Bonanza: Season 8

1966 · 34 episodes · ★ 8.0

What Season 8 of Bonanza

Ben Cartwright heads a family living on the Ponderosa, a huge ranch by Lake Tahoe in Nevada, near Virginia City, in the 1860s. Having been widowed three times, Ben has three sons from different marriages: Adam, an architect with city manners who built the main house; Hoss, a big-hearted giant; and Little Joe, the youngest, with a fiery temper. Each episode puts the Cartwrights in front of tough decisions. The storylines range from a neighborly friendship threatened by an unstable young woman to ranch robberies, settlers harassed by unscrupulous cattlemen, and trials that make Joe and Hoss doubt what seems obvious. Ben, played by Lorne Greene, anchors every story.

34episodes

Sep 11, 1966premiered

May 14, 1967latest episode

27.8 hrtotal runtime

Season 8 Episodes

8x01 Something Hurt, Something Wild
Sep 11, 1966 · 49 min
The Cartwrights' friendship with a neighboring rancher is threatened by his mentally unstable daughter.
Starring: Lynn Loring, Ron Foster
8x02 Horse of a Different Hue
Sep 18, 1966 · 49 min
So the Cartwrights will not be killed, one of Ben's oldest friends must make sure Joe does not win a horse race.
Starring: Rudy Doucette, Julie Parrish, Jack Gordon
8x03 A Time to Step Down
Sep 25, 1966 · 49 min
After the Cartwrights put wrangler Dan Tolliver out to pasture, the embittered old man plans to take part in robbing the Ponderosa.
With: Ed Begley, Sherwood Price, Don 'Red' Barry
8x04 The Pursued (1)
Oct 2, 1966 · 49 min
A Mormon with two wives is badgered by the town's people and then things get much worse.
Starring: Dina Merrill, Eric Fleming, Lois Nettleton, Jack Gordon
8x05 The Pursued (2)
Oct 9, 1966 · 49 min
As the persecuted party awaits Ben and Hoss' return, Herber is shot and killed. Joe retaliates and shoots Herber's assassin.
With: Dina Merrill, Eric Fleming, Lois Nettleton, Dee Carroll
8x06 To Bloom for Thee
Oct 16, 1966 · 49 min
Hoss is engaged to Carol Attley, a troubled woman with a past darker than he imagines.
With: Victor Sen Yung, Jack Gordon
8x07 Credit for a Kill
Oct 23, 1966 · 49 min
Though his friend is badly in need of the reward money, Joe insists it belongs to him, to protect his friend from the dead outlaws' brothers.
Starring: Luana Patten, Charles Maxwell, Jack Gordon, Edward Faulkner
8x08 Four Sisters from Boston
Oct 30, 1966 · 49 min
The Cartwrights come to the rescue of four inexperienced homesteaders, when devious cattle ranchers try to run them off their property.
With: Vera Miles, Morgan Woodward, Ray Teal, Melinda Casey
8x09 Old Charlie
Nov 6, 1966 · 49 min
A young cowpoke is killed during a fight with Hoss, but the old blowhard who runs the Virginia City stables, takes the credit, placing him in danger from the dead man's brothers.
Starring: John McIntire, Ray Teal, Jack Gordon, Jeanette Nolan
8x10 Ballad of the Ponderosa
Nov 13, 1966 · 49 min
A young troubadour, who blames Ben for the death of his father, returns to Virginia City. In one scene, Ben says the young man is welcome to use Adam's guitar.
With: Randy Boone, Robert Foulk
8x11 The Oath
Nov 20, 1966 · 49 min
While in another town, on business, Ben runs into a saloon employee who is a big figure, and after he kills an old miner, who has burned down his house, Ben takes him into the sheriff. He is sentenced and hung. Before his departure, Charlie Monahan, has made his half-breed son, Charlie Two, swear an oath to kill Ben. Little Joe is made aware of this and must track him down to prevent him from carrying out his oath against Ben. Charlie Two is unaware that Joe is Ben's son, as they meet on the trail.
Starring: Tony Bill, Dal McKennon, John Daheim
8x12 A Real Nice, Friendly Little Town
Nov 27, 1966 · 49 min
When the woman he was planning to marry is strangled, Joe forces the only suspect to come forward, in a very tense-filled episode.
Starring: Louise Latham, Jack Gordon, Robert Foulk, Herb Vigran
8x13 The Bridegroom
Dec 4, 1966 · 49 min
Joe plays matchmaker in this story of a rancher attempting to marry off his supposedly unremarkable daughter.
With: Jack Gordon, Jeff Corey, Joanne Linville
8x14 Tommy
Dec 18, 1966 · 49 min
The Cartwrights protect a woman and her deaf-mute little son from the boy's outlaw stepfather.
Starring: Teddy Quinn, Victor Sen Yung, Ray Teal, Janet De Gore
8x15 A Christmas Story
Dec 25, 1966 · 49 min
Warbling Andy Walker returns to Virginia City a big success, along with his shifty Uncle Thaddeus.
Starring: Jack Oakie, Dabbs Greer, Wayne Newton, Victor Sen Yung
8x16 Ponderosa Explosion
Jan 1, 1967 · 49 min
Two Virginia City old-timers fool Hoss and Joe into raising rabbits, and the Ponderosa is overrun with paws and whiskers.
Starring: Chubby Johnson, Dub Taylor, Victor Sen Yung, Chick Chandler
8x17 Justice
Jan 8, 1967 · 49 min
When the woman he was planning to marry is strangled, Joe forces the only suspect to come forward.
With: Shirley Bonne, Beau Bridges, Bing Russell, Victor Sen Yung
8x18 A Bride for Buford
Jan 15, 1967 · 49 min
Dolly Bantree has a crooked manager ""Blackie"", who blackmails Dolly to fleece newly rich miner Buford out of his newfound wealth. Hoss suspects something and gets all duded up to pose as a rich mark to test Dolly.
Starring: Jack Elam, Lola Albright, Victor Sen Yung, Ray Teal
8x19 Black Friday
Jan 22, 1967 · 49 min
In the town of Chiso, Joe encounters a former Ponderosa cowhand who is now a gunfighter and expecting to be killed on Friday the 13th. John Saxon makes the first of his three appearances in the series, in this episode as Steven Friday.
Starring: John Saxon, Ford Rainey, Robert McQueeney
8x20 The Unseen Wound
Jan 29, 1967 · 49 min
Ben discovers that his friend, Sheriff Paul Rowan, is suffering from stress brought on by his wartime experiences.
Starring: Leslie Nielsen, Nancy Malone, Bill Fletcher, Douglas Henderson
8x21 Journey to Terror
Feb 5, 1967 · 49 min
Joe visits his married friends in Arizona Territory, only to discover the husband has become a criminal and is secretly part of a notorious gang.
Starring: Jason Evers, Lory Patrick, John Ericson, Kevin Hagen
8x22 Amigo
Feb 12, 1967 · 49 min
A wounded comanchero sides with the Cartwrights when the rest of the gang, led by Captain Fenner, shows up to burn and rob the Ponderosa.
Starring: Henry Darrow, Anna Navarro, Ray Teal, Gregory Walcott
8x23 A Woman in the House
Feb 19, 1967 · 49 min
Mary Wharton, an old friend of the family, comes to live on the Ponderosa with her shiftless husband. When Ben learns Mary is the victim of domestic abuse, he sends Russ packing.
Starring: Diane Baker, Paul Richards, Victor Sen Yung
8x24 Judgment at Red Creek
Feb 26, 1967 · 49 min
Hoss and Joe have their doubts as to who really robbed a way station, suspecting the two men they captured are innocent.
Starring: John Ireland, Martin West, Harry Carey Jr., Bartlett Robinson
8x25 Joe Cartwright, Detective
Mar 5, 1967 · 49 min
Joe becomes fascinated by detective literature and drags Hoss into the picture when he suspects the bank is going to be robbed.
8x26 Dark Enough to See the Stars
Mar 12, 1967 · 49 min
Young Billy Wilcox wanders onto the Ponderosa, sick, hungry, and alone. Ben finds him, and after he regains his strength, offers Billy a job. Jennifer Yardley, who with her father is visiting the Cartwrights, is interested in Billy. Billy is more concerned about a lawman that has come to town because he has a past that could be problematic: he killed a man in self-defense and ran.
Starring: Linda Foster, Victor Sen Yung
8x27 The Deed and the Dilemma
Mar 26, 1967 · 49 min
Ben assists Georgio Rossi in his battle for water on adjoining property.
With: Brioni Farrell, Bing Russell, Jack Gordon, Penny Santon
8x28 The Prince
Apr 2, 1967 · 49 min
The Cartwrights play host to Russian royals, who are the target of jewel thieves.
Starring: Lloyd Bochner, Warren Stevens, Claire Griswold, Victor Sen Yung
8x29 A Man Without Land
Apr 9, 1967 · 49 min
The foreman of a neighboring ranch frames Joe for murder as part of a scheme to get his employer's property.
Starring: Royal Dano, Bing Russell, Victor Sen Yung, Jack Gordon
8x30 Napoleon's Children
Apr 16, 1967 · 49 min
A gang of juvenile delinquents, led by an intelligent runt, who calls himself Napoleon, terrorizes Virginia City and the Ponderosa as well.
Starring: Kevin O'Neal, Robert Biheller, Bing Russell, Victor Sen Yung
8x31 The Wormwood Cup
Apr 23, 1967 · 49 min
A woman - convinced Little Joe intentionally killed her brother - offers $1,000 to the man who kills the youngest Cartwright in what she deems a ""fair fight."" Joe, meanwhile, must overcome his guilt over killing another man in self defense while trying to avoid the dead man's bitterly grieving father.
Written by: Michael Landon · With: Judi Meredith, Bing Russell, Victor Sen Yung, Frank Overton
8x32 Clarissa
Apr 30, 1967 · 49 min
The Cartwrights' cousin, Clarissa visits. Her assertive, snobbish ways result in nothing but trouble for Ben and his sons.
Starring: Nina Foch, Victor Sen Yung, Ray Teal, Roy Roberts
8x33 Maestro Hoss
May 7, 1967 · 49 min
Hoss is conned into buying a violin from a gypsy fortune teller, and everyone on the Ponderosa--except for Hop Sing--suffers the consequences.
Starring: Zsa Zsa Gabor, Victor Sen Yung, Ray Teal, Kathleen Freeman
8x34 The Greedy Ones Season Finale
May 14, 1967 · 49 min
The Ponderosa is in danger of being overrun by gold hunters.
Starring: Ray Teal, Rudy Doucette, Robert Middleton, George Chandler