Little Joe (character)

Bonanza
The Bonanza title screen
Genre	Western
Created by	David Dortort
Starring	Lorne Greene as Ben Pernell Roberts as Adam Dan Blocker as Hoss Michael Landon as Joe Victor Sen Yung as Hop Sing David Canary as Candy Mitch Vogel as Jamie Ray Teal as Sheriff Coffee Bing Russell as Deputy Foster Tim Matheson as Griff Lou Frizzell as Dusty Rhodes
Theme music composer	Ray Evans Jay Livingston
Opening theme	"Bonanza"
Ending theme	"Bonanza"
Composer(s)	David Rose Walter Scharf Harry Sukman Fred Steiner William Lava
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	14
No. of episodes	431 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	David Dortort Mark Roberts
Producer(s)	Fred Hamilton
Running time	50 minutes
Production company(s)	NBC
Distributor	NBC Films (1963–1973) National Telefilm Associates (1973–1986) Republic Pictures (1986-1997) Worldvision Enterprises (1997–1999) Paramount Domestic Television (1999-2006) CBS Paramount Domestic Television (2006-2007) CBS Television Distribution (2007-present)
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	NTSC
Audio format	Mono
First shown in	United States
Original release	September 12, 1959 (1959-09-12) – January 16, 1973 (1973-01-16)
Chronology
Followed by	Ponderosa

Bonanza is an NBC television western series that ran from 1959 to 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, Bonanza is NBC's longest-running western, and ranks overall as the second-longest-running western series on U.S. network television (behind CBS's Gunsmoke), and within the top 10 longest-running, live-action American series. The show continues to air in syndication. The show is set around the 1860s and it centers on the wealthy Cartwright family, who live in the area of Virginia City, Nevada, bordering Lake Tahoe. The series stars Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon, Pernell Roberts (who left after six seasons), and later David Canary and Mitch Vogel. The show is heavily laden with moral messages.

The title "Bonanza" is a term used by miners in regard to a large vein or deposit of ore, and commonly refers to the 1859 revelation of the discovery, not far from the fictional Ponderosa Ranch that the Cartwright family operated. The show's theme song itself called Bonanza, became a hit song in its own right. When played as an accompaniment to the show, the lyrics were not disclosed and instead only the instrumental version was used.

In 2002, Bonanza was ranked No. 43 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, and in 2013 TV Guide included it in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time. The time period for the television series is roughly between 1861 (Season 1) to 1867 (Season 13) during and shortly after the American Civil War.

During the summer of 1972, NBC aired reruns of episodes from the 1967–1970 period in prime time on Tuesday evening under the title Ponderosa.