These are the facts about the DVDs so far.
1)There are 31 public domain episodes. These are episodes #19 “The Gunmen” thru to #49 “The Spitfire” when these episodes were recorded the copyrights somehow ran out and were never renewed. These made them public domain and you can find them on several DVDs by all kinds of different companies.
2)In 2003 there was a box set released called “The Best of Bonanza” which had episodes that were not public domain such as “Bullet for a Bride” and “The Crucible”.
The primary reasons behind them not issuing a season block collection is…
1) The size of the series. There were 14 seasons/430 episodes which made Bonanza one of the longest running shows in history. Many of these episodes are not even shown anymore and all are in desperate need of being digitally remastered and cleaned. With a show this size it’s a had thing to accomplish when most shows are an average of 6–8 seasons long.
2) The actors estates. 3 of the leading cast members are no longer with us and one of them (Michael Landon) wrote and directed many Bonanza episodes which changes how the royalties are fashioned for those episodes. The royalties are another big issue to make sure all the money goes to the right estates in the correct amounts.
3) The public domain episodes. With most of the 1st and 2nd seasons out on DVD already because of that botched copyright. Starting the show in season block sets does not appeal to the company because they believe people won’t start buying the sets till the 3rd season.
4) They’ll lose money in syndication. The channels that are currently airing Bonanza are worried that if the show is released that no one will watch it on TV anymore. This is a stupid reason in my opinion as I know these box sets will most likely run $80 at least, and because of that fact only the die hard fans would buy them and even then if they could afford it. Ratings may drop a little but I highly doubt it’d make a resounding effect.
I hope this helps answer your question. Sorry if it’s a bit lengthy but I wanted to give you detailed explanations as to why. Many fans have waited and waited for these collections and we are all getting frustrated. According to Bonanza Gold Magazine there will be a release sometime soon but as to when is anybody’s guess. Trust me when I say that when and if Bonanza is ever released my staff and I at Bonanza Brand (our website) will be the first to know. In the meantime you may want to consider looking up the German collections. They are complete seasons and even though the menus and boxes are written in German you can watch the series as it was shown in English uncut and digitally remastered in sound and picture. They are very nice sets if a little pricey.