Bonanza/Season Twelve

Season Twelve
Bonanza
Season Premiere	September 13, 1970
Season Finale	April 11, 1971
Episode Count	28
Previous Season Eleven	Next Season Thirteen

Season Twelve of Bonanza premiered on September 13, 1970.

Several major changes marked this long-running western's twelfth season. The biggest change marked the introduction of a new character: 14-year-old Jamie Hunter as the orphaned son of a traveling rainmaker. Jamie - whose character would eventually be adopted by Cartwright patriarch Ben in 1971 - was played by teen actor Mitch Vogel, and he would remain with the show until its cancellation in 1973. The Jamie character first appeared in the episode "A Matter of Faith."

Several other changes marked Bonanza's twelfth season. Production was moved to the Warner Bros. studios, after having being shot on the Paramount Studios backlot for the first eleven seasons. Portions of the original Virginia City set were burned as part of a tie-in to the season twelve premiere episode, "The Night Virginia City Died" (a plot where a mysterious arsonist sets fires to several Virginia City buildings).

A new theme song - "The Big Bonanza," written by David Rose - was used for all season twelve and thirteen episodes. New opening title shots were used, although the familiar watercolor frames over the closing credits were still used.

Episodes

#	#	Title			Airdate
362	1	The Night Virginia City Died			September 13, 1970
363	2	A Matter of Faith			September 20, 1970
364	3	The Weary Willies			September 27, 1970
365	4	The Wagon			October 4, 1970
366	5	The Power of Life and Death			October 11, 1970
367	6	Gideon the Good			October 18, 1970
368	7	The Trouble with Trouble			October 25, 1970
369	8	Thornton's Account			November 1, 1970
370	9	The Love Child			November 8, 1970
371	10	El Jefe			November 15, 1970
372	11	The Luck of Pepper Shannon			November 22, 1970
373	12	The Impostors			December 13, 1970
374	13	Honest John			December 20, 1970
375	14	For a Young Lady			December 27, 1970
376	15	A Single Pilgrim			January 3, 1971
377	16	The Gold-Plated Rifle			January 10, 1971
378	17	Top Hand			January 17, 1971
379	18	A Deck of Aces			January 31, 1971
380	19	The Desperado			February 7, 1971
381	20	The Reluctant American			February 14, 1971
382	21	Shadow of a Hero			February 21, 1971
383	22	The Silent Killer			February 28, 1971
384	23	Terror at 2:00			March 7, 1971
385	24	The Stillness Within			March 14, 1971
386	25	A Time to Die			March 21, 1971
387	26	Winter Kill			March 28, 1971
388	27	Kingdom of Fear			April 4, 1971
389	28	An Earthquake Called Callahan			April 11, 1971