The Cartwrights were not a traditional nuclear family. The patriarch was a three-time widower, with a son from each wife. In the first few seasons, personality differences between the sons motivated most of the plot conflicts. Two years after its debut, Bonanza moved to Sunday night and its popularity soared. By this time, the three sons had worked out most of their differences and the show was about the dealings of a well-integrated all-male family as well as their problems with mining and ranch interests. Other characters would wander into the community and cause conflict, leading the members of the family individually or communally as a group to restore the order. The oldest son, Adam, was the most serious of the three brothers, the potential patriarch. The middle son, Hoss, was the buffoon type, big and friendly, naive yet explosive. Little Joe was the impulsive and romantic member of the family.

Bonanza differed from other westerns in its relatively limited use of violence and “shoot-outs.” Conflicts were resolved through dialogue between the main characters and guest stars. Generally, this one-hour show tackled topical issues (i.e., racial discrimination, voting, religion). Famous guest stars such as Yvonne De Carlo, Ida Lupino, Barry Sullivan, Ricardo Cortez, and Jack Carson added to the show’s popularity. Bonanza was also the first show to introduce the ranch, in this case the thousand-acre Ponderosa, as an important element in the narrative, the fifth character, as producers referred to it. Brauer and Brauer argue that this emphasis on the “piece of land” was symbolic of a shift from emphasizing mobility, the lone wanderer with his gun and horse, to a focus on the settled landowner (see Brauer and Brauer). These changes also led to a restructuring of the leading characters’ role in the community.

The cook at Ponderosa was Hop Sing (Victor Sen Yung), a Chinese immigrant. He was presented in the traditional subservient role reserved for minorities in the period the show was produced. He spoke with a heavy accent, wore generic Asian clothes, had long, braided hair, and always delivered words of wisdom. In several episodes the family engaged in various conflicts with outsiders to protect Hop Sing against discrimination. In doing so, the show foregrounded racial discrimination of the historical period as well as the ongoing racial conflicts of the 1960s.

Between September 12, 1959, and January 16, 1973, a total of 440 episodes were produced. Those years witnessed several cast changes. Pernell Roberts left the series at the end of 1964–65 season, calling it “junk TV” and complaining about the glorified portrayal of wealthy ranchers. His character was eliminated from the series. Dan Blocker died before the beginning of the 1972–73 season. After his death, the show’s ratings started to fall, and it was canceled in 1973. A change from the traditional slot on Sunday to Tuesday evening, after 11 years on the air, might also have caused the demise of the show. Even before the show was canceled, it was already being rerun, under the name Ponderosa, by NBC on Tuesday evenings. Bonanza was exported throughout the world and has aired in syndication in the United States.

In the mid-1980s there was an attempt to revive the series with a made-for-television movie entitled Bonanza: The Next Generation. None of the original cast of the series appeared in the show. Greene’s death forced the producer to cast another actor in the role of Ponderosa’s patriarch; in the movie John Ireland played Ben Cartwright’s brother. He could not control the ranch and it was almost taken over by miners and oil speculators. It was only when the sons of Little Joe and Hoss returned that the ranch experienced a new Bonanza.