In the show's early episodes, the writers would typically have the Cartwrights being hostile to visitors to their property. Lorne Greene objected to this, pointing out that with the Ponderosa being as large as it is, the Cartwrights would be an important business interest in the community. Thus visitors would naturally come for economic and political reasons as well as social ones and the Cartwrights would logically welcome them as such. The producers agreed and altered the premise of the characters accordingly.
During the first season of the show, the guest stars were paid far more than the stars of the show because the producers didn't think that the stars were well-known enough to pull in viewers.
When Dan Blocker died unexpectedly shortly before filming began for the final season, it was decided to have Hoss die too by having him killed in an accident. The opening episode, a two-hour special in which Little Joe marries only to see his bride die, was originally scripted to feature Hoss. This was the first time a TV series had incorporated an actor's death into the storyline by having his character die.
Anthony Lawrence didn't write authentic Western scripts so he focused on writing about relationships and character (as he did in "Bonanza" (1959) {Dark Star (#1.31)} and "Bonanza" (1959) {The Last Viking (#2.10)}, for example). One day, producer David Dortort told Lawrence he wanted to do a story on each of Ben's wives, and the screenwriter replied, "Let me do it, I can kill off at least two of them!" Lawrence thought he would get thrown off the set for saying this, and instead was given the task of becoming the writer who scripted the stories with Ben and his wives, all three of whom died ("Bonanza" (1959) {Elizabeth, My Love (#2.33)}, "Bonanza" (1959) {Inger, My Love (#3.29)}, "Bonanza" (1959) {Journey Remembered (#5.8)}, and "Bonanza" (1959) {Marie, My Love (#4.20)}).
The character 'Ben Cartwright' was ranked #2 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" (20 June 2004 issue).
Although it got off to a rough start, by 1961 it was the #1 show on TV.
Most viewers have only heard the famous theme song by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans played as an instrumental. The theme song actually had lyrics and there is footage of the lead actors singing those lyrics. Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker and Michael Landon sang a lyric version of this famous instrumental theme for the pilot, but it never aired. Johnny Cash recorded his own version of the theme song.
According to the 1973 book "Marilyn Beck's Hollywood", when Pernell Roberts told Lorne Greene he was leaving the series because he wanted to challenge himself as an actor, Greene told him to stick to it as he would be so rich by the end of the run he could hire Tennessee Williams himself to write a play for him. Roberts' career went into a tailspin that lasted over a decade after he left the show. Co-star Michael Landon later said of Roberts' departure that they simply took a leaf out of the dining room table and split the money three rather than four ways. While the post-"Bonanza" Roberts struggled (until later catching on with Trapper John, M.D., Greene, Landon and Dan Blocker became very wealthy from their income from the show, which all three wisely invested in.
This was the first US Western television show to have all its episodes filmed in color.
During the filming of one episode, Lorne Greene was required to jump off a small ledge into a lake five feet below. Michael Landon later recalled that when Greene did the stunt, he jumped into the water feet first and went completely under, but his hair piece came off and floated on the surface of the lake. Landon and the rest of the crew watched to see what would happen. After a short while, Greene's hand shot up out of the water, grabbed the hairpiece, and pulled it down. Greene emerged from the lake, wearing his hairpiece slightly askew. He walked nonchalantly past the snickering crew, and went into his trailer without saying a word.
The two parts of "Ride the Wind" were released as a movie outside the USA. In Mexico, it was called "Jinetes del Viento".
The last 14 episodes of Season One and the first 17 episodes of Season Two have fallen into the public domain. These 31 episodes have been released by many different companies in many different configurations, usually with the familiar theme music replaced with generic music. Starting with episode 1.19, the 31 episodes in order are: The Gunmen, The Fear Merchants, The Spanish Grant, Blood on the Land, Desert Justice, The Stranger, Escape to Ponderosa, The Avenger, The Last Trophy, San Francisco Holiday (aka San Francisco), Bitter Water, Feet of Clay, Dark Star, Death at Dawn, Showdown, The Mission, Badge Without Honor, The Mill, The Hopefuls, Denver McKee, Day of Reckoning, The Abduction, Breed of Violence, The Last Viking, The Trail Gang, The Savage, Silent Thunder, The Ape, The Blood Line, The Courtship, and The Spitfire.
Lasting 14 seasons, it is among the longest-running Western television series (second behind Gunsmoke) and continues to air in syndication.
For most of its 430 episode run, the main sponsor of Bonanza was Chevrolet and the stars occasionally appeared in commercials endorsing Chevrolet automobiles.
The opening burning map of the Ponderosa Ranch was illustrated with incorrect bearings. David Dortort, choosing not to redo the map, altered the compass points.
A recurring situation was that every time one of the Cartwrights became seriously involved with a woman, she died from a malady, was slain, or left with someone else.
According to David Dortort, 'Michael Landon' himself grew difficult during the last five seasons the show ran, "Nearly every line, every scene, every set up... everything would halt for endless story conferences on the set... it got increasingly bitter toward the end."
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 reused.
Saturday night ratings were dismal and Bonanza was soon targeted for cancellation. Given one last chance, it was moved to Sunday nights at 9:00 p.m. The new time slot caused the series to soar, and it eventually reached number one by the mid-'60s.
In 1968, Dan Blocker began wearing a toupee on the series as he was approaching forty and losing hair. He joined the ranks of his fellow co-stars Pernell Roberts and Lorne Greene, both of whom began the series with hairpieces (Greene wore his modest frontal piece in private life too, whereas Roberts preferred not wearing his, even to rehearsals/blocking). Michael Landon was the only original cast member who was wig-free throughout the series, as even Victor Sen Yung's Hop Sing wore an attached queue (ponytail).
Dan Blocker owned a chain of restaurants called "Bonanza". They were steakhouses similar to the "Golden Corral" chain. When the ownership later changed, all of the restaurants were later renamed "Ponderosa".
Guy Williams appeared in five episodes towards the end of the fifth season as Ben's brother, Will. Pernell Roberts wanted to leave the show and Williams was set to become a full time cast member in the sixth season. A storyline was written in which Adam Cartwright was to get married and leave the ranch. However, Roberts decided late in the season to stay for one more year so Will was written out of the show. The three other lead actors were unhappy with the Will storyline and would have rather continued without a fourth lead. When Roberts left after the sixth season, the series did continue with just the three leads.
Both Robert Blake and Robert Fuller were considered for the role of Little Joe Cartwright, but were both lost to Michael Landon. This was because David Dortort had mixed feelings about the new, unfamiliar actor auditioning for the part, thinking Landon was way too young to play the role. With the encouragement of David's wife, who picked up a publicity still of Landon, her husband changed his mind, and bestowed Landon the role.
The title and the story deals with Lotta Crabtree, an American actress who toured the country and became one of the wealthiest and most beloved American entertainers of the late 19th century.
Also known as "The Sun Mountain Herd".
The word "Bonanza" is mentioned five times during this episode.
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