Bonanza is an American Western TV series that follows the wild west adventures of Ben Cartwright and his sons as they help their surrounding community while defending their Nevada ranch.
The show first premiered on September 12, 1959, and ran for fourteen years until 1973. It is NBC’s longest-running western show and the second longest Western show on television, only falling short to CBS’s Gunsmoke.
Bonanza remains to this day, one of the most popular Western series of all time. Thanks to stars like Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, and Lorne Greene, the classic Western was rated as one of TV’s top five shows for nine of its fourteen seasons.
The figure behind Bonanza’s early production was David Dortort, who’s credited as the series creator and writer of earlier episodes. However, over one hundred writers are credited with contributions to the show’s 430 episodes.
The show follows the adventures of the Nevada-based Cartwright family, headed by the widowed Ben Cartwright, played by Lorne Greene. He has three sons, each by a different wife.
The three sons each bring their own qualities to the show. The eldest, Adam Cartwright (Pernell Roberts), was the architect who built the family’s home on their two-thousand square mile ranch.
The two other sons, Eric Cartwright (Dan Blocker) and Little Joe (Michael Landon), make up the rest of the family, who all live together on their ranch called Ponderosa on the shore of Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
The main cast were not familiar stars in 1959, but as the seasons went on, they became some of the first favorite characters of the first television generation.
Lorne Green, Michael Landon, and Dan Blocker appeared in over 400 episodes during the show’s fourteen seasons. Pernell Roberts comes in fourth with 173 episodes.
In the fall of 1972, NBC moved Bonanza to Tuesday nights. The scheduling change, accompanied by Dan Blocker’s death in May 1972, led to the show being abruptly canceled in November of 1972.
The shop’s title comes from the Spanish word for prosperity. It refers to the 1859 revelation of the Comstock Lode of a rich silver ore mine found under Virginia City, which is not far from the fictional Ponderosa ranch.
Bonanza has been awarded multiple TV awards, such as TV Week’s Logie Award for the most popular overseas show in 1964. It was also inducted into OFTA TV’s Hall of Fame in 2011.
In 2013, TV Guide included Bonanza in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time.
Bonanza continues to be aired on TV today and is available for online streaming on many platforms. This classic series has claimed its place in history as one of the greatest Western dramas of all time.
