The Bonanza Collection (1959) Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm giving this set 1 star, because the item description doesn't give detail on show titles. I really would love to get my hands on more Bonanza episodes, however, this set is just a repeat of previously released Bonanza shows on dvd sets/collection :o(
Good thing I did my homework before purchasing (and of course I WILL NOT be purchasing this one, as I have the 20 Best Episodes and Best of vol. 1), may I recommend that you please do the same (check the titles BEFORE buying this set)...to save you some time and money and FRUSTRATION, I've posted ALL of the show titles for FOUR popular and separate Bonanza sets/collections on dvd.The Bonanza Collection features:
Disc One:
The Courtship
Denver McKee
The Gunmen
Disc Two:
Avenger
Last Trophy
Desert Justice
Disc Three:
The Ape
The Blood Line
Showdown
Disc Four:
Blood on the Land
Badge Without Honor
Death At Dawn
Disc Five:
The Spanish Grant
Day of Reckoning
The Fear Merchants
Running Time: 12 hours 15 minutes
******************
Bonanza 20 Episode Set (it's cheaper too) features
Disc 1 - The Avenger,
Last Trophy,
the Hopefuls,
Denver McKee

Disc 2 -
Dark Star,
Spit Fire,
The Fear Merchants,
Gunman
Disc 3 -
Abduction,
Courtship,
Bitter Water,
The Mill
Disc 4 -
Escape to the Ponderosa,
The Ape,
The Blood Line,
Death at Dawn
Disc 5 -
Blood on the Land,
Badge without honor,
Day of Reckoning,
Desert Justice
*********************************
The Best of Bonanza, Vol. 1 (Cheaper still)
This DVD contains the following episodes:
Mr. Henry Comstock,
Death on Sun Mountain,
The Saga of Annie O'Toole,
Paiute War,
Enter Mark Twain,
The Crucible,
Any Friend of Walter's
Bullet for a Bride.
I hope this help you choose a Bonanza set wisely not get ripped off by buying a set that contains the EXACT episodes you've already purchased, just put in different packaging.

----------$$$$$$$$$$$$$$-------------PLEASE NOTE UPDATE:
UPDATE: (12/02/05) There is a new Bonanza DVD set (called: Bonanza-31 Episodes on 10 Discs) Here's the each show listing by name, and as you will see, UNFORTUNATELY...many are repeats of preciously released shoes as well: Bonanza-31 Episodes on 10 Discs
EPISODE #1 THE GUNMEN
EPISODE #2 THE FEAR MERCHANT
EPISODE #3 THE SPANISH GRANT
EPISODE #4 BLOOD ON THE LAND
EPISODE # 5 DESERT JUSTICE
EPISODE # 6 THE STRANGER
EPISODE # 7 ESCAPE TO THE PONDEROSA
EPISODE # 8 THE AVENGER
EPISODE # 9 THE LAST TROPHY
EPISODE #10 SAN FRANCISCO HOLIDAY
EPISODE #11 BITTER WATER
EPISODE #12 FEET OF CLAY
EPISODE #13 DARK STAR
EPISODE #14 DEATH AT DAWN
EPISODE #15 SHOWDOWN
EPISODE #16 THE MISSION
EPISODE #17 BADGE WITHOUT HONOR
EPISODE #18 THE MILL
EPISODE #19 DENVER MCKEE
EPISODE #20 DAY OF RECKONING
EPISODE #21 THE ABDUCTION
EPISODE #22 THE LAST VIKING
EPISODE #23 THE SAVAGE
EPISODE #24 THE APE
EPISODE #25 THE BLOOD LINE
EPISODE #26 THE COURTSHIP
EPISODE #27 THE SPITFIRE
EPISODE #28 BREED OF VIOLENCE
EPISODE #29 SILENT THUNDER
EPISODE #30 THE TRAIL GANG
EPISODE #31 THE HOPEFULS
As soon as a Bonanza DVD set comes out that contain NEW episodes, I'll be one of the first to buy it--and with JOY! Until then...I can only hope and pray that a (TRULY) new Bonanza DVD set will be released soon, INSTEAD of more rehashed (previously released) episodes with new covers or packaging.

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Take your boots off, put the feedbags on the horses, sit back, and enjoy a passel of mighty-fine episodes from television's most-beloved Western series: BONANZA! Here is the vast Ponderosa Ranch and the entire Cartwright family: Ben, Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe (otherwise known as Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon). Using the Western TV show format, BONANZA wove morality tales around the Cartwrights, touching on such social issues as injustice and race prejudice, just one of the reasons this classic series still holds up strong today. Among the guest stars included among the classic episodes in this compilation: Leonard Nimoy of Star Trek ; Lee Van Cleef, gunslinger in spaghetti Westerns; Ricardo Montalban of Fantasy Island ; Sebastian Cabot of Family Affair ; Vic Morrow of Combat ; Franchot Tone of Mutiny on the Bounty , Julie Adams of Creature from the Black Lagoon ; British ‘Scream Queen' Hazel Court, future game show host Bob Barker, and Everett Sloane of Citizen Kane ; as well as Hollywood reliables Dan Duryea, Patricia Medina, Lyle Talbot, Claude Akins and Philip Ahn. With fifteen complete episodes of BONANZA on five discs, this DVD collection is perfect for fans of Westerns, classic TV shows, or just good old-fashioned entertainment. 735 minutes DISC 1 "The Courtship" Guest stars Julie Adams, Paul Dubov and Lyle Talbot Going to the aid of a beautiful young widow, Hoss falls in love and becomes engaged to her, not knowing she has a serious gambling problem. Julie Adams, the damsel in distress in The Creature from the Black Lagoon, guest stars. "Denver McKee" Guest stars Franchot Tone, Natalie Trundy, Ken Mayer and Bob Barker The Cartwrights ask former lawman hero Denver McKee (Franchot Tone) to lead a posse in search of an outlaw gang, unaware that he is the gang's leader. Complicating things is Little Joe having eyes for his daughter, just returned from the East and equally ignorant of her father's crimes. "The Gunmen" Guest stars George Mitchell, Ellen Corby & Jonathan Gilmore In Texas to buy breeding stock for the Ponderosa, Hoss and Little Joe are mistaken for two gunslingers hired by one side in a feud between two families. Will they be able prove the mistaken identity before they are shot or hanged, and what will happen when their lookalikes show up? DISC 2 "Avenger" Guest stars Vic Morrow, Jean Allison Convicted of murder, Ben and Adam Cartwright await hanging, with Hoss and Little Joe trying to exonerate them. Meanwhile, a stranger with a dark past (Vic Morrow) comes to town looking for someone and asking questions. Will he side with the Cartwrights? "Last Trophy" Guest stars Hazel Court , Edward Ashley Adam guides a visiting British lord and lady on a mountain lion hunt, only to encounter more dangerous varmints in the form of lawless renegades who take the party hostage. "Desert Justice" Guest stars Claude Akins, Tom Greenway and Bud Osbourne Claude Akins guest stars as a none-too-gentle U.S. marshall extraditing a friend of the Cartwrights back to California to stand trial for murder. Adam and Hoss go along to make sure their friend gets to court alive. DISC 3 "The Ape" Guest stars Leonard Nimoy, Karen Sharpe, Cal Bolder Hoss attempts to help out a brawny but dimwitted and unstable drifter (Cal Bolder) who is infatuated with a callous saloon floozy (Karen Sharpe). Leonard Nimoy plays her bartender friend. "The Blood Line" Guest stars Jan Sterling, David Macklin, Lee Van Cleef, Allan "Rocky" Lane After Ben shoots a man in self-defense, he and Hoss try to help out his vengeful teenage son (David Macklin). Movie bad girl Jan Sterling plays-what else? – a bad girl, and future spaghetti western star Lee Van Cleef plays- what else?-a gunslinger. "Showdown" Guest stars Ben Cooper, Jack Lambert, Ray Teal A young bank robber hires on as a hand at the Ponderosa as lookout for his gang. Little Joe is suspicious of the stranger, who has his own misgivings as the Cartwrights treat him with kindness. Will he remain loyal to the gang of robbers? DISC 4 "Blood on the Land" A hardbitten sheep herder (Everett Sloane) aims to drive his herd over the Ponderosa, and Ben Cartwright is just as determined to stop him. Can Adam resolve the matter without bloodshed, or will there be a range war? "Badge Without Honor" Guest stars Dan Duryea, Fred Beir, Christine White, Wendell Holmes, Richard Warren Dan Duryea plays a smooth talking lawman who likes killing a little too much, raising Adam's suspicions about his mission to take an unwilling witness back to California to testify. "Death at Dawn" Guest stars: Robert Middleton, Gregory Walcott, Morgan Woodward, Wendell Holmes When Virginia City is overrun by a gang of bullies, the sheriff deputizes the Cartwrights to help restore order. Will the gang allow one of their own to be hanged? Character actor Robert Middleton guest stars as the leader of the gang. DISC 5 "The Spanish Grant" Guest stars Patricia Medina, Sebastian Cabot, Paul Picerni, Celia Lovsky Holders of an original land grant ruthlessly evict homesteaders on their property. Are the Cartwrights next? Patricia Medina guest stars as the land heiress of dubious origin, with Sebastian Cabot as her conniving manipulator. Will Adam let his feelings for the senorita interfere with finding out the truth? "Day of Reckoning" Guest stars Ricardo Montalban, Madlyn Rhue, Anthony Caruso Ricardo Montalban guest stars as an Indian caught between the traditional ways of his tribe and the new ways of the settlers. Even though he saves Ben Cartwright's life, will hostility of other whites and contempt from his fellow braves drive him on the warpath? "The Fear Merchants" Gene Evans, Helen Westcott, Frank Ferguson, Guy Lee, Philip Ahn A candidate (Gene Evans) for the mayor of Virginia City stirs up hatred against Chinese immigrants, including Hop Sing. When one Chinese is accused of murder, mob violence brews. No need to state whom the Cartwrights support.

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Wagon Train, The Complete Color Season Review

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(More customer reviews)There was a time back in the 1950s and '60s when primetime network programming relied so much on Westerns that nearly every night of the week featured at least one. While some rode off into the sunset without much ado, one of the best, and longest-running, "Wagon Train," set the bar for style and authenticity that few other Western series ever achieved.
This DVD set, all 3,900 minutes of it, presents the 1963 season -- all 32 90-minute episodes filmed in color, as well as 16 classic episodes (black and white) from the series' other seven seasons. The show, based on the legendary John Ford Western feature film "Wagon Master," starred Ward Bond (who reprised his role from the Ford film), John McIntire, Robert Horton, Robert Fuller, Frank McGrath, Terry Wilson, Denny Scott Miller and Michael Burns. Each week the show told the stories of a wagon train heading west from Missouri to California in the days following the Civil War.
What set the series apart from many of its contemporaries was the show's impeccable attention to details: Most of the actors were trained horsemen or cowboys; set dressings and wardrobe were as authentic as possible, and nearly every minute of it was filmed on location across California and surrounding states, which took the West out of the backlot and into, well, the West.
"The Western on television was so successful because it appealed to the entire family," said Fuller, who joined the cast in 1963 as the wagon train's scout Cooper Smith (he replaced Robert Horton), fresh from his starring role in another Western series, "Laramie." "At the end of a hard day of work and school, the family could all watch the show together and escape from the worries of the day. I know it sounds corny, but it was true."
It took seven days to film each 90-minute episode, Fuller said, and almost all of it was location work. "We shot a lot in Lone Pine [California] up north and Thousand Oaks, which back then actually had 1,000 oaks [trees]," he said, laughing.
"There's no way a Western series could be filmed the way we did 'Wagon Train,'" Fuller added. "No way. First of all, there are no picture horses left. Back in the day, there were two large horse ranches in Hollywood that had 1,000 picture horses apiece. These horses were trained to stand still in front of a camera, do falls, tricks, move to a mark on cue. And many of the guys who did these shows were real cowboys. They were all Western riders. They're all gone now."
That attention to detail and realism it was set "Wagon Train" apart from its contemporaries, including "Bonanza" and "Gunsmoke."
"No other series attempted a full season of 90-minute episodes in color because the budget was outrageous for the day," Fuller said. "And look at the wardrobe on 'Bonanza.' All those tailored, made-to-fit clothes. Look at those great-looking pants that Michael Landon wore (laughs) -- and they never got dirty. 'Gunsmoke' was shot entirely on a soundstage. Those shows were good, but we were worlds apart."
Fuller would go on to star in numerous television series and guest star on countless others, most notably "Emergency!" in which he starred as Dr. Kelly Brackett for seven years in the 1970s. He now makes his home on a sprawling ranch in Texas with his wife, actress Jennifer Savidge ("St. Elsewhere").
"I think this DVD set is really going to make a lot of folks very happy, folks who remember the show from their youth," Fuller said. "But I also think it's gonna make a whole new generation see what television could do very well, and what an important, exciting series 'Wagon Train' was"


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16 DVD Box Set- The Complete Color Season! One of the longest running and most popular of all the television westerns, Wagon Train topped the ratings for eight seasons in the late 1950s and 1960s.Inspired by John Ford's classic 1950 film, Wagon Master, Wagon Train debuted on Wednesday, September 18, 1957 on the NBC Television network. Ward Bond, who starred in Wagon Master, re-created his role from the film as Wagon Master Major Seth Adams. He was joined by costars Robert Horton as Head Scout Flint McCullough, Frank McGrath as the cook Charlie Wooster, and Terry Wilson as Assistant Wagon Master Bill Hawks, who all brought their skills as horsemen as well as wonderful western actors to the show, giving Wagon Train a special, western flavor.Each well-crafted episode focused on a personal story of courage and perseverance of not just the main cast, but of the westward-bound emigrants as they made the perilous journey by Conestoga wagon from the banks of the Mississippi to California's Pacific shores in the face of great odds.The cast was joined each week by Hollywood's brightest stars in guest roles. The ensemble acting, wonderful scripts and great western scenery soon made Wagon Train a fixture in American homes on Wednesday nights, as millions of Americans of all ages tuned in to NBC for classic family entertainment.When Ward Bond passed away during the 4th season, he was replaced by John McIntire as Christopher Hale, who took over as the new Wagon Master, a role he played till the series ended in 1965. There were other cast changes as well. Denny Scott Miller took on the role of assistant scout Duke Shannon in 1961, and when Robert Horton left the show in 1963, the producer Howard Christie brought in Robert Fuller (Laramie) as the new scout, Cooper Smith. Christie also brought Michael Burns onboard the wagon train as Barnaby West, a teenager looking for his lost father on the trail. One-time stunt man Frank McGrath's character Charlie Wooster, Wagon Train's irrepressible cook, was the only cast member to remain with the show for its entire run. Another big change to Wagon Train in 1963, its 7th season, was the expansion from a one-hour format in black and white, to 90 minutes in color. In its longer format, the 7th season combined both expanded story lines and remarkable color photography of the scenic western landscape, and allowed for greater character and plot line development.Guest stars continued to grace Wagon Train, including performances by Barbara Stanwyck, Ronald Reagan, Peter Falk, Suzanne Pleshette, Bruce Dern, Rhonda Fleming, Burgess Meredith, Neville Brand, Annette Funicello and many, many more!These 32 color episodes of that 7th season are fully restored and mastered from the original NBC Universal masters by TMG, which is proud to present them for the first time on DVD.Bonus DVDs: 16 Classic Episodes of Wagon Train on 4 DVD discs - These classic episodes of Wagon Train span the entire series, from Season 1 with Ward Bond and Robert Horton, to season 8, when the series returned to a one-hour, black and white format with John McIntire, Robert Fuller and Denny Scott Miller. Reproduced from NBC Universal's original masters, these 16 black and white episodes have never before been released on DVD.Many fine guest stars appear in these stories of the great westward migration of the 1800s, including Anne Bancroft, Harry Carey Jr., Dan Duryea, Harry Von Zell and Ann Sheridan.Bonus DVD: Interviews - An exclusive look behind the scenes with two of Wagon Train's most memorable actors, Robert Fuller and Denny Scott Miller, who played Scout Cooper Smith and Duke Shannon. These two stars speak freely about the family of creative people who brought you Wagon Train, from the wranglers and stunt men, to the stars and the producers of the hit series.

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