Bonanza The Wagon (1959–1973) Online

A prison wagon being driven to the Nevada State prison finds an unconscious Hoss Cartwright on the ground. He got that way after being grazed by a bullet fired by someone who escaped from said wagon earlier. The man in charge is Denver Pyle who has been charged with delivering three prisoners and he will deliver them one way or another. One of the other prisoners is a woman Salome Jens.

This was an interesting story from the point of view of that this sounds an awful lot like the privately run prisons so recently and deservedly attacked. Interesting how this Bonanza episode has so recently assumed a relevance.

It is a reworking of a previously broadcast Big Valley story. But I liked this one because it's so relevant for today.

Ken Pettus wrote this. He also wrote "Four Days to Furnace Hill" for The Big Valley in 1967. Same story, different actors. By 1970 the western writers must have been pretty desperate for new material. Even reworked this story is as bad as it was the first time. Denver Pyle should have turned this down. Pretty sure I've seen this plot reworked in other westerns. A decent writer usually, Pettus did a variety of television until 1985. Of course, we have seen many Bonanza episodes reworked for Little House on the Prairie. I only name this a spoiler if you've seen the Big Valley episode. Like always, the good guys win and the bad guys lose.

I always dislike when reviewers refer to actors' names instead of the character names. It's like they are buddies on first name bases. This show received two reviews of that style. Current political bias in one review was actually quite annoying. The show itself was a good one, admittedly on a weak foundation, but they worked it out. Yes, the good guys won in the end, and I was glad. Good entertainment.