...better after Adam left?

I've been reading the comments section of an episode on YT and more than a few people have said they liked Bonanza more after season 6.

Right now I don't even like episodes much where one of the Cartwrights is absent, even though they are all still on the show, I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about watching that opening and seeing only 3 Cartwrights ride up, and knowing Adam isn't away, he's gone.

I said no. I think Adam just gave the show a dramatic edge that wasn't available after he was gone.

By season 6 I'm noticing that each character can be a little bit of everything. If the writing or stories get "better" after season 6, I'd like to see that, but I think that for me, so far the first 4 seasons are the best.

To Me It’s Sometimes

I recall as a child being very disappointed with his departure. Felt like a favorite neighbor moved away.

My mom was definitely less bothered, and explained that he "got too big for his britches" (she was having to explain to an 8 year old)

Anyway, the remainder of the series seemed like "Bonanza Lite" to me because of his absence. Then a strange thing happened, I started watching some of his later works after I had matured a little bit....and there seemed to be a tad of arrogance in the way he carries himself. A little too cocksure I think you might call it.

It gave me an appreciation for the post-Adam years of Bonanza that were not there, before.

I haven't seen enough of Pernell in other roles to say he seems arrogant, but I've read quotes and interviews he's given, and he does often seem full of himself.

I don't know anything that he did after Bonanza that was as successful as Bonanza. I know he did Trapper John, M.D. and he had success with that show, but is that a better show than Bonanza? Maybe. I don't know.

The channel that airs Bonanza is near the end of season 6, and Pernell doesn't look like he cares to be there. I'm ready to see a season without Adam. The channel schedule looks like it's skipping all of season 7 and going right to season 8. I hope that's a mistake.

The channel airing Bonanza is not airing the full series, they are airing what I have found out is the "syndication" airing, where they skip many episodes. Right now there about 40 episodes left to air.

Candy has just been introduced, and I'm okay with Bonanza beyond the Adam years. A couple of the recent episodes are so beautifully filmed, so grand, so dramatic, visually spectacular. In that sense Bonanza did get better once Adam was gone. Maybe that is what people were talking about.

The closeness between the Cartwrights remains the same, even with Adam gone. It's still good.

The season after Adam left was quite often not too good. It did improve when Candy appeared. But my favorite seasons are still the early ones.