70 Fun Facts About Bonanza

Bonanza, the Western about the Cartwright family, ran from 1959 to 1973 on which US network?

NBC aired Bonanza for all 14 seasons, from September 1959 to January 1973, making it the network's longest-running Western.

What is the name of the Cartwright family ranch?

The Ponderosa takes its name from the ponderosa pine, the tall yellow pine common across the mountain West and the Sierra Nevada.

Who played patriarch Ben Cartwright?

Lorne Greene played Ben Cartwright for all 14 seasons; he was 44 when the series began, only 13 years older than Pernell Roberts, who played his eldest son.

Which real Nevada town was the closest to the Cartwright ranch?

Virginia City, the real Nevada boomtown, was the Cartwrights' nearest town; they rode in to see the sheriff, and the show's original town set was modeled on it.

The Cartwrights' thousand-square-mile ranch in Bonanza sat on the eastern shore of which body of water?

Lake Tahoe is the body of water; the fictional ranch covered the Nevada side east of the lake, and the opening map burns away to reveal the Cartwrights riding out of its pines.

What was Hoss Cartwright's real first name?

Eric was his given name on the show; the nickname was explained as an old-country term for a big, friendly man, which suited Dan Blocker's 6-foot-4 frame.

How many sons did Ben Cartwright have when Bonanza began in 1959?

Three sons rode with Ben at the start, each by a different wife; he had been widowed three times before the series began.

Which Cartwright son was the architect who built the ranch house?

Adam was written as a university-educated architectural engineer, unlike his brothers.

Who played the family's cook, Hop Sing?

Victor Sen Yung played Hop Sing; he was already familiar to film audiences as Jimmy Chan, the number two son in the Charlie Chan movies.

Where was Bonanza's title term borrowed from?

Miners' slang for a rich vein of silver ore gave the show its title, a nod to the 1859 Comstock Lode strike beneath the Cartwrights' nearest town.

How many episodes of Bonanza were made?

Bonanza made 431 episodes across 14 seasons between 1959 and 1973, second only to one other network Western in longevity.

Which Western is the only one that ran longer than Bonanza on American network TV?

Gunsmoke ran on CBS for 20 seasons.

Which set of ancestries was given to the mothers of Ben Cartwright's sons?

English, Swedish and French Creole: Elizabeth Stoddard of New England, Inger Borgstrom from Sweden and Marie from New Orleans, each profiled in a flashback episode.

Why did NBC keep Bonanza despite its weak ratings in the early seasons?

It was filmed in color and helped RCA sell color TV sets; RCA, the network's parent, was also the show's primary sponsor for the first two seasons.

Which sponsor took over when Bonanza moved to Sunday nights for its third season?

Chevrolet became the sponsor when Bonanza moved to Sunday at 9 pm in 1961; the Cartwrights appeared in Chevrolet commercials, and the Sunday slot sent the ratings soaring.

Between which years was Bonanza the number one show in the Nielsen ratings?

From 1964 to 1967 Bonanza was television's top-rated show every season, part of a nine-season run in the Nielsen top five.

Which sitcom was Bonanza scheduled against in the fall of 1972, hastening its cancellation?

Maude, the new CBS hit, was Bonanza's Tuesday-night opponent in fall 1972; the move from Sunday plus the loss of Dan Blocker sent ratings plunging and the network cancelled it in January 1973.

What was the name of Ben Cartwright's horse on Bonanza?

Buck was Ben Cartwright's buckskin; his sons' mounts were Chub, the pinto Cochise and Sport.

Who wrote Bonanza's famous theme song?

Jay Livingston and Ray Evans wrote the theme; the pair also wrote 'Que Sera, Sera' and 'Mona Lisa', and David Rose scored the series and arranged their theme for television.

What happened to the scene of the Cartwrights singing the theme song at the end of the pilot?

It was cut before broadcast as too campy; the footage of the four Cartwrights singing the lyrics as they rode off survived and resurfaced decades later on home video.

Whose orchestra took an instrumental Bonanza theme to No. 19 on the Hot 100 in 1961?

Al Caiola's guitar-led orchestra took an instrumental 'Bonanza' to No. 19 on the Hot 100 in 1961, the same year his 'The Magnificent Seven' theme also charted.

Which country star recorded a version of the Bonanza theme with rewritten lyrics for a 1962 single?

Johnny Cash recorded 'Bonanza!' in 1962 with words he co-wrote with Johnny Western; the series never used his version.

Ben Cartwright's actor had a 1964 spoken-word number one about which real Old West outlaw?

Johnny Ringo, the Arizona gunman, was the subject of 'Ringo', the 1964 spoken-word ballad by Ben Cartwright's actor that topped the Billboard Hot 100 that December.

In which country was Ben Cartwright's actor born?

Canada: he was born in Ottawa in 1915, and as a CBC radio newsreader during the war his grim delivery earned him the nickname 'The Voice of Doom'.

Ben Cartwright's actor later played which role in the original Battlestar Galactica?

Commander Adama, leader of the fugitive fleet in the 1978 Battlestar Galactica, gave the actor a second famous patriarch role, which he reprised in Galactica 1980.

Which sport did Dan Blocker star in at Sul Ross State in Texas?

Football: Dan Blocker played on the Sul Ross State line before graduating in 1950 with a degree in speech and drama, and he taught school before acting.

In which war did Dan Blocker serve as an infantry sergeant, earning a Purple Heart?

Korean War: Dan Blocker served as an infantry sergeant with the 45th Infantry Division from December 1951 to August 1952 and was awarded a Purple Heart.

Which restaurant chain did Dan Blocker part-own and promote in character as Hoss?

Bonanza Steakhouse, founded in 1963, gave Dan Blocker a stake in return for promoting it in character; the chain later came under the same owner as a rival named for the Cartwright ranch.

What caused Dan Blocker's death in May 1972?

A pulmonary embolism after gallbladder surgery killed Dan Blocker at 43; Robert Altman had just cast him in The Long Goodbye and dedicated the film to him.

Who was Little Joe's bride, murdered soon after the wedding, in the 1972 episode 'Forever'?

Alice Harper, played by Bonnie Bedelia, marries Joe in 'Forever' and is killed by her brother's gambling creditors, sending Joe on a revenge hunt.

Little Joe's actor was born under what name?

Eugene Maurice Orowitz was the birth name of Little Joe's actor; his 1954 javelin throw was the longest by any US high schooler that year and won him a USC scholarship.

Which 1957 horror film made Little Joe's actor a teen sensation before Bonanza?

I Was a Teenage Werewolf, released in 1957 by American International Pictures, made him a teen sensation two years before Bonanza premiered.

How old was the actor playing Little Joe when Bonanza began in 1959?

He was 22, born October 31, 1936; the youngest Cartwright drew the most fan mail and used that leverage to write and direct episodes.

Which series did the actor playing Joe Cartwright star in the year after Bonanza was cancelled?

Little House on the Prairie premiered in 1974, with Little Joe's actor as Charles Ingalls opposite nine-year-old Melissa Gilbert in the pilot.

Little Joe's 1972 two-hour wedding episode was originally written with which character as the groom?

Hoss was the intended groom; Little Joe's actor rewrote his own 'Forever' script after Dan Blocker died in May 1972, giving the wedding to Joe instead.

Pernell Roberts left Bonanza at the end of which TV season?

The 1964-65 season, the sixth, was his last; he fulfilled his six-year contract but refused to extend it, unhappy with the scripts and his character's deference to his father.

Which later series gave Pernell Roberts its title role as a chief surgeon?

Trapper John, M.D. starred him as chief of surgery John McIntyre from 1979 to 1986; he was the last surviving original Cartwright when he died in 2010.

How was Adam's absence explained after Roberts left the show?

He had 'moved away' was all the show offered at first; later episodes variously put him at sea, in Europe or on the East Coast.

Which former TV Zorro was added in 1964 as Ben's nephew Will Cartwright?

Guy Williams, Disney's TV Zorro, played Will Cartwright in five 1964 episodes; slated as a permanent lead, he was written out when Roberts agreed to stay another year.

What was the name of the ranch foreman played by David Canary from 1967?

Candy Canaday was David Canary's ranch foreman; producer David Dortort cast him after seeing him in the 1967 Paul Newman Western Hombre.

David Canary later won five Daytime Emmys for playing Adam Chandler on which soap opera?

All My Children was the soap; Canary played both Adam Chandler and the character's meek twin Stuart from 1983 and left the show in 2010.

Red-haired orphan Jamie Hunter, adopted by Ben in the final seasons, was played by which child actor?

Mitch Vogel played Jamie; he had earned a Golden Globe nomination for The Reivers before joining the cast at 14 in 1970.

Which future Animal House star played parolee Griff King in Bonanza's final season?

Tim Matheson, five years before Animal House, played Griff King, a parolee placed in Ben's custody to attract younger viewers before the series was cancelled in January 1973.

Who played Sheriff Roy Coffee?

Ray Teal played Sheriff Roy Coffee in 98 episodes; he had played lawmen on screen for decades, including the sheriff in Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole.

The actor who played Deputy Clem Foster was the father of which Hollywood star?

Kurt Russell is the son of Bing Russell, who played Deputy Clem; Bing later played Vernon Presley opposite Kurt's Elvis in the 1979 TV film.

In 1972 the actor who played Hop Sing was shot in the back during what incident?

The hijacking of a Pacific Southwest Airlines flight in July 1972 ended with an FBI assault in which he was shot in the back; he recovered and kept acting.

Hop Sing's actor, a skilled chef, published which book in 1974?

The Great Wok Cookbook, published in 1974, came from a genuine skill: Hop Sing's actor was an accomplished cook who gave Chinese cooking demonstrations.

Which studio backlot held Bonanza's original town set from 1959 to 1970?

Paramount's Western street housed the town set from 1959 until 1970, when production moved to the cheaper Burbank Studios lot.

How did the 1970 season-12 premiere allow the show to switch to a cheaper studio?

It echoed a real 1875 fire that destroyed three-quarters of Virginia City.

From the third season, why did the Cartwrights wear the same clothes in nearly every episode?

So stock footage and stunt doubles could be reused: identical outfits, like Little Joe's green jacket and Ben's tan coat, let editors splice in earlier riding footage.

Which original cast member was the only one who never wore a hairpiece on the series?

Michael Landon alone kept his own hair; Blocker began wearing a toupee in 1968 as he neared 40, and the other two original leads also wore hairpieces.

In which Nevada community was the Bonanza theme park located?

Incline Village, Nevada, held the theme park, which ran for more than thirty years with a replica of the Cartwright ranch house and a Western town for tourists.

How many Bonanza episodes were actually filmed at the Nevada theme park?

Shuttling cast and crew to Lake Tahoe every week proved too expensive, so most ranch scenes were shot on a Paramount sound stage.

Bonanza creator David Dortort also produced which other NBC Western that ran from 1967 to 1971?

The High Chaparral, set in Arizona Territory, ran from 1967 to 1971 on the same network; Dortort's attention shifted to it, leaving Bonanza largely to his associates in its last years.

What was the first of the three reunion TV movies, aired in 1988?

Bonanza: The Next Generation, a 1988 syndicated TV movie, introduced Ben's brother Aaron, played by John Ireland, running the ranch after Ben's death.

In the 1993 film Bonanza: The Return, Adam is revealed to have emigrated to which country?

His son A.C. visits the Ponderosa and explains that recurring malaria kept his elderly father from travelling.

Who played Ben Cartwright in the 2001 prequel series about the young Cartwrights?

Daniel Hugh Kelly, earlier of Hardcastle and McCormick, played a younger Ben Cartwright in the 2001 PAX prequel, which followed the family's first years in Nevada.

Which Star Trek actor played outlaw Frank James in the 1995 movie Bonanza: Under Attack?

Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek's Spock, played the outlaw Frank James in the 1995 TV movie Bonanza: Under Attack, the last of the reunion films.

Which future Nobel physicist appears as a bullied Jewish schoolboy in the episode 'Look to the Stars'?

Albert Michelson, who really did grow up in the Comstock boomtown before winning the 1907 Nobel Prize in Physics, is the schoolboy Ben helps toward the Naval Academy.

Where was Hoss born, according to the family backstory?

On a wagon train in Nebraska: he was born during the family's trek west, and his mother Inger was killed by an arrow at Ash Hollow soon afterward.

What did Ben Cartwright do for a living before heading west?

He was a seaman: Ben sailed under Captain Abel Stoddard and married the captain's daughter Elizabeth, who died soon after giving birth to their son.

Which company made the saddles the Bonanza cast rode?

The show's horses were rented from Idyllwild Stables during the first season.

Bonanza is set roughly from 1861 to 1867, a stretch that coincides with Nevada Territory becoming what?

Nevada joined the Union as a US state in that window, so the stories unfold during and just after the American Civil War.

Who played Little Joe's son Benji in the reunion TV movies?

Michael Landon Jr. played Benji, Little Joe's son, in the reunion films; he and Dirk Blocker also co-hosted the 1993 retrospective Back to Bonanza.

Which CBS legal drama did Bonanza face on Saturday nights in its first season?

Perry Mason, CBS's Saturday-night courtroom hit, usually beat Bonanza in its first season, until the 1961 move to Sundays sent the Western's ratings soaring.

In 'Enter Thomas Bowers', what is the profession of the freedman the Cartwrights defend?

Opera singer: Thomas Bowers, played by William Marshall, comes to town to perform and is jailed as a runaway slave before the Cartwrights clear him.

In which year was the Ponderosa Ranch tourist attraction in Nevada finally sold?

2004: software billionaire David Duffield bought the ranch attraction that year and closed it; the recreated ranch house had drawn visitors since opening in 1967.

Where did TV Guide rank Bonanza on its 2002 list of the 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time?

No. 43 was Bonanza's spot on TV Guide's 2002 list of the 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, one of the few Westerns to make the ranking.

At which California reservoir was the opening scene for the first season shot?

The reservoir sits in California's San Jacinto Mountains, where extra horses were also rented from stables in Idyllwild.

To which company did NBC sell the rights to Bonanza, along with its pre-1973 library, in 1973?

National Telefilm Associates bought Bonanza with the network's pre-1973 library in 1973; NTA renamed itself Republic Pictures in 1984 and later became part of Spelling Entertainment.