85 Bonanza Trivia Questions and Answers About the Cartwrights and the Ponderosa

The screen goes dark, a fiddle strikes up that cantering tune, and a map of the Nevada high country catches fire from the middle out. Before the flames reach the edges, four riders come on hard over the ridge — a father and his three grown sons — and for the next hour you are home on the Ponderosa. Sunday night in your house was built around that opening.

Here are 85 questions on Bonanza, the western that kept the Cartwrights at your supper table for fourteen years. The answer sits right under each question, so pour a cup of coffee, settle into your chair, and see how much of Virginia City you still carry with you.

The Ponderosa and the Show

1. On which television network did Bonanza originally air?

NBC.

2. In what year did the series first premiere?

1959 (September 12).

3. What was the exact premiere date?

September 12, 1959.

4. On what date did the final episode air?

January 16, 1973.

5. How many seasons did Bonanza run?

Fourteen.

6. How many episodes were made in all?

431.

7. What is the name of the Cartwrights’ ranch?

The Ponderosa.

8. On the shore of which lake does the Ponderosa sit?

Lake Tahoe.

9. In which present-day state is the ranch set?

Nevada.

10. What is the Cartwrights’ nearest town?

Virginia City.

11. The show’s title nods to which famous silver strike?

The Comstock Lode.

12. The ranch took its name from which kind of tree growing there?

The ponderosa pine.

13. Who created Bonanza?

David Dortort.

14. What does the word “bonanza” originally mean?

A rich source of wealth — a mining term for a rich body of ore.

Meet the Cartwrights

15. Who is the patriarch of the Cartwright family?

Ben Cartwright.

16. Which actor played Ben?

Lorne Greene.

17. How many times had Ben been widowed?

Three times.

18. What is the name of Ben’s eldest son?

Adam.

19. Which actor played Adam Cartwright?

Pernell Roberts.

20. Adam was educated in which profession, giving him his urbane air?

Architecture (he was an architect).

21. What is the real given name of the son everyone called “Hoss”?

Eric.

22. Which actor played Hoss?

Dan Blocker.

23. Hoss was beloved as the family’s what?

Gentle giant (the warm, lovable big man).

24. What is the given name of the youngest son, “Little Joe”?

Joseph.

25. Which actor played Little Joe?

Michael Landon.

26. Little Joe was known for which temperament?

Hotheaded and impetuous.

27. Who was the Cartwrights’ family cook?

Hop Sing.

28. Which actor played Hop Sing?

Victor Sen Yung.

29. Hop Sing was written as an immigrant from which country?

China.

Ben and His Three Wives

30. True or false: each of Ben’s sons had a different mother.

True.

31. Adam’s mother was given which ancestry?

English.

32. What was the first name of Adam’s mother?

Elizabeth.

33. Hoss’s mother was given which ancestry?

Swedish.

34. What was the first name of Hoss’s mother?

Inger.

35. Little Joe’s mother was given which ancestry?

French Creole.

36. From which city did Little Joe’s mother, Marie, come?

New Orleans.

Virginia City and the Law

37. The Comstock Lode was a strike of which precious metal?

Silver.

38. In roughly which decade is the show set?

The 1860s.

39. The series spans the years of which American war?

The Civil War.

40. Who played Virginia City’s Sheriff Roy Coffee?

Ray Teal.

41. What was the name of the deputy played by Bing Russell?

Clem Foster.

42. Virginia City was a real historic mining town in which state?

Nevada.

43. Bonanza is the second-longest-running western in prime-time history, behind which show?

Gunsmoke.

44. On which network did Gunsmoke air?

CBS.

The Opening and the Theme

45. In the famous opening, what does the map of the Ponderosa do?

It bursts into flame and burns away.

46. As the map burns, what do we see the four Cartwrights doing?

Riding toward us on horseback.

47. Who composed the iconic Bonanza theme?

Jay Livingston and Ray Evans.

48. Although the theme had words, what sort of version was used on the show?

An instrumental one, without the lyrics.

49. Who orchestrated the theme heard on the series?

David Rose.

50. What was the title of the very first episode?

“A Rose for Lotta.”

Color, Sponsors and Ratings

51. Bonanza was one of the first series filmed and broadcast in what?

Color.

52. Which network, eager to sell color sets, did RCA own?

NBC.

53. Why was a company like RCA so keen to sponsor a color show?

To help sell its color television sets.

54. Which company was the main sponsor in the first two seasons?

RCA.

55. Which automaker took over as sponsor from the third season on?

Chevrolet.

56. On which struggling night of the week did the show first air?

Saturday.

57. Moving to which night turned it into a hit?

Sunday.

58. By 1964, what spot in the national ratings had it reached?

Number one.

59. For how many seasons in a row did it hold the number-one spot (1964–67)?

Three.

Changes Over the Years

60. Which star left the show after the sixth season, in 1965?

Pernell Roberts.

61. Which Cartwright son did he play?

Adam.

62. A new ranch hand joined the family — what was his nickname?

Candy (Candy Canaday).

63. Which actor played Candy?

David Canary.

64. The orphan boy Jamie, taken in by the Cartwrights, was played by whom?

Mitch Vogel.

65. The ranch hand Griff King was played by which actor?

Tim Matheson.

66. Griff was brought in to help attract which audience?

Younger viewers.

67. In May 1972, the show lost a beloved star when which actor died?

Dan Blocker.

68. Which character had Blocker played?

Hoss.

69. Blocker’s death and a schedule change led to what for the series?

Falling ratings and, soon after, its cancellation.

The Cast Beyond the Ponderosa

70. In which country was Lorne Greene born?

Canada (in Ottawa).

71. After Bonanza, Michael Landon created and starred in which frontier family series?

Little House on the Prairie.

72. Pernell Roberts later found new fame in which medical drama?

Trapper John, M.D.

73. In what year did Pernell Roberts die?

2010.

74. In what year did Lorne Greene die?

1987.

75. In what year did Dan Blocker die?

1972.

76. Michael Landon died in 1991 of what illness?

Pancreatic cancer.

77. Which of the four Cartwright leads was the last to pass away?

Pernell Roberts.

78. True or false: Pernell Roberts walked away while the show was still hugely popular.

True.

79. Which two actors played the father and his youngest son — the two roles most often remembered together?

Lorne Greene (Ben) and Michael Landon (Little Joe).

The Real Ponderosa

80. A tourist attraction near Lake Tahoe recreated the Cartwright ranch — what was it called?

The Ponderosa Ranch.

81. In which Nevada community did that attraction operate?

Incline Village.

82. The attraction featured a full-scale replica of what?

The Cartwright ranch house (and barn).

83. In which year did the Ponderosa Ranch attraction finally close?

2004.

84. Roughly in which year did the attraction first open to the public?

1968.

85. The show’s silver-rush backdrop and the real 1859 strike share the same name — what is it?

The Comstock Lode.

Frequently asked questions

Why did each Cartwright son have a different mother?

Because Ben Cartwright was written as a thrice-widowed father. Each marriage gave him one son and a different heritage — Adam’s English mother Elizabeth, Hoss’s Swedish mother Inger, and Little Joe’s French Creole mother Marie, who came from New Orleans. All three women had died by the time the boys were grown, which is why Ben raised them alone on the Ponderosa.

Why did Pernell Roberts leave the show?

Roberts, who played the eldest son Adam, stepped away after the sixth season in 1965, at a time when Bonanza was the top-rated show in the country. He had grown unhappy with the direction of the scripts. He later returned to television fame in the title role of Trapper John, M.D.

Was Bonanza really one of the first color westerns?

Yes. It was among the very first series filmed and broadcast in color, which was no accident — RCA owned NBC and used the handsome Nevada scenery to sell color television sets to American families. If you love the genre, try our classic western TV show trivia.

What happened to the Cartwright men?

Dan Blocker (Hoss) died in 1972, Lorne Greene (Ben) in 1987, and Michael Landon (Little Joe) in 1991. Pernell Roberts (Adam) was the last of the four, passing in 2010. For more of the big screen’s cowboys, saddle up with our John Wayne trivia.

Sources

• Bonanza — Wikipedia
• List of Bonanza episodes — Wikipedia
• Ponderosa Ranch — Wikipedia

Still riding tall in the saddle? Play our trivia quizzes and spend another evening out on the Ponderosa.