By Laura Salas
Bonanza was nearly canceled because its Saturday night airtime didn’t attract a large audience. The series was targeted for cancellation but given one final chance when it was moved to Sunday nights at 9:00 p.m. By the mid-1960’s ratings had skyrocketed and it reached #1 nationwide. Not bad for a show that barely made it past one season and then went on to finish 14 years of filming.
Michael Landon’s height is 5’9″, but that didn’t stop him from wearing lifts on the set of Bonanza. Several sources claim that his new shoes added a few inches to his height.
Michael Landon thought it was funny that so many females that appeared on the show would end up dead or mysteriously leaving town. It got to the point where he once joked that the Cartwrights “had to be careful or their horses would trip over the graves” of the past female characters. Maybe not the most tasteful joke but it was right on point.
Bonanza’s success in the U.S. is indisputable. However, it aired not only in the U.S. but in every nation on the planet that had an available TV station. That’s a claim that even today’s most advanced connected internet streaming channels like Netflix can’t touch. Bonanza was truly the first globally accepted TV series.
Michael Landon became a massive star because of Bonanza. He owns the claim to be the only actor to have three TV shows to run consecutively for at least five years. He starred in Bonanza (1959-1973), followed by Little House on the Prairie (1974-1983) and finally Highway to Heaven (1984-1989).
