The fourteenth season of the American Western television series Bonanza premiered on NBC on September 12, 1972, with the final episode airing January 16, 1973.[1] This was the final season for the series. The series was developed and produced by David Dortort. Season fourteen starred Lorne Greene and Michael Landon, the first season following the death of Dan Blocker. The season consisted of 16 episodes of a series total 431 hour-long episodes, the entirety of which was produced in color.[2] Season fourteen moved to a new timeslot of Tuesdays from 8:00 pm–9:00 pm on NBC.[3] The final season fell out of the top 30 in the Nielsen ratings.[4]
Synopsis
Bonanza is set around the Ponderosa Ranch near Virginia City, Nevada and chronicles the weekly adventures of the Cartwright family. In season 14, this consists of Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene) and his son Joseph (Michael Landon) and Jamie Hunter Cartwright (Mitch Vogel), a teenage orphan who is adopted by Ben. Veteran actor Victor Sen Yung played the ranch cook, Hop Sing. In the ninth season, David Canary was added to the cast as ranch hand/foreman Candy Canady. Tim Matheson was introduced as ex-prisoner and newly hired ranch-hand Griff King.
Cast and characters
Main cast
- Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright
- Michael Landon as Joseph "Little Joe" Cartwright
- Mitch Vogel as Jamie Hunter Cartwright
- David Canary as "Candy" Canaday
- Tim Matheson as Griff King
Recurring
- Victor Sen Yung as Hop Sing
- Bing Russell as Deputy Clem Foster
Guest cast
Background and production
Casting
Season 14 included a number of changes in casting. Dan Blocker died in May 1972 after season thirteen ended, leaving only Greene and Landon as original top billed cast. David Canary, who had left over a contract dispute after four seasons returned as Candy Canady with opening credits billing. Tim Matheson was introduced as ex-prisoner and newly hired ranch-hand Griff King.
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 416 | 1 | "Forever" | Michael Landon | Michael Landon | September 12, 1972 | ||||||
| 417 | 2 | September 19, 1972 | |||||||||
|
Part 1: Little Joe falls in love with Alice Harper (played by a young Bonnie Bedelia) who he meets while rescuing her gambler brother John (Andy Robinson) from a poker game gone bad. Part 2: After Little Joe and Alice Harper are married, she is murdered at their new home. Joe returns to find their house burnt to the ground and his beautiful bride dead. | |||||||||||
| 418 | 3 | "Heritage of Anger" | Nicholas Webster | Don Ingalls | September 26, 1972 | ||||||
| Ben helps ex-convict John Dundee (Robert Lansing) re-adjust to society. However, Dundee's boorish attitude complicates matters. | |||||||||||
| 419 | 4 | "The Initiation" | Alf Kjellin | Douglas Day Stewart | October 3, 1972 | ||||||
| Jamie joins an elite club. However, when a classmate dies from cardiac arrhythmia during the initiation, the club's president Ted Hoag (Ron Howard) is blamed. | |||||||||||
| 420 | 5 | "Riot!" | Lewis Allen | Robert Pirosh | October 10, 1972 | ||||||
|
Ben becomes horrified while inspecting living conditions at the Nevada State Prison. So are the frustrated inmates, who take Ben hostage and make a series of demands to improve conditions. Note: first episode of Griff King. | |||||||||||
| 421 | 6 | "New Man" | Leo Penn | Jack B. Sowards | October 17, 1972 | ||||||
| In this sequel episode to "Riot," Ben helps parolee Griff King adjust to life outside of prison, giving him a job as a ranch hand. | |||||||||||
| 422 | 7 | "Ambush at Rio Lobo" | Nicholas Colasanto | Joel Murcott | October 24, 1972 | ||||||
| Ben and a pregnant woman (Sian Barbara Allen) are held hostage by a gang of robbers, who are plotting a stagecoach robbery and are determined to prevent interference by anyone with the name Cartwright. | |||||||||||
| 423 | 8 | "The 26th Grave" | Nicholas Colasanto | Stanley Roberts | October 31, 1972 | ||||||
| Samuel Clemens (Ken Howard) makes his return to Virginia City, this time offering tall tales over an unsolved murder that was tied to a claim jumping. | |||||||||||
| 424 | 9 | "Stallion" | E. W. Swackhamer | Jack B. Sowards | November 14, 1972 | ||||||
| Joe is given a beautiful, black stallion for his birthday present, but winds up sacrificing it when he rides to the rescue of a young boy who was accidentally shot by his outlaw father. | |||||||||||
| 425 | 10 | "The Hidden Enemy" | Alf Kjellin | Stanley Roberts | November 28, 1972 | ||||||
| Dr. James Wills (Mike Farrell) is Virginia City's new town doctor. He can bring many new procedures to Nevada Territory. However, Dr. Wills is addicted to morphine, which results in trouble ... and in the end, tragedy. | |||||||||||
| 426 | 11 | "The Sound of Sadness" | Michael Landon | Michael Landon | December 5, 1972 | ||||||
| Griff's friend, widowed farmer Jonathan May (Jack Albertson), wants to adopt two young orphans, one of whom is unable to talk. When Jonathan is told he cannot adopt the boys, Griff decides to set the adoption agency folks straight on what a loving father is. | |||||||||||
| 427 | 12 | "The Bucket Dog" | William F. Claxton | John Hawkins | December 19, 1972 | ||||||
| Jamie buys an Irish setter named April. However, April was a runt and - according to its rightful owner - should be put to sleep because it is a disgrace to the breed. When April competes in a field trial, the dog's owner soon learns that it's not the size of the dog that matters, but the size of the fight in the dog. | |||||||||||
| 428 | 13 | "First Love" | Leo Penn | Richard Collins | December 26, 1972 | ||||||
| Jamie becomes friends with Kelly Edwards (Pamela Franklin), who is abused by her husband, Dan. The catch: the husband happens to be the new teacher at the Virginia City School. | |||||||||||
| 429 | 14 | "The Witness" | Lewis Allen | Story by : Arthur Heinemann Teleplay by : Joel Murcott and Arthur Heinemann | January 2, 1973 | ||||||
| A man posing as Candy robs one of Ben's elderly business associates; during the robbery, the woman suffers a fatal heart attack. Candy is quickly arrested and brought to trial. | |||||||||||
| 430 | 15 | "The Marriage of Theodora Duffy" | William F. Claxton | Ward Hawkins | January 9, 1973 | ||||||
| Unknown to the Cartwrights, Griff is asked to be a government witness in helping to bring a gang of war criminals to justice and Griff is asked to pose as the husband of beautiful Theodora Duffy (Karen Carlson), whom the Cartwrights think Griff had abandoned years ago. | |||||||||||
| 431 | 16 | "The Hunter" | Michael Landon | Michael Landon | January 16, 1973 | ||||||
| During a delivery run, Joe meets Cpl. Bill Tanner (Tom Skerritt), who turns out to be a war-deranged madman who enjoys stalking down his helpless victims before killing them. After stealing Joe's wagon and his supplies, the psychotic Tanner explains that Joe just became his latest "prey." | |||||||||||
Release
For season fourteen, Bonanza was moved from its previous Sunday night 9:00 pm–10:00 pm timeslot to Tuesdays from 8:00 pm–9:00 pm on NBC.[3] On Tuesdays, it was opposite Maude and Hawaii Five-O on CBS and Temperatures Rising and the Tuesday Movie of the Week on ABC.[5]
Reception
The move from Sunday to Tuesday did not help the show's declining ratings. Hawaii Five-O was already the leader on Tuesdays, at 12 overall in the Nielsen ratings for the previous season.[6] By the 1972 season, Hawaii Five-O gained in the ratings, lifting Maude along with it, topping the Tuesday ratings and securing the number 3 and 4 spots respectively overall. Bonanza fell out of the top 30.[4]
References
Footnotes
- ^ Shapiro 1997, pp. 107, 111.
- ^ Shapiro 1997, pp. 5, 65–157.
- ^ a b Brooks & Marsh 2007, p. 164.
- ^ a b "TV Ratings: 1972–1973". ClassicTVGuide.com. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
- ^ Brooks & Marsh 2007, pp. 1594–1595.
- ^ "TV Ratings: 1971–1972". classictvguide.com. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
Bibliography
- Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.
- Greenland, David R. (2010). Bonanza: A Viewer's Guide to the TV Legend. BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1-62933-722-7.
- Greenland, David R. (2015). Michael Landon: The Career and Artistry of a Television Genius. BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-785-0.
- Leiby, Bruce R.; Leiby, Linda F. (2015). A Reference Guide to Television's Bonanza: Episodes, Personnel, and Broadcast History. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 9781476600758.
- McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
- Shapiro, Melany (1997). Bonanza: The Definitive Ponderosa Companion. Cyclone Books. ISBN 978-1-890723-18-7.
External links
This page was last edited on 26 March 2024, at 14:38