No flash. Just dash.

“It’s them! Outta the way. He needs me!” (Rob Bogaerts/Anefo Dutch Nat. Archives/Commons.wikimedia.org)

No special effects. The primitive backdrops rather flat. No choreography, yet they were a hit with a few high notes.

Who was the first Boy Band, the one that set the formula for all the rest?

Hold the microphone – it sure looks like the western TV show Bonanza set the pattern. 

• There was a reserved, “tall, dark and handsome” one: Adam. The oldest, he was philosophical, the thoughtful, the smart one.
•  Hoss/Eric, the athletic middle boy, filled the role of big, lovable, strong, yet, kind, if not the sharpest tool in the shed..
• Then there was the hot-headed, bad boy: Little Joe, the youngest: a dreamy, romantic (and many said, the cutest).
• Riding herd over them through time and scripted drama, was band of boys manager, sensible Ben Cartwright

The show must go on- even if one of the guys decides to leave for greener pastures or a solo career. Bonanza’s band of brothers showed how it was done.

• Nephew Will Cartwright (Rode in as a substitute during the time “Adam” left then returned)
• Little Joe’s maternal older half-brother, Clay, took the stage for a bit.
• Another one filling a blank spot was a certified “bad boy” Griff King, a parolee who tries to reform his life under Ben’s guidance (Female fans wistfully dreamed of reforming the troubled one.)

Wardrobe note: Uniform costume within genre, yet each demonstrates their own designated personality. (Their General store must have had quite a selection considering the different hats.. That clothing must have been made from that couch fabric that repels dirt and water. They always look so clean for ranch hands.)(USPD/Commons.wikimedia.org)

Naturally drama among group members hooks fans, then and now. Backstories and personal conflicts are a must.

• When Adam returned after going AWOL from the series, he found that his fiancée had fallen in love with Will and those two packed up her daughter, left by stage left and was never seen again. Nothing like being left at the altar for a sad song.
• There’s Little Joe’s paternity. His French Creole mother, Marie, was previously married to husband, “Big Joe” Collins / Jean De’Marigny (depending on the episode) who died saving Ben Cartwright. Of course Ben comforted her in her grief and they married.
• Three brothers. Three mothers. Step children always adds tension and angst. Ah, the struggle for favoritism.

Naturally, as with any boy group, they age. No problem! Nothing like a boy band reunion as adults – sometimes with families in tow. They did that, too.

• Adam supposedly immigrated to Australia and had a son, Adam ‘A.C.’ Cartwright, Jr, who almost showed up in a return visit episode.
• Fan hearts were broken when a script sent Little Joe to war. (But a son, Benjamin ‘Benj’ Cartwright, actually showed up later in a couple of Bonanza movies.)

All riding the same, but all riding very different horses. Setting the band width pattern. (USPD./Commons.wikimedia.org)

Boy bands today always claim they are not pop and fluff – that they do offer serious cultural messages. So did the Bonanza bunch.

Only their basic formula, “caring for one another and fighting for just causes”,  was all done on weekly TV episodes rather than on Twitter and social media.

• The Bonanza boys focused on relationships and working through troubles and conflicts – except not done with music, in song, or with choreographed dance steps. (Just as well, the image of Hoss whirling like one of Disney’s hippos in the old Fantasia…) 
• The modern boy bands may brag they to promote social justice on a much bigger internet stage, but the Bonanza bunch included on the small flickering screens scripts about the environment, substance abuse, domestic violence, anti-war sentiment, illegitimate births, bigotry against Asians, African Americans, Native Americans, Jewish people, Mormons, the disabled  (List of the corresponding episodes here.). Surprising accepting differences and diversity stuff.

Flash back boys.

Phil, the Philosopher Mouse of the Hedge.

Vintage Bonanza episodes on several YouTube channels (see one here) or on Amazon Prime.

Apparently they did try to choreograph a dance number in 1962. She looks a little worried.(USPD/Commons.wikimedia.org)

 

 

 

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