The Western is a genre that's mostly gone by the wayside in recent decades, as portraits of straight-shooting American heroes and uncomplicated "bad guys" have become less digestible to the public. While popular neo-Westerns (like "Justified" or the works of Taylor Sheridan) and perspective-changing genre breakdowns have made a splash in recent yers, the genre has mostly died out. Of the relics that remain, few are as prolific and familiar as "Bonanza," a Western series that ran for an impressive 14 seasons on NBC in the '60s and '70s.
As a long-running TV series, "Bonanza" was able to chart the change — or stubborn lack thereof — within the genre and the country, frankly addressing topics like racism and bigotry while also delivering regular laughs and a dash of melodrama to loyal viewers. The series starred Lorne Green as widower Ben Cartwright and Dan Blocker, Pernell Roberts, and Michael Landon as Ben's three sons.
As a long-running TV series, "Bonanza" was able to chart the change — or stubborn lack thereof — within the genre and the country, frankly addressing topics like racism and bigotry while also delivering regular laughs and a dash of melodrama to loyal viewers. The series starred Lorne Green as widower Ben Cartwright and Dan Blocker, Pernell Roberts, and Michael Landon as Ben's three sons.
- 3/30/2024
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
The Lone Ranger is an American Western drama that aired on television from 1949 until 1957. It starred Clayton Moore in the starring role, who was temporarily replaced by John Hart, as well as Jay Silverheels starring in the supporting role of Tonto. Here’s a list of five other television shows to watch if The Lone Ranger had you hooked to your screen.
L-r: Clayton Moore as The Lone Ranger and Jay Silverheels as Tonto | Getty Images ‘The Rifleman’ (1958-1963) L-r: Chuck Connors as Lucas and Johnny Crawford as Mark McCain | ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
The Rifleman follows the various adventures of a Wild West rancher Lucas McCain played by Chuck Connors, who travels with his son, Mark McCain, and a rapid-fire Winchester file in hand. Johnny Crawford starred as his son in what became one of the first primetime television shows to display a single parent raising a child.
L-r: Clayton Moore as The Lone Ranger and Jay Silverheels as Tonto | Getty Images ‘The Rifleman’ (1958-1963) L-r: Chuck Connors as Lucas and Johnny Crawford as Mark McCain | ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
The Rifleman follows the various adventures of a Wild West rancher Lucas McCain played by Chuck Connors, who travels with his son, Mark McCain, and a rapid-fire Winchester file in hand. Johnny Crawford starred as his son in what became one of the first primetime television shows to display a single parent raising a child.
- 3/28/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Bonanza remains the second-longest-running American western TV series of all time. The show’s unique storylines and characters made it a success, but the memorable theme song also played a part in the series’ popularity. The Bonanza theme song that introduced each episode changed before and during the show’s run, with one version including lyrics written and sung by one of its stars, Lorne Greene.
‘Bonanza’ is a standout show of its era Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright in ‘Bonanza’ | Fred Sabine/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Bonanza centered on the trials and tribulations of the Cartwright family, led by patriarch Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene), who lived on the Ponderosa ranch with his three sons: the educated engineer Adam (Pernell Roberts), the gentle giant Eric “Hoss” Cartwright (Dan Blocker), and the quick to anger “Little Joe” (Michael Landon). The NBC show’s exploration of their relationships and...
‘Bonanza’ is a standout show of its era Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright in ‘Bonanza’ | Fred Sabine/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Bonanza centered on the trials and tribulations of the Cartwright family, led by patriarch Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene), who lived on the Ponderosa ranch with his three sons: the educated engineer Adam (Pernell Roberts), the gentle giant Eric “Hoss” Cartwright (Dan Blocker), and the quick to anger “Little Joe” (Michael Landon). The NBC show’s exploration of their relationships and...
- 3/8/2023
- by Sam Hines
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Though actors typically portray many roles throughout their careers, they can also be defined by one or two pivotal parts that become their legacy (whether they like it or not). Such is the case with Pernell Roberts.
The actor was featured in numerous projects from the ’60s until the ’80s, particularly on TV. But Roberts is best known for two major characters over the course of his lifetime.
The TV shows were a substantial contributor to Roberts’ net worth. He left behind a small fortune at the time of his death in 2010. Here’s more about the actor and his legacy:
Pernell Roberts was best known for his roles on ‘Bonanza’ and ‘Trapper John M.D.’
Roberts has more than 100 credits to his name. But he’s best known for two roles, which also happen to be the lengthiest.
The Georgia native got his start playing Shakespearean characters on theater stages...
The actor was featured in numerous projects from the ’60s until the ’80s, particularly on TV. But Roberts is best known for two major characters over the course of his lifetime.
The TV shows were a substantial contributor to Roberts’ net worth. He left behind a small fortune at the time of his death in 2010. Here’s more about the actor and his legacy:
Pernell Roberts was best known for his roles on ‘Bonanza’ and ‘Trapper John M.D.’
Roberts has more than 100 credits to his name. But he’s best known for two roles, which also happen to be the lengthiest.
The Georgia native got his start playing Shakespearean characters on theater stages...
- 3/6/2023
- by Nikelle Murphy
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Bonanza and its cast members quickly became a fan favorites when the show aired on September 12, 1959. One of NBC‘s longest-running western TV series went on for 14 seasons and over 430 episodes. Although the stars of the series became popular, the music, specifically the Bonanza theme song, stole the show.
Its twangy rhythm distinctly marked the opening credits. While the tune changed throughout the 14 seasons the show aired, it was always recognizable.
About ‘Bonanza,’ NBC’s beloved Western series Bonanza stars Dan Blocker as Hoss Cartwright, Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright, and Michael Landon as Little Joe Cartwright | NBCU Photo Bank
Bonanza first aired back in 1959 and lasted through the years until it ended in 1973. The show’s title was a term used by miners to identify a large vein or deposit of silver ore.
The series chronicled the adventures of the Cartwright family, who lived on a ranch on the...
Its twangy rhythm distinctly marked the opening credits. While the tune changed throughout the 14 seasons the show aired, it was always recognizable.
About ‘Bonanza,’ NBC’s beloved Western series Bonanza stars Dan Blocker as Hoss Cartwright, Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright, and Michael Landon as Little Joe Cartwright | NBCU Photo Bank
Bonanza first aired back in 1959 and lasted through the years until it ended in 1973. The show’s title was a term used by miners to identify a large vein or deposit of silver ore.
The series chronicled the adventures of the Cartwright family, who lived on a ranch on the...
- 3/2/2023
- by Produced by Digital Editors
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Gunsmoke was one of the most popular television shows ever to hit the air. The network, CBS, knew what it had on its hands after its 1955 premiere and milked it for 20 seasons before suddenly canceling it in 1975. The Western genre later died off, as its wave of popularity never quite returned to form. Here’s a list of five other vintage television shows to dig into if Gunsmoke was your jam.
L-r: Milburn Stone as Doc Adams, James Arness as Matt Dillon, Amanda Blake as Kitty Russell, and Ken Curtis as Festus Haggen | CBS via Getty Images ‘Bonanza’ (1959-1973) L-r: Dan Blocker as Eric ‘Hoss’ Cartwright, Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright, Pernell Roberts as Adam Cartwright, and Michael Landon as Joseph ‘Little Joe’ Cartwright | Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
Bonanza first hit the air in 1959, a few years after Gunsmoke first established its legs among Western shows. The story follows...
L-r: Milburn Stone as Doc Adams, James Arness as Matt Dillon, Amanda Blake as Kitty Russell, and Ken Curtis as Festus Haggen | CBS via Getty Images ‘Bonanza’ (1959-1973) L-r: Dan Blocker as Eric ‘Hoss’ Cartwright, Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright, Pernell Roberts as Adam Cartwright, and Michael Landon as Joseph ‘Little Joe’ Cartwright | Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
Bonanza first hit the air in 1959, a few years after Gunsmoke first established its legs among Western shows. The story follows...
- 2/28/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
The beloved show Bonanza remains NBC’s longest-running Western and the second-longest-running Western series on U.S. network TV (second only to CBS’s Gunsmoke). Bonanza premiered in September 1959 and ended in January 1973. Most shows today are lucky to get a second or third season, so Bonanza’s 14 seasons are especially impressive. And the series had a massive fan base back in the day. But one cast member — Lorne Greene — was not subtle about his wishes that Bonanza not last too long. The actor once revealed that although he loved his time on the show, he didn’t want it to last forever.
‘Bonanza’ had a few claims to fame The cast of ‘Bonanza’ | Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
Bonanza followed the Cartwright family of ranchers who lived near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in the mid-1800s. Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene) was the patriarch, a three-time widower with a son from each marriage.
‘Bonanza’ had a few claims to fame The cast of ‘Bonanza’ | Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
Bonanza followed the Cartwright family of ranchers who lived near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in the mid-1800s. Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene) was the patriarch, a three-time widower with a son from each marriage.
- 2/5/2023
- by Jessica Wick
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
The highly-anticipated new Cbbc sci-fi drama Eve starts on Monday 5th January on Cbbc starring Poppy Lee Friar, Eubha Akilade and Oliver Woollford.
The thirteen episode series combines sci-fi mystery adventure with a fish-out-of-water comedy-of-manners as life changes beyond recognition for the Clarke family when Eve, the world's first fully sentient ‘artificial person’, comes to live under their roof.
Eve (Poppy Lee Friar) is the first of her kind who, on the surface, seems perfectly human. But scratch beneath that surface and you find a robot capable of amazing feats - if she manages to navigate her way through the perils of teenage life first.
In episode one, maverick scientist Mary Douglas, played by Jane Asher, is being thrown out of her own scientific institute, Calimov Systems, by Katherine Calvin (Rhona Croker) who’s staging a hostile takeover.
Mary orders Nick Clarke, played by Ben Cartwright, to destroy her top-secret Project Eternity prototype,...
The thirteen episode series combines sci-fi mystery adventure with a fish-out-of-water comedy-of-manners as life changes beyond recognition for the Clarke family when Eve, the world's first fully sentient ‘artificial person’, comes to live under their roof.
Eve (Poppy Lee Friar) is the first of her kind who, on the surface, seems perfectly human. But scratch beneath that surface and you find a robot capable of amazing feats - if she manages to navigate her way through the perils of teenage life first.
In episode one, maverick scientist Mary Douglas, played by Jane Asher, is being thrown out of her own scientific institute, Calimov Systems, by Katherine Calvin (Rhona Croker) who’s staging a hostile takeover.
Mary orders Nick Clarke, played by Ben Cartwright, to destroy her top-secret Project Eternity prototype,...
- 12/17/2014
- by noreply@blogger.com (ScreenTerrier)
- ScreenTerrier
FilmOn Binge: “Bonanza” is available for free viewing, which is great for vintage television fans. “Bonanza” is a show that spanned from the late ’50s to the early ’70s following Ben Cartwright (played by Lorne Greene) and his sons (Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Pernell Roberts) as they run Ponderosa Ranch and defend their home while helping the members of the community. One of the episodes you can see during the FilmOn binge is “The Spitfire.” The episode revolves around a revenge plot. “After Joe [Landon] kills a man in self defense who tried to set fire to the Ponderosa to clear himself some land, he has to take his lively, [ Read More ]
The post Watch FilmOn Binge: Bonanza for Free appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Watch FilmOn Binge: Bonanza for Free appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 5/21/2014
- by monique
- ShockYa
Few stories in American history have such a strange dynamic of awareness and ignorance, and that fact alone gives Hatfields & McCoys the potential to set records for a mini-series that focuses on historic fact (as best they’re known). While virtually everyone knows about the dueling families, not many are truly familiar with all the details, or the seriousness of the feud’s escalation.
Beginning May 28th, History brings you a three-part event that takes you through the entire feud, from a time when the two patriarchs were friends, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court’s intervention in the hostilities which had brought West Virginia and Kentucky to the brink of their own war.
As you might imagine (or at least, hope), being that the show is airing on History, the strength of the series comes from its commitment to accuracy. It’s hard to find fault...
Beginning May 28th, History brings you a three-part event that takes you through the entire feud, from a time when the two patriarchs were friends, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court’s intervention in the hostilities which had brought West Virginia and Kentucky to the brink of their own war.
As you might imagine (or at least, hope), being that the show is airing on History, the strength of the series comes from its commitment to accuracy. It’s hard to find fault...
- 5/23/2012
- by Marc Eastman
- AreYouScreening.com
Depending on your age, Pernell Roberts was either western hero Adam Cartwright or grumpy surgeon Trapper John to you. Pernell Roberts starred in two long-running television series, Bonanza and Trapper John, M.D. But despite his success as a TV star and personality, he was never happy being a celebrity and had a reputation for being difficult and demanding. Pernell Roberts passed away on Sunday, January 24, succumbing to pancreatic cancer. He was 81.
Roberts was probably most famous as Adam, the eldest son of Ben Cartwright, brother of Hoss and Little Joe on NBC's mega-hit Bonanza. For six years, beginning in 1959, Roberts was Ben's smartest and most accomplished son. Roberts got the most serious story lines and carried a lot of the show. But Roberts chaffed under the formulaic structure of the western hit. He was frustrated that the quality of the writing wasn't better. He questioned why three grown men...
Roberts was probably most famous as Adam, the eldest son of Ben Cartwright, brother of Hoss and Little Joe on NBC's mega-hit Bonanza. For six years, beginning in 1959, Roberts was Ben's smartest and most accomplished son. Roberts got the most serious story lines and carried a lot of the show. But Roberts chaffed under the formulaic structure of the western hit. He was frustrated that the quality of the writing wasn't better. He questioned why three grown men...
- 1/26/2010
- by Allison Waldman
- Aol TV.
Bonanza is one of those shows that most people have heard about, maybe hum the extremely well-known theme song too, yet haven’t seen or wouldn’t really bother seeing. I certainly never went out of my way to look for it, nor did I care to, since I was content with it being one of those things I just missed the boat on, like being an Edo-era ronin or attending Caligula’s cocktail parties.
Started airing fifty years ago on NBC, the long-running western (14 seasons, for a total of 430 hour-long episodes) is one of those TV landmarks that new viewers today might assume daunting to get into—even for Western fans like myself—but now that Paramount has officially released a sharply remastered DVD of the first season, watching it for the first time, it’s surprisingly easy to sit back and get into, as it has a bit...
Started airing fifty years ago on NBC, the long-running western (14 seasons, for a total of 430 hour-long episodes) is one of those TV landmarks that new viewers today might assume daunting to get into—even for Western fans like myself—but now that Paramount has officially released a sharply remastered DVD of the first season, watching it for the first time, it’s surprisingly easy to sit back and get into, as it has a bit...
- 9/25/2009
- by Arya Ponto
- JustPressPlay.net
Burbank – Chat Fatigue is coming.
Forget swine flu (or H1N1); Chat Fatigue will be the sickness that will overtake millions this fall. The group most susceptible to this are NBC viewers. Now that Jay Leno will be taking over the 10 p.m. slot from Monday to Friday (starting Sept. 14) on the Peacock network, viewers will get four hours of people sitting behind desks and talking directly to the camera.
Can the average viewer really handle going from Leno to local news to Conan O’Brien to Jimmy Fallon to Carson Daly? How many guys in suits and ties sitting behind a desk do you want to experience after an 8 hours of work day with guys in suits and ties sitting behind desks? They’re all going to stare at you through the boob tube and jibber jabber. Kinda like the doofus with the desk next to you at work.
Forget swine flu (or H1N1); Chat Fatigue will be the sickness that will overtake millions this fall. The group most susceptible to this are NBC viewers. Now that Jay Leno will be taking over the 10 p.m. slot from Monday to Friday (starting Sept. 14) on the Peacock network, viewers will get four hours of people sitting behind desks and talking directly to the camera.
Can the average viewer really handle going from Leno to local news to Conan O’Brien to Jimmy Fallon to Carson Daly? How many guys in suits and ties sitting behind a desk do you want to experience after an 8 hours of work day with guys in suits and ties sitting behind desks? They’re all going to stare at you through the boob tube and jibber jabber. Kinda like the doofus with the desk next to you at work.
- 9/15/2009
- by UncaScroogeMcD
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