History YMMV / Bonanza

* ToughActToFollow: "Forever", the first story of Season 14, was a smashing success and arguably one of the all-time best stories of ''Bonanza'', and a rare case where a series manages to produce a superb story this deep into its run when most would crumble. TV Guide even recognizes it in its first top 100 TV episodes list. Unfortunately, the decision to put this story first made all the other stories to follow look weaker in comparison (with the exception of "The Hunter", a highly suspenseful and daring break from formula), and because the show was already treading on thin ice due to Dan Blocker's demise and a schedule bump against its favor from the resulting production conflicts, there was no saving the show's declining ratings from here. The other episodes that filled the shortened season were formulaic, but now the actors were tired and showing age and visibly signs of distress from their friend's sudden death, the shoehorning in of Griff and the poor development of his character, and more focus on previous addition Jamie made people feel like the magic was fading away because too much of the old format had disappeared. ''Bonanza'' couldn't ever go back to the way it was, and "Forever" was its last real gasp of riveting storytelling before its knees gave out from under it.

* ToughActToFollow: "Forever", the first story of Season 14, was a smashing success and arguably one of the all-time best stories of ''Bonanza'' and a rare case where a series manages to produce a superb story this deep into its run when most would crumble. Unfortunately, the decision to put this story first made all the other stories to follow look weaker in comparison, and because the show was already treading on thin ice due to Dan Blocker's demise and a schedule bump against its favor from the resulting production conflicts, there was no saving the show from here.

* CompleteMonster: '''Damion''', unquestionably so, the maniac villain from the second part of "Forever", one of the last and fittingly scariest characters in the series. He was a cultured, sadistic and crazed zealot. who lived by a corrupted "do unto others" and "eye for an eye" view of the Bible, spoke with a chilling charisma and proper tone to his voice, and frequently lapsed into a ''horrifying'' DeathGlare and a HairTriggerTemper. His murder of the Harper siblings put him squarely into monster territory after he strong-armed John for money to pay up a gambling debt, causing him to rat out his newlywed and pregnant sister Alice, Joe's wife. He immediately shot John the second he tried to protect his sister Alice, then stole Joe and Alice's treasured music box to try and compensate for the debt, and when she resisted, he unleashed his henchman Harley, a silent giant, on Alice to kill her with his bare hands and had their house burned to the ground. Later, he showed how unstable he was even further when he poured a glass of wine over one of his other henchmen like the blood of the host to cleanse him of his sins and "forgive" him. Finally, he reached the height of irredeemable when he had Joe and Harley fight to the death in "trial by combat" because he thought it would be just for Joe to have a shot at payback, but when Joe didn't have the heart to deal a killing blow to Harley, Damion began ''screaming at Joe to kill him because it was his right'', and was disappointed when he didn't follow through. ''That's'' [[HeelFaceTurn when Harley realizes he's being used and thrown away without a second thought and thus turns against Damion]] [[UnflinchingWalk and purses him with coldblooded hate]] [[ImplacableMan all the way into a river]]. Spindly Daimion begins flailing in the river current in vain as Harley easily gains on him when the river can't do much to slow down a big, beefy man, the sick monster begins screaming for mercy on his ''[[DramaticIrony own]]'' life in terror [[AssholeVictim and receives his just dues]] [[LaserGuidedKarma in the form of]] [[NeckSnap a broken neck]] and meets his end [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves exactly as he deserved.]]

* SeasonalRot: In the final season after Dan Blocker's death, which featured only Lorne Greene and Michael Landon out of the original cast. Not all of the stories were bad, per se (the two-part opener is even recognized as one of the best specials to ever air on television by ''TVGuide''), the main complaint was that Hoss was one of the most [[GentleGiant beloved]] characters of the bunch, and his death put out the spark that fueled the series up until now because it felt ''much'' colder and lonelier without him, and none of the new additions could ever fill that void. With the loss of Dan Blocker kicking out a bunch of planned episodes and a resulting network decision to bump the show to a less-coveted time slot because that season would run short, the show was dealt a killing blow. Sadly, even though there were follow-up specials and a short-lived prequel series decades later, the surviving cast never got to return.

* CompleteMonster: '''Damion''', unquestionably so, the maniac villain from the second part of "Forever", one of the last and fittingly scariest characters in the series. He was a sadistic and crazed zealot who lived by a corrupted "do unto others" and "eye for an eye" view of the Bible with a ''horrifying'' DeathGlare and a HairTriggerTemper. His murder of the Harper siblings put him squarely into monster territory after he strong-armed John for money to pay up a gambling debt, causing him to rat out his newlywed and pregnant sister Alice, Joe's wife. He immediately shot John the second he tried to protect his sister Alice, then stole Joe and Alice's treasured music box to try and compensate for the debt, and when she resisted, he unleashed his henchman Harley, a silent giant, on Alice to kill her with his bare hands and had their house burned to the ground. Later, he showed how unstable he was even further when he poured a glass of wine over one of his other henchmen like the blood of the host to cleanse him of his sins and "forgive" him. Finally, he reached the height of irredeemable when he had Joe and Harley fight to the death in "trial by combat" because he thought it would be just for Joe to have a shot at payback, but when Joe didn't have the heart to deal a killing blow to Harley, Damion began ''screaming at Joe to kill him because it was his right'', and was disappointed when he didn't follow through. ''That's'' [[HeelFaceTurn when Harley realizes he's being used and thrown away without a second thought and thus turns against Damion]] [[UnflinchingWalk and purses him with coldblooded hate]] [[ImplacableMan all the way into a river]]. Spindly Daimion begins flailing in the river current in vain as Harley easily gains on him when the river can't do much to slow down a big, beefy man, the sick monster begins screaming for mercy on his ''[[DramaticIrony own]]'' life in terror [[AssholeVictim and receives his just dues]] [[LaserGuidedKarma in the form of]] [[NeckSnap a broken neck]] and meets his end [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves exactly as he deserved.]]

* SeasonalRot: In the final season after Dan Blocker's death, which featured only Lorne Greene and Michael Landon out of the original cast. Not all of the stories were bad, per se (the two-part opener even is recognized as one of the best specials to ever air on television by ''TVGuide''), the main complaint was that Hoss was one of the most [[GentleGiant beloved]] characters of the bunch, and his death put out the spark that fueled the series up until now because it felt ''much'' colder and lonelier without him, and none of the new additions could ever fill that void.

** Griff, on the other hand, was disliked for being a ReplacementGoldfish for Hoss, and in his second episode, he made enemies out of the entire Ponderosa ranch because he was so volatile after spending a long time in a corrupt prison. He never really outgrew his abrasiveness because the show didn't last long enough to portray him growing out of it.

* ReplacementScrappy: The fourth Cartwright son, Jamie, who was adopted some time after Adam's departure. He wasn't all that liked due to being a KidAppealCharacter, but he eventually got more respectable as he matured.

* SeasonalRot: In the final season after Dan Blocker's death, which featured only Lorne Greene and Michael Landon out of the original cast. Not all of the stories were bad, per se (the two-part opener even is recognized as one of the best specials to ever air on television by ''TVGuide''), the main complaint was that Hoss was one of the most [[GentleGiant beloved]] characters of the bunch, and his death put out the spark that fueled the series up until now because it felt cold and lonelier without him.

* SeasonalRot: In the final season after Dan Blocker's death, which featured only Lorne Greene and Michael Landon out of the original cast. Not all of the stories were bad, per se (the two-part opener even is recognized as one of the best specials to ever air on television by ''TVGuide''), the main complaint was that the show didn't have enough spark to keep it lively anymore because Hoss was one of the most beloved characters of the bunch.

* ReplacementScrappy: The fourth Cartwright son, Jamie, who was adopted some time after Adam's departure.
* SeasonalRot: In the final season after Dan Blocker's death which featured only Lorne Greene and Michael Landon out of the original cast.

** I don't know how much of this is really YMMV- even ''the actors'' said this later on.

* SeasonalRot: In the final season after Dan Blocker's death which featured only Lorne Greene and Michael Landon out of the original cast.

** It was insanely popular in the US as well. It was in the top 10 for almost a decade and the number one show ''three years in a row''.
* SpecialEffectsFailure: There's an episode where some bandits use dynamite to blow open the safe at the bank. It looks like they just stuck a sparkler on it and rigged the door to fall down.

* FranchiseZombie: In the final season after Dan Blocker's death which featured only Lorne Greene and Michael Landon out of the original cast.

* CompleteMonster: Peter Kane (Lee Marvin) in "The Crucible".

* CompleteMonster: Peter Kane(Lee Marvin) in "The Crucible".

* CompleteMonster: Kane(Lee Marvin) in "The Crucible".

* SpecialEffectsFailure: There's an episodes where some bandits use dynamite to blow open the safe at the bank. It looks like they just stuck a sparkler on it and rigged the door to fall down.

** Technically, Jamie was the ReplacementScrappy for Candy, because it was Candy who was the SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute and ReplacementScrappy (at least in this troper's opinion, YourMileageMayVary ) for Adam.

** Technically, Jamie was the ReplacementScrappy for Candy, because it was Candy who was the JonasQuinn and ReplacementScrappy (at least in this troper's opinion, YourMileageMayVary ) for Adam.