Bonanza TV Series 1959-1973

According to David Dortort, sponsor General Motors was anxious about the episode. As producer, Dortort ensured that the episode re-aired during the summer rerun seasons, though two TV stations in the South refused to air it. In 1968, a slightly revamped horn Bonanza City and percussion-heavy arrangement of the original score introduced the series, which was used until 1970. Finally, a faster rendition of the original music returned for the 14th and final season, along with action shots of the cast (sans Dan Blocker, who had died by this point).

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• For nearly 14 seasons and 431 episodes, “Bonanza” was more than just a cowboy show; it became a cultural juggernaut that changed the TV landscape forever.

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• Only instrumental renditions, without Ray Evans’s lyrics, were used during the series’s long run.

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• As producer, Dortort ensured that the episode re-aired during the summer rerun seasons, though two TV stations in the South refused to air it.

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• All episodes have been digitally remastered from original 35 mm film elements to yield the best picture and sound quality possible with current technology.
• Finally, a faster rendition of the original music returned for the 14th and final season, along with action shots of the cast (sans Dan Blocker, who had died by this point).

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• Bonanza is an NBC-produced television series that ran on the NBC network from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973.

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Bonanza “the official first season” was released in Scandinavia during 2010. Bigotry, including antisemitism, was the subject of the episode “Look to the Stars”. A coda to the episode reveals that Michelson went on to win the Nobel Prize for Physics.
Starting in September 2009, CBS Home Entertainment (distributed by Paramount) has to date released the first eleven seasons on DVD in Region 1. All episodes have been digitally remastered from original 35 mm film elements to yield the best picture and sound quality possible with current technology. At the beginning of the episode, Adam is shown to be outraged at the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott v. Sandford decision (placing the time as 1857), which he discusses with his father.

Recurring characters

• Bonanza “the official first season” was released in Scandinavia during 2010.

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• In 1968, a slightly revamped horn and percussion-heavy arrangement of the original score introduced the series, which was used until 1970.

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• Before the pilot aired (on September 12, 1959), the song sequence, deemed too campy, was edited out of the scene and instead the Cartwrights headed back to the ranch whooping and howling.

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• The Hop Sing character is depicted not only as a cook but also a family counselor and herbal healer.

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• According to David Dortort, sponsor General Motors was anxious about the episode.

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• He joined the ranks of his fellow co-stars Roberts and Greene, both of whom had begun the series with hairpieces.

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The opening scene for the first season was shot at Lake Hemet, a reservoir in the San Jacinto Mountains, Riverside County, California, and later moved to Lake Tahoe. During the first season extra horses were rented from the Idyllwild Stables in Idyllwild, also in the San Jacinto Mountains. The first Virginia City set was used on the show until 1970 and was located on a backlot at Paramount and featured in episodes of Have Gun – Will Travel, Mannix and The Brady Bunch.

The Cultural Phenomenon of Bonanza

Many fans, as well as both Landon and Greene, felt that the character of Hoss was essential, as he was a nurturing, empathetic soul who rounded out the all-male cast. Bonanza wasn’t just about cowboys and ranch life; it tackled social issues that were often deemed taboo. In one memorable episode, a character even questioned whether do illegal Immigrants get medicaid. This penchant for storytelling created discussions that resonated with audiences far beyond the frontier, showcasing its importance in television history.

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• However, the unexpected death of Blocker in 1972 left a bigger hole, and Bonanza ended one season later.

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• He returned two seasons later after co-star Dan Blocker’s death, reportedly having been approached by Landon.
• Griff, in prison for nearly killing his abusive stepfather, was paroled into Ben’s custody and given a job as a ranch hand.
• During season five Adam falls for a widow with a young daughter, while making Will Cartwright a central figure.

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• The opening scene for the first season was shot at Lake Hemet, a reservoir in the San Jacinto Mountains, Riverside County, California, and later moved to Lake Tahoe.

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• Early in the show’s history, Ben recalls each of his late wives in flashback episodes.

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Streaming details for Bonanza on Best Westerns Ever Amazon Channel

The show set the bar for character development and explored themes that resonate to this day. His first wife was Abel’s daughter Elizabeth, and they had one son, Adam. After his wife’s death, he and his son traveled to Illinois, where he married his second wife, Inger Borgstrom, and continued west.

Pernell Roberts – Adam Cartwright

Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time. The family lived on a thousand-square-mile (2,600 km2) ranch called the Ponderosa on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe in Nevada opposite California on the edge of the Sierra Nevada range. The vast size of the Cartwrights’ land was quietly revised to “half a million acres” (2,000 km2) in Lorne Greene’s 1964 song, “Saga of the Ponderosa”.
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Episodes

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The show is set in the 1860s and centers on the wealthy Cartwright family, who live in the vicinity of Virginia City, Nevada, bordering Lake Tahoe. The series initially starred Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker and Michael Landon and later featured (at various times) Guy Williams, David Canary, Mitch Vogel and Tim Matheson. However, Roberts was persuaded to complete his contract, and remained through season six. In the ninth season, David Canary was added to the cast as ranch hand/foreman Candy Canady. After four years with the series, Canary left due to a contract dispute.
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In the episode “First Born” (1962), viewers learn of Little Joe’s older, maternal half-brother Clay Stafford. The character departed in that same episode, but left an opportunity for a return if needed. In the 1963 flashback episode “Marie, My Love”, his father was Jean De’Marigny. Little Joe had a son named Benjamin ‘Benj’ Cartwright who was played by Landon’s real-life son and seen in all three Bonanza TV movies. Little Joe appears in all but fourteen Bonanza episodes, a total of 416 episodes.