Bonanza season 5
| Bonanza | |
|---|---|
| Season 5 | |
 Cast of Bonanza in 1959 | |
| Starring | |
| No. of episodes | 34 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 22, 1963 – May 24, 1964 |
| Season chronology | |
Bonanza is an American Western television series developed and produced by David Dortort and broadcast in the United States for 14 seasons on the NBC network. The entire run of the series' 431 hour-long episodes was produced in color.[1] The premiere was on September 12, 1959, and the final episode broadcast on January 16, 1973.[2] In its initial season, Bonanza aired on Saturday evenings and placed at number 45 in the Nielsen ratings. During its second season, the series moved up to number 17.[3] Bonanza was moved to Sundays at 9:00 PM Eastern Time at the start of its third season. In that time slot, the ratings soared and the series become second only to Wagon Train as the most popular program on American prime time television.[4] It remained in the top ten of the ratings through its twelfth season and ranked at number one in its sixth, seventh, and eighth seasons.
Synopsis
Bonanza is set around the Ponderosa Ranch near Virginia City, Nevada and chronicles the weekly adventures of the Cartwright family, consisting of Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene) and his three sons (each by a different wife), Adam (Pernell Roberts), Eric "Hoss" (Dan Blocker), and Joseph (Michael Landon). Veteran actor Victor Sen Yung played the ranch cook, Hop Sing. In 1964, Pernell Roberts began expressing a desire to leave the series, and so prospective replacements were introduced via Barry Coe as Little Joe's wayward maternal half-brother Clay, and Guy Williams as Ben's nephew Will Cartwright. However, Roberts was persuaded to complete his contract, and remained through season six. The characters of Clay and Will were discontinued. 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. In the twelfth season, Mitch Vogel joined the cast as Jamie Hunter, a teenage orphan who is adopted by Ben Cartwright.[5][6] Following Dan Blocker's death in May 1972 after season thirteen ended, Greene, Landon, and Vogel continued the series into a fourteenth season, with Canary returning as Candy (reportedly approached by Landon) and Tim Matheson was introduced as ex-prisoner and newly hired ranch-hand Griff King.[5][6] The program was moved to Tuesday nights where it slipped badly in the ratings to number 52 and was subsequently cancelled.[5][6] Bonanza has, however, continued to be popular in syndication. From 1964–1967, Bonanza became the most watched show in the U.S.
Cast and characters
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 135 | 1 | "She Walks in Beauty" | Don McDougall | William L. Stuart | September 22, 1963 |
| 136 | 2 | "A Passion for Justice" | Murray Golden | Peter Packer | September 29, 1963 |
| 137 | 3 | "Rain from Heaven" | Lewis Allen | Robert Vincent Wright | October 6, 1963 |
| 138 | 4 | "Twilight Town" | John Florea | Cy Chermak | October 13, 1963 |
| 139 | 5 | "The Toy Soldier" | Tay Garnett | Warren Douglas | October 20, 1963 |
| 140 | 6 | "A Question of Strength" | Don McDougall | Frank Cleaver | October 27, 1963 |
| 141 | 7 | "Calamity Over the Comstock" | Charles R. Rondeau | Warren Douglas | November 3, 1963 |
| 142 | 8 | "Journey Remembered" | Irving J. Moore | Anthony Lawrence | November 10, 1963 |
| 143 | 9 | "The Quality of Mercy" | Joseph H. Lewis | Peter Packer | November 17, 1963 |
| 144 | 10 | "The Waiting Game" | Richard Sarafian | Ed Adamson | December 8, 1963 |
| 145 | 11 | "The Legacy" | Bernard McEveety | Anthony Wilson | December 15, 1963 |
| 146 | 12 | "Hoss and the Leprechauns" | John Florea | Robert Barron | December 22, 1963 |
| 147 | 13 | "The Prime of Life" | Christian Nyby | Peter Packer | December 29, 1963 |
| 148 | 14 | "The Lila Conrad Story" | Tay Garnett | Story by : George Waggner Teleplay by : Preston Wood | January 5, 1964 |
| 149 | 15 | "Ponderosa Matador" | Don McDougall | Alex Sharp | January 12, 1964 |
| 150 | 16 | "My Son, My Son" | William F. Claxton | Denne Petitclerc | January 19, 1964 |
| 151 | 17 | "Alias Joe Cartwright" | Lewis Allen | Robert Vincent Wright | January 26, 1964 |
| 152 | 18 | "The Gentleman from New Orleans" | Don McDougall | William Bruckner | February 2, 1964 |
| 153 | 19 | "The Cheating Game" | Joseph Sargent | William L. Stuart | February 9, 1964 |
| 154 | 20 | "Bullet for a Bride" | Tay Garnett | Tom Seller | February 16, 1964 |
| 155 | 21 | "King of the Mountain" | Don McDougall | Robert Sabaroff | February 23, 1964 |
| 156 | 22 | "Love Me Not" | Tay Garnett | Frank Cleaver | March 1, 1964 |
| 157 | 23 | "The Pure Truth" | Don McDougall | Lois Hire | March 8, 1964 |
| 158 | 24 | "No Less a Man" | Don McDougall | Jerry Adelman | March 15, 1964 |
| 159 | 25 | "Return to Honor" | Don McDougall | Jack Turley | March 22, 1964 |
| 160 | 26 | "The Saga of Muley Jones" | John Florea | Story by : Alex Sharp and Robert V. Barron Teleplay by : Robert V. Barron | March 29, 1964 |
| 161 | 27 | "The Roper" | John Florea | Peter Packer | April 5, 1964 |
| 162 | 28 | "A Pink Cloud Comes from Old Cathay" | Don McDougall | Lewis Clay | April 12, 1964 |
| 163 | 29 | "The Companeros" | William F. Claxton | Ken Pettus | April 19, 1964 |
| 164 | 30 | "Enter Thomas Bowers" | Murray Golden | Jessica Benson and Murray Golden | April 26, 1964 |
| 165 | 31 | "The Dark Past" | Murray Golden | William Bruckner | May 3, 1964 |
| 166 | 32 | "The Pressure Game" | Tay Garnett | Don Tait | May 10, 1964 |
| 167 | 33 | "Triangle" | Tay Garnett | Frank Cleaver | May 17, 1964 |
| 168 | 34 | "Walter and the Outlaws" | Ralph E. Black | Lois Hire | May 24, 1964 |
References
Footnotes
- ^ Shapiro 1997, pp. 5, 65–157.
- ^ Shapiro 1997, pp. 65, 157.
- ^ "TV Ratings: 1960–1961". ClassicTVGuide.com. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
- ^ "TV Ratings: 1961–1962". ClassicTVGuide.com. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Bonanza World Home". Bonanza World. Bonanza Ventures, Inc., and NBC, Inc. 2002–2010. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
- ^ a b c Erickson, Hal (2010). "Bonanza". AllMovie. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
Bibliography
- Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.
- McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
- Shapiro, Melany (1997). Bonanza: The Definitive Ponderosa Companion. Cyclone Books. ISBN 978-1-890723-18-7.