As one of the longest-running western TV series, Bonanza has four main stars, a few recurring characters, and plenty of one-off characters specific to, and the focus of, individual episodes. The Cartwrights themselves are father Ben (Lorne Greene), eldest brother Adam (Pernell Roberts), middle-brother Hoss (Dan Blocker) and Little Joe (Michael Landon, later known for his roles on Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven). These four men own and operate one of the biggest ranches in the area. The Ponderosa is 1000 square miles of land, filled with trees and cattle. And in a time of cowboys and miners, both are great assets to own (the lumber being a major necessity in building structures for mines, of course). While the Cartwrights aren't exactly a part of the local town called Virginia City, they have enough clout in the area to warrant a good bit of respect.
While there isn't really an over-arcing story to Bonanza, at least not in this volume's 16 episodes, there are many recurring themes. These episodes typically have the Cartwrights helping a woman in distress, solving some local dispute (usually related to the mines) or just trying to protect their land from people who don't belong, but there are a few exceptions like "Mr. Henry Comstock" which shows not only why the gold and silver deposit is called The Comstock Load, but also why town is called Virginia City. Another good, out-of-the-ordinary episode features a young writer called Samuel Clemens as he tries his hand at the local newspaper before deciding on the pen name of Mark Twain.
But that isn't to say the more familiar themed episodes aren't good. I enjoyed "The Saga of Annie O'Toole" where an Irish woman travels from San Francisco to look at a claim a good friend of hers had that has apparently paid off. But when she has no money to return East, she and Adam go in business together with a small restaurant. I also enjoyed "The Philip Diedesheimer Story" that also acts as a bit of a history lesson as a local mine's safety engineer works with Adam to figure out a safer way to timber mines.
In "The Newcomers," the Cartwrights end up having to deal with some mine-developers from California who use a hydraulic means of clearing the land. The problem, at least as far as Ben sees it, is how the Pennington's method leaves the area when they are done. The other problem is John Pennington's business partner, who seems to have no problem killing and thieving to get his way. This episode also has Hoss falling in love with John's sister, Emily.
But everyone falls in love at some point in this volume. Despite being widowed three times, Ben rekindles an old flame with actress Adah Menken, and Little Joe takes place in a somewhat Romeo and Juliet affair with the daughter of another landowner family, the Bishops. But because of a long rivalry between the two families over the land that borders the two properties, Joe's new relationship could end in tragedy. Actually, come to think of it, it seems that most of the Cartwright's relationships end in tragedy by the end of the episode; well, not all end sadly, but they all end leaving the family just as it was to start a new episode pretty much like a clean slate.
Bonanza: The Official First Season, Volume One has a fair selection of special features. Every episode has production stills, some have the original TV promos and it even contain an alternate pilot ending featuring the "Singing Cartwrights" and a featurette about the creation of the series. But what will probably be enjoyed most by fans are the segments titled "David Dortort Stories" that have the show's creator talking about Blocker, and the story behind The Ponderosa Map seen at the beginning of the show's theme song.
With just this first half-season volume, it is easy to see how the charm of Bonanza carried it for so long. It has romance, it has action (there is quite a bit of gun play and brawls throughout this volume) and even a bit of social commentary to boot. As far as who this DVD is geared towards, it's obviously directed at the show's fans from when it originally aired. While Bonanza might pick up a few new fans (me being one of them), it is very unlikely anyone not already familiar with this classic TV series is going to even give this DVD a second look. So you fans out there who have been waiting for this series to finally come out on DVD will be pleased by not only the cleaned up video and audio quality, but also the special features.
