Did You Know ‘Bonanza’ Had a Spinoff? And How Can You Watch It?
Bonanza was one of the longest-running live action shows in television history —after airing for 14 seasons and over 400 episodes, the show went off the air in 1973, but still remains popular in reruns to this day. However, even the biggest Cartwright fan might not recall that the series once yielded a spinoff — over a quarter century after the original series went off the air.
That show, The Ponderosa, aired for 20 episodes from September 2001 to May 2002 on the PAX TV network. Beginning a decade before the starts of the original series, The Ponderosa took place in 1849, and documented the Cartwright family’s move to Nevada, where they’d build the famous Ponderosa Ranch.
Created by David Dortort, the writer and producer who created the original Bonanza as well as The High Chaparral, the show was overseen by Beth Sullivan, creator of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman — giving the show an incredible pair of TV Western bonafides, as well as a connection to one of the most beloved shows of all time. The cast included Oscar-nominated character actor Brad Dourif as the local saloon owner, and Hardcastle and McCormick star Daniel Hugh Kelly as patriarch Ben Cartwright.
So why haven’t you heard about the show? And why is it almost impossible to watch today?
The Ponderosa premiered on September 9, 2001, with an event that immediately changed some of the show’s most established lore — while on the original series, Little Joe’s mother, Marie, dies after falling off a horse, in The Ponderosa’s pilot, she is murdered by a prospector fighting the family for their new land. It signaled a bit of a more serious tone for the series, which might have kept it from connecting with viewers.
The show also premiered mere days before the tragedy of 9/11 — a time when viewers may not necessarily have been eager to connect with a brand new show.
And there’s also a chance that some fans were just confused and assumed the show was just old Bonanza reruns — as the show was periodically rerun under the title Ponderosa.
Regardless of the reasons why it didn’t connect with audiences, The Ponderosa left the airwaves on May 12, 2002.
If you’re curious about the series, however, your options are quite limited. In 2004, the first 10 episodes of the series were released on DVD, with no word ever given about when or if the show’s remaining episodes would be released for home video. It has never been streaming on any major platform, though illegal rips of the first few episodes can be found on some video sites.
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