The thirteenth season of the American Western television series Bonanza premiered on NBC on September 19, 1971, with the final episode airing April 2, 1972.[1] The series was developed and produced by David Dortort. Season thirteen starred Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon. The season consisted of 26 episodes of a series total 431 hour-long episodes, the entirety of which was produced in color.[2] Season thirteen was aired on Sundays at 9:00 p.m. It fell to #20 in the Nielsen ratings.[3]
| Bonanza | |
|---|---|
| Season 13 | |
 Cast of Bonanza in 1959 | |
| Starring | |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 19, 1971 – April 2, 1972 |
| Season chronology | |
Synopsis
editBonanza is set around the Ponderosa Ranch near Virginia City, Nevada and chronicles the weekly adventures of the Cartwright family, consisting of Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene) and his three sons (each by a different wife), Adam (Pernell Roberts), Eric "Hoss" (Dan Blocker), and Joseph (Michael Landon). Veteran actor Victor Sen Yung played the ranch cook, Hop Sing. In 1964, Pernell Roberts began expressing a desire to leave the series, and so prospective replacements were introduced via Barry Coe as Little Joe's wayward maternal half-brother Clay, and Guy Williams as Ben's nephew Will Cartwright. However, Roberts was persuaded to complete his contract, and remained through season six. The characters of Clay and Will were discontinued. In the ninth season, David Canary was added to the cast as ranch hand/foreman Candy Canady. After four years with the series, Canary left due to a contract dispute. In the twelfth season, Mitch Vogel joined the cast as Jamie Hunter, a teenage orphan who is adopted by Ben Cartwright.
Cast and characters
editMain cast
edit- Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright
- Dan Blocker as Eric "Hoss" Cartwright
- Michael Landon as Joseph "Little Joe" Cartwright
- Mitch Vogel as Jamie Hunter Cartwright
Recurring
edit- Victor Sen Yung as Hop Sing
- Ray Teal as Sheriff Roy Coffee
- Bing Russell as Deputy Clem Foster
- Lou Frizzell as Dusty Rhodes
Guest cast
editEpisodes
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 390 | 1 | "The Grand Swing" | William F. Claxton | John Hawkins, Ward Hawkins | September 19, 1971 | |
|
Against Ben's orders, Jamie drives a supply wagon on a route he's not supposed to; he loses control and wrecks the wagon. Jamie escapes uninjured but one of the horses is so badly hurt it has to be shot. | ||||||
| 391 | 2 | "Fallen Woman" | Lewis Allen | Ward Hawkins | September 26, 1971 | |
|
Jill Conway (Susan Tyrrell) is an alcoholic mother whose husband was sent to prison (for robbery) on Hoss's testimony. In a pent-up rage, Jill demands that Hoss look after her son. | ||||||
| 392 | 3 | "Bushwhacked" | William Wiard | Preston Wood | October 3, 1971 | |
|
Two ranchers find a seriously wounded Little Joe in the Nevada desert. As he struggles for life, Joe mumbles incoherently about his surrealistic nightmares about a teepee and a wagon wheel. | ||||||
| 393 | 4 | "Rock-a-Bye, Hoss" | Herschel Daugherty | Preston Wood, Robert Vincent Wright | October 10, 1971 | |
|
A "beautiful baby" contest that Hoss is judging quickly turns into a circus, thanks to the fortune-hunting parents who are determined to win at all costs. | ||||||
| 394 | 5 | "The Prisoners" | William F. Claxton | Arthur Heinemann | October 17, 1971 | |
|
Little Joe helps an old-time sheriff escort cunning outlaw Hank Simmons to jail. The crafty Simmons kills the sheriff and injures Joe, but Joe turns out to always be one step ahead of Simmons. | ||||||
| 395 | 6 | "Cassie" | Herschel Daugherty | True Boardman | October 24, 1971 | |
|
The Cartwrights assist Jamie's friend, Cassie O'Casey (Lisa Gerritsen), and Cassie's mother (Diane Baker) in dealing with their father and husband, Kevin, who is running a race horse scam. | ||||||
| 396 | 7 | "Don't Cry, My Son" | Michael Landon | Michael Landon | October 31, 1971 | |
|
Virginia City's new doctor, Mark Sloan (Richard Mulligan), is dealt a double-blow when his wife leaves him, blaming him for their baby being stillborn. In the heat of the moment, Sloan kidnaps the baby of another woman. | ||||||
| 397 | 8 | "Face Of Fear" | Chris Christenberry | Ken Pettus | November 14, 1971 | |
|
Jamie's girlfriend, Neta Thatcher, witnesses a drifter named Griff Bannon (Bradford Dillman) rob and kill a man at a roadside camp. | ||||||
| 398 | 9 | "Blind Hunch" | Lewis Allen | John Hawkins, Robert Pirosh | November 21, 1971 | |
|
Civil War veteran Will Hewitt (Rip Torn) returns to Virginia City, blinded and determined to solve the mystery behind the death of his brother. | ||||||
| 399 | 10 | "The Iron Butterfly" | Leo Penn | Harold Swanton | November 28, 1971 | |
|
Vengeful Sen. Carson (Peter Whitney) pins the blame on Hoss when his son is killed by his ex-girlfriend. The Cartwrights do all they can to stop Carson from destroying the Ponderosa. | ||||||
| 400 | 11 | "The Rattlesnake Brigade" | William Wiard | Gordon T Dawson | December 5, 1971 | |
|
Jamie and three of his schoolmates - Lester, Judith and Roberto - are kidnapped after church by the nefarious Doyle gang, who escaped from a wagon carrying them to prison. | ||||||
| 401 | 12 | "Easy Come, Easy Go" | Joseph Pevney | Jack B. Sowards | December 12, 1971 | |
|
In the third and final episode featuring the Calhouns, Luke is bankrupted after a stock investment gone bad, so he and his daughter Meena move to the Ponderosa until he can get back on his feet. | ||||||
| 402 | 13 | "A Home for Jamie" | Leo Penn | Jean Holloway | December 19, 1971 | |
|
Ben begins the process to adopt Jamie as his son, but the process is complicated when Jamie's maternal grandfather, Ferris Callahan (Will Geer), comes forward wanting custody. | ||||||
| 403 | 14 | "Warbonnet" | Arthur H. Nadel | Arthur Heinemann | December 26, 1971 | |
|
Joe is caught in the middle of a bitter dispute between an aging Native American chief and the man who stole the Indian's warbonnet years ago as a saloon decoration. | ||||||
| 404 | 15 | "The Lonely Man" | William F. Claxton | John Hawkins | January 2, 1972 | |
|
In a rare episode with Hop Sing in the spotlight, the Cartwrights' cook is panning for gold during a vacation when he and a white woman (Kelly Jean Peters) fall in love. The relationship blossoms into an engagement, but the interracial marriage never takes place because the law forbids it, and some whites are angry about the idea. | ||||||
| 405 | 16 | "Second Sight" | Lewis Allen | Arthur Weingarten, Suzanne Clauser | January 9, 1972 | |
|
Hoss turns to a clairvoyant named Judith Coleman (Joan Hackett) to help in a search for Jamie, who has gotten lost in the high country. However, Judith is reluctant to help out, fearing that her psychic abilities will ruin her engagement to a minister. | ||||||
| 406 | 17 | "The Saddle Stiff" | William F. Claxton | Samuel A. Peeples, John Hawkins | January 16, 1972 | |
|
Cactus Murphy (Buddy Ebsen), an embittered ranch hand whom Ben fired, suggests that the Cartwright patriarch is getting a little old to "put in a real week's work." Ben's response: Take a job with rancher Paul Walker (Don Collier) under the assumed name Ben Brown and show Murphy that he is still more than capable of sweating out the job of a rancher. | ||||||
| 407 | 18 | "Frenzy" | Lewis Allen | Preston Wood, Karl Tunberg | January 30, 1972 | |
|
Ben's friendship with the Kosovos, a young immigrant family from Serbia, puts him in danger when family patriarch Nick suffers a psychotic snap, goes on a rampage and barricades them in their home. | ||||||
| 408 | 19 | "Customs of the Country" | Joseph Pevney | Joseph Bonaduce | February 6, 1972 | |
|
In a satirical look at unusual, silly laws and customs, Joe and Hoss try to explain to their skeptical father why their delivery run to Agua Santos, Mexico took so long. An unimpressed Ben listens as his sons explain their story. Pilar Seurat guest stars. | ||||||
| 409 | 20 | "Shanklin" | Leo Penn | William Kelley | February 13, 1972 | |
|
A band of rogue ex-Confederate soldiers comes to the Ponderosa to demand a $25,000 ransom. Hoss tries to disrupt the robbery and is critically wounded by the group's leader, Shanklin (Charles Cioffi). | ||||||
| 410 | 21 | "Search in Limbo" | Leo Penn | Don Ingalls | February 20, 1972 | |
|
The Cartwrights attempt to reconstruct a 24-hour period of Ben's life after he fears he may have been the unknown gunman who shot down Sid Langley (Lawrence Montaigne), a corrupt real estate broker who has become hated in Virginia City. | ||||||
| 411 | 22 | "He Was Only Seven" | Michael Landon | Michael Landon | March 5, 1972 | |
|
Jamie's 7-year-old friend, Jonah Morgan, is badly wounded when he and Jamie walk into the Virginia City Bank during a robbery by the evil Springer gang. Roscoe Lee Browne guest stars. | ||||||
| 412 | 23 | "The Younger Brothers' Younger Brother" | Michael Landon | Michael Landon | March 12, 1972 | |
|
It's a case of comic mistaken identity when Hoss - on a delivery run for the Ponderosa - is mistaken as a member of the bumbling Younger Brothers gang. | ||||||
| 413 | 24 | "A Place to Hide" | Herschel Daugherty | William D. Gordon, Ward Hawkins | March 19, 1972 | |
|
A friend of Ben's (Suzanne Pleshette) asks to stay with her daughter (Jodie Foster) at the Ponderosa for a time. Soon Ben discovers the woman is trying to plan a rendezvous with her husband who is a fugitive confederate soldier. | ||||||
| 414 | 25 | "A Visit to Upright" | William Wiard | Joseph Bonaduce | March 26, 1972 | |
|
Ben's ability to close a lucrative cattle purchase with a picky livestock heiress (Loretta Swit) hinges on Hoss and Joe's ability to sell a dilapidated saloon they were duped into buying. | ||||||
| 415 | 26 | "One Ace Too Many" | Lewis Allen | Stanley Roberts | April 2, 1972 | |
|
In his second attempt to cash in on Ben's good name, crooked lookalike Bradley Meredith learns that the Cartwrights are in Carson City and, posing as Ben, pretends that he is seriously ill and begins to liquidate the Ponderosa's assets. | ||||||
Release
editSeason thirteen aired on Sundays from 9:00 pm–10:00 pm on NBC.[4]
Reception
editSeason thirteen fell to #20 in the Nielsen ratings.[3]
References
editFootnotes
edit- ^ Shapiro 1997, pp. 151, 154.
- ^ Shapiro 1997, pp. 5, 65–157.
- ^ a b "TV Ratings: 1971–1972". ClassicTVGuide.com. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
- ^ Brooks & Marsh 2007, p. 164.
Bibliography
edit- 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.