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Bonanza: The Eighth Season  Review by Suzanne Lanoue 6/1/15

I reviewed season 7 last year; it's pretty much the same review as this season.  This show was on the air for 14 years, so they pretty much had the same type of stories over and over. Either someone new comes to the Cartwrights' ranch, or something happens to one of their neighbors, or to someone in town, or they traveled out of town and ran into someone else. They found many troubled people and helped them, even when the people threatened them physically or tried to steal from them. For their time, they were pretty much superheroes (not that they had powers, unless you count power, money, charm, and kindness as superpowers).

One thing that was always consistent is that women didn't fare well as romantic interests for the characters. They didn't want them to get married, so if they fell for a girl, either she was in trouble of some kind, or crazy, or she ending up leaving town or getting killed.  It's not like today's shows where they have story arcs and people change and grow. The Cartwrights were pretty much perfect, so it's not like they could change much.  On the other hand, I kind of miss having such good guy characters. Nowadays if you have a hero on a TV show, they're very flawed and sometimes do terrible things. I prefer to have good guys who are really good guys. That's what we grew up with and many of us miss that, even if we do watch and enjoy newer shows.

The DVD has lots of great features on the two DVD's in the set! Volume 1: Vintage interview with Director William Witney (1978); Vintage Chevrolet Featurette "Giant Step" with Lorne Greene; New Audio Commentary by guest stars Wayne Newton and Ted Quinn, DVD Executive Producer Andrew J. Klyde and Historian Allan Asherman;  Volume 2: Lost Short Film: "Ponderosa Caravan" (1967); New Audio Commentary by Andrew J. Klyde. Both volumes have Original NBC and Chevrolet Promos and Logos on select episodes; and Extensive and Rare Episodic, Behind-the-Scenes and On-Location Photos.

I enjoyed the set and hope to collect all of them. They've done a great job with them.

BONANZA: The Eighth Season, Volumes One & Two on DVD June 2!

Street Date:           June 2, 2015 

returns when The Official Eighth Season, Volume One and Volume Two rides onto DVD. Bonanza follows the High Sierra adventures of the Cartwright family, wise patriarch Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene) and his three sons, Adam (Pernell Roberts), Hoss (Dan Blocker) and “Little Joe” (Michael Landon), as they operate their sprawling timberland ranch, the Ponderosa, in the midst of dangerous and lawless 19th century Nevada. Fans can now enjoy this nine-disc collection that mixes action and adventure with heart wrenching drama – qualities that have helped the series stand the test of time with generations of viewers.

Dolby Digital: English Mono

English SDH Subtitles
 

Approximately 810 minutes (Volume Two

http://cbshe.com/Bon8V2 (Volume Two)

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

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Page updated 6/1/15