From IMDB:
Series synopsis: The Cartwrights' one-thousand-square-mile Ponderosa Ranch is located near Virginia City, Nevada, site of the Comstock Silver Lode, during and after the Civil War. Each of the three sons was born to a different wife of Ben's; none of the mothers are still alive. Adventures are typical Western ones, with lots of personal relationships/problems thrown in as well.
* During the filming of one episode, Lorne Greene was required to jump off of a small ledge into a lake five feet below. Michael Landon recalled that when Greene did the stunt, he jumped into the water feet first and went completely under, but his hair piece came off and floated on the surface of the lake. Landon and the rest of the crew watched to see what would happen. After a short while, Greene's hand shot up out of the water, grabbed the hairpiece, and pulled it down. Greene emerged from the lake, wearing his hairpiece slightly askew. He walked nonchalantly past the snickering crew, and went into his trailer without saying a word.
* According to the 1973 book "Marilyn Beck's Hollywood", when Pernell Roberts told Lorne Greene he was leaving the series because he wanted to challenge himself as an actor, Greene told him to stick to it, because he would be so rich by the end of the run he could hire Tennessee Williams himself to write a play for him. Co-star Michael Landon later said that they took a leaf out of the dining room table and split the money three rather than four ways. Roberts played many parts on stage and later starred in a television series called Trapper John, M.D. (1979). Greene, Landon, and Dan Blocker became very wealthy with their income from the show.
* During the first season, the guest stars were paid far more than the regulars. The producers didn't think the stars were well-known enough to pull in viewers.
* Most viewers have only heard the famous theme song played as an instrumental. The song had lyrics, and footage exists of the lead actors singing them. Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon sang a lyrical version of this theme for the pilot, but it never aired.Johnny Cash recorded his own version of the theme song.
* Every time one of the Cartwrights became seriously involved with a woman, she died from disease, was killed, or left with someone else.
* This is the second-longest-running Western television series, behind Gunsmoke (1955). It continues to air in syndication.
* From the third season on, the Cartwrights, and nearly every other recurring character on the show, wore the same clothing in almost every episode. This was done to cut the cost of re-filming action shots (such as riding clips in-between scenes), as previously-shot stock footage could be re-used.
* Michael Landon was the only original cast member who never wore a hairpiece during filming. Pernell Roberts and Lorne Greene began the series with hairpieces. Greene wore his modest frontal piece in private life, too, whereas Roberts preferred not to wear his, even to rehearsals. Dan Blocker began wearing a toupée in 1968, as he began to lose his hair. Even Victor Sen Yung's Hop Sing wore an attached ponytail. Landon dyed his hair throughout the run of the series, as he began to go gray when he was twenty.
* The character "Ben Cartwright" was ranked number two in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" (June 20, 2004 issue).
* The opening burning map of the Ponderosa Ranch was illustrated without compass points, which caused the map to appear to be incorrectly oriented (Reno appeared to be west of Carson City). David Dortort, choosing not to redo the map, added the compass points. Many have suggested that the compass points are pointing in the wrong direction (slightly north-northwest). However, the compass points are aligned with Magnetic North instead of True North.
* Several actors and actresses from Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) appeared as guest stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Grace Lee Whitney, Majel Barrett, and Walter Koenig.
* In a Television Archives interview, Ray Evans and Jay Livingston said that when Desi Arnaz asked them to write a theme song for a Western television show, Arnaz told them he couldn't pay them much for a weekly salary, because the show was only going to last one year. The men made a deal with Arnaz to keep the rights to the song. When this show became an unexpected smash-hit, the men made millions.
* Dan Blocker, who played Eric "Hoss" Cartwright, started the Bonanza steakhouse chain in 1963, naming it after the show. Eventually, it was sold to a company called Metromedia in 1989. Metromedia also bought the Ponderosa steakhouse chain (started two years after Bonanza under no connection with the show) one year earlier, and marketed both restaurants under the same concept. Ponderosa was also the name of the show when it first went into syndication back when it was common to give the syndicated version a different name (or variation of the name) to differentiate it from the original if the original was still in production.
Title: Bonanza: One Man With Courage
Author: Thomas Thompson
Publisher: Media Books #M101Cover Illustration: Photo Cover
PBO (Paperback Original)
Printing: 1st, 1966