how come; on most of the streaming sites that show it-they only show the first 2 seasons?
also, some channels (like Z Living) don't show it with the original theme. Why not?

Probably the copyright wasn't renewed for those seasons- that way they can get the episodes a lot cheaper. As for the missing theme song, the copyright on the theme song probably was renewed.

Probably the copyright wasn't renewed for those seasons- that way they can get the episodes a lot cheaper. As for the missing theme song, the copyright on the theme song probably was renewed.

That's basically it, according to the site qa.answers.com 31 episodes of Bonanza are in public domain (copyright was not renewed). You have a copy of it, you're free to show it. Now that said, the copyright for theme song is a different matter, since other episodes with the same theme music were renewed the theme music portion of every episode using that same theme music is considered renewed. So to show the public domain episodes the copyrighted theme music must be removed.

ok, thanx