Bonanza

Gajahgran

I was in love with Little Joe (Micheal Landon) too. About 40 years later and travelling in America we came across a sign to Bonanza ranch near Lake Tahoe. Had to visit and there it was, not a film set but an actual ranch, there was even a copy of the map on the wall. We had Hos burgers for lunch. Well worth the detour.

That’s exactly what happened to us. We were staying at Lake Tahoe and took a drive to Incline Village when we came across the sign, like you we had to take a look. It was our first holiday to California, we were there for three weeks and had such a wonderful time.

My Dad liked westerns so I saw them all at home and mention of the old favourites just makes me think of him.
I never went to Saturday morning pictures so didn't see any westerns at the cinema.

For Bonanza fans: the theme tune and opening scene
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjdRgBAY278

Bonanza was great.The Virginian was my favourite though.Gunsmoke, High Chaperelle.Love a western cannot stand war films though.

My mum said she went into labour with me, just as dad had settled down to watch bonanza.
What does the word mean?

i was never a fan of bonanza but i loved the high chaparral, leif erickson and henry darrow were my favourites, i did love the music from bonanza opening credits.

Love the old westerns. Most of them were on Sky till recently. The Virginian was my favourite. James Drury was gorgeous.

I still say "waggons rolllll" to my Grandchildren as I did to my sons when they were little,or " head 'em up,move 'em out"....eyes rolling all round....! And "who was that masked man,kemo sabbe(sic)"....

Gajahgran

I was in love with Little Joe (Micheal Landon) too. About 40 years later and travelling in America we came across a sign to Bonanza ranch near Lake Tahoe. Had to visit and there it was, not a film set but an actual ranch, there was even a copy of the map on the wall. We had Hos burgers for lunch. Well worth the detour.

Yes I went there in 1984 - landed in LA 3 days after the Olympics finished, went to a wedding and then drove up the Pacific Coast Highway via Yosemite and Lake Tahoe, to Vancouver Island where my Uncle lived on the side of a cliff in an idyllic little place called Maple Bay .... it was the best of holidays, with the Ponderosa Ranch included!

If you've got Alexa, then I'm sure she heard you....!

I always felt I missed out on discussing the westerns my schoolfriends liked as I wasn't allowed to watch ITV (common!). But I did enjoy the Lone Ranger, Bronco and the Cisco Kid on BBC. It would be interesting to see any of them now - I bet they come across as horribly racist and misogynistic!

I remember driving past where Bonanza was filmed. The house was fairly close to a road which of course was never seen. I have visited Carson City and Virginia City where a lot of it was filmed. I used to love watching it as well.

25Avalon. Just read your saying about your Dads favourite programme being Dixon of Dock Green. I have a memory never mentioned before, about one certain episode of this programme.
The story line was of a black man selling door to door without a licence. He nearly got away with it being only a visitor to the country. But clever Dixon noticed that he was really a white man who had coloured himself to appear to change races. PC Dixon saw that he had even coloured the palms of his hands dark black. Only telling viewers that a real black man always had much lighter palms….. before saying “evening all”
Does anyone else remember this episode?
It was the last Dixon of Dock Green programme ever watched in our house.

Oh, I had such a pash for Michael Landon! Schoolgirl crush didn't even come near it - I was obsessed.

Can't believe no-one has mentioned The Big Valley Da da da da da dada da da da da da dada dahhhhh can't stop humming it now ?

My father was a cinema operator, so I always went to Saturday morning pictures.

Yes, i loved cowboys and Indians. The Lone Ranger I especially liked.
Clint Eastwood made some good ones too.

Happy days. I think Rawhide was definitely my favourite, but I also fondly remember Lassie, on Wednesday afternoons. The men always had freshly ironed shirts, and they probably never shed a drop of sweat, either! Un-gritty un-realism at its best.

I'm off an age when nearly every other show on TV/at the cinema was a Western and I read western books. Still have the hots for James Drury, The Virginian.

I used to buy my mum all the box sets of her favourite programmes before she died. I've Bonanza, The High Chaparral, Tenko, etc and she watched them over and over again. The Little House on the Prairie was my favourite, now I'd watch that again.

My dad loved westerns, especially those with John Wayne in them. My mum hated the cinema so he used to take me. I’ve seen all the old films, not just westerns. He liked Bing Crosby and Mario Lanza too so I saw all their films. I too loved sitting with my lovely dad watching all those films, it was our special time together.

I was a huge Westerns fan when I was a child, and still am if they come up on television on a wet afternoon. I used to watch them on our little black and white set with my Dad, the rest of the family weren't interested - Wagon Train, Rawhide, Bonanza et al. And if a film was showing at the local Odeon my mother would check it out and if she okayed it he would take me. I still think it's my idea of heaven - sitting next to my Dad, a darkened cinema, a choc ice, and The Searchers ( my all time favourite). My sister was in love with Rock Hudson (she'd have been let down there if her dreams had come true!) But for me it was always Rowdy Yates.

I adored the High Chapparal and was thrilled to find all the series on one of the CBS channels and few years ago. Most of the cast are now sadly dead (well, it is over 50 years old!!), but there are apparently still legions of fans around the world. They still have reunions in Tuscon too!

Jane43

Maverick was my favourite as a teenager, I loved James Garner and also the actor who played Bart Maverick. I will certainly watch some episodes of Bonanza for sentimental reasons as during our first visit to California many years ago we stayed at Lake Tahoe for a few days. One day we went for a drive to Incline Village and spotted a sign for Ponderosa ranch so we took a look. There was a mock up of the house and even mock graves of some of the characters in the garden. I just googled it and it recently sold for $38 million. I wonder what will happen to it?

I really liked James Garner. He seemed such a nice man. My kids were amazed when I showed them some of his films when they loved him in The Notebook. They didn't picture him as the handsome young man he once was.

I still thought he was lovely in The Notebook.

I used to watch it but I don't think I will watch it again. I suspect it might spoil the memories I have.

The Range Rider was rather gorgeous, I think the actor’s name was Jock Mahoney.