Bonanza (TV Series) Frenzy (1972) User Reviews

Cultural and emotional issues

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 24 February 2021]

The Cartwrights have gone in for tenant farming and in this case a small piece of the Ponderosa has been rented to Michael Pataki and Kathleen Widdoes and their small son Jason Karpf.

Pataki is suffering from emotional and cultural issues and isn't adapting well to America. He's also a wife beater. Widdoes appeals to their landlord Lorne Greene for help.

Sadly this is the darkside of America's immigration saga. Many had trouble adapting here from their former countries.

Good performances from Pataki and Widdoes.

The Twilight Time

[jamesoermann · 7/10 · 22 May 2024]

Frenzy came at the twilight of Bonanza, when the original sense and sensibility of the franchise was long gone. The episodes of the 1970's were honestly poorly put together, and completely different from the original decade. Once Pernell Roberts left, things were passible for a while, but as Lorne Greene got older, and the silly redheaded kid was adopted, and Candy added, the Show became something different.

While based in the wild west, most of the shows were really sort of soap operas or serials. While again some of the early ones, especially with Roberts did have a western feel and themes, such as outlaws, stage coaches, seedy taverns, gun slinging, etc. The recurring themes of love, slap stick humour and many episodes dealing the racial bigotry, inclusivity, and civil rights.

This is a rarely aired episode, but I was fascinated to see it. Cheaply and hastily put together along the themes of grandfather Ben giving advice as many of the late episodes were, the story arch does not flow well, and the viewer, at least me felt lost. Along with Italians, Greeks, Gypsies, Swedes, and Native Americans, now Serbs were added to the ranks of people interacting with the Cartwrights and being shown to be misunderstood and abused. Saviour grandfather Ben again helped them, or at least brought a certain clarity to the tragic end of mental illness.

The topic of mental illness is important, but the episode simply presents ideas poorly with out anything to hold the attention, or add to the filmmakers' craft.

How much dumber can it get?

[Thomas001 · 2/10 · 26 January 2018]

This is a story about dysfunctional family from Serbia. Why from Serbia? Because eastern Europe is the only region that can still be portrayed as primitive and uncivilized by the PC culture. Even their family name is .... what else .... Kosovos! Alright, so the show presents various disconnected scenes and dialogs. This is supposedly about a family escaping hunger. Now in this country, they live in a primitive one room shack, and the shack is burning. In another scene, the same shack has a large stone fireplace and a two keyboard theater organ next to it. In yet another scene, that same theater organ was in a different space, but still in that same one room cabin where the same hungry Serbians lived. I am using these examples just to illustrate the silliness. This episode is not worth watching, but how can one know beforehand?

watching, but how does one know beforehand?