by Ticia

Created on: September 26, 2008

I love a lazy Saturday afternoon when I can sit down and enjoy some episodes of Bonanza. When I was a little girl it was a big deal for my family to gather around the living room and watch Bonanza on a Sunday evening. As I read through the article topics, choosing this topic popped up at me with so much excitement as I relived the many memories growing up with this series. I think I must have fallen in love with Little Joe a hundred times but then again I can say the same for Adam and believe it or not Hoss got to me at times with his humility, sweetness and just being a gentle bear.

I once visited the house where the filming was done on one of my trips and was able to relive some of the episodes as I saw the original vests hung up in the living room. I was so surprised though that the upstairs was just that stairs. There were no rooms since the filming in the bedroom scenes were done elsewhere. Amazing!

This one hour western drama took place in the Nevada territory and was the first western TV show filmed in color which ran from September 12, 1959 through January 16, 1973. In the fourteen seasons of running it was rated in the top ten for ten seasons. The main sponsors for the show were Chevy, RCA and Lucky Strike. The scenery of most of Bonanza was on a thousand square miles of the beautiful Ponderosa Ranch near Virginia City and owned by the wealthy Ben Cartwright. We were all given beautiful views of Lake Tahoe skies and lakes in many of the scenes.

Ben Cartwright played by Lorne Greene was the father of three sons all of whom were born from different mothers that Ben had married. Ben was widowed three times and valued his sons proudly as he raised them to be responsible and well respected young men. Even if they were about to do something wrong, Ben raised them well enough to make them think about the choices they made and take responsibility for them.

The eldest son Adam was played by Pernell Roberts who was the intellect in the family. He wore all black, liked the guitar and even sang in some episodes. Adam always knew right from wrong and earned himself a good education. Adam was the most serious of the brothers and very rarely showed emotion but always loyal to Pa and his brothers.

The second son was Hoss played by Dan Blocker. Hoss had an outgoing personality but was sometimes nave with a very big heart. Probably the friendliest and most gullible of the brothers he was a good natured sweet man who enjoyed good meals and animals.

The youngest and third

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>