The first regular hour-long primetime series to air entirely in color, Bonanza, is also one of the longest-running series in television history. The show ran for 14 years, the first of which was 1959, and that, if one is counting, makes Bonanza 50 years old. Though the show aired on NBC, it was produced by Paramount and consequently it is Paramount/CBS that is currently bringing the show to DVD. Releasing this week are two volumes of Bonanza: The Official First Season. Each volume contains four discs and 16 episodes of the series, and together make up the entire 32-episode first season (pretty impressive considering today's television seasons tend to be closer to 24 episodes).
Bonanza, which stars Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon, is the tale of the Cartwrights and their ranch, the Ponderosa. Green is Ben Cartwright, father of Adam (Roberts), Hoss (Blocker), and Little Joe (Landon) – all of whom have different mothers (poor Ben is a widower several times over). Together, the four men raise cattle and do their best to protect their precious Ponderosa from the ever-encroaching Virginia City, with its miners and rapscallions. The Cartwrights are quick thinkers (save Hoss, he's the emotional core of the group and the show), often quick-witted (again, save Hoss), and quick to anger towards family, friends, and enemies alike. Family may always come first, but that doesn't mean, even as the beginning of the pilot shows, that they'll back down in front of their loved ones.
Season one of the show takes place (for the most part) right around 1860 and therefore during the approach of the Civil War. While the series does center itself around the world events of the time period on occasion, more often than not the plot revolves around a dastardly scheme to either steal land, cattle, or money from the Cartwrights or the downtrodden – typical Western fare.
While the odds are certainly against this DVD set sparking interest in younger viewers for a show which began 50 years ago, that is certainly unfortunate. CBS/Paramount have done a fantastic job bringing the show to DVD, one would never guess the series' age if it weren't for some of the promos and unrestored footage included along with it. The series also helps hide its age by being a period piece – the 1860s are the 1860s, whether they're depicted in 1959 or 2009. The way in which stories are told about the time period may differ today, but the clothes, speech, and manner of dress haven't (even if Doc Brown did have trouble getting Marty appropriate attire only four years prior to the start of Bonanza).
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