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Bonanza/Season Fourteen

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Season Fourteen
Bonanza
Bonanza-Cast.jpg
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