# Bonanza (1959)

> Ben Cartwright and his three sons run a High Sierra ranch in 1860s Nevada while helping their neighbors through frontier trouble.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/955

## Facts

- Seasons: 14
- Episodes: 431
- Episode runtime: 49 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: western, drama, family
- Created by: David Dortort
- Network: NBC
- Cast: Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon, David Canary, Tim Matheson, Mitch Vogel, John Hoyt
- TMDB rating: 7.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052451/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: warm, earnest, nostalgic, wholesome, adventurous

## What critics say

Audiences regard Bonanza as a warm, enduring family Western whose strongest seasons are its later ones, with the Cartwright family dynamic at its core.

## Synopsis

Bonanza (1959-1973) is an American western family drama created by David Dortort for NBC. Widower Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene) raises three grown sons, Adam (Pernell Roberts), Hoss (Dan Blocker) and Joe (Michael Landon), on the Ponderosa, a sprawling cattle ranch in the High Sierra of 19th century Nevada. Each episode follows the family as they work the land and defend it from rustlers, feuding townsfolk, drifters and outside schemes, while they lend a hand to the surrounding community. The engine is simple and reliable: a problem arrives in town or at the ranch gate, and the Cartwrights settle it through courage, patience and decency. Across fourteen seasons and more than four hundred episodes, the show is a long-running, self-contained episodic series rather than one continuing story, so viewers can dip in anywhere. Its tone is warm, earnest and nostalgic, with sweeping mountain landscapes, horseback action and gentle humor between brothers. Fans of The Rifleman, Gunsmoke and Little House on the Prairie will find the same blend of frontier adventure and family values.

## Shows like Bonanza

- [Branded (1965)](https://ember.film/tv/12878)
- [The Waltons (1972)](https://ember.film/tv/4767)
- [Rawhide (1959)](https://ember.film/tv/10187)
- [Here Come the Brides (1968)](https://ember.film/tv/9774)
- [Cheyenne (1955)](https://ember.film/tv/893)
- [Daniel Boone (1964)](https://ember.film/tv/10285)
- [The Big Valley (1965)](https://ember.film/tv/10770)
- [Laramie (1959)](https://ember.film/tv/12952)
- [The High Chaparral (1967)](https://ember.film/tv/10326)
- [Wagon Train (1957)](https://ember.film/tv/5721)

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