The WORST episodes of Bonanza
Every episode of Bonanza ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Bonanza!
The show chronicles the weekly adventures of the Cartwright family, headed by the thrice-widowed patriarch Ben Cartwright. He had three sons, each by a different wife: the eldest was the urbane architect Adam who built the ranch house; the second was the warm and lovable giant Eric "Hoss"; and the youngest was the hotheaded and impetuous Joseph or "Little Joe". Via exposition and flashback episodes and each wife was accorded a different ethnicity. The family's cook was the Chinese immigrant Hop Sing.
#1 - Jonah
Season 6 - Episode 32 - Aired 5/9/1965
The Ponderosa hands are upset when new hand George Whitman is hired on, it is rumored he is a jinx. Hoss tells George to ignore such foolishness, but a gypsy fortune teller says otherwise.
#2 - Lothario Larkin
Season 6 - Episode 30 - Aired 4/25/1965
Ladies' man Lothario Larkin creates havoc whenever he hits Virginia City, so Roy Coffee orders him out of town. Naturally, Hoss takes him in.
#3 - To Own the World
Season 6 - Episode 29 - Aired 4/18/1965
One of the wealthiest men in the world, Charles Augustus Hackett, offers to buy the Ponderosa, price no object. Ben says the ranch is not for sale and Hackett refuses to give up.
#4 - The Hidden Enemy
Season 14 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/28/1972
Dr. Will Agar is Virginia City's new town doctor, and brings with him new skills and expertise to treat area residents' health maladies. Only thing is, Dr. Agar is seriously addicted to morphine, and it results in serious trouble for everyone.
#5 - A Dollar's Worth of Trouble
Season 7 - Episode 33 - Aired 5/15/1966
Hoss finds himself in another mess, this one involving a beautiful blonde, a moonshiner, and a nearsighted outlaw who is allergic to chocolate and flowers.
#6 - The Spotlight
Season 6 - Episode 33 - Aired 5/16/1965
Ben invites opera singer Angela Bergstrom to perform at Virginia City's anniversary celebration. She accepts, but does not tell him that her famous singing voice is long gone
#7 - The Twenty-Sixth Grave
Season 14 - Episode 8 - Aired 10/31/1972
Mark Twain ruffles dangerous feathers in Virginia City with accusations of claim-jumping and murder.
#8 - Ambush at Rio Lobo
Season 14 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/24/1972
Ben and a pregnant woman named Teresa are held hostage by desperate outlaws, who plot to rob a stagecoach and force the two to go along with the scheme.
#9 - The Last Mission
Season 7 - Episode 32 - Aired 5/8/1966
Ben and Hoss unwittingly aid a vengeful army colonel who plans to wipe out every Indian he can with a Gatling gun.
#10 - One Ace Too Many
Season 13 - Episode 26 - Aired 4/2/1972
Ruthless land baron Bradley Meredith (Lorne Greene in a dual role) makes his return to Virginia City with a new scheme to get control of the Ponderosa. He learns the Cartwrights are on a cattle trip to Carson City and takes advantage of their absence when "Ben" claims is seriously ill and begins his holdings to friends.
#11 - Five Sundowns to Sunup
Season 7 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/5/1965
The mother of a young outlaw condemned to hang, threatens to have her gang's hostages killed if her son is not set free. One of the hostages is Joe.
#12 - A Good Night's Rest
Season 6 - Episode 28 - Aired 4/11/1965
First Ben's sons are making lots of noise, so he goes into town to sleep in the hotel. Then, various noises and things interrupt Ben's sleep. Will he ever get his desired good night's rest?
#13 - The Brass Box
Season 7 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/26/1965
Juan Ortega claims he has a land grant which gives him ownership of the entire Nevada Territory.
#14 - The Meredith Smith
Season 7 - Episode 8 - Aired 10/31/1965
Ben must determine who is the rightful heir to a fortune that includes water rights vital to the Ponderosa.
#15 - The Love Child
Season 12 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/8/1970
A dying woman and her son are rejected by her father because she had a child out of wedlock.
#16 - Cassie
Season 13 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/24/1971
To help the hapless wife and daughter of a lazy dreamer, Hoss arranges a "fixed" horse race.
#17 - A Man to Admire
Season 6 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/6/1964
Hoss relies on clever attorney Whitney Parker, who has a drinking problem, to clear him of a murder charge.
#18 - New Man
Season 14 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/10/1972
In what was essentially the second part of a two-part episode centering on Griff King, the young parolee arrives at the Ponderosa and is hired as a ranch hand. Ben, Joe and the others exercise patience as they tries to help an arrogant, resentful Griff adjust to society and life an honest life.
#19 - First Love
Season 14 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/26/1972
Jamie becomes friends with the wife of an unpopular schoolmaster, who often browbeats her.
#20 - Rock-a-Bye, Hoss
Season 13 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/10/1971
Hoss becomes a judge in a contest--he has to pick the perfect/prettiest baby. The parents of the babies nearly all try to influence Hoss, so he has a hard time deciding. There is one quite hilarious part (though odd).
#21 - Dead Wrong
Season 11 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/7/1969
While in Sunville on business for the Ponderosa, the town's storyteller, Salty – who has a talent for grossly exaggerating his tales – identifies Hoss and Candy as outlaws Big Jack (Hoss) and Sid (Candy). After a frustrating endeavor of convincing Salty of their real identities, Candy and Hoss get him to help stage "Big Jack's" death in a gunfight, unaware that the real Big Jack and Sid are in Sunville and plan to take advantage of the townsfolks' distraction to rob the bank.
#22 - The Big Jackpot
Season 11 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/18/1970
Candy has inherited a fortune from an Indian he helped. He quits his job on the Ponderosa and becomes a vice president for a land promotor who is selling beautiful, fertile land. When it is discovered that the land promotor is selling barren desert land, Candy and the Cartwrights set out to expose the land promotor as a fraud.
#23 - The Far, Far Better Thing
Season 6 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/10/1965
On their way to prevent a young woman from encountering the renegade Indians, Joe and Tuck are captured, and in order to save them all, Joe must fight Sharp Tongue, who is the leader of the band who went to school with Joe as a youth.
#24 - The Dublin Lad
Season 7 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/2/1966
After sitting on a jury that has convicted Terrence O' Tool of murder, Joe has second thoughts about the verdict and decides to do some investigating of his own.
#25 - The Flapjack Contest
Season 6 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/3/1965
Hoss unknowingly enters a flapjack contest and Joe puts Hoss on a diet which Hoss doesn't care for. Joe's betting on the flapjack contest could get him into some trouble and will he ever succeed in getting the window pane his Pa wants?