Original 'Bonanza' creator, 80, creates prequel series

By Peter Johnson
USA Today

David Dortort has been called back into service by the Pax network to join Beth Sullivan ("Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman") in making a prequel to "Bonanza" called "The Ponderosa."

"In many ways, I think "Bonanza" is arguably the most popular show on television. It's never been off the air," Dortort says. Still viewed widely in syndication around the world, Pax's "Bonanza" marathons never fail to double or triple the network's ratings.

"Ponderosa" premieres Sunday with a two-hour movie that stars Daniel Hugh Kelly ("Hardcastle and McCormick") as a young Ben Cartwright raising three rambunctious sons (ages 12 to 21) and carving out a home in the Nevada territory.

In Sunday's opener, Cartwright's wife dies in a fire in a general store where he works, and the guilt-stricken owner deeds a small plot of scrub land to Cartwright, property that will become the Ponderosa Ranch.

Sunday's pilot will reveal how the Ponderosa got its name, and also how Little Joe and Hoss got their nicknames, and how the multi-talented cook, Hop Sing (now played by Australian Gareth Yuen), came to live on the Ponderosa.

The original series was short on female characters, which Dortort says "The Ponderosa" will fix by including a widow who runs a saloon with her young daughter.

Dortort says he was probably responsible for creating some tension, via "Bonanza," in households in the early '60s by insisting that the show be filmed in color. The show's success was such that kids would watch "Bonanza" at neighbors' homes that had color television — then go home and ask their parents why they didn't have color, too.

"I put color into homes in America, but I probably caused more trouble in more homes than anyone else alive," Dortort says.