Bonanza Factoids

Back in early 2004, knowing he was a Bonanza fan, I enlisted 144b's help in my aborted plan to switch to an all Bonanza schedule on Inventing Situations. Part of the plan required "factoids" about the show to randomly rotate on the page. Since the Bonanza fan site wasn't going to fully depart from IS' comedy heritage, some of them are true, some of them are jokes. Also, some of them are by me, some of them are by Bert, and some of them are collaborations. I no longer know which are which, but have marked the ones that I'm 99% sure are Bert's with a B.

-- GersonK

• When producer-creator David Dortort sold NBC on the idea of Bonanza, he thought the show would offer an interesting contrast to the sitcoms and formula Westerns that filled the TV schedule at that time. (B)
• Bonanza is about a man and his three sons working as a family in the rough and violent era of the Old West. (B)
• David Dortort, the Producer of Bonanza, wanted to create a show that he felt would counteract the image of the bumbling, inept male depicted on many TV shows in the 50's. (B)
• Producer David Dortort wanted his characters to be strong men. He envisioned them as descendants of the Knights of the Round Table– men with a strong moral compass who would right wrongs and bring a sense of justice to an untamed land. (B)
• Producer David Dortort created Ben Cartwright as the strong patriarch, a father who would guide his three sons through both wise counsel and model behavior. (B)
• Each Cartwright son had unique and different characteristics. (B)
• Adam Cartwright (Pernell Roberts) was the intellectual and somewhat brooding oldest son, a man more likely to use brains rather than brawn. (B)
• Hoss Cartwright (Dan Blocker) was the gentle giant, a man of incredible strength with a heart of gold. (B)
• Hoss' real name is Eric. (B)
• Joe Cartwright (Michael Landon), or Little Joe, was the irrepressible youngest son, impulsive and a romantic at heart. (B)
• To account for the differences among the sons head writer Dortort, gave each son a different mother, having Ben Cartwright becoming a widower three times. (B)
• The first episode of Bonanza aired on Saturday, September 12, 1959. (B)
• Lorne Greene was born in Ottawa in 1915.
• Lorne Greene studied chemical engineering at Kingston University.
• Lorne Greene worked for the Canadian Broadcast Company during World War II. His main job was to read the names of the killed service men each day. This earned him the title The Voice of Doom
• Lorne Greene appeared in “SST: Death Flight”, which was featured during Mystery Science Theater 3000’s KTMA run and narrated the short "Johnny at the Fair" featured in episode 402.
• Pernell Elvin Roberts was born in 1928 in Waycross, Georgia.
• Pernell Roberts recorded an album of folk songs in 1962, "Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies"
• Dan Blocker was born in Texas in 1928 and weighed 14 pounds at birth.
• Michael Landon was born Eugene Maurice Orowitz in 1936 in Queens.
• Michael Landon grew up in New Jersey and was his high school’s champion javelin thrower.
• One of Michael Landon's first starring roles was in “I Was a Teenage Werewolf”, featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode 809.
• Michael Landon went on to star in Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven.
• Bonanza was hardly an instant success. For its first two seasons, Bonanza struggled in the ratings, kept on the air mainly because it was filmed in color.
• Early episodes included many shots of the beautiful Lake Tahoe area as well as sets and costumes that featured rich, dark colors.
• Bonanza was consistently in the top 10 of all rated TV shows, and from 1964 to 1967, it was the single most watched television program in America.
• In many ways, Bonanza was ahead of its time. The show dealt with then-controversial issues, such as racial prejudice, wife abuse, psychological problems, drug and alcohol abuse, and mercy killing.
• Bonanza writers kept the viewers interested by offering contrasting shows. One week, a episode would be a compelling drama and the next week, the episode would have a comedic theme.
• The show did have some constants. Fans quickly learned that any female character that developed a relationship with a Cartwright was doomed to death or departure.
• Michael Landon joked that the Cartwrights had to be careful their horses didn't trip over all the graves of the female characters that had died on the show.
• The cast of Bonanza quickly became immensely popular. Their pictures appeared on everything from comics to key chains, lunch boxes to board games. And Lorne Greene had the number one record in 1964, with is spoken word song, Ringo. He even outsold The Beatles.
• Despite the huge popularity of the show, Pernell Roberts became disenchanted with Bonanza.
• Pernell Roberts felt episodic television didn't offer him the variety and depth of roles he wanted.
• When Pernell Roberts expressed a desire to leave the show, producers tried to pressure him to stay.
• Producers introduced the character of Will Cartwright, Ben's nephew, played by Guy Williams, when Pernell Roberts balked at continuing with the show. Roberts eventually agreed to a new contract and Guy Williams was dropped from the cast. Weeks later Guy was offered a role in, Lost In Space.
• Dan Blocker's death was never explained on the show nor was Hoss’ absence. Hoss became a non person.
• The last new episode of Bonanza aired on January 16, 1973.
• Michael Landon appeared on an episode of Hullabaloo.
• The Curse
  The “Curse" is the name fans have affixed to the inability of the Cartwright men to sustain a long-term relationship with any woman (as in more than one episode!). It seems any woman a Cartwright gets involved with either dies (like all three of Ben's wives) or goes off into the sunset, never to be heard from again. (B)
• The Blue Dress
  The Blue Dress phenomenon is tied to The Curse. Many fans have noticed the reuse of costuming on Bonanza, in particular the "overuse" of a certain blue dress that shows up frequently in many episodes. Many have noticed that any woman wearing the aforementioned apparel is likely to be one of the "died" or "disappeared" characters by episode’s end. (B)
• Michael Landon hated wearing the same socks twice. He would change his socks twice a day. And would always buy a dozen pair every month and throw the others away.
• Bonanza is still the top rated show in most of Austria and Mexico
• Lorne Greene was once a male model for the Montgomery-Ward Catalog.
• Dan Blocker went to college on a mortician’s scholarship.
• Bonanza helped spur sales of color televisions, cowboy hats, and vests.
• Pernell Roberts played double A baseball. He was a third basemen in the St. Louis Browns farm team.
• On Bonanza, to have the role of the girlfriend of Little Joe, was like wearing the red shirt on Star Trek. Nine times out of ten, she would meet a horrible fate.
• In 1964, Dan Blocker was made honorary Postmaster General of Billings, Montana.
• Despite only having limited medical training, Pernell Roberts went on to success as the star of Trapper John, M.D.
• Michael Landon dated Donna Douglass - - "Elly May Clampett" on The Beverly Hillbillies.
• During the entire run of the series, Lorne Greene totaled almost 10 minutes of screen time during which Ben Cartwright was not angry.
• A young George Lucas once submitted a script to Bonanza. It was rejected.
• From 1965 to 1968, Dan Blocker was American Standard’s spokesman.
• Pernell Roberts was a delegate to the Democratic convention in 1964.
• Even though Lorne Greene was the spokesmen for Alpo dog food, Lorne hated dogs. In fact, the only pets he ever had were guinea pigs.
• After leaving Bonanza, Pernell Roberts published his autobiography – – "The Pernell Roberts Story".
• "Pernell" is Cajun for "bear cub".
• While filming an episode of his nature show "Last of the Wild", Lorne Greene lost two toes in a bear attack.
• In early drafts of the pilot script, the family was called "Costanza".
• Dan Blocker and Michael Landon both wore size 10 shoes.
• All four of Bonanza’s stars used Hai Karate.
• Pernell Roberts holds the patent of the tanning bed.
• Michel Landon was really lactose intolerant.
• During the late 1960’s “Dan Blocker” was the punch line to a popular dirty joke.
• Pernell Roberts appeared on American Bandstand in 1967.
• Hoss is really Cherokee for, Big Dumb White Guy.
• Dan Blocker once won a shrimp cocktail contestby eating 31 shrimp cocktails in 4:28.
• During the show’s run, Dan Blocker wore out eight horses. The producers ruled that Hoss would drive a wagon only, for the run of the series.
• Bonanza was the favorite show of Eisenhower, Marlene Dietrich & Ed Gein.
• Lorne Greene ran in and lost an election for Canadian Parliament against Leslie Nielson’s brother, Edgar.