Bonanza
The Cartwrights' one-thousand-square-mile Ponderosa Ranch is located near Virginia City, Nevada, site of the Comstock Silver Lode, during and after the Civil War. Each of the three sons was born to a different wife of Ben's; none of the mothers are still alive. Adventures are typical Western ones, with lots of personal relationships/problems thrown in as well.
- 1959-1973
- 14 seasons
- NBC
- Action & Adventure
- TV-PG
The Cartwrights' one-thousand-square-mile Ponderosa Ranch is located near Virginia City, Nevada, site of the Comstock Silver Lode, during and after the Civil War. Each of the three sons was born to a different wife of Ben's; none of the mothers are still alive. Adventures are typical Western ones, with lots of personal relationships/problems thrown in as well.
Season 9 Episode Guide
34 Episodes 1967 - 1968
Episode 1
Second Chance
Sun, Sep 17, 1967 60 mins
Joe and Hoss are out when they are attacked by Indians, Joe hit with an arrow. With Joe needing medical attention, they come across a small wagon train of misfits, heading East. Their only doctor, dying and wanting to see his grandchildren before he dies, helps Little Joe.
Episode 2
Sense of Duty
Sun, Sep 24, 1967 60 mins
Ben's militia troop is reactivated when the Paiute Indian Wabuska is captured and needs to be transported to the nearest fort. The Indians consider him to be a god which makes him very important to their people. When several of the soldiers are killed, the tribal chief sees for himself what they have been dying for.
Episode 3
The Conquistadores
Sun, Oct 1, 1967 60 mins
Gold-panning immigrants are run off their claim. In need of money for the survival of their village, they kidnap Joe and hold him for ransom but their heart just isn't in it.
Episode 4
Judgment at Olympus
Sun, Oct 8, 1967 60 mins
Candy is arrested for an outstanding warrant in Olympus for killing A.Z. Wheelock's son. As Hoss investigates, he finds someone else who may have a motive for putting his son out of the way.
Episode 5
Night of Reckoning
Sun, Oct 15, 1967 60 mins
Donnie Buckler has been shot getting away from a holdup. He buries a portion and then is found by Little Joe. They go to the Ponderosa and fetch the doc but by the time he arrives the Cartwrights have been seized by the rest of the gang. When Donnie doesn't give up the loot's location, the boss decides to use some different leverage - an old girlfriend he hadn't seen in about a year.
Episode 6
False Witness
Sun, Oct 22, 1967 60 mins
Joe, Hoss and Candy drive a herd to Sand Dust. When they go into town to collect their wages, the buyer is robbed and killed with four witnesses to both crimes. When they are put up in the hotel under protective custody, the Slater gang makes several attempts to finish them all off so they can't testify against the one brother they managed to capture.
Episode 7
The Gentle Ones
Sun, Oct 29, 1967 60 mins
When their parents died, Mark's older brother raised him at times like he was breaking a horse. Partly because he was just a kid himself, and others because he didn't know any better. But Mark never doubted his brother's love but he has to show a new girl in town or die trying.
Episode 8
Desperate Passage
Sun, Nov 5, 1967 60 mins
The Cartwrights and Candy come across a town deserted following an Indian attack. The sole survivor is a man locked up in the jail until a woman, claiming to have escaped the attack, turns up.
Episode 9
The Sure Thing
Sun, Nov 12, 1967 60 mins
Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene) buys a teen-age girl's stallion from her father, Burt Loughlin (Tom Tully), with the intention of letting the girl, Trudy Loughlin (Kim Darby), ride the horse in a high-stakes race, but his plans are upset when the father falls in with Harper (William Bryant), a crooked gambler.
Episode 10
Showdown at Tahoe
Sun, Nov 19, 1967 60 mins
When a gang of robbers decides to escape via Ben Cartwright's steam boat, taking Candy hostage, it's Ben, Hoss and Joe to the rescue.
Episode 11
Six Black Horses
Sun, Nov 26, 1967 60 mins
An old friend of Ben Cartwright comes to town to liven things up.
Episode 12
Check Rein
Sun, Dec 3, 1967 60 mins
The Cartwrights become unwitting pawns in a battle between wealthy rancher Gabriel Bingham and his penniless nephew Jayce Fredericks over the ownership of the valuable black horse Jayce needs to restart his herd and reclaim his ranch.
Episode 13
Justice Deferred
Sun, Dec 17, 1967 60 mins
Not long after bad-tempered Frank Scott is hanged for murdering a young woman in a dark Virginia City alley, witness for the prosecution, Hoss Cartwright, sees a man in a Carson City saloon who looks just like Frank, hears him whistling the same strange tune the killer whistled that fateful night, and begins to fear that his testimony has sent the wrong man to the gallows.
Episode 14
The Gold Detector
Sun, Dec 24, 1967 60 mins
Professor MacNultey is the inventor of a "Willy Wonka like" machine, which he sells to Hoss claiming it has the ability to detect gold. However, all it can really detect is the lie behind the 'gold detection' theory.
Episode 15
The Trackers
Sun, Jan 7, 1968 60 mins
The Virginia City bank is robbed and a clerk killed. Cully Maco, just released from prison, is the only suspect. When the posse catches up to him, he claims he didn't know about the latest incident anymore than he knew who sent him away to prison for 5 years. So who did kill and steal $121,000?
Episode 16
A Girl Named George
Sun, Jan 14, 1968 60 mins
Attorney Cato Troxell is defending his brother against a murder charge. When he's found guilty, Cato threatens the judge in front of witnesses. When the judge is killed in his own barn, Cato is naturally brought up on charges. But several days before, a photographer was hired to take a group photo of the Ponderosa and some hands from several surrounding ranches. But how did Cato get in the picture? Everyone swears he wasn't there.
Episode 17
The Thirteenth Man
Sun, Jan 21, 1968 60 mins
The Cattlemen's Association hires a range detective to put an end to the cattle-rustling affecting all in their area. What they soon learn is that he has a shady past which includes killings with never any witnesses.
Episode 18
The Burning Sky
Sun, Jan 28, 1968 60 mins
The Cartwrights hire a new bronc buster who brings along a new bride -- an Indian woman who a few locals just don't feel comfortable around. One neighbor in particular takes a dislike to her and she uncovers a secret he has been ashamed to reveal.
Episode 19
The Price of Salt
Sun, Feb 4, 1968 60 mins
The salt bed is now exhausted and the only supply left is in a warehouse and controlled by its new owner. Since everyone needs the salt and they need it now or their cattle will die, the biggest buyer tries to set the price. When a price is reached, they are all up in arms. But the monetary price is nothing to what is finally paid.
Episode 20
Blood Tie
Sun, Feb 18, 1968 60 mins
Ben Cartwright finds himself in a fight for his life when he acts too late on his suspicion that there is more than meets the eye to an amiable, young drifter that Little Joe brought home to the Ponderosa.
Episode 21
The Crime of Johnny Mule
Sun, Feb 25, 1968 60 mins
With Hoss being the lone hold-out during the murder trial of Johnny Mule, he will only have a short time to gather evidence before a new trial is set. But when Johnny breaks out of jail, things look bad.
Episode 22
The Late Ben Cartwright
Sun, Mar 3, 1968 60 mins
When an assassin's bullet strikes him down on the Ponderosa, Ben Cartwright decides to stay "dead" until he can find out who's behind the failed attempt...and why.
Episode 23
Star Crossed
Sun, Mar 10, 1968 60 mins
A beautiful young woman comes into a Virginia City saloon looking for a job, but is denied. She begins to leave and collapses from hunger. The Cartwrights and Candy are in the saloon and help her. Candy falls for her and she for him. A stranger comes into town claiming to be her cousin, but tries to extort money from her for a past incident.
Episode 24
Trouble Town
Sun, Mar 17, 1968 60 mins
Candy finally leaves the Ponderosa and the Cartwright family to marry his one-time fiancé, Lila, in River Bend. His life changes radically, however, when he arrives in the town and finds himself arrested and thrown in jail for something he didn't do. Getting word of his plight, the Cartwrights travel to River Bend, only to discover that the town is controlled by a murderous, corrupt sheriff and his equally crooked deputy.
Episode 25
Commitment at Angelus
Sun, Apr 7, 1968 60 mins
While in the nearby town of Angelus to treat Candy's injured hand, Little Joe offers horse-wrangling work to an out-of-work miner friend, Steve Regan. But, when a rearing horse accidentally kills Steve, Little Joe and Candy stay to help the grieving widow and instead find themselves embroiled in a dangerous mine strike, resented by the angry Angelus miners, and discovering that there may be real cause to doubt the mine's safety...and their own.
Episode 26
A Dream to Dream
Sun, Apr 14, 1968 60 mins
Hoss gets to play 'Pa' to two children while he visits their home to buy horses from the children's father who spends more time in the saloon than he does with his wife and children.
Episode 27
In Defense of Honor
Sun, Apr 28, 1968 60 mins
Longtime hand who was 'adopted' into the Cartwright family as a child decides to return to the Indian tribe to which he was born. Indian haters stir up trouble for Davey, which puts the entire treaty in jeopardy before it's even signed. Ute trial and knife fight used to decide the truth.
Episode 28
To Die in Darkness
Sun, May 5, 1968 60 mins
Candy and Ben are imprisoned in a mine for a month by a man set on revenge. Years before, the man was wrongly incarcerated by the testimony of Ben Cartwright.
Episode 29
The Bottle Fighter
Sun, May 12, 1968 60 mins
Hoss needs a lawyer but the only one available is an alcoholic. It's up to the Cartwrights and Candy to keep him sober until the trial.
Episode 30
The Arrival of Eddie
Sun, May 19, 1968 60 mins
After Eddie returns to town and learns Hoss accidentally shot his father, it's up to Hoss to gain Eddie's forgiveness and make amends, and at the same time foil a blackmail plot.
Episode 31
The Stronghold
Sun, May 26, 1968 60 mins
Joe is in charge of selling a herd in Dry Wells to the Farrell brothers but he is swindled out of the cashier's check. Joe returns with Candy and Dude to take back what is his.
Episode 32
Pride of a Man
Sun, Jun 2, 1968 60 mins
Joe steps in as teacher when his school-mistress girlfriend Abby falls from a horse. Joe meets his match when he undertakes to teach the two sons of a hog farmer.
Episode 33
A Severe Case of Matrimony
Sun, Jul 7, 1968 60 mins
When Spanish Gypsies arrive on the Cartwright ranch things get a lot more exciting for Ben, Hoss and Joe as they find themselves the subject of Rosalita's advances.
Episode 34
Stage Door Johnnies
Sun, Jul 28, 1968 60 mins
Joe and Hoss waste time and money chasing after a songstress and her lap dog, especially the latter.