By Laura Salas
Because of Bonanza’s continued success in syndication, the show continued to broadcast new TV specials even decades after the show went off the air. It includes The Next Generation (4/20/1988), Bonanza: The Return (11/28/1993), and Bonanza: Under Attack (1/15/1995).
The show’s theme song, which is written by Hollywood songsmiths Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, reached No. 19 on the hit parade in 1961. You know your show is successful when its’ theme song can become a popular hit on local radio.
Bonanza was still being aired every Sunday night during the summer of 1972. When the production decided for a rerun, they decided to air it on Tuesday nights at 7:30 p.m. under the title Ponderosa. The show, as ratings fell, eventually filled the same time slot with new episodes on Tuesdays.
American actor, writer, director, and producer Michael Landon played the role of Little Joe, the youngest Cartwright son, whose mother was of French Creole descent. Before his successful career in__ Bonanza, __Landon had a number of small roles in movies and TV shows. He died in 1991 at the age of 54 after a battle with cancer.
Producers on the show were so certain that the newer medium of color TV was about to produce a new generation of stars that they decided not to cast a bunch of well-known actors in the show’s leading roles. That decision paid off and before long the entire cast of the show were huge international stars.
