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Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, Bonanza is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on U.S. network television (behind CBS's Gunsmoke), and one of the longest-running, live-action American series.
- Western
Bonanza, American television series that ran on NBC from 1959 to 1973. Bonanza’s 14 seasons and 440 episodes made it the second-longest-running western in broadcast history, after Gunsmoke.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Bonanza: Created by David Dortort, Fred Hamilton. With Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Pernell Roberts. The Wild West adventures of Ben Cartwright and his sons as they run and defend their Nevada ranch while helping the surrounding community.
- (11K)
- 1959-09-12
- Western
- 49
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is an NBC-produced television series that ran on the NBC network from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series (behind Gunsmoke) and still continues to air in syndication, The show centers around the Cartwright family, who live in the area near Lake Tahoe, Nevada. The show stars Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon and David Canary.
The show's title "Bonanza" is a term used by miners in regard to a large vein or deposit of ore and commonly refers to the Comstock Lode. In 2002, Bonanza was ranked No. 43 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, and in 2013 TV Guide included it in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time. The time period for the television series is roughly between 1861 (Season 1) to 1867 (Season 13) during and shortly after the American Civil War.
During the summer of 1972, NBC aired reruns of episodes from the 1967–1970 period in prime time on Tuesday evening under the title Ponderosa. Bonanza was considered an atypical western for its time, as the core of the storylines dealt less about the range but more with Ben and his three dissimilar sons, how they cared for one another, their neighbors, and just causes. "You always saw stories about family on comedies or on an anthology, but Bonanza was the first series that was week-to-week about a family and the troubles it went through. Bonanza was a period drama that attempted to confront contemporary social issues. That was very difficult to do on television. Most shows that tried to do it failed because the sponsors didn't like it, and the networks were nervous about getting letters", explains Stephen Battaglio, a senior editor for TV Guide magazine.
Episodes ranged from high drama ("Bushwhacked", episode #392, 1971; "Shanklin", episode #409, 1972), to broad comedy ("Hoss and the Leprechauns", episode #146, 1964; "Mrs. Wharton and the Lesser Breeds", episode #318, 1969; "Caution, Bunny Crossing", episode #358, 1969), and addressed issues such as the environment ("Different Pines, Same Wind", episode #304, 1968), substance abuse( "The Hidden Enemy", episode #424, 1972), domestic violence ("First Love", episode #427, 1972), anti-war sentiment ("The Weary Willies", episode #364, 1970), and illegitimate births ("Love Child", episode #370, 1970; "Rock-A-Bye Hoss", episode #393, 1971).
The series sought to illustrate the cruelty of bigotry against: Asians ("The Fear Merchants", episode #27, 1960; "The Lonely Man", episode #404, 1971), African-Americans ("Enter Thomas Bowers", episode #164, 1964; "The Wish", episode #326, 1968; "Child", episode #305, 1969), Native Americans ("The Underdog", episode #180, 1964; "Terror at 2:00", episode #384, 1970), Jews, ("Look to the Stars", episode #90, 1962); Mormons ("[[The Pursued]", episodes #239-40, 1966), the disabled ( "Tommy", episode #249, 1966) and "little people" ("It's A Small World", episode #347, 1968).
Originally, the Cartwrights tended to be depicted as put-off by outsiders. Lorne Greene objected to this, pointing out that as the area's largest timber and livestock producer, the family should be less clannish. The producers agreed with this observation and changed the Cartwrights to be more amiable.
Though not familiar stars in 1959, the cast quickly became favorites of the first television generation. The order of billing at the beginning of the broadcast appeared to be shuffled randomly each week, with no relation whatsoever to the current episode featured that week. The main cast of actors portraying Cartwrights is listed here in the order ...
Template:Further information List of Bonanza episodes
1.TV Guide Names Top 50 Shows. Cbsnews.com. Retrieved on March 7, 2012.
2.Roush, Matt (February 25, 2013). "Showstoppers: The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time". TV Guide. pp. 16–17.
3.Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present (Sixth Edition), New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, Template:ISBN, p. 123.
4.Paulette Cohn (May 24, 2009). Bonanza, a 1960s TV Show Ahead of the Times. American Profile Magazine. Retrieved on May 20, 2016. . .
5.Bennett, Linda Greene (November 1, 2004). My Father's Voice: The Biography of Lorne Greene. iUniverse, Inc.. ISBN 978-0-595-33283-0.
6.Bonanza: A Viewer's Guide to a TV Legend, by David Greenland; R&G Productions
Set during and after the Civil War, the Cartwright clan manages their sprawling Ponderosa Ranch in Nevada, while confronting social and criminal issues of the time.
Bonanza is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 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.S. network television (behind CBS's Gunsmoke), and one of
Bonanza is an NBC-produced television series that ran on the NBC network from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series.
