Bonanza: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Bonanza chronicles the weekly adventures of the Cartwright family, headed by the thrice-widowed patriarch Ben Cartwright. He had three sons, each by a different wife: the eldest was the urbane architect Adam Cartwright who built the ranch house; the second was the warm and lovable giant Eric "Hoss" Cartwright; and the youngest was the hotheaded and impetuous Joseph or "Little Joe". The family's cook was the Chinese immigrant Hop Sing.

Series details

• Title: Bonanza
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama, Action, Western
• Premiere date: 1959-09-12
• Final broadcast date listed: 1973-01-16
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: NBC
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 7.8/10
• TVMaze ID: 4378

Cast and credited roles

• Lorne Greene — Ben Cartwright
• Michael Landon — Little Joe Cartwright
• Dan Blocker — Hoss Cartwright
• Pernell Roberts — Adam Cartwright
• Victor Sen Yung — Hop Sing
• Ray Teal — Sheriff Roy Coffee
• David Canary — Candy Canaday
• Mitch Vogel — Jamie Hunter
• Tim Matheson — Griff King

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1959-09-12; final listed air date 1960-04-30; episode order: 32.
• Season 2: premiered 1960-09-10; final listed air date 1961-06-03; episode order: 34.
• Season 3: premiered 1961-09-24; final listed air date 1962-05-20; episode order: 34.
• Season 4: premiered 1962-09-23; final listed air date 1963-05-26; episode order: 34.
• Season 5: premiered 1963-09-22; final listed air date 1964-05-24; episode order: 34.
• Season 6: premiered 1964-09-20; final listed air date 1965-05-23; episode order: 34.
• Season 7: premiered 1965-09-12; final listed air date 1966-05-15; episode order: 33.
• Season 8: premiered 1966-09-11; final listed air date 1967-05-14; episode order: 34.
• Season 9: premiered 1967-09-17; final listed air date 1968-07-28; episode order: 34.
• Season 10: premiered 1968-09-15; final listed air date 1969-05-11; episode order: 30.
• Season 11: premiered 1969-09-14; final listed air date 1970-04-19; episode order: 28.
• Season 12: premiered 1970-09-13; final listed air date 1971-04-11; episode order: 28.
• Season 13: premiered 1971-09-19; final listed air date 1972-04-02; episode order: 26.
• Season 14: premiered 1972-09-12; final listed air date 1973-01-16; episode order: 16.

Source and licence

Adapted from Bonanza on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.