By Laura Salas
Landon really wanted to write scripts for the show, but the show producer David Dortort wouldn’t allow him. While his first attempts failed, Landon eventually submitted a script that Dortort thought was good enough to produce. Not only would he become a regular writer and occasional producer on the show, he eventually wrote many scripts for Little House on the Prairie.
Bonanza was the first “dramatic” TV Western that didn’t focus on hunting down and killing bad guys. Instead, each episode of the show focused on issues such as racism, prejudice, and social justice.
Eagle-eyed fans of the show might have noticed the characters never changed clothes. This tactic made it so production could work in stock footage when necessary and lower production costs. Despite the lower costs, the show was still one of the most expensive of its day.
If you closely watch the opening sequence you will quickly notice that the order of the actors’ names were swapped out so nobody always had top billing on the show 100% of the time. As previously mentioned, the four main actors were considered equal stars and that was a carefully monitored part of the show.
Bonanza actually had a theatrical release — in Mexico. The two episodes for “Ride the Wind” were given a full release in theaters in Mexico. The episodes were combined and renamed “Jinetes del Viento.” There were no other theatrical releases of Bonanza.
