There is definitely a reason why “Bonanza” was so famous. After all, there are over four hundred episodes. Clearly, they were doing something right. As it turns out, Bonanza was the very first dramatic Western that was not all about killing bad guys and hunting. This show had depth.
“Bonanza” prided itself on focusing on real life social issues. It focused on relatable problems, such as racism, prejudice, and even social justice. It was really cutting-edge, and very different for its time. Perhaps, this is why it ended up doing so well, and continues to be successful today.
The 'Star Trek' Connection
Along with “Bonanza”, there were numerous other famous television shows all in production during this time. One of them of course, was the TV series, “Star Trek”. This series ran in 1966. Numerous actors from the original television show “Star Trek” also went on to make appearances on “Bonanza”. “Bonanza” ran for 14 seasons, so there was plenty of opportunity and time for actors to get guest-starring roles.
Some notable crossover actors between “Star Trek” and “Bonanza” were the actors James Doohan, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, and Majel Barrett. Can you believe they were all on “Bonanza”?
Landon's Writing Wasn't Well-Received At First
It was pretty common knowledge that Landon loved “Bonanza”. He wanted to have more stake in the show, he wanted to do more than just act in it. He wanted to write for it, too. The producer, David Dortort, did not want him to. Landon attempted a couple of times to write a script, but failed. He did not give up, and finally, he gave the producers a script that they thought would be good to produce.
This amazing opportunity and perseverance landed Landon an amazing job. He went on to be one of the regular writers for “Bonanza”. Additionally, he would occasionally produce an episode as well. His writing did not end here, as he would also later write multiple episodes for the show Little House on the Prairie.
The Credits Were Constantly Rotated
Like we had mentioned before, the production team really wanted to make sure that all of the main actors in the show were equal. They really monitored the script, making sure everyone was equal and no one stood out.
Because the production team was so focused on equality, you will notice if you look at the opening credits of a couple of different episodes, you will see that in each episode, the actors are ordered differently. They did not want one actor to get top billing, so they continued to rotate so that everyone got top billing at some point.
'Bonanza' In Theaters
Not only was “Bonanza” a top rated television show, it also had a release in theaters. However, fans in the US were not able to see this, as it was only released in Mexico.
The production team combined two episodes, “Ride the Wind” one and two. They put these two episodes together and brought them to theatres under the new name, “Jinetes del Viento.” This was the one and only time they brought the TV show Bonanza to theatres. There isn’t much information about box office sales, but we are guessing they did not do too well, otherwise we may have seen this happening more often!