This is a tv show that I must confess to having mixed feelings about. On one hand,it is a reasonably wholesome show. On the other hand,there are plenty of things about the show that are downright annoying. The bad thing is,once you start to notice these annoying things,you cannot un-see them. As time goes on,and you watch more and more episodes,the list of annoyances steadily builds and builds until you reach a tipping-point. Once you've passed that tipping-point there is no going back.
I could probably write a book full of complaints about the show in fact,but I'll try to be brief while still fulfilling the silly 600-word requirement that imdb recently came up with,out of the blue.
Most of the plots and stories are either lame,silly,or stupid,and none of them are ever realistic. All of the characters are always spiffy-clean and wearing clothes that are brand-new and freshly laundered. Tiresome social propaganda is clumsily mixed in with far too many episodes and it is always with the subtlety of a sledgehammer on an egg.
The characters are ridiculous and the acting is very weak with possibly the exception of Dan Blocker as Hoss.
The pompous Lorne Greene overdoes everything .
Michael Landon's "little Joe" character is an annoying pipsqueak punk that surely would have been on the wrong end of several beatings in town had there been any realism to the show.
Pernell Roberts felt that playing "Adam Cartwright" was so far beneath his skills as an actor that he quit Bonanza to concentrate on his imagined Shakespearian talents. When this didn't pan out in 20 years he settled for being "Trapper John MD" on tv for a short while before doing us all a favor and disappearing for good.
The show has it's moments and there are a few decent episodes but most of them are annoyingly bad.
Watch it if you must,but stick to the first few years of the show,as they get worse and worse over time. 5/10.
I could probably write a book full of complaints about the show in fact,but I'll try to be brief while still fulfilling the silly 600-word requirement that imdb recently came up with,out of the blue.
Most of the plots and stories are either lame,silly,or stupid,and none of them are ever realistic. All of the characters are always spiffy-clean and wearing clothes that are brand-new and freshly laundered. Tiresome social propaganda is clumsily mixed in with far too many episodes and it is always with the subtlety of a sledgehammer on an egg.
The characters are ridiculous and the acting is very weak with possibly the exception of Dan Blocker as Hoss.
The pompous Lorne Greene overdoes everything .
Michael Landon's "little Joe" character is an annoying pipsqueak punk that surely would have been on the wrong end of several beatings in town had there been any realism to the show.
Pernell Roberts felt that playing "Adam Cartwright" was so far beneath his skills as an actor that he quit Bonanza to concentrate on his imagined Shakespearian talents. When this didn't pan out in 20 years he settled for being "Trapper John MD" on tv for a short while before doing us all a favor and disappearing for good.
The show has it's moments and there are a few decent episodes but most of them are annoyingly bad.
Watch it if you must,but stick to the first few years of the show,as they get worse and worse over time. 5/10.