How many years did bonanza run

Browse episodes. Top Top-rated. Clip Photos Top cast Edit. Bill Clark Townsman as Townsman …. Martha Manor Townswoman as Townswoman …. Bob Miles Townsman as Townsman …. Grandon Rhodes Dr. Martin as Dr. Martin …. Hal Burton Townsman as Townsman …. Troy Melton Gunman as Gunman …. Bruno VeSota Bartender as Bartender …. Roy Engel Dr.

Paul Martin as Dr. Paul Martin …. Harry Holcombe Dr. David Dortort Fred Hamilton. More like this. Watch options. Storyline Edit. In the made-for-TV movie, Bonanza: The Next Generation , it was revealed that Hoss died while trying to save a woman from drowning. View this post on Instagram.

Sign up for the Latest Updates. Email Address. This happened just a month after the season 13 finale aired in Apparently, the sudden death was not that sudden after all as he had already shown signs of illness before. He ultimately passed away after a postoperative pulmonary embolism. Subsequently, the writers also had to make the tough decision to write him off the show as they didn't wish to recast his character with anybody else.

The show decided to give Hoss a heroic death with him drowning in an attempt to save a woman. His death didn't sit well with the mourning fans as the show suffered from low viewership ratings thereafter. This nudged the writers to put an end to the iconic show with season 14 being its last. The show's lineup had seen many changes over the years, for instance, with Pernell Roberts leaving the show, but nothing impacted the show as much as Dan Blocker's departure.

Pernell Roberts was not popular with his co-stars or the crew. He continually complained about the show, feeling it was poor quality and beneath him as an actor. According to Michael Landon , Roberts very rarely, if ever, spoke to him. During the first season, the guest stars were paid far more than the regulars.

The producers didn't think the stars were well-known enough to pull in viewers. Saturday night's ratings were dismal, and the show was soon targeted for cancellation. Given one last chance, it was moved to Sunday nights at 9 p. The new time slot caused the series to soar, and it eventually reached number one by the mid s. Although it got off to a rough start, by , it was the number one show.

In the show's early episodes, the Cartwrights were hostile to visitors. Lorne Greene pointed out that since Ponderosa was so large, the Cartwrights would be an important business interest in the community.

People would visit for economic, political, and social reasons, and the Cartwrights would logically welcome them. The producers agreed, and altered the characters accordingly. This is the second-longest-running Western television series, behind Gunsmoke It continues to air in syndication. From the third season on, the Cartwrights, and nearly every other recurring character on the show, wore the same clothing in almost every episode. This was done to cut the cost of re-filming action shots such as riding clips in-between scenes , as previously-shot stock footage could be re-used.

Michael Landon was the only original cast member who never wore a hairpiece during filming. Pernell Roberts and Lorne Greene began the series with hairpieces. Greene wore his modest frontal piece in private life, too, whereas Roberts preferred not to wear his, even to rehearsals.

Landon dyed his hair throughout the run of the series, as he began to go gray when he was twenty. Most viewers have only heard the famous theme song played as an instrumental. The song had lyrics, and footage exists of the lead actors singing them.

Lorne Greene , Dan Blocker , and Michael Landon sang a lyrical version of this theme for the pilot, but it never aired. Johnny Cash recorded his own version of the theme song. Michael Landon was nicknamed "Socks" on the set, as it was said he smoked so heavily that even his socks smelled of cigarette smoke. By he was smoking four packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day.

He eventually quit smoking in the summer of , but in the autumn of began to show symptoms of pancreatic cancer. Before becoming a rancher, Ben Cartwright was a ship's Captain.

His port of call was New Orleans, Louisiana. The opening burning map of the Ponderosa Ranch was illustrated without compass points, which caused the map to appear to be incorrectly oriented Reno appeared to be west of Carson City. David Dortort , choosing not to redo the map, added the compass points.

Many have suggested that the compass points are pointing in the wrong direction slightly north-northwest. However, the compass points are aligned with Magnetic North instead of True North.