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Bonanza/Season Fourteen
Season Fourteen | |
Bonanza | |
Season Premiere | September 12, 1972 |
Season Finale | January 16, 1973 |
Episode Count | 16 |
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Season Fourteen of Bonanza premiered on September 12, 1972.
The death of Dan Blocker from a blood clot in the lungs was just one of many changes marking what turned out to be the final season of Bonanza. Blocker had died May 13 after an operation, just weeks before production on season fourteen episodes was to begin. Several scripts that were ready had to be re-written to accomodate Hoss' absence - most notably, the season premiere, "Forever." In that episode, Michael Landon - through his character of Joe Cartwright (Hoss' brother and the youngest of the three original Cartwrights) - takes over the role of the tragic groom, a role that had been intended for Blocker's Hoss character.
Hoss' death is alluded to in "Forever," and is mentioned more explicitly in the episode "The Initiation." As for "Forever" - an episode where Joe's beautiful young bride is killed by a ruthless gambler seeking repayment of her brother's debts, prompting Joe to track down the killer and his gang - it marked the lone episode to be aired as a two-hour special.
After 11 years of anchoring the Sunday night lineup, "Bonanza" began airing on Tuesday nights. That, plus the death of Blocker, resulted in rapidly declining ratings. By mid-season, NBC cancelled the long-running western, leaving Gunsmoke as television's only western; another western, Alias Smith and Jones, had its last episode aired three days before the Bonanza finale.
Several other changes marked the final season. David Canary returned to the series as trusted ranch hand Candy Canaday. Several weeks into the season, Tim Matheson joined the cast as Griff King, a paroled killer taken into Ben's custody; Griff was introduced in the episode "Riot" In addition, the original Livingston-Evans theme "Bonanza" was rescored, and new opening credit shots were used.
Episodes
# | # | Title | Airdate | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
416 | 1 | Forever (1) | September 12, 1972 | |||||
417 | 2 | Forever (2) | September 12, 1972 | |||||
418 | 3 | Heritage of Anger | September 19, 1972 | |||||
419 | 4 | The Initiation | September 26, 1972 | |||||
420 | 5 | Riot | October 3, 1972 | |||||
421 | 6 | New Man | October 10, 1972 | |||||
422 | 7 | Ambush at Rio Lobo | October 24, 1972 | |||||
423 | 8 | The Twenty-Sixth Grave | October 31, 1972 | |||||
424 | 9 | Stallion | November 14, 1972 | |||||
425 | 10 | The Hidden Enemy | November 28, 1972 | |||||
426 | 11 | The Sound of Sadness | December 5, 1972 | |||||
427 | 12 | The Bucket Dog | December 19, 1972 | |||||
428 | 13 | First Love | December 26, 1972 | |||||
429 | 14 | The Witness | January 2, 1973 | |||||
430 | 15 | The Marriage of Theodora Duffy | January 9, 1973 | |||||
431 | 16 | The Hunter | January 16, 1973 |
Bonanza Seasons |
Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6 | Season 7 | Season 8 | Season 9 | Season 10 | Season 11 | Season 12 | Season 13 | Season 14 |