Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...

'' is an American western television series developed and produced by

David Dortort David Dortort (born David Solomon Katz; October 23, 1916 – September 5, 2010) was a Hollywood screenwriter and producer, widely known for his role as producer in two successful NBC television series: ''Bonanza'' (1959–73) and ''The High Chap ...

and broadcast in the United States for 14 seasons on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

network. The entire run of the series' 431 hour-long episodes was produced in

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

. The premiere was on September 12, 1959, and the final episode broadcast on January 16, 1973. In its initial season, ''Bonanza'' aired on Saturday evenings and placed at number 45 in the

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

. During its second season, the series moved up to number 17. ''Bonanza'' was moved to Sundays at 9:00 PM Eastern Time at the start of its third season. In that time slot, the ratings soared and the series become second only to ''

Wagon Train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings. It ...

'' as the most popular program on American

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

television. It remained in the top ten of the ratings until its twelfth season and ranked at number one in its sixth, seventh, and eighth seasons. ''Bonanza'' also became a worldwide success as it was broadcast in nearly 50 countries, including Canada, Brazil, Yugoslavia, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Australia, and Japan. ''Bonanza'' is set around the

Ponderosa Ranch The Ponderosa Ranch was a theme park based on the television western '' Bonanza'', which housed the land, timber and livestock-rich Cartwright family. The amusement park operated in Incline Village, Nevada, near Lake Tahoe, from 1968 until 2004. P ...

near

Virginia City, Nevada Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City developed as a boom ...

and chronicles the weekly adventures of the Cartwright family, consisting of Ben Cartwright (

Lorne Greene Lorne Hyman Greene (born Lyon Himan Green; 12 February 1915 – 11 September 1987) was a Canadian actor, musician, singer and radio personality. His notable television roles include Ben Cartwright on the Western ''Bonanza'' and Commander Ad ...

) and his three sons (each by a different wife),

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

(

Pernell Roberts Pernell Elven Roberts Jr. (May 18, 1928 – January 24, 2010) was an American stage, film, and television actor, activist, and singer. In addition to guest-starring in over 60 television series, he was best known for his roles as Ben Cartw ...

), Eric "Hoss" (

Dan Blocker Bobby Dan Davis Blocker (December 10, 1928 – May 13, 1972) was an American television actor and Korean War veteran, who played Hoss Cartwright in the long-running NBC Western television series ''Bonanza''. Biography Early life Blocker was born ...

), and

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

(

Michael Landon Michael Landon (born Eugene Maurice Orowitz; October 31, 1936 – July 1, 1991) was an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in ''Bonanza'' (1959–1973), Charles Ingalls in ''Little House on the Pr ...

). Veteran actor

Victor Sen Yung Sen Yung, later known professionally as Victor Sen Young (born Sen Yew Cheung; October 18, 1914 – c. November 9, 1980); one source lists his given name as Victor Cheung Young with the birth year 1915)) was an American character actor, best kn ...

played the ranch cook, Hop Sing. In 1964, Pernell Roberts began expressing a desire to leave the series, and so prospective replacements were introduced via Barry Coe as Little Joe's wayward maternal half-brother Clay, and Guy Williams as Ben's nephew Will Cartwright. However, Roberts was persuaded to complete his contract, and remained through season six. The characters of Clay and Will were discontinued. In the ninth season,

David Canary David Hoyt Canary (August 25, 1938 – November 16, 2015) was an American actor. Canary is best known for his role as ranch foreman Candy Canaday in the NBC Western drama ''Bonanza'', and as Adam Chandler in the television soap opera ''All My Ch ...

was added to the cast as ranch hand/foreman Candy Canady. After four years with the series, Canary left due to a contract dispute. In the twelfth season,

Mitch Vogel Mitchel L Vogel (born January 17, 1956) is an American former child actor, musician and director. As of 2021, he is one of two surviving main cast members from ''Bonanza'', next to Tim Matheson. Having begun his professional acting career at a ...

joined the cast as Jamie Hunter, a teenage orphan who is adopted by Ben Cartwright. Following Dan Blocker's death in May 1972 after season thirteen ended, Greene, Landon, and Vogel continued the series into a fourteenth season, with Canary returning as Candy (reportedly approached by Landon) and

Tim Matheson Tim Matheson (born Timothy Lewis Matthieson; December 31, 1947) is an American actor and director. Some of his best-known acting roles include the title character of the 1960s animated ''Jonny Quest'' TV series, Eric "Otter" Stratton in the 197 ...

was introduced as ex-prisoner and newly hired ranch-hand Griff King. The program was moved to Tuesday nights where it slipped badly in the ratings to number 52 and was subsequently cancelled. ''Bonanza'' has, however, continued to be popular in syndication. From 1964–1967, " Bonanza " became the most watched show in the U.S. The first eleven seasons have been released on DVD in Region 1.

Series overview

Episodes

Season 1 (1959–60)

Season 2 (1960–61)

Season 3 (1961–62)

Season 4 (1962–63)

Season 5 (1963–64)

Season 6 (1964–65)

Season 7 (1965–66)

Season 8 (1966–67)

Season 9 (1967–68)

Season 10 (1968–69)

Season 11 (1969–70)

Season 12 (1970–71)

Season 13 (1971–72)

Season 14 (1972–73)

TV movies

TV movies and prequel series

In 1988, NBC revived ''Bonanza'' with the television film '' Bonanza: The Next Generation''.

, who was to have reprised his role as Ben Cartwright, died before production began, and was replaced by

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...

as Ben's brother, Aaron Cartwright. Michael Landon Jr. played the role of Little Joe's son, Benjamin Cartwright. Landon Jr. again played Benjamin Cartwright in a second television film '' Bonanza: The Return''.

Dirk Blocker Dennis Dirk Blocker (born July 31, 1957) is an American actor. He earned his first regular TV role on '' Baa Baa Black Sheep'' (1976–1978), playing pilot Jerry Bragg. From 2013–2021, he starred as Detective Michael Hitchcock on the Fox/NBC c ...

, the son of

, played a supporting role in this film which, in its original broadcast on November 28, 1993, was preceded by ''Back to Bonanza'', a one-hour special devoted to the original series. A third TV movie, '' Bonanza: Under Attack'', aired January 15, 1995. Landon Jr. also starred in this film. In 2001–2002, a "prequel" series, '' Ponderosa'', aired on the

PAX-TV Ion Television is an American broadcast television network owned by the Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented enter ...

network. Set 10 years prior to the first season, it starred

Daniel Hugh Kelly Daniel Hugh Kelly (born August 10, 1952) is an American stage, film and television actor. He is best known for his role on the 1980s ABC TV series ''Hardcastle and McCormick'' (1983–86) as the ex-con Mark "Skid" McCormick, co-starring with act ...

as Ben Cartwright, Matt Carmody as Adam, Drew Powell as Hoss, and

Jared Daperis Jared Daperis (born 18 August 1991) is an Australian film director. He has received a Young Artist Award nomination and Berlin Commercial Award Nominations. Early life Daperis was born in Melbourne in 1991, the middle child of three. His fat ...

as Little Joe.

References

Footnotes Bibliography

External links

*
Bonanza World

''Bonanza'' on TVLand.com

''Bonanza'' at EpisodeWorld.com

Bonanza: Scenery of The Ponderosa

Season 1 DVD review and production history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonanza Lists of American action television series episodes Lists of American Western (genre) television series episodes Bonanza