Bonanza - Season 6 (The Search)

Season 6 (1964-65) of Bonanza on NBC was the first season for this legendary western was the #1 prime time show in the US.   With a 36.3 rating they outdistanced the #2 show "Bewitched" by 5 rating points.

This would be the first of 3 consecutive season as the #1 show in US television.

"The Search"

Season 6 episode 21

aired Sunday February 14th 1965

9-10pm NBC TV

Bonanza Season 6

The 6th season of Bonanza was the show's first season of 3 consecutive as the #1 show on prime time network television.  Airing on Sunday nights at 9pm on NBC this show featured Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright the patriarch/widower of the Ponderosa in Virginia City, Nevada in the 1870s.  He ran the giant ranch with the help of his 3 grown sons, Adam, Hoss(Eric) and Little Joe.

Flannel Mouth Gun

Season 6 Episode 19

aired January 31st 1965

NBC

Just for Fun

Bonanza - Season 6 (1964-1965)

Season 6 was the first of three consecutive seasons that Bonanza was the #1 show in Prime Time Network television.

Episode 19
The Flannel Mouth Gun

(Adam is the only Cartwright in this episode)
A series of cattle rustling has the Cattle Association sending in a hired detective with an itchy trigger finger

aired - January 31st 1965
NBC

Bonanza - Season 6 (Women of Fire)

We continue our look at the 6th season (1964-65) of the legendary western Bonanza.  This was the first of 3 consecutive seasons as the #1 show in prime time television.

Season 6

Episode 17

Women of Fire

originally aired 01/17/1965

NBC

Shakespeare inspired Adam tries to tame a shrewish senorita while she waits at the Ponderosa for her never-met husband to be.

Bonanza - Season 6

The 1964-1965 prime television season was the first season that Bonanza was the #1 show for the season.

Square Deal Sam

Episode 8

NBC TV

Originally aired November  8th 1964

The Washburns just arrived in town and are looking for work. When Hoss hears about the difficulties they've been through, he invites them to stay at the Ponderosa. After they sell everyone at the ranch a share in a copper mine, the Cartwrights find out the Washburns are not exactly what they appear to be. But this is just the beginning of the yarns Samuel is willing to spin.

Bonanza - Season 6

Our continuing look at the episodes of Bonanza from season 6 (1964-65) when it was the #1 rated show in prime television.

Season 6
Episode 7
A Dime's Worth of Glory
Originally aired November 1st  1964
NBC
Ben and Adam capture 2 known outlaws that tried to hold up the stage they are passengers on.  A reporter who was also a passenger and dime novelist, wants to make them both famous.   When they take the gunmen to jail at the next town they are met by an aloof alcoholic sheriff who doesn't mind regaining his past glory with the help of a little creative writing.

guest stars:
Bruce Cabot (Sheriff Reed Larimore), Walter Brook (Tobias Finch), Charles Maxwell (Pickard)

Bonanza Season 6 - The Scapegoat

Our continuing look at Season 6 of Bonanza, 1964-65.  This was the first season it was the #1 show in prime time television.


Episode 6
The Scapegoat
originally aired October 25th 1964
Guest star George Kennedy (Waldo Watson)

Waldo Watson, a born loser who has decided to end it all.  Feeling pity for Waldo, Hoss hires him as a Ponderosa ranch hand.  Waldo is a clumsy and inept worker, but he also puts the Cartwrights lives' in danger with a gang of eastern gamblers who want to collect a long-standing debt from the hapless Waldo.

Bonanza - Season 6

Our continuing look at the 6th season of Bonanza, 1964-65, the first season it was the #1 show in prime time television.

Thanks for Everything Friend
Episode 4
aired October 11th 1964
NBC
While rescuing a calf, Adam falls into a fast flowing river and is saved by a stranger.  Because he is so grateful, Adam overlooks certain incidents but then realizes his rescuer is up to no good.

Guest stars - Rory Calhoun, Linda Foster, Tom Skerrit and John Mitchum.

Bonanza Season 6 - The Wild One

My continuing look at the 1964-65 Season of Bonanza, the first season it was the #1 show in Prime Time TV.

The Wild One
Episode 3
aired October 4th 1964
(guest stars Aldo Ray and Kathryn Hays)

Bonanza - Season 6

From the 1964-65 season of Bonanza, the first season it was the #1 show in Prime Time television


The Hostage 
Episode 2 of Season 6 
Originally Aired  September 27th 1964
(Ben is taken hostage by a gang of outlaws (are their any other kind in the old west?) who are hoping for a $100,000 ransom from the Cartwrights.   As his sons formulate a plan to rescue him, Ben comes up with a plan of his own after sensing dissension between his captors.

This episode was originally aired commercial free as part of a sponsorship deal between the producers and Chevrolet. The deal was to air one episode per season commercial free.