Series synopsis
Ponderosa is an American western drama television series that premiered on Pax TV on September 9, 2001. It ended on May 12, 2002. It was created by Beth Sullivan. It stars Daniel Hugh Kelly, Gareth Yuen, Bruce Dickinson and Brad Dourif.
Ponderosa is a television series developed by Bonanza creator David Dortort for PAX-TV that ran for the 2001–2002 television season. Envisioned as a prequel to the long-running NBC series Bonanza, it had less gunfire, brawling and other traditional western elements than the original. Bonanza creator David Dortort approved PAX TV's decision to hire Beth Sullivan, creator and executive producer of Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman to oversee scripts and executive produce, which some believe gave the serie ...
Premise
Ponderosa is a television series developed by Bonanza creator David Dortort for PAX-TV that ran for the 2001–2002 television season. Envisioned as a prequel to the long-running NBC series Bonanza, it had less gunfire, brawling and other traditional western elements than the original. Bonanza creator David Dortort approved PAX TV's decision to hire Beth Sullivan, creator and executive producer of Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman to oversee scripts and executive produce, which some believe gave the series a softer edge. Ponderosa was canceled after one season, in part because of disappointing ratings and high production costs. Although Sullivan had hoped to film the series in and around Los Angeles, PAX decided to film in Australia to reduce costs. Series "show runner" Sullivan sustained severe injuries in a car crash only twelve days after the airing of the first season's last episode.
The show should not be confused with Ponderosa, the title used for Bonanza reruns aired on NBC during the summer of 1972.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Daniel Hugh Kelly as Ben Cartwright
- Gareth Yuen as Hop Sing
- Bruce Dickinson as Big Dan Larson
- Brad Dourif as Maurice 'Frenchy' Devereaux
- Jim Knobeloch as Jack Wolf
- Jared Daperis as Little Joe Cartwright
- Nicki Wendt as Shelby Sterrett
- Matt Carmody as Adam Cartwright
Supporting cast
- Drew Powell as Eric 'Hoss' Cartwright
- Josephine Byrnes as Margaret Greene
- Fernando Carrillo as Carlos Rivera De Vega
Guest cast
- David Patterson
- Eliza Szonert
- Jessica Gower
- Carlos Gómez as Joaquin
Episodes
This series spans 1 season with 20 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 20 | September 9, 2001 | May 12, 2002 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Pilot (1) Bonanza is back in the guise of ""Ponderosa"". This episode is very good, telling the back story of what went on as Ben Cartwright got the deed to the Lake Tahoe property. Unfortunately, someone else also wants the property, so he can strip-mine it and turn the land into a waste-land. Ben's wife and Little Joe's mother is killed when the store in which Ben is working in at the time is blown up by the miner, the one who takes her death the worse is Little Joe. Shortly after this (and because of it) Ben is awarded the property. All seems to be said and done, but as Ben and the boys are building the house, in the middle of the night the miner sneaks onto the property and pours kerosene all over the house and ignites it. Little Joe takes Ben's gun and goes hunting down the miner, not realizing the new trouble he could be causing because of it. Meanwhile, two other characters come into play. The first is Carlos (Fernando Carrillo), a Mexican Soldier who returns to the town after being in the |
September 9, 2001 |
| 2 |
Pilot (2) Bonanza is back in the guize of ""Ponderosa"". This episode is very good, telling the back story of what went on as Ben Cartwright got the deed to the Lake Tahoe property. Unfortunately, someone else also wants the property, so he can strip-mine it and turn the land into a waste-land. Ben's wife and Little Joe's mother is killed when the store in which Ben is working in at the time is blown up by the miner, the one who takes her death the worse is Little Joe. Shortly after this (and because of it) Ben is awarded the property. All seems to be said and done, but as Ben and the boys are building the house, in the middle of the night the miner sneaks onto the property and pours kerosene all over the house and ignites it. Little Joe takes Ben's gun and goes hunting down the miner, not realizing the new trouble he could be causing because of it. Meanwhile, two other characters come into play. The first is Carlos (Fernando Carrillo), a Mexican Soldier who returns to the town after being in the |
September 9, 2001 |
| 3 |
Joaquin While selling some cattle to a fellow rancher, Adam and Little Joe witness an amazing sight, a Mexican walks up to the rancher and shoots him at point blank range . . . the rancher gets up and brushes himself off. It seems as if they were testing out a bullet proof vest. Later, in town. We find Hauss staring at a Wanted Poster for a bandit named Joaquin with a very high price on his head. The same bandit who was at the ranch comes behind him, razzes Hauss about if they'll catch the bandit or not and walks away. It is now breakfast-time the next day, Carlos comes riding up with someone strapped to his horse. It was the same man that Joe and Adam saw at the ranch, and Hauss saw in town, after being patched up by Shelby (Nicki Wendt), he identifies himself as Joaquin. He also explains that he is wanted for murder in towns several hundred miles apart . . . and they were committed on the same day. As he recovers, he gives Adam a birthday wish that Ben couldn't, the oppurtunity to handle a g |
September 16, 2001 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | Pax TV |
|---|---|
| First aired | September 9, 2001 |
| Last aired | May 12, 2002 |
| Runtime | 60 minutes |
| Status | Ended |
| Schedule | Sunday at 20:00:00 |