episodes of The High Chaparral and 81 episodes of Little House on the Prairie -- so Michael Landon must have liked him a lot! ;) He also shot several Jerry Lewis movies which actually is quite a recommendation as Jerry Lewis was no slouch behind the camera, though personally I am not a Jerry Lewis fan. At all.

[klondike]

They've released seasons 1 and 2 but "The Gamble" is season 3, which seems to be stuck in Never-Never Land.

Errrr... what about the youtube excerpts?

Paula, it would appear that the entirety of "The Gamble" is available on YouTube . . as is my own personal favorite of all "Bonanza" eps, "First Born", featuring the only appearance of Joe's maternal half-brother, Clay.
Remember, though, do your keyword searchs using both bonanza, & the episode title.

[pvitari]

Thanks, Klondike but having "The Gamble" on my DVR, don't know that I need to watch it on youtube. ;)

What I really want is a decent DVD! C'mon CBS/Paramount, what's taking so long for more Bonanza season releases? Actually they're only up to season 2, vol. 1, so there's a whole 'nother half of season 2 to go before they even get to season 3.

I hate it when they orphan seasons. I have first season sets of Here Comes the Brides and The Equalizer and some other shows and the rest of the seasons never appeared. Have Gun, Will Travel seems to have stalled again too.