Bonanza was an awesome show, that really was ahead of its time(sometimes a bit too much, in its revisions of history). It featured some black and Asian ppl, and many other groups as a part of the magnificent tapestry of the West, and touched on many exciting frontier topics. To me, the show was more grounded and realistic in earlier episodes, and some later ones. There was a period(as the show went on for so damn long!) where the writers seemed to drop acid and then do a story at the last minute, and the gear was anachronistic and crazy at times. I always noticed that many episodes were supposed to be taking place before the Civil War, or around that time, yet every guy on the show has a lever-action rifle like a Winchester! I realize that the Henry rifle and others came out around that time, but it is very unlikely that every goofball and cattle thief on the Nevada frontier would have these things, as they were mainly used by US military units in small quantities. Then there were a bunch of episodes where Hoss or Joe would meet some nutty inventor or leprechaun, or vampire, or gypsy, etc. and a bunch of campy silliness and cheesy music would ensue. The show was on for so many years that it undoubtedly ran into trouble with new ideas, but man, did it get super cheesy in places. Another funny problem was that they never wanted to introduce a new character or love interest, and actually keep them! Seriously, I bet 5,000 women died or mysteriously left at the end of one or two episodes, leaving the brothers or Ben broken-hearted, but somehow "better" for the experience. Like, couldn't they just surprise us once, and have a new member join the cast and marry one of the brothers? If I was a woman, I wouldn't go anywhere near this family, as you are 99% likely to die, be kidnapped, or have to make a difficult life choice to leave and disappear. Cousin Will was one of the few exceptions to additional characters they kept, but he isn't a woman.Another funny thing they played out was the way the town or state viewed the Cartwrights. On one episode, the whole state would be trying to get Ben elected to governor, or very supportive of his problems, and in debt to him for helping the entire community. On the next episode, the entire town would be trying to sabotage the family, and everyone hated them.Other flaws-- Sheriff Roy Coffee(who replaced other earlier lawmen) was the most useless and comical old guy on the show. "Now Ben, I know you and your boys are great people, but we may have to just hang Little Joe if someone accuses him of a crime this week." Roy never got anything done, or solved a case-- it was always the Cartwright boys coming to his or the town's rescue, but he always had some "Dr. Phil" type wisdom or just plain dumb stuff to say about everything. He was so lame it was actually funny, in an unintentional way. Overall, way better than many shows on TV, and it broke ground in many diverse areas, but some really cheesy years as well. Still, a guilty pleasure that delivers if you're bored, or want decent family entertainment with basically good morals.

This show is probably the most fabricated western in television history.The fact that it ran for many years proves nothing except that American western TV show tastes are not very demanding. Lorne Greene was fine as 'Ben Cartwright', but the three actors who played his sons were less appealing. The Cartwrights (I call them the Fartwrongs) include father Ben and his sons: Hoss, who always eats everything in the cookie jar; Adam, who owns a dozen black shirts, black trousers, and black hats; and Little Joe (I call him Little Shmo) who cocks his hat, pulls up his collar, and walks with a swagger, but whom is still nothing more than a short pipsqueak.It was extremely silly how the whole clan would be loafing around town and subsequently getting into everyone else's affairs. 'Our heroes' would have more likely been back at the ranch tending to business instead of wandering around the countryside and falling into trouble by stepping in another rancher's cowpie every other day. Story lines were sometimes cliché' with guest stars who were not always competent supporting players.Stick with 'Gunsmoke', a much better western with much better actors.

I never grew up with Bonanza... in fact I only recently started watching some episodes. For its time it must have been a great show, but for today's standards it's not. However, I'm only watching the episodes with Adam Cartwright (Pernell Roberts) just because my mother liked him and I like him now.I will admit that I haven't watched a whole lot of episodes. TvLand is a channel I no longer get so I'm depended on Youtube for my source. Automatically you can tell it's a slightly corny show and not the mention the scenery but again it's an OK show. Not my favorite and I'm not an obsessed fan but let's say if it happens to come on, I wouldn't change the channel. It's a wholesome show that brings back the memories of cowboy days from when I was a child (even though those days consisted of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans...) I have read reasons as to why Pernell Roberts left the show, and honestly as I look at it, he does have a point, a very good point at that.All in all however it is a decent show. By today's standards there will be a different viewpoint but I'm sure that today's generation can stand to watch it every now and then.

It got to be a running joke around Bonanza about how fatal it was for any women to get involved with any Cartwright men. After all Ben Cartwright was three times a widower with a son by each marriage. And any woman who got involved with Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe were going to end up dying because we couldn't get rid of the formula of the widower and the three sons that started this classic TV western.Perhaps if Bonanza were being done today the writers would have had revolving women characters who came in and out of the lives of the Cartwrights. People have relationships, some go good, some not so good, it's just life. And we're less demanding of our heroes today so if a relationship with one of them goes south we don't have to kill the character off to keep the survivor's nobility intact. But that's if Bonanza were done today.But we were still expecting a lot from our western heroes and Bonanza though it took a while to take hold and a change of viewing time from NBC certainly helped, the secret of Bonanza's success was the noble patriarch Ben Cartwright and his stalwart sons. Ben Cartwright was THE ideal TV Dad in any genre you want to name. His whole life was spent in the hard work of building that immense Ponderosa spread for his three children. The kids were all different in personality, but all came together in a pinch.The Cartwrights became and still are an American institution. I daresay more people cared about this family than the Kennedys. Just the popularity that Bonanza has in syndication testifies to that. Pernell Roberts as oldest son Adam was written out of the show. Rumor has it he didn't care for the noble Cartwright characters which he felt bordered on sanctimonious. Perhaps if it were done now, he'd have liked it better in the way I describe.This was just the beginning for Michael Landon, how many people get three hit TV shows to their credit. Landon also has Highway to Heaven and Little House On the Prarie where he had creative control. Little Joe was the youngest, most hot headed, but the most romantic of the Cartwrights. When Roberts left. the show kept going with the two younger sons, but when big Dan Blocker left, the heart went out of Bonanza. Other characters had been added on by that time, David Canary, Tim Matheson, and Ben Cartwright adopted young Mitch Vogel. But big, loyal, but a little thick Hoss was easily the most lovable of the Cartwrights. His sudden demise after surgery left too big a hole in that family.So the Cartwrights of the Ponderosa have passed into history. I got a real taste of how America took the Cartwrights to heart when I visited the real Virginia City. It doesn't look anything like what you see in Bonanza. But near Lake Tahoe, just about where you see the Ponderosa on the map at the opening credits, is the Cartwright home, the set maintained and open as a tourist attraction. Like 21 Baker Street for Sherlock Holmes fans, the ranchhouse and the Cartwrights are real.And if they weren't real, they should have been.