Home / Series / Bonanza / Aired Order /

All Seasons

Season 1

  • S01E01 A Rose for Lotta

    • September 12, 1959
    • NBC

    The scene opens to Ben and Adam Cartwright looking at the beautiful scenery of the Ponderosa. This episode is about mine owners wanting Ponderosa timber and Ben won't sell it to them. So they hire an actress and she lures Little Joe into town and the land miners hold him hostage for the timber. Ben and his sons go into town, and spend the whole night looking for Little Joe, and he is busy hiding from the mine owners. In the end they find Little Joe dancing with the actress and they ride into the sunset.

  • S01E02 Death on Sun Mountain

    • September 19, 1959
    • NBC

    Greedy opportunist Mark Burdette and his accomplice Early Thorne stir up trouble between the Paiute tribe and the citizens of Virginia City. Ben discovers Burdette and Thorne are selling antelope beef to the miners and finds the price too high. He offers the miners beef at a more reasonable price. Burdette and Thorne retaliate by framing the Paiute's for attacks, by dressing as them and killing ranchers. Based on a factual accounting. Lorne Greene's first voice-over narration, and no landing constructed yet for the Ponderosa stairway.

  • S01E03 The Newcomers

    • September 26, 1959
    • NBC

    John Pennington and his crew want to mine the Ponderosa land by hydraulic means. Ben is totally against this method and evicts them in short order. Hoss is given the task of telling Pennington's men to leave, but soon has a moral dilemma on his hands when he meets Pennington's beautiful sister, Emily. He soon discovers a heartbreaking secret...she's terminally ill; but their relationship soon leads to plenty of trouble for the Cartwrights.

  • S01E04 The Paiute War

    • October 3, 1959
    • NBC

    Trader Mike Wilson attempts to escape punishment by the Paiute Indians after mistreating two of their women, by placing the blame on Adam. A fierce war between the Paiutes and the California militia follows, and the Paiutes seize Adam as hostage. Very impressive battle scenes in the this first mini-epic of the series. This episode did all it could to stage the real thing; 50 Indians were used and 50 cavalry actors and extras were used, and the production involved three days of shooting on location. This episode encompassed both the biggest cast and most costly stunts. This episode is based on the factual accounting that occured in May and June of 1860.

  • S01E05 Enter Mark Twain

    • October 10, 1959
    • NBC

    Samuel Clemens arrives in Virginia City to write for the Territorial Enterprise at the same time a crooked politician tries to lay claim on the Ponderosa.

  • S01E06 The Julia Bulette Story

    • October 17, 1959
    • NBC

    Little Joe is infatuated wih saloon owner Julia Bulette, whom he imagines is like his late mother. First episode to reveal backround details concerning Marie Cartwright, and inspired by the true story of a Virginia City madam. Also, the first episode to showcase Michael Landon.

  • S01E07 The Saga of Annie O'Toole

    • October 24, 1959
    • NBC

    Adam defends the mining claim of Annie O' Toole in a court presided over by Judge Ben Cartwright. Annie comes to the Washoe Diggings with a claim to a mine filed by her beau, Swede Lundberg. Swede has two claims and sold one to an acquaintance of theirs named Gregory Spain, creating confusion, that only Judge Ben Cartwright can make a ruling on.

  • S01E08 The Philip Diedesheimer Story

    • October 31, 1959
    • NBC

    Adam and Hoss assist a German engineer in developing the concept of "square set timbering" in the mines. Based on fact, and the first episode not to include all four Cartwrights. Hoss refers to the character, Emily, with whom he was in love with in, "The Newcomers."

  • S01E09 Mr. Henry Comstock

    • November 7, 1959
    • NBC

    In a flashback, the legendary prospector arrives on the Ponderosa and participates in the founding of Virginia City. Coincidentally, guest star Jack Carson played a teller at the Comstock Bank and Trust in the 1942 film, "Gentleman Jim". This early classic was the second episode filmed.

  • S01E10 The Magnificent Adah

    • November 14, 1959
    • NBC

    Virginia City is visited by actress Adah Issacs Menken, who happens to be an old acquaintance of Ben's. Joe is badly beaten by Adah's jealous suitor, John C. Regan, who is bested in a fight with an enraged Hoss.

  • S01E11 The Truckee Strip

    • November 21, 1959
    • NBC

    Luther Bishop and Ben Cartwright have had an ongoing land dispute for a number of years, over a small tract called the Truckee Strip. One of Bishop's employee's has a grudge against the Cartwrights and wants to stir up the feud again, while also harboring designs on Bishop's pretty daughter, Amy. Joe meets and falls in love with Amy, in spite of the family differences and the two want to marry. Just when it looks like the feud will end with the union of the two young people, Bishop's man attacks Amy and Joe must come to the rescue.

  • S01E12 The Hanging Posse

    • November 28, 1959
    • NBC

    Adam and Joe reluctantly join a group of vengeful townsmen, who are out to lynch the three men who supposedly killed Vannie Johnson. The posse is run by Paiute Scroggs and Flint Johnson, the dead woman's husband. When Adam and Joe clash with them, they both separate and try to reach the three men before the posse does. This episode's storyline is a variation of the 1943 film "The Ox-Bow Incident".

  • S01E13 Vendetta

    • December 5, 1959
    • NBC

    In a variation of "High Noon", Ben and Hoss must face a gang of outlaws practically all alone when most of Virginia City's citizens go into hiding. The most action-filled episode since "The Paiute War".

  • S01E14 The Sisters

    • December 12, 1959
    • NBC

    This episode begins with Adam defending the honor of Sue Ellen Terry in a duel. No one gets shot because the other man misses Adam and Adam generously shoots in the air to end the duel. Sue Ellen lives with her sister, who seems nice but turns out to be fairly evil, consumed with jealousy because she's getting older and her sister is a young beauty. When Adam drops Sue Ellen off after a date one night, half way through this episode, someone shoots her dead, and Adam becomes a suspect and is thrown in jail. When the sheriff suggests that Adam escape, he does it, but when he walks out, someone tries to shoot him. He chases after them but doesn't find them, and soon after hears Sue Ellen's sister scream. He runs up the stairs to find her dead, and of course, is then suspected of that murder as well. Of course, his family helps him during the last half hour, and it all turns out that someone we should not have suspected did all the murders, but that he actually wasn't trying to hit

  • S01E15 The Last Hunt

    • December 19, 1959
    • NBC

    Hoss and Joe come across a pregnant Indian woman while hunting bighorn sheep and must deliver her baby. Despite touches of humor, including a scene in which Joe refers to a meal as "cattle fodder", the story does not have an altogether happy ending.

  • S01E16 El Toro Grande

    • January 2, 1960
    • NBC

    Ben sends Hoss and Joe to Monterey to purchase an expensive seed bull. The first of Blocker and Landon's many comic misadventures, although the casual use of violence, as in the rapier fight, is oddly uncharacteristic for the series. Hoss reveals his real name to be Eric for the first time.

  • S01E17 The Outcast

    • January 9, 1960
    • NBC

    Because she is related to criminals, a young woman is ostracized by everyone but the the Cartwrights. She unwisely seeks solace with an ex-con friend of Joe's, Clay Renton, and it's up to Ben to straighten everything out. First episode to have a chapter title after the cast credits.

  • S01E18 A House Divided

    • January 16, 1960
    • NBC

    As the Civil War approaches, Adam and Joe clash over which side to support. The situation is complicated by the arrival of Frederick Kyle, a Southern sympathizer. He was an old friend of Joe's mother and viewers also discover that Joe's middle name is Francis.

  • S01E19 The Gunmen

    • January 23, 1960
    • NBC

    In the first all-out comic episode of the series, Hoss and Joe travel to Kiowa Flats, Texas, where they are mistaken for the notorious Slade Brothers, also played by Blocker and Landon.

  • S01E20 The Fear Merchants

    • January 30, 1960
    • NBC

    The Cartwrights encounter racial bigotry in Virginia City and end up protecting a Chinese boy from mob violence. Victor Sen Yung, in his largest role to date, speaks normally in the presence of his fellow countrymen, but reverts to broken English when with the Cartwrights.

  • S01E21 The Spanish Grant

    • February 6, 1960
    • NBC

    In "The Spanish Grant", a young bargirl, Rosita Morales is pretending to be a Spanish noblewoman named Isabella Marie Inez de la Cuesta and at the end of the story, it's revealed she is really Rosita Morales, but on the other hand, is she really Rosita Morales? This little twist at the end is simply entertaining everytime it's viewed, with the viewer able to determine the young woman's real identity at the end of act four.

  • S01E22 Blood on the Land

    • February 13, 1960
    • NBC

    A shiftless sheepherder, Jeb Drummond, encroaches his herd of sheep on the Ponderosa and refuses to budge. He resists all of Ben's attempts to throw him off his land and finally resorts to taking Adam prisoner in exchange for ownership of the ranch.

  • S01E23 Desert Justice

    • February 20, 1960
    • NBC

    When a tough U.S. Marshal from California arrests a Ponderosa hand, Dave Walker, for murder, Adam and Hoss go along to make sure their employee reaches Los Angeles alive. In one scene, Adam is dressed in black for the first time. In another, Hoss, upon seeing Southern California for the first time, remarks, "It sure ain't never gonna amount to much". Later, Adam makes an amusing reference to the chow Joe says he was forced to eat in "The Last Hunt".

  • S01E24 The Stranger

    • February 27, 1960
    • NBC

    Nevada Territory is awaiting statehood, and Ben considers running for governor until he learns he is wanted for murder in New Orleans. Inspector Charles Leduque arrives and says Ben is wanted for commiting the murder 20 years earlier, and after Joe kills his bodyguard in self-defense, Inspector Leduque makes it appear the other way around. Ben has no choice but go with Leduque, to clear his name in a very suspense-filled episode. Once again, there are several references to Joe's mother, and viewers are shown Marie's grave near the shore of Lake Tahoe.

  • S01E25 Escape to Ponderosa

    • March 5, 1960
    • NBC

    After Adam is bushwhacked by three army deserters, Ben tracks them down, and tackles the brutal Captain Bolton who is pursuing them.

  • S01E26 The Avenger

    • March 19, 1960
    • NBC

    A restaurant owner whom Ben and Adam have confronted over stolen Ponderosa beef ends up dead one night. His daughter, Sally Byrnes runs the cafe and in her resentment, wrongfully accuses Ben and Adam of murdering her father and they are sentenced to hang. A rancher by the name of Hawkins is also jealous of the Cartwrights and has hired his men to stop the town from helping Ben and Adam, ensuring they hang. Hoss and Joe are willing to stop them, but Ben insists they stay within the limits of the law.

  • S01E27 The Last Trophy

    • March 26, 1960
    • NBC

    Adam takes Ben's friends, Lord Marion Dunsworth and Lady Beatrice, on a hunting expedition, and they are captured by a gang of crude thieves and murderers. During one early scene, after listening to Ben reminisce, Hoss says, "Always like to hear Pa get wound up. He don't do it often."

  • S01E28 San Francisco

    • April 2, 1960
    • NBC

    In this comic episode, the first to take place far from the ranch, Ben, Hoss, and Joe deliver a herd to San Francisco. Although he warns his sons to be careful in the big city ("This is not the Ponderosa!"), Ben is the one who is shanghaied and must be rescued.

  • S01E29 Bitter Water

    • April 9, 1960
    • NBC

    Len Keith, a miner, wants to purchase some land adjacent to the Ponderosa from rancher Andy McKaren. Andy's son, Tod, is anxious to sell. Keith has offered him a partnership,and more importantly, he is in love with Keith's daughter. When Ben warns Andy that a mine on the property would foul up Ponderosa water, Andy agrees not to sell the land. Len Keith, determined to get that land, plants tick infested cattle in a Ponderosa herd to turn Andy against the Cartwrights.

  • S01E30 Feet of Clay

    • April 16, 1960
    • NBC

    Hoss takes Billy Allen, the young son of a convicted felon under his wing, then is forced to kill his father and Billy will not forgive him. The most emotional Hoss story since "The Newcomers" and one of Blocker's best.

  • S01E31 Dark Star

    • April 23, 1960
    • NBC

    Joe falls in love with Tirza, an undeniably strange gypsy girl who says she is cursed and never does seem to "snap out of it". The first episode of the series with a supernatural flavor, directed appropriately enough, by Lewis Allen, who made the classic ghost film "The Uninvited".

  • S01E32 Death at Dawn

    • April 30, 1960
    • NBC

    Virginia City is plagued by organized crime, Sam Bryant and his gang. One of his men, Farmer Perkins, kills a storekeeper, and at his trial, the wife of the store owner is afraid to testify. When Perkins is sentenced to hang, Bryant kidnaps Ben and wants to exchange Ben for Perkins, which leaves Adam with the most difficult decision of his life. A stellar cast.

Season 2

  • S02E01 Showdown

    • September 10, 1960
    • NBC

    A young bank robber hires on at the Ponderosa in order to keep his gang informed of the law's efforts to discover their whereabouts.

  • S02E02 The Mission

    • September 17, 1960
    • NBC

    Filmed almost entirely outdoors, this is more like a feature than a series. Captain Pender is looking for a scout to lead him and his company of men across the desert, along with a currency shipment they are carrying to another army fort. Charlie Trent, a former scout and now a drunk, still blames himself for his troops being led to massacre. Hoss sees that this is Charlie's opportunity to redeem himself and win back his honor. Meantime, Captain Pender is having trouble with Cutter, another scout who is a devious and cunning bear of a man, who agreed to lead him across the desert, but Pender lets him go and with Hoss' suggestion, Captain Pender agress to have Charlie be their scout.

  • S02E03 Badge Without Honor

    • September 24, 1960
    • NBC

    Adam's life is saved by an enigmatic U. S. Marshal who has come to Virginia City to arrest a friend of the Cartwrights.

  • S02E04 The Mill

    • October 1, 1960
    • NBC

    The Cartwrights construct a grist mill to provide income for a crippled rancher who blames Ben for his predicament. Ben has to contend with the man's depraved caretaker, and finds himself attracted to his wife. "Sons can't be everything," Ben tells her.

  • S02E05 The Hopefuls

    • October 8, 1960
    • NBC

    Adam guides a wagon train of Quakers and falls for the leader's daughter, Regina. The force Adam must employ to protect them, conflicts with their passive philosophy of life.

  • S02E06 Denver McKee

    • October 15, 1960
    • NBC

    While celebrating the return of his daughter Connie, former lawman McKee is asked to assist in the capture of an outlaw gang. While Joe is courting Connie, no one realizes that McKee is involved with the outlaws.

  • S02E07 Day of Reckoning

    • October 22, 1960
    • NBC

    Prejudice erupts on both sides when Ben gives an Indian named Matsou and his wife, some of his land, after saving Ben's life from a renegade Indian who almost killed him on the Ponderosa. An intense and magnetic performance by Ricardo Montalban.

  • S02E08 The Abduction

    • October 29, 1960
    • NBC

    Hoss and Joe take their sweethearts to a colorful and strange carnival for the day. Joe's recent girlfriend Jennifer Beale is abducted by the sinister owner, Philip Reed and his accomplice Gerner. Her father is Joshua Beale, the richest man in the Comstock. Gerner convinces Reed to hold her for a $1 million dollar ransom, and her father will gladly pay them to ensure her safe return. Reed's girlfriend Della Thompson is jealous of Jennifer and has second thoughts about the abduction. Hoss and Joe take notice of Jennifer's disappearance and travel deep into the bowels of the carnival, meeting fierce resistance from the carnival people at every avenue. They come up without a trace of finding her.

  • S02E09 Breed of Violence

    • November 5, 1960
    • NBC

    Joe's friend Dolly Kincaid is the daughter of the sheriff and she's always getting caught up with the wrong crowd. When she gets close to Vince Dagen, Joe gets worried and tries to intervene.

  • S02E10 The Last Viking

    • November 12, 1960
    • NBC

    Gunnar Borgstrom is the leader of a vicious band called the Commancheros. They burn houses, kill people and steal anything of value. When the Commancheros get to Nevada, Gunnar decides to visit his relatives, the Cartwrights. Meanwhile the gang capture Little Joe and his girlfriend. When Gunnar returns to the gang, he has no idea who Joe is because he'd never met his nephew before.

  • S02E11 The Trail Gang

    • November 26, 1960
    • NBC

    On a cattle drive back to Nevada from Texas, Ben hires a young man who is both an outlaw and the son of the sheriff whose town the Ponderosa cowhands are entering.

  • S02E12 The Savage

    • December 3, 1960
    • NBC

    Adam's life is saved by a woman known to the Indians as White Buffalo Woman, but who is actually the daughter of Norwegian immigrants.

  • S02E13 Silent Thunder

    • December 10, 1960
    • NBC

    Captivated by the pretty, deaf-mute daughter of a reclusive mountain man, Little Joe teaches the young woman sign language. Thrilled with her newfound ability to communicate, Annie mistakes her gratitude to Little Joe for love, much to the chagrin of Albie, who is determined to have her for his own.

  • S02E14 The Ape

    • December 17, 1960
    • NBC

    Hoss becomes friends with dull-witted Arnie Gurnie, who is a brute of a man with the mentality of a child. His temper scares everybody, including the Cartwrights.

  • S02E15 The Blood Line

    • December 31, 1960
    • NBC

    Ben feels responsible for the son of a man he was forced to kill, but the young man is determined to get even. A professional gunman offers to do the job for him.

  • S02E16 The Courtship

    • January 7, 1961
    • NBC

    Hoss plans to marry the widow of one of Ben's friends, not knowing she is a compulsive gambler and refusing to believe it when the other Cartwrights confront him with the truth.

  • S02E17 The Spitfire

    • January 14, 1961
    • NBC

    Joe becomes the target of a tough and vengeful Kentucky family, after he kills one of them who almost sets the Ponderosa on fire and the Cartwrights take in the dead man's daughter.

  • S02E18 The Bride

    • January 21, 1961
    • NBC

    The Cartwright boys are surprised to find that a woman, claiming to have recently married their father, shows up on their doorstep. When Ben gets home, he is just as surprised as they are. Has the lady been swindled by a con-man, or is she something of a con-woman herself?

  • S02E19 Bank Run

    • January 28, 1961
    • NBC

    When they "rob" the bank in Virginia City to save depositors from being cleaned out by its president, Hoss and Joe wind up wanted by the law.

  • S02E20 The Fugitive

    • February 4, 1961
    • NBC

    Adam goes to Mexico to find out how the son of a family friend was killed, only to learn the man is still alive.

  • S02E21 Vengeance

    • February 11, 1961
    • NBC

    Hoss accidentally kills a drunk he was trying to disarm. The man's brother bushwhacks Hoss, who has lost the will to live. Joe makes a promise to Hoss that he will kill Red Twilight, the vengeful brother who bushwhacked Hoss, no matter what happens, and will not let Adam stand in his way.

  • S02E22 The Tax Collector

    • February 18, 1961
    • NBC

    The kindness Hoss extends to shiftless Jock Henry is not exactly repaid when Henry becomes an assistant assessor and raises the Ponderosa's annual tax bill from $375 to $1700.

  • S02E23 The Rescue

    • February 25, 1961
    • NBC

    The Cartwright boys are concerned that Ben might be getting on in years, yet it is he who saves them from cattle rustlers.

  • S02E24 The Dark Gate

    • March 4, 1961
    • NBC

    Adam is confused by the sudden behavior of his good friend, Ross Marquette. He beats up his wife, Delphine, after accusing her of having an affair with Adam. He also joins a group of rustlers and killers and helps rob a gold shipment. Adam thinks Ross is suffering from insanity, in this highlight of season two.

  • S02E25 The Duke

    • March 11, 1961
    • NBC

    Hoss takes on The Duke Of London, an arrogant, abusive bare-knuckle fighter, though his brawn is no match for the Duke's agile skills.

  • S02E26 Cutthroat Junction

    • March 18, 1961
    • NBC

    When freight company detective Jed Trask is fired after a decade of service, he joins the thieves preventing supplies from reaching Virginia City.

  • S02E27 The Gift

    • April 1, 1961
    • NBC

    While crossing the desert to Yuma, Arizona with a white stallion intended as a birthday present for Ben, Joe runs into a pack of merciless comancheros. His companion, a former comanchero, Emiliano, who raised the horse, must get he and Joe through safely.

  • S02E28 The Rival

    • April 15, 1961
    • NBC

    Jim Applegate, Hoss' rival for the affections of Cameo Johnson, is a member of a vigilante group who lynched an innocent man and his wife.

  • S02E29 The Infernal Machine

    • April 22, 1961
    • NBC

    Hoss believes in his friend's primitive version of the automobile in this lighthearted, yet sad episode. When the "car" uses up the last of its fuel, Hoss remarks, "Dadburn it, I still say it woulda worked".

  • S02E30 The Thunderhead Swindle

    • April 29, 1961
    • NBC

    With Virginia City on the verge of economic ruin, out of work miners put their hopes in word of a strike at a mine everbody believed was played out. Ben suspects the new owners have been stealing silver from an adjoining mine also thought dry, and resolves to prove it.

  • S02E31 The Secret

    • May 6, 1961
    • NBC

    Joe is the victim of an elaborate frame-up, accused of murdering a pregnant girl. When Ben is asked if Joe is telling the truth, he replies, "If I were to start doubting my son at this point, everything I've lived and worked for would be lost".

  • S02E32 The Dream Riders

    • May 20, 1961
    • NBC

    To finance his dream of constructing an airship capable of crossing the Atlantic, Ben's old friend plans to rob the Virginia City bank while diverting the citizens' attention with a hot air balloon.

  • S02E33 Elizabeth, My Love

    • May 27, 1961
    • NBC

    At the bedside of a seriously ill Adam, Ben thinks back to his days as a first mate in the merchant marines and his marriage to Adam's mother, Elizabeth Stoddard.

  • S02E34 Sam Hill

    • June 3, 1961
    • NBC

    Blacksmith Sam Hill fights to keep the land on which his mother is buried, after his drunken father signs the deed over to Colonel Tyson and his private army. Poetic episode written by John T. Kelley and directed by Robert Altman.

Season 3

  • S03E01 The Smiler

    • September 24, 1961
    • NBC

    A drunk is killed in a saloon brawl with Hoss, and though the man's brother insists there are no hard feelings, he is actually a silver-tongued devil bent on revenge.

  • S03E02 Springtime

    • October 1, 1961
    • NBC

    A friend of Ben's (Mr. Milbank) arrives at the Ponderosa at a bad time...when the Cartwright boys are fighting in the mud. Mr. Milbank, who is injured by a flying log during the fight, gives an assignment to each of the three boys. Can they fulfill the assignments, or has Springtime gotten to them all?

  • S03E03 The Honor of Cochise

    • October 8, 1961
    • NBC

    The Cartwrights and a bigoted army captain are pinned down by Cochise and his braves, who claim the officer poisoned 30 of their people.

  • S03E04 The Lonely House

    • October 15, 1961
    • NBC

    Little Joe pays a visit to the widow Lee Bolden, and brings her a bank draft for her husband's investments with Ben. Actually, the investments were losing propositions. Ben just wanted to help out his friend. During his visit, a wounded man stumbles into the house, and Joe recognizes him as Trock, who had just robbed the local bank. Lee Bolden was a nurse to her husband physician, and removes the bullet from Trock. Joe soon learns that Lee is in love with Trock, and that is the only thing standing between him and an early grave.

  • S03E05 The Burma Rarity

    • October 22, 1961
    • NBC

    In this comic episode involving a precious emerald and the sweet widow, Clemantine Hawkins who is attracted to Ben, turns the tables on a pair of land swindlers.

  • S03E06 Broken Ballad

    • October 29, 1961
    • NBC

    Adam tries to help a reformed gunman who wants only to live peacefully near Virginia City. Good story without a tidy ending. Pernell's first chance to sing on the series.

  • S03E07 The Many Faces of Gideon Flinch

    • November 5, 1961
    • NBC

    Hoss and Joe become involved when "Bullethead" Burke vows revenge on an old man he claims cheated him in an investment deal.

  • S03E08 The Friendship

    • November 12, 1961
    • NBC

    Joe befriends and takes responsibility for an ex-convict named Danny. Danny loves horses and is not used to people's ways on the outside of jail. Will his rough jailhouse upbringing mar any hopes of friendship?

  • S03E09 The Countess

    • November 19, 1961
    • NBC

    A woman Ben once loved, Lady Chadwick, returns and attempts to trick him into marrying her by ruining his business. Ben says almost losing the Ponderosa will make him and his sons appreciate it more.

  • S03E10 The Horse Breaker

    • November 26, 1961
    • NBC

    A professional wrangler working for the Cartwrights is paralyzed when thrown by a particularly mean bronco. The woman nursing him was once engaged to the late son of a neighboring rancher out to get Ben.

  • S03E11 Day of the Dragon

    • December 3, 1961
    • NBC

    Joe wins a card game and an unexpected prize...a young lady. She goes to the Ponderosa and serves them, not wanting to be set free. Meanwhile, an army is looking for her and the Cartwrights.

  • S03E12 The Frenchman

    • December 10, 1961
    • NBC

    An irritating man who boasts of being the reincarnation of French poet Francois Villion shows up causing trouble for the Cartwrights.

  • S03E13 The Tin Badge

    • December 17, 1961
    • NBC

    Joe accepts the job of temporary sheriff in the town of Rubicon, unaware he is being used to facilitate a scheme involving murder.

  • S03E14 Gabrielle

    • December 24, 1961
    • NBC

    In this Christmas story, inspired by Johanna Spyri's "Heidi", Hoss and Joe come across a blind girl whose family has been killed in a wagon wreck, learning later that her grandfather is a bitter hermit who spent 21 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.

  • S03E15 Land Grab

    • December 31, 1961
    • NBC

    The Ponderosa is overrun with settlers bearing phony property deeds, and one of Ben's oldest friends is responsible.

  • S03E16 The Tall Stranger

    • January 7, 1962
    • NBC

    Hoss plans to marry Margie, a pretty blonde, but Margie becomes fascinated with a tall, traveling stranger named Mark Connors. Margie marries Mark but soon finds it was far from a match made in heaven.

  • S03E17 The Lady from Baltimore

    • January 14, 1962
    • NBC

    An overbearing friend of the family tries to force her daughter into marrying Joe, though she does not love him. The situation grows more complex when Adam stumbles onto the scheme.

  • S03E18 The Ride

    • January 21, 1962
    • NBC

    Adam races against the clock to prove a man who was once his friend is guilty of robbery and murder and Adam is convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt he is guilty.

  • S03E19 The Storm

    • January 28, 1962
    • NBC

    Joe plans to marry Laura White, daughter of a man Ben once sailed with, but she is fatally ill. Ben consoles him with words spoken years before, by the father of Adam's mother.

  • S03E20 The Auld Sod

    • February 4, 1962
    • NBC

    The Cartwrights pretend the Ponderosa belongs to the town lush, when his aging mother from Ireland arrives.

  • S03E21 Gift of Water

    • February 11, 1962
    • NBC

    The Cartwrights dig a well, build a rig and a windmill for a drought-stricken farm family.

  • S03E22 The Jackknife

    • February 18, 1962
    • NBC

    Adam gives a second chance to a family man he suspects is one of the rustlers who has been hitting the Ponderosa herds.

  • S03E23 The Guilty

    • February 25, 1962
    • NBC

    When Ben fails to prevent the death of a friend's son, Adam and Joe, concerned by their father's depression, attempt to prove there was nothing he could have done.

  • S03E24 The Wooing of Abigail Jones

    • March 4, 1962
    • NBC

    In order to keep peace on the ranch, Hoss and Joe try to help ranch hand, Hank Meyers woo the the plain-looking schoolteacher, Abigail Jones. When their first plan backfires, they convince Adam (who doesn't want to get involved) to help and this makes things worse because Abigail believes it is Adam who is wooing her and Hank Meyers believes Adam wants to steal her away.

  • S03E25 The Lawmaker

    • March 11, 1962
    • NBC

    Ben supports the appointment of Asa Moran as Virginia City's temporary sheriff, but Moran goes overboard with his authority, jailing Adam in the process and pistol-whipping a Ponderosa hand.

  • S03E26 Look to the Stars

    • March 18, 1962
    • NBC

    A young genius, Albert Michaelson, vies for a scholarship. Adam assists Albert in the boy's experiments. Albert only needs the school teacher's approval to be granted a scholarship-which will be very difficult to get considering Albert was expelled from school.

  • S03E27 The Gamble

    • April 1, 1962
    • NBC

    In the town of Alkali, the Cartwrights are jailed on false charges of robbery and murder, but Joe escapes and returns with an army of Ponderosa hands.

  • S03E28 The Crucible

    • April 8, 1962
    • NBC

    Adam is left to die in the desert after two thieves take $5,000 and his horse from him. Near death, he stumbles into an old prospector named Kane who offers to lend him a mule and supplies in exchange for three day's work at his mine. Kane, however, turns out to be a demented madman. He holds Adam prisoner and tortures him to prove his theory that anyone could be driven to kill, even a man as rational as Adam. This is Pernell Robert's favorite episode along with "The Wooing Of Abigail Jones".

  • S03E29 Inger, My Love

    • April 15, 1962
    • NBC

    Ben indulges in a nostalgic reverie about Hoss's deceased mother. Having worked his way west to Galesburg, IL., Ben is befriended by a girl named Inger, the fiancee of the tavern owner who gave him a job.

  • S03E30 Blessed Are They

    • April 22, 1962
    • NBC

    When two feuding families argue over the custody of two orphaned children, a reluctant Ben is called upon to straighten out the situation before real trouble erupts.

  • S03E31 The Dowry

    • April 29, 1962
    • NBC

    The Cartwrights get mixed up in the romance of a phony heiress and an equally phony land baron.

  • S03E32 The Long Night

    • May 6, 1962
    • NBC

    Ben, Joe and Adam travel to Bowleg to pay the yearly taxes on the Ponderosa. After the transaction is completed, Ben and Joe ride over the summit to join the cattle drive. Adam is on his way to Genoa and is carrying a $10,000 bank draft his father has given him. A prison guard rides into town and announces two hombres have broke out and escaped who are holdup men and killers. Elmer Trace and his partner Poindexter were assisted by a guard in escaping prison and they betray him on the trail. Trace takes his clothes, horse and firearms, leaving Poindexter with only a rifle and rides off. Meanwhile, the Sheriff of Bowleg organizes a posse immediately.

  • S03E33 The Mountain Girl

    • May 13, 1962
    • NBC

    Joe promises a dying sheepman he will make sure the old man's granddaughter gets her rightful inheritance from a wealthy San Francisco family. This episode was filmed immediately after "Inger, My Love", which explains why Blocker's arm is still in a sling.

  • S03E34 The Miracle Maker

    • May 20, 1962
    • NBC

    Hoss blames himself when a young woman is crippled in a wagon accident, and hopes a faith healer can help her walk again.

Season 4

  • S04E01 The First Born

    • September 23, 1962
    • NBC

    Clay Stafford signs on to work for the Cartwrights and shortly afterwards shoots and kills a man who accuses him of cheating at poker. The miners warn Clay to leave town, but it appears he killed in self-defense. Surprisingly, he tells Little Joe that he is his half-brother, and Marie was his mother. Ben listens to his story and takes his word for it, but Adam and Hoss think he should wire the judge in New Orleans to confirm Clay's real identity. Meanwhile, Clay and Joe develop a close relationship, but the vengeful miners still want Clay out of Virginia City and their first warning, is when Joe is beaten up by them. Ultimately, Clay decides life on the ranch is not for him.

  • S04E02 The Quest

    • September 30, 1962
    • NBC

    Determined to prove he can succeed at something without the help of his Pa, Hoss, and Adam, Joe sets out on his quest and wins a timber contract for Ponderosa timber, and later discovers that having a family to rely on can definitely be an asset.

  • S04E03 The Artist

    • October 7, 1962
    • NBC

    Ben helps Matthew Raine, a famous painter who has gone blind and now wallows in self-pity, discover a new purpose in life. However, Raine's employee Gavin has other ideas.

  • S04E04 A Hot Day for a Hanging

    • October 14, 1962
    • NBC

    Hoss is jailed for robbing the bank in Dutchman Flats, a town on the brink of economic collapse, even the sheriff knows he is innocent, but a lynch mob gathers and Hoss' fate is not good.

  • S04E05 The Deserter

    • October 21, 1962
    • NBC

    An Indian-hating officer, Colonel Edward J. Dunwoody, comes to the Ponderosa looking for army deserter Bill Winters, who is a good friend of the Cartwrights. Bill happens to be his son and is married to an Indian. It seemed Bill deserted when he was ordered to massacre the Shoshone, by poisoning their food and water, genocide. The Shoshone find out and abduct Bill's father.

  • S04E06 The Way Station

    • October 29, 1962
    • NBC

    With a storm brewing, Adam takes refuge at a way station, run by cantankerous Jesse and his young grandaughter Marty, who yearns to see what exists away from the way station. The station is also visited by Luke Martin, a killer who is running from a posse. He makes Marty an empty promise to take her with him and see the world together, but Adam steps in and suggests Luke let her alone. Everybody but Marty is relieved to see him go, but he quickly returns and holds everyone hostage to protect himself from the posse.

  • S04E07 The War Comes to Washoe

    • November 4, 1962
    • NBC

    The Civil War once again divides the citizens of Nevada, as well as Adam and Joe Cartwright. One of season four's highlights, the plot involving British spy Bill Stewart, based on historical fact.

  • S04E08 Knight Errant

    • November 18, 1962
    • NBC

    Hoss volunteers to pickup an injured neighbor's mail-order bride, but by the time they return, she has fallen in love with Hoss and a price is put on Hoss' head.

  • S04E09 The Beginning

    • November 25, 1962
    • NBC

    Billy Horne is a white man who was captured by the Shoshone when he was six. He comes into Ben & Joe's campsite one night uninvited. They capture him and take him to town. Roy Coffee wants to put him in jail for safekeeping, but Ben says he'll take him to the Ponderosa. They buy Horne clothes and become friends to him. A guy named Milton Tanner says the deed to the Ponderosa is weak and tries to take a third of it. Billy goes to Tanner's ranch and warns him that he will kill him if he tries to take the land. Tanner turns his dog loose on Billy. Billy kills the dog and then Tanner, who is going for a gun. Billy pleads guilty, but breaks out. Eventually he goes back with Joe and tells what really happened.

  • S04E10 The Deadly Ones

    • December 2, 1962
    • NBC

    The Ponderosa becomes a war zone when it is invaded by a detachment of Mexican mercenaries under General Diaz. The general is furious when one of his men, Forsythe, disobeys his orders to get a hostage peacefully, and instead shoots Little Joe in the back. Diaz forces Ben to lead his men over the back roads of the Ponderosa, so they can ambush a gold train led by Emperor Maximilian's men.

  • S04E11 Gallagher's Sons

    • December 9, 1962
    • NBC

    Hoss helps Charlie and Will (Charlotte and Willomina), two young girls who just lost their father. They go on a journey to find their only nearby relative, Aunt Cloe. Charlie takes with her a stolen sack of money that her father gave her and tries her best to lose Hoss. Four bandits show up looking for the loot Charlie has. In the end, Hoss finds out about the stolen money and talks the girls into giving it back. He puts them in dresses and sends them off to Boston on a stage, telling them they did the right thing and will probably get the money back as a reward for helping capture the bandits!

  • S04E12 The Decision

    • December 16, 1962
    • NBC

    Hoss is seriously injured internally and Ben seeks help from the only doctor within 50 miles, who happens to be in prison for murder. Ben talks to the judge, and with some convincing, talks him into letting the doctor look at Hoss. Danny, who works for the Doctor, tells Ben what he saw about the murder. Ben discovers what really happened and proves to the judge that the doctor really is innocent. The judge stops the hanging and Hoss survives.

  • S04E13 The Good Samaritan

    • December 23, 1962
    • NBC

    Hoss decides to help out Wade Tyree and introduces him to Abigail and her daughter, Bonnie. Hoss hopes this will stop Wade's constant drinking. Wade soon marries Abigail, but when things don't go his way, he goes back to drinking. Hoss helps out by helping the new family plant crops. When no rain comes, Hoss introduces them to irrigation, and Abigail faints while watering the crops. Wade realizes he has been a terrible husband and father, but gets a second chance when Abigail finds out she is going to have another child. Abigail and Bonnie both forgive Wade and a new family is born!

  • S04E14 The Jury

    • December 30, 1962
    • NBC

    When Hoss is responsible for causing a hung jury, Ben tells him, "a man is never wrong doing what he thinks is right", and Adam attempts to validate his brother's reasonable doubt.

  • S04E15 The Colonel

    • January 6, 1963
    • NBC

    Frank Medford, a figure from Ben's "wild, misspent youth", shows up in Virginia City, and though down on his luck, creates troubles for the Cartwrights by claiming to be a successful businessman.

  • S04E16 Song in the Dark

    • January 13, 1963
    • NBC

    Adam's guitar-strumming friend, ranch hand Danny Morgan, is arrested on suspicion of murdering and robbing the Widow Baker. Someone had reported hearing Danny singing outside her place at the time of the murder. More, importantly, Morgan has bad scratches on his arm, and the widow was found with human skin under her fingernails. Adam is thoroughly convinced that Danny couldn't have done it; the two became friends after Danny saved Adam's life a few years ago.

  • S04E17 Elegy for a Hangman

    • January 20, 1963
    • NBC

    A stranger, Bob Jolly, arrives in Virginia City to accuse a drunken Judge Harry Whitaker of sending his innocent father, Carl, to the gallows. Adam defends the judge's honor because of his long friendship with the Cartwrights. After Adam talks with Jolly, he begins to believe his story. Upon further investigation, Adam discovers that Senator Cal Prince and Hobie Klinderman as well as the judge might have had a lot to gain from Carl Jolly's murder. In an attempt to learn what really happened, Adam organizes an informal meeting in the saloon.

  • S04E18 Half a Rogue

    • January 27, 1963
    • NBC

    In this entertaining episode, laced with humor, Hoss first meets mountain man Jim Leyton. Bing Russell makes his first appearance as Deputy Clem Foster.

  • S04E19 The Last Haircut

    • February 3, 1963
    • NBC

    A vain outlaw murders a man in front of witnesses, including Joe, but a clever lawyer is able to get him acquitted. Though enraged, Joe has to convince the dead man's son it is wrong to take the law into their own hands.

  • S04E20 Marie, My Love

    • February 10, 1963
    • NBC

    When Cochise falls on Joe, Ben cannot help but remember that is how Marie Cartwright was killed. He thinks back to meeting her in New Orleans in a rather confusing story not quite in synch with details discussed in "The First Born".

  • S04E21 The Hayburner

    • February 17, 1963
    • NBC

    For a change, it is Adam rather than Joe who becomes mixed up in one of Hoss' funny exploits. Together they purchase a thoroughbred horse, and end up competing against their little brother in the big Virginia City race. This is Pernell Robert's favorite comedy episode.

  • S04E22 The Actress

    • February 24, 1963
    • NBC

    Joe becomes romantically involved with a woman who considers herself a serious dramatic actress. Unfortunately, she is the only one who does.

  • S04E23 A Stranger Passed This Way

    • March 3, 1963
    • NBC

    Hoss develops amnesia after being bushwhacked and hit over the head by two outlaws and moves in with a Dutch couple. The woman regards him as a substitute for her dead son, and unless he recovers his memory, the other Cartwrights fear he will leave them forever.

  • S04E24 The Way of Aaron

    • March 10, 1963
    • NBC

    Adam takes a shine to Rebecca Kaufman, the daughter of a Jewish peddler, and bandits are convinced the Kaufman wagon is worth robbing.

  • S04E25 A Woman Lost

    • March 17, 1963
    • NBC

    Ben's attempt to rehabilitate an alcoholic singer he knew in better days are complicated by her involvment with a former prize fighter.

  • S04E26 Any Friend of Walter's

    • March 24, 1963
    • NBC

    Classic comedy in which Hoss first meets prospector Obie and his lazy but allegedly brilliant mongrel dog, Walter.

  • S04E27 Mirror of a Man

    • March 31, 1963
    • NBC

    The peaceful world of a Ponderosa hand is disturbed by the arrival of his no-good father and twin brother, who is a wanted man.

  • S04E28 My Brother's Keeper

    • April 7, 1963
    • NBC

    While hunting for a wolf, Joe is attacked by the wolf. Adam also hunting for the wolf, hears Joe struggling with the wolf comes to Joe's aid. He fires his rifle but the bullet hits Joe. Adam hurries over knocks the wolf off Joe, shoots, and then kills the wolf. The damage has already been done with the wolf bite and Adam's bullet in Joe. Adam has to rush his little brother back to the Ponderosa. Will he make it back to save Little Joe's life, since the wolf's bite is fatal?

  • S04E29 Five into the Wind

    • April 21, 1963
    • NBC

    After their stagecoach crashes, a group of rag-tag passengers and Joe must get out of the desert alive. One of the passengers may or may not be a murderer and Joe is accused.

  • S04E30 Saga of Whizzer McGee

    • April 28, 1963
    • NBC

    Hoss becomes concerned for the welfare of an insecure, belligerent fellow who is as small as Hoss is large. Interesting blend of comedy and pathos that ends unpredictably.

  • S04E31 Thunder Man

    • May 5, 1963
    • NBC

    Little Joe's 19-year old girlfriend is killed by a good samaritan, an explosives expert who had stopped to render aid to the woman's uncle after he suffers a stroke. Unable to talk, the only clue he can offer the investigating Cartwrights is a scrawled title of the song the assailant was whistling — "New Orleans Woman."

  • S04E32 Rich Man, Poor Man

    • May 12, 1963
    • NBC

    Claude Miller, the laughingstock of Virginia City, gets even with everyone who made fun of him when he strikes it rich.

  • S04E33 The Boss

    • May 19, 1963
    • NBC

    Ben regrets that he helped Tom Slayden start a freight hauling business when Slayden sets out to ruin all the competition, and Joe is shot in the process.

  • S04E34 Little Man...Ten Feet Tall

    • May 26, 1963
    • NBC

    When a Italian immigrant comes to the Ponderosa, he decides he wants to give up the guitar to become a cowboy.

Season 5

  • S05E01 She Walks in Beauty

    • September 22, 1963
    • NBC

    Hoss wants to marry mysterious Regan Miller, a woman with less than a pristine past. When he thinks Adam is trying to steal her away, he loses control and beats Adam up.

  • S05E02 A Passion for Justice

    • September 29, 1963
    • NBC

    Renowned English novelist Charles Dickens comes to Virginia City. In short order, he is accused of a crime he didn't commit. The problem then becomes how to convince the stubborn author to defend himself.

  • S05E03 Rain from Heaven

    • October 6, 1963
    • NBC

    A destitute rainmaker and his family arrive in drought-stricken Virginia City. While Ben tries to help him make rain, Hoss tends to the man's seriously ill little girl.

  • S05E04 Twilight Town

    • October 13, 1963
    • NBC

    Joe is bushwhacked in the desert and awakens to find himself in Martinville, a town that may or may not be populated by ghosts. An errie, surrealistic and well-produced episode.

  • S05E05 The Toy Soldier

    • October 20, 1963
    • NBC

    Adam encounters drunken artist James Callan, branded a "squaw man" because he is married to an Indian, and whose talent is going to waste in the town of Sheep Head.

  • S05E06 A Question of Strength

    • October 27, 1963
    • NBC

    Hoss and a pair of nuns, the younger one having a difficult time training for the order, are robbed and stranded at a way station.

  • S05E07 Calamity Over the Comstock

    • November 3, 1963
    • NBC

    Joe has a run-in with Calamity Jane, and takes her home with him after promising her dying father to take care of her. At first the Cartwrights (besides Joe) think "Cal" is a boy, but they soon find out differently. Cal begins to fall in love with Joe, but Joe finds her attentions unwanted...especially when Cal's boyfriend, Doc Holliday, has it in for Joe.

  • S05E08 Journey Remembered

    • November 10, 1963
    • NBC

    Ben finds an old journal that he kept while in a wagon train travelling from St. Joseph, Missouri to Ash Hollow. As he is reading it Ben remembers the journey he undertook with his wife Inger and a young Adam. During the trip Hoss is born and they have trouble with some Indians.

  • S05E09 The Quality of Mercy

    • November 17, 1963
    • NBC

    Joe struggles to understand whether his friend was right in killing a dying man who pleaded to put out of his misery.

  • S05E10 The Waiting Game

    • December 8, 1963
    • NBC

    Adam becomes involved with the recently widowed Laura Dayton and her little girl, Peggy.

  • S05E11 The Legacy

    • December 15, 1963
    • NBC

    Adam, Hoss and Joe mistakenly believe their father was murdered. They split into 3 different directions to confront the supposed killers. In his heart, Ben knows his sons will not act outside the law; but he is not 100% sure that Joe will behave correctly.

  • S05E12 Hoss and the Leprechauns

    • December 22, 1963
    • NBC

    In what is arguably the best comedy of the series, Hoss swears he has seen green elves running around the Ponderosa and a smooth-talking Irishman complicates matters even worse.

  • S05E13 The Prime of Life

    • December 29, 1963
    • NBC

    Ben becomes irritable and reckless when the completion of an important timber contract is hindered by an old rival.

  • S05E14 The Lila Conrad Story

    • January 5, 1964
    • NBC

    Joe and Adam protect a saloon girl, who has killed in self-defense, from an angry lynch mob. The accompanying Judge, along with his wife, takes a liking to Lila, and before it is all over, he and Lila discover much more about themselves.

  • S05E15 Ponderosa Matador

    • January 12, 1964
    • NBC

    Adam, Hoss, and Joe vie for the attention of a pretty young lady named Dolores. Hoss talks Joe into entering a bull fight, but it doesn't work out quite as planned.

  • S05E16 My Son, My Son

    • January 19, 1964
    • NBC

    Ben's plans to marry Katherine Saunders are upset when her son Eden is accused of killing his former girlfriend.

  • S05E17 Alias Joe Cartwright

    • January 26, 1964
    • NBC

    A man who looks similar to Joe uses Joe's name and gets Joe in the position of facing the firing squad.

  • S05E18 The Gentleman from New Orleans

    • February 2, 1964
    • NBC

    The new stranger in town claims to be the famous pirate Jean Lafitte, and Hoss believes him.

  • S05E19 The Cheating Game

    • February 9, 1964
    • NBC

    In this sequel to "The Waiting Game", Laura resents Adam's advice on how she ought to be running her ranch. A newcomer, Ward Bannister, comes to her aid, but is actually part of a scheme to steal her ranch.

  • S05E20 Bullet for a Bride

    • February 16, 1964
    • NBC

    While out hunting for a mountain lion, Joe accidently shots Tessa Caldwell causing her to go blind. As a result of his guilt, Joe ends up proposing to the girl. However, other circumstances arise that cause Tessa to make a rash decision - one that both her and Joe may regret in the future.

  • S05E21 King of the Mountain

    • February 23, 1964
    • NBC

    When mountain man Jim Leyton decides to marry, he chooses Hoss as his best man. Julie's father, Grizzly, does not agree and Hoss must come to the rescue.

  • S05E22 Love Me Not

    • March 1, 1964
    • NBC

    While talking with an Indian, Ben is given an unexpected present...a woman. She is a young white woman named Joan who has lived with the Indians since she was a little girl. Through a humorous learning experience, Ben tries to teach Joan how to behave like a white woman. In the process, Ben finds himself in an awkward situation.

  • S05E23 The Pure Truth

    • March 8, 1964
    • NBC

    Hoss is suffering from spring fever, goes to the wrong town and is accused of bank robbery.

  • S05E24 No Less a Man

    • March 15, 1964
    • NBC

    The town council feels Roy Coffee can no longer do his job, and with the notorious Wagner gang on their way to rob the bank, everyone is in a panic. Ben and Adam disagree with the town council and do what they can to help Roy out.

  • S05E25 Return to Honor

    • March 22, 1964
    • NBC

    Ben must travel to pay his respects after he learns of the death of his nephew Will. When he visits the grave, he finds his nephew barely alive with a bullet wound. He takes him to a doctor and Will insists that he leave, but Ben refuses. Will explains that the men after him must believe that he is dead. Ben decides his best bet is to take Will home. He and Will are followed by the same men who are interested in some valuables Will is carrying.

  • S05E26 The Saga of Muley Jones

    • March 29, 1964
    • NBC

    The Cartwrights are visited by their second cousin, Muley Jones of Weedville, Missouri who sings with a window-shattering voice and stirs up trouble with Indian negotiations that Ben is trying to ensure.

  • S05E27 The Roper

    • April 5, 1964
    • NBC

    Will is having second thoughts about staying on at the Ponderosa, and outlaws hit the ranch and take him with them. The leader, Lee Hewitt, is a young killer and plans on robbing the Ponderosa, so Will must take action to save himself, Hewitt's wife, the doctor, and his newfound relatives, the Cartwrights.

  • S05E28 A Pink Cloud Comes from Old Cathay

    • April 12, 1964
    • NBC

    A headstrong Chinese girl (Marlo Thomas) visiting the Cartwrights incites labor unrest among local workers.

  • S05E29 The Companeros

    • April 19, 1964
    • NBC

    Mateo Ibara and his wife Carla visit the Ponderosa. Ibara asks Will to return to Mexico with him. Ibara and Will fought together for Juarez's cause and Ibara saved Will's life. For this reason, Will feels obligated to Ibara, but Ben is suspicious of the man's motives.

  • S05E30 Enter Thomas Bowers

    • April 26, 1964
    • NBC

    After a triumphant tour in Europe, a famous Negro singer encounters racial prejudice in Virginia City when he arrives for a concert.

  • S05E31 The Dark Past

    • May 3, 1964
    • NBC

    Moody bounty hunter, Dev Farnum, shows up on the Ponderosa, where the Cartwrights are harboring the wife of the man he is after.

  • S05E32 The Pressure Game

    • May 10, 1964
    • NBC

    Laura Dayton's Aunt Lil comes to visit and quickly decides it's time she help the hesitant Adam propose to her favorite niece. Her plan is to make Adam jealous by using his cousin Will but it doesn't go exactly as planned.

  • S05E33 Triangle

    • May 17, 1964
    • NBC

    Adam and Laura are finally engaged. Adam is secretly building a house and planning for the future. Laura realizes that it's Will she is in love with. Adam is then confined to a wheelchair after falling from a ladder and out of guilt, Laura and Will deny their feelings.

  • S05E34 Walter and the Outlaws

    • May 24, 1964
    • NBC

    Hilarious sequel to "Any Friend Of Walter's" in which Obie leaves Walter in Hoss' care. The three outlaws, Macy, Teague, and Willard, kidnap Walter and hold him for ransom, leaving Hoss and the returning Obie to rescue him, but matters turn out the other way.

Season 6

  • S06E01 Invention of a Gunfighter

    • September 20, 1964
    • NBC

    Joe teaches Johnny Chapman how to use a gun for defense. What Joe doesn't see is the deadly consequences that it has in the long run when Johnny becomes a gunfighter.

  • S06E02 The Hostage

    • September 27, 1964
    • NBC

    Outlaws capture Ben and hide him in an abandoned mine, holding him for a ransom. The boys must come up with a plan to save him before it's too late.

  • S06E03 The Wild One

    • October 4, 1964
    • NBC

    Lafe Jessup doesn't really want to be married, and now he's about to be a father! The horse wrangler finds a fight with Hoss at his reluctance to perform his duties.

  • S06E04 Thanks for Everything, Friend

    • October 11, 1964
    • NBC

    After inadvertantly falling into the river, Adam is rescued by Tom Wilson. Wilson has feelings for Sue Miller, which bring him into trouble after her father is killed.

  • S06E05 Logan's Treasure

    • October 18, 1964
    • NBC

    Sam Logan is released from jail after serving his twenty year sentence for stealing $100,000 worth of gold dust. He is followed by a bounty hunter who believes Sam will lead him to where the gold is buried.

  • S06E06 The Scapegoat

    • October 25, 1964
    • NBC

    Hoss hires Waldo as a ranch hand after keeping Waldo from killing himself. Hoss soon learns that Waldo is lousy at his job and only causes problems for everyone else due to his clumsiness. Although Hoss is willing to defend him, he soon finds out a secret about Waldo.

  • S06E07 A Dime's Worth of Glory

    • November 1, 1964
    • NBC

    An author is inspired to write about the heroic Cartwrights after watching first-hand as they fight off an attempted robbery of a stage. As Ben and Adam see no use for the glory of such a novel, they turn the writer down forcing him to turn to the sherriff who quickly accepts.

  • S06E08 Square Deal Sam

    • November 8, 1964
    • NBC

    A conman heads into town and takes advantage of the Cartwrights with a fake land deal. The conman ends up staying in Virginia city to run an orphanage.

  • S06E09 Between Heaven and Earth

    • November 15, 1964
    • NBC

    When Joe and his friend Mitch go after a puma, Joe climbs a big peak and throws his gun up higher, intending to crawl up after it. But as he looks down, things begin to spin. He realises he can't go any higher, and he retreats down the hill. Needing to prove himself, Joe spars against Mitch.

  • S06E10 Old Sheba

    • November 22, 1964
    • NBC

    As payment for a performance in a circus, Joe and Hoss are given an elephant. They want to keep it but encounter opposition from Adam and Ben.

  • S06E11 A Man to Admire

    • December 6, 1964
    • NBC

    Hoss relies on clever attorney Whitney Parker, who has a drinking problem, to clear him of a murder charge.

  • S06E12 The Underdog

    • December 13, 1964
    • NBC

    Little Joe convinces Ben to hire Harry Starr, a half-Indian who is accused by other ranchers of being a chronic horse thief. Joe sets out to prove the others wrong, but is the youngest Cartwright's trust misplaced?

  • S06E13 A Knight to Remember

    • December 20, 1964
    • NBC

    Two robberies take place on stagecoaches that Adam is traveling on, and both times a knight in shining armor scares the robbers away. Adam is accused of robbery, and his story about the knight is none too helpful.

  • S06E14 The Saga of Squaw Charlie

    • December 27, 1964
    • NBC

    A peaceful Indian is framed for the kidnapping of a young girl, a stunt which ends in tragedy.

  • S06E15 The Flapjack Contest

    • January 3, 1965
    • NBC

    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?

  • S06E16 The Far, Far Better Thing

    • January 10, 1965
    • NBC

    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.

  • S06E17 Woman of Fire

    • January 17, 1965
    • NBC

    Ben's friend, Don Miguel, visits the Ponderosa with his two daughters, Margarita and Elena, and Elena's two very anxious suitors. Their mission? They're on their way to California to meet Margarita's suitor, Don Luis. Trouble is, Margarita is a "woman of fire" who manages to scare away all suitors with her hot temper. Since Margarita is the older daughter, she must be married before Elena. Elena's two suitors are quickly losing their patience, and Don Miguel fears his name will be disgraced if Margarita rejects Don Luis.

  • S06E18 The Ballerina

    • January 24, 1965
    • NBC

    Kellie Conrad dances and her father plays the fiddle to earn a living. Hoss feels a sense of guilt after he unintentionally hurts the arm that Kellie's father uses to play the fiddle, in a saloon fight with some roughnecks. He gets them to stay at the Ponderosa while the girl's father recuperates. While there, Ben introduces Kellie to his friend Paul Mandel, a ballet star before an explosion cut his dancing career short. Kellie persuades Paul to help her learn ballet. She soon comes to the realization that she loves both the ballet and Paul. She struggles inwardly to make a choice between her love of ballet and giving it all up for the love of her father.

  • S06E19 The Flannel-Mouth Gun

    • January 31, 1965
    • NBC

    Adam becomes involved with a quick-triggered range detective hired by the Virginia City Cattleman's Association to find out who is responsible for all the rustling going on in the area.

  • S06E20 The Ponderosa Birdman

    • February 7, 1965
    • NBC

    Professor Klump and Amanda pull Hoss into their flying machine scheme. The "Hoss-mobile" doesn't seem to be destined for a great take-off.

  • S06E21 The Search

    • February 14, 1965
    • NBC

    Adam sets out to track down the man who has been impersonating him to clear his reputation.

  • S06E22 The Deadliest Game

    • February 21, 1965
    • NBC

    The Cartwrights play host to Guido Borelli, a world renowed aerial acrobat who once saved Ben's life in Italy. Borelli's troup is beset by internal strife, and is performing in Virginia City.

  • S06E23 Once a Doctor

    • February 28, 1965
    • NBC

    Hoss' latest acquaintance, an Englishman named Professor Poppy, is actually Percival Alexander Mundy, M.D., who has given up the practice of medicine. However, when Hoss is shot in the back, only Mundy's skill can save his life.

  • S06E24 Right is the Fourth R

    • March 7, 1965
    • NBC

    While working as a substitute teacher, Adam uncovers an ugly secret about the territory's past that others prefer remain hidden.

  • S06E25 Hound Dog

    • March 21, 1965
    • NBC

    Cousin Muley Jones returns to the Ponderosa, along with a pack of noisy hound dogs, in this funny sequel to "The Saga Of Muley Jones".

  • S06E26 The Trap

    • March 28, 1965
    • NBC

    One of Joe's old girlfriends thinks he killed her husband so they could come together. Unfortunately, that is what her husband's twin brother also believes.

  • S06E27 Dead and Gone

    • April 4, 1965
    • NBC

    Adam tries to find the good in Howard Mead, a talented troubadour who refuses to stay on the right side of the law. Dramatic debut of singer/songwriter Hoyt Axton. Last episode Pernell Roberts worked on, although he appears in the next two, that were made prior to this episode and aired afterwards.

  • S06E28 A Good Night's Rest

    • April 11, 1965
    • NBC

    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?

  • S06E29 To Own the World

    • April 18, 1965
    • NBC

    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.

  • S06E30 Lothario Larkin

    • April 25, 1965
    • NBC

    Ladies' man Lothario Larkin creates havoc whenever he hits Virginia City, so Roy Coffee orders him out of town. Naturally, Hoss takes him in.

  • S06E31 The Return

    • May 2, 1965
    • NBC

    No one in Virginia City is happy to see ex-con Trace Cordell, especially the man he crippled in a gunfight, now married to Cordell's former girlfriend.

  • S06E32 Jonah

    • May 9, 1965
    • NBC

    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.

  • S06E33 The Spotlight

    • May 16, 1965
    • NBC

    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

  • S06E34 Patchwork Man

    • May 23, 1965
    • NBC

    Hoss befriends a self-demeaning recluse named Patch, who makes the best apple pie Hoss has ever tasted. Hoss is so impressed with him, especially his pie, that he hires him to work on the Ponderosa. Ben, however, is unimpressed with Hoss' new friend when the Cartwrights get into a gunfight with a mining outfit, and Patch cowers. He has a deepseeded fear of violence stemming from an incident in his teen years, but he knows in order to survive in the West, he must overcome it.

Season 7

  • S07E01 The Debt

    • September 12, 1965
    • NBC

    Wiley and Annie Kane arrive at the Ponderosa to work off their father's debt to Ben. It seems as though the elder Kane once swindled the Cartwright patriarch.

  • S07E02 The Dilemma

    • September 19, 1965
    • NBC

    Ben helps a convict win a parole only to have the man later become the chief suspect in a bank robbery.

  • S07E03 The Brass Box

    • September 26, 1965
    • NBC

    Juan Ortega claims he has a land grant which gives him ownership of the entire Nevada Territory.

  • S07E04 The Other Son

    • October 3, 1965
    • NBC

    A mule skinner and his two sons are hired by Ben to transport nitroglycerin to California.

  • S07E05 The Lonely Runner

    • October 10, 1965
    • NBC

    The Cartwrights' friend, Jim Acton, is in danger of losing his prized mare. He has sold a herd of wild horses to horse trader Sam Whipple, and Whipple takes him to court claiming the mare was part of that herd. Acton walks out on the court proceedings, and the judge awards the mare to Whipple. When Acton tries to make a deal with Whipple to buy her back, Whipple shoots at him. Jim kills Whipple in self defense and becomes a wanted man. The Cartwrights are sure he is innocent, but an overzealous deputy under Sheriff Coffee, has other intentions. Acton has only one wish: to run free like a wild horse.

  • S07E06 Devil on Her Shoulder

    • October 17, 1965
    • NBC

    Ben is attracted to Sarah Reynolds, a member of a religious order led by her fanatical uncle. When she is accused of being a witch, the Cartwrights step in.

  • S07E07 Found Child

    • October 24, 1965
    • NBC

    Hoss comes upon an overturned stagecoach and discovers a little girl suffering from shock. After the Cartwrights suceed in bringing her around, Hoss is disappointed she has relatives and cannot stay. The girl's uncle turns out to be the enemy and Hoss saves her.

  • S07E08 The Meredith Smith

    • October 31, 1965
    • NBC

    Ben must determine who is the rightful heir to a fortune that includes water rights vital to the Ponderosa.

  • S07E09 Mighty is the Word

    • November 7, 1965
    • NBC

    Virginia City's newest preacher is an ex-gunfighter who wants only to build a new church, but the brother of one of his victims has other ideas. The blueprints for the church are said to be a gift from Adam.

  • S07E10 The Strange One

    • November 14, 1965
    • NBC

    Hoss and Joe find a woman abandoned by a wagon train because her gift of prophecy is considered a curse. "Wouldn't it be wonderful," says Ben, "if eveybody made a real effort to understand whatever's strange and unfamiliar rather to fear it and try to destroy it?"

  • S07E11 The Reluctant Rebel

    • November 21, 1965
    • NBC

    The Generation Gap, Western-style, as Hoss tries to bring a young man and his father closer together.

  • S07E12 Five Sundowns to Sunup

    • December 5, 1965
    • NBC

    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.

  • S07E13 A Natural Wizard

    • December 12, 1965
    • NBC

    Hoss finds a kindred spirit in Skeeter Dexter, a lonesome young man who feels closer to animals than most people.

  • S07E14 All Ye His Saints

    • December 19, 1965
    • NBC

    In this series' highlight, little Michael Thorpe heads to the high country to ask God to spare his critically wounded father, believing he has found Him in the form of longtime fugitive Tom Cain.

  • S07E15 The Dublin Lad

    • January 2, 1966
    • NBC

    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.

  • S07E16 To Kill a Buffalo

    • January 9, 1966
    • NBC

    Hoss finds a wounded young Indian on the prairie, who is torn between accepting the ways of the white man or returning to his old life.

  • S07E17 Ride the Wind (1)

    • January 16, 1966
    • NBC

    The Pony Express sets up office in Virginia and Joe is one of the first to join up. Ben also decides to invest in the fledgling enterprise. However, troubles soon plague the Pony Express with the Paiutes and a newspaper reporter, both trying to get their own agendas across.

  • S07E18 Ride the Wind (2)

    • January 23, 1966
    • NBC

    Conclusion to the previous-week's episode, where the Cartwrights provide needed assistance to the Pony Express.

  • S07E19 Destiny's Child

    • January 30, 1966
    • NBC

    After his only friend is killed, the Cartwrights take in a slow-witted man, who Roy Coffee informs them, is wanted for murder by Arizona authorities.

  • S07E20 Peace Officer

    • February 6, 1966
    • NBC

    While Sheriff Coffee is in Saint Louis, the Morrisey bunch decides to work off excess energy by wrecking the saloon in a violent spree. When Deputy Bill Harris tries to arrest them, they hit him on the head with a whiskey bottle, accidentally killing him. All of them get away except Cliff, who is put in jail. He refuses to say the names or locations of his friends. Mayor Garrett holds an emergency meeting of the Virginia City town council. They hire legendary lawman Wes Dunn, as the temporary sheriff. He is a humorless man who is determined to restore order in town. He beats Cliff almost to death to find out where his friends are, but Cliff will not say anything. Meanwhile, Hoss finds Chuck, a wounded gang member. When he tries to take Chuck's gun away, he shoots Hoss. Joe goes with Dunn to find the other men. He thinks Dunn is a hero until he sees him murder one of the suspects in cold blood.

  • S07E21 The Code

    • February 13, 1966
    • NBC

    Joe is goaded into facing gunman Dan Taggert, unaware there is more to be prearranged than he realizes.

  • S07E22 Three Brides for Hoss

    • February 20, 1966
    • NBC

    Not one, but three mail-order brides show up unexpectedly at the Ponderosa, all of them believing they are to marry Hoss.

  • S07E23 The Emperor Norton

    • February 27, 1966
    • NBC

    Joshua Norton, an eccentric and formerly wealthy San Francisco merchant who considers himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, comes to the Ponderosa. Authorities want to have him committed, and Ben contacts Mark Twain to testify to Norton's sanity.

  • S07E24 Her Brother's Keeper

    • March 6, 1966
    • NBC

    Ben and Claire Armory fall in love, but their future is jeopardized by her disabled brother.

  • S07E25 The Trouble with Jamie

    • March 20, 1966
    • NBC

    The Cartwrights attempt to straighten out the snobbish young son of Ben's cousin.

  • S07E26 Shining in Spain

    • March 27, 1966
    • NBC

    Young, adoring Wendy Daniels has come to Virginia City to meet up with her father, Taylor Daniels, who has been traveling on business for the last five years. Joe is attracted to Wendy, but he faces stiff competition for her affections. She idolizes her father and cannot stop talking about his great business visions, although she has not seen him in five years. The Cartwrights realize there is something wrong when Wendy's supposedly rich father leaves her stranded in Virginia City with no money. When she is evicted from the hotel after running up a debt of $50, Joe takes her to the Ponderosa, only to have her dreams of her father shattered when he shows up flat broke.

  • S07E27 The Genius

    • April 3, 1966
    • NBC

    Hoss chooses a difficult path when he decides to rehabilitate a famous poet, Will Smith, who is really William Warlock Evans, who spends too much time drinking and eventually his wife arrives at the Ponderosa.

  • S07E28 The Unwritten Commandment

    • April 10, 1966
    • NBC

    Everyone feels Andy Walker is an outstanding singer but his father, who feels the boy should concentrate on ranch work instead. Joe mentions receiving a letter from Adam, currently in Paris.

  • S07E29 Big Shadows on the Land

    • April 17, 1966
    • NBC

    Italian immigrants are determined to establish their own vineyard on Ponderosa property.

  • S07E30 The Fighters

    • April 24, 1966
    • NBC

    Feeling guilty for unintentionally ending the career of a professional boxer, Hoss vows never to fight again. But things change when Joe is nearly beaten to death.

  • S07E31 Home from the Sea

    • May 1, 1966
    • NBC

    A sailor, claiming to be one of Adam's closest friends, is given a warm welcome by the Cartwrights, who have no way of knowing the man and his accomplice plan on robbing them.

  • S07E32 The Last Mission

    • May 8, 1966
    • NBC

    Ben and Hoss unwittingly aid a vengeful army colonel who plans to wipe out every Indian he can with a Gatling gun.

  • S07E33 A Dollar's Worth of Trouble

    • May 15, 1966
    • NBC

    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.

Season 8

  • S08E01 Something Hurt, Something Wild

    • September 11, 1966
    • NBC

    The Cartwrights' friendship with a neighboring rancher is threatened by his mentally unstable daughter.

  • S08E02 Horse of a Different Hue

    • September 18, 1966
    • NBC

    So the Cartwrights will not be killed, one of Ben's oldest friends must make sure Joe does not win a horse race.

  • S08E03 A Time to Step Down

    • September 25, 1966
    • NBC

    After the Cartwrights put wrangler Dan Tolliver out to pasture, the embittered old man plans to take part in robbing the Ponderosa.

  • S08E04 The Pursued (1)

    • October 2, 1966
    • NBC

    A Mormon with two wives is badgered by the town's people and then things get much worse.

  • S08E05 The Pursued (2)

    • October 9, 1966
    • NBC

    As the persecuted party awaits Ben and Hoss' return, Herber is shot and killed. Joe retaliates and shoots Herber's assassin.

  • S08E06 To Bloom for Thee

    • October 16, 1966
    • NBC

    Hoss is engaged to Carol Attley, a troubled woman with a past darker than he imagines.

  • S08E07 Credit for a Kill

    • October 23, 1966
    • NBC

    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.

  • S08E08 Four Sisters from Boston

    • October 30, 1966
    • NBC

    The Cartwrights come to the rescue of four inexperienced homesteaders, when devious cattle ranchers try to run them off their property.

  • S08E09 Old Charlie

    • November 6, 1966
    • NBC

    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.

  • S08E10 Ballad of the Ponderosa

    • November 13, 1966
    • NBC

    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.

  • S08E11 The Oath

    • November 20, 1966
    • NBC

    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.

  • S08E12 A Real Nice, Friendly Little Town

    • November 27, 1966
    • NBC

    When the woman he was planning to marry is strangled, Joe forces the only suspect to come forward, in a very tense-filled episode.

  • S08E13 The Bridegroom

    • December 4, 1966
    • NBC

    Joe plays matchmaker in this story of a rancher attempting to marry off his supposedly unremarkable daughter.

  • S08E14 Tommy

    • December 18, 1966
    • NBC

    The Cartwrights protect a woman and her deaf-mute little son from the boy's outlaw stepfather.

  • S08E15 A Christmas Story

    • December 25, 1966
    • NBC

    Warbling Andy Walker returns to Virginia City a big success, along with his shifty Uncle Thaddeus.

  • S08E16 Ponderosa Explosion

    • January 1, 1967
    • NBC

    Two Virginia City old-timers fool Hoss and Joe into raising rabbits, and the Ponderosa is overrun with paws and whiskers.

  • S08E17 Justice

    • January 8, 1967
    • NBC

    When the woman he was planning to marry is strangled, Joe forces the only suspect to come forward.

  • S08E18 A Bride for Buford

    • January 15, 1967
    • NBC

    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.

  • S08E19 Black Friday

    • January 22, 1967
    • NBC

    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.

  • S08E20 The Unseen Wound

    • January 29, 1967
    • NBC

    Ben discovers that his friend, Sheriff Paul Rowan, is suffering from stress brought on by his wartime experiences.

  • S08E21 Journey to Terror

    • February 5, 1967
    • NBC

    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.

  • S08E22 Amigo

    • February 12, 1967
    • NBC

    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.

  • S08E23 A Woman in the House

    • February 19, 1967
    • NBC

    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.

  • S08E24 Judgment at Red Creek

    • February 26, 1967
    • NBC

    Hoss and Joe have their doubts as to who really robbed a way station, suspecting the two men they captured are innocent.

  • S08E25 Joe Cartwright, Detective

    • March 5, 1967
    • NBC

    Joe becomes fascinated by detective literature and drags Hoss into the picture when he suspects the bank is going to be robbed.

  • S08E26 Dark Enough to See the Stars

    • March 12, 1967
    • NBC

    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.

  • S08E27 The Deed and the Dilemma

    • March 26, 1967
    • NBC

    Ben assists Georgio Rossi in his battle for water on adjoining property.

  • S08E28 The Prince

    • April 2, 1967
    • NBC

    The Cartwrights play host to Russian royals, who are the target of jewel thieves.

  • S08E29 A Man Without Land

    • April 9, 1967
    • NBC

    The foreman of a neighboring ranch frames Joe for murder as part of a scheme to get his employer's property.

  • S08E30 Napoleon's Children

    • April 16, 1967
    • NBC

    A gang of juvenile delinquents, led by an intelligent runt, who calls himself Napoleon, terrorizes Virginia City and the Ponderosa as well.

  • S08E31 The Wormwood Cup

    • April 23, 1967
    • NBC

    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.

  • S08E32 Clarissa

    • April 30, 1967
    • NBC

    The Cartwrights' cousin, Clarissa visits. Her assertive, snobbish ways result in nothing but trouble for Ben and his sons.

  • S08E33 Maestro Hoss

    • May 7, 1967
    • NBC

    Hoss is conned into buying a violin from a gypsy fortune teller, and everyone on the Ponderosa--except for Hop Sing--suffers the consequences.

  • S08E34 The Greedy Ones

    • May 14, 1967
    • NBC

    The Ponderosa is in danger of being overrun by gold hunters.

Season 9

  • S09E01 Second Chance

    • September 17, 1967
    • NBC

    Renegade Indians have been on the rampage attacking settlers and raising havoc in the West. Joe and Hoss have gone to warn the settlers when Joe is shot with an arrow. Hoss tries to remove the arrow, but the shaft breaks and it is imbedded in Joe's shoulder, leaving Joe gravely wounded. Hoss desperately searches for help and comes upon a wagon train with an odd assortment of people. There are two women, a thief, a dying doctor, and a coward on the wagon train.

  • S09E02 Sense of Duty

    • September 24, 1967
    • NBC

    Ben, Hoss and Little Joe help the Virginia City militia escort a renegade Indian, who believes he is the Almighty, through hostile Indian territory to prison.

  • S09E03 The Conquistadors

    • October 1, 1967
    • NBC

    A band of Mexican kidnaps Little Joe for a $25,000 ransom. A group of cowboys plan to rescue Joe, kill him and claim the gold for themselves.

  • S09E04 Judgment at Olympus

    • October 8, 1967
    • NBC

    Candy is arrested for committing murder in the town of Olympus. He is accused of killing Jed Wheelock, the son of wealthy A. Z. Wheelock. He insists on finding his son's killer but he wants a fair trial for Candy. Joe accompanies Candy to make sure things go smoothly, but when Joe is accused of killing a witness who claims he saw Candy kill Jed, Joe is locked up for murder with Candy, and it is up to Hoss to find the killer.

  • S09E05 Night of Reckoning

    • October 15, 1967
    • NBC

    A sadistic outlaw named Dibbs along with his gang, take siege of the Ponderosa, holding Joe, Hoss, and Candy prisoners. Their foreman, Donny Buckler, has stashed $60,000 dollars and Dibbs will stop at nothing short of murder to get his hands on it.

  • S09E06 False Witness

    • October 22, 1967
    • NBC

    While at the bank in Sandust, Little Joe and the bank's secretary witness an armed robbery. During a subsequent gunfight, the main culprit kills the banker, but is quickly brought to justice. Joe, Hoss and Candy agree to be witnesses but must avoid being killed in the meantime.

  • S09E07 The Gentle Ones

    • October 29, 1967
    • NBC

    Most people consider Mark Cole a coward, but he does not hesitate to step forward when his brother attempts to break a horse by torturing it.

  • S09E08 Desperate Passage

    • November 5, 1967
    • NBC

    Driving horses to Utah, the Cartwrights and Candy discover only two people left in a town wiped out by rampaging Paiute Indians. Together, Mary Burns and Josh Tanner must travel through hostile territory, along with the Cartwrights and Candy.

  • S09E09 The Sure Thing

    • November 12, 1967
    • NBC

    A young girl's ownership of a beloved stallion is jeopardized by the "big plans" of her scheming father.

  • S09E10 Showdown at Tahoe

    • November 19, 1967
    • NBC

    A career robber who claims to be a lumber man, and his gang plan to use Ben's new freight paddleboat to haul a $1 million currency shipment to San Francisco.

  • S09E11 Six Black Horses

    • November 26, 1967
    • NBC

    Ben's old friend has stolen money from corrupt politicians in New York and plans to invest in Nevada.

  • S09E12 Check Rein

    • December 3, 1967
    • NBC

    An injured rancher, who has enlisted the aid of the Cartwrights to buy back one of his horses after his farm is foreclosed, must avoid getting killed by his ruthless uncle, who will stop at nothing to gain full control of the ranch.

  • S09E13 Justice Deferred

    • December 17, 1967
    • NBC

    An anguished Hoss discovers that his testimony helped hang an innocent man accused of murder. As he struggles to bring the real killer to justice, Hoss must also combat the cowardice of another witness and the jury foreman, an influential banker.

  • S09E14 The Gold Detector

    • December 24, 1967
    • NBC

    Hoss wants to buy a mine thought to be worthless and orders a fancy invention to prove it isn't and becomes the local laughingstock in town

  • S09E15 The Trackers

    • January 7, 1968
    • NBC

    A man, recently released from prison for bank robbery, is accused of robbing the same Virginia City bank and gunning down a teller. The Cartwrights try to protect the accused man from a posse that intends to lynch him before his trial.

  • S09E16 A Girl Named George

    • January 14, 1968
    • NBC

    Trick photography is employed to help a killer beat a murder rap, to prove he was not there at the time of the murder he committed. However, the camera also proves to be his undermining.

  • S09E17 The Thirteenth Man

    • January 21, 1968
    • NBC

    The ranchers are once again losing stock to rustlers and not everyone agrees with range detective Marcus Alley's preventive methods.

  • S09E18 The Burning Sky

    • January 28, 1968
    • NBC

    A cruel, sadistic, alcoholic and racist rancher named Aaron Gore stalks the wife of Ben's friend, whom he has hired as a horse trainer. The woman is a glowingly beautiful Sioux who befriends Mr. Gore's son, whom he regularly beats up. Mr. Gore uses some incredibly vicious means to ensure she regrets ever having anything to do with his son.

  • S09E19 The Price of Salt

    • February 4, 1968
    • NBC

    When a young woman inherits her late father's salt mine, a greedy rancher wants to buy all the salt for himself. Ben, standing for the smaller ranchers who cannot afford to pay the heiress' prices, bids against the wealthy rancher to get a fair price for all.

  • S09E20 Blood Tie

    • February 18, 1968
    • NBC

    A band of outlaws enact a scheme to rob the Ponderosa, by tricking Hoss and Little Joe away from the ranch and leaving a wounded Ben alone at home.

  • S09E21 The Crime of Johnny Mule

    • February 25, 1968
    • NBC

    Hoss stands alone in refusing to convict Johnny Mule, a "slow" ranch hand who is accused of robbing and murdering his boss. So when Johnny Mule fearing he'll be lynched, regardless of the verdict escapes from jail during jury deliberations, it's Hoss who takes the heat.

  • S09E22 The Late Ben Cartwright

    • March 3, 1968
    • NBC

    In order to ruin the plans of a corrupt politician, Ben allows everyone to think that an attempt on his life was successful.

  • S09E23 Star Crossed

    • March 10, 1968
    • NBC

    Candy falls in love with a beautiful young woman, unaware that the man claiming to be her cousin is a bounty hunter who is not only harassing her but has framed her for murder and robbery.

  • S09E24 Trouble Town

    • March 17, 1968
    • NBC

    The Ponderosa ranch hands are at Riverbend during a cattle drive. While there, Candy meets an old friend, Lilah Holden, working in a saloon. When the cattle drive is ready to move on, Candy resigns to stay and help Lilah. It is not long before Ben, Hoss, and Joe are involved.

  • S09E25 Commitment at Angelus

    • April 7, 1968
    • NBC

    When a horse steps on Candy's hand out on the trail, he and Joe go to Angelus to find a doctor. When they arrive, Joe sees his friend, Steve Regan, an Angelus miner. Steve tells Joe that the miners have gone on strike at his suggestion; the timber supports in the tunnels are rotting away. Joe offers him a day's wages to help him drive the wild horses, since Candy's hand is injured.

  • S09E26 A Dream to Dream

    • April 14, 1968
    • NBC

    An alcoholic rancher, drinking away his bitterness, makes live unbearable for his wife and children. Hoss helps reform his friend while bringing happiness and stability to his family.

  • S09E27 In Defense of Honor

    • April 28, 1968
    • NBC

    Davey – a orphaned Yute that Ben helped raise and has worked as a ranch hand on the Ponderosa – falls in love with one of his own. A fellow Yute's jealousy over the blossoming relationship, and later his murder jeopardize a treaty between the white man (which Ben has helped negotiate) and the Yutes.

  • S09E28 To Die in Darkness

    • May 5, 1968
    • NBC

    While the others are away, Ben and Candy are lured by an old friend of Ben's to go somewhere. The "friend" traps them in a deep pit. He comes back to give them food, but how long will he be feeling "generous"?

  • S09E29 The Bottle Fighter

    • May 12, 1968
    • NBC

    Hoss is accused of stabbing a man to death, and his only hope of acquittal is a once great trial lawyer who is now a hopeless drunk.

  • S09E30 The Arrival of Eddie

    • May 19, 1968
    • NBC

    Eddie McKay, the son of a robber and murderer who Hoss killed several years ago in a shootout, returns to Virginia City to make a good start. Hoss wants to help reform Eddie and help him get over his bitter feelings for the Cartwrights, but it's an uphill battle. Not helping matters – a rancher who wants Eddie to help him steal from the Ponderosa.

  • S09E31 The Stronghold

    • May 26, 1968
    • NBC

    Joe and Candy sell a herd to the Farrell Brothers in Arizona, but are paid a worthless bank draft. The widow of the man one of the brothers killed helps them get their money back, and the brothers' hatred for each other is their undoing.

  • S09E32 Pride of a Man

    • June 2, 1968
    • NBC

    Joe reluctantly takes a job as a substitute teacher and must contend with two older students who have no use for an education.

  • S09E33 A Severe Case of Matrimony

    • July 7, 1968
    • NBC

    An untalented gypsy girl tries to get the Cartwrights to finance her career as an opera singer.

  • S09E34 Stage Door Johnnies

    • July 28, 1968
    • NBC

    Hoss and Joe rival for the affections of visiting entertainer Mademoiselle Denise, though she is more concerned for her little dog, Andre, than anything else.

Season 10

  • S10E01 Different Pines, Same Wind

    • September 15, 1968
    • NBC

    The 10th season opens as Joe helps a widowed mountain woman, a recluse who is suffering from an infection that has become serious, in a battle to save her land from an unscrupulous timber baron.

  • S10E02 Child

    • September 22, 1968
    • NBC

    While Hoss is in a remote town on business, he is arrested for murder and robbery. The town's richest man has just been killed, and the townspeople are less concerned with justice, rather the old man's money. They are convinced that if they threaten Hoss, he'll break down and tell them where he hid the fortune. A few of the town's top citizens, including the mayor, form a lynch mob, but only hang Hoss "part of the way". But when cowboy Child Barnett sees the lynch mob coming, he breaks Hoss out of jail, and the two men form a friendship on the run.

  • S10E03 Salute to Yesterday

    • September 29, 1968
    • NBC

    When on a cattle drive on Ponderosa land, the Cartwrights and Candy find a dying cavalry officer on the trail. With his last breath, he asks them to go help his commanding officer, Captain Harris. Riding atop a slope, they see Captain Harris and his soldiers fighting off Mexican bandits who are trying to steal the four kegs of gold hidden in the Army ambulance. The Cartwrights and Candy cut right between the soldiers and the Mexican bandits, in a spectacular chase through a little valley and wind up at a high and rocky outcrop, taking cover and assisting the soldiers.

  • S10E04 The Real People of Muddy Creek

    • October 6, 1968
    • NBC

    Ben is in charge of a vicious prisoner and gets virtually no help from the cowardly citizens of the town where he is holding him from the law.

  • S10E05 The Passing of a King

    • October 13, 1968
    • NBC

    The son of a rancher to whom the Cartwrights are selling a prize bull is trying to get his father ruled mentally incompetant, and will let no one stand in his way.

  • S10E06 The Last Vote

    • October 20, 1968
    • NBC

    Hoss and Joe's bickering leads them into taking opposite sides in the Virginia City mayoral race. Their zealous actions leads into dividing Virginia City's citizens into 2 factions that causes nothing but arguments, fights and havoc in town.

  • S10E07 Catch as Catch Can

    • October 27, 1968
    • NBC

    The residents of Tin Bucket claim the Cartwrights and Candy are dealing in stolen cattle hides. With most of the town accusing Joe, Hoss and Candy of various crimes, it is Ben who faces the most serious trouble when he determines who is actually responsible for the hide thefts.

  • S10E08 Little Girl Lost

    • November 3, 1968
    • NBC

    A bratty 10-year-old girl named Samantha, whose mother is Ben's cousin and is a third cousin of Hoss and Little Joe, comes to the Ponderosa. While she proves to be a handful, Ben (who tracks down the girl's mother) really has his hands full when her grandfather comes to the Ponderosa demanding custody.

  • S10E09 The Survivors

    • November 10, 1968
    • NBC

    A white woman abducted years before by the Paiutes is reunited with her husband, who is less than pleased to learn she has given birth to an Indian baby.

  • S10E10 The Sound of Drums

    • November 17, 1968
    • NBC

    In the third and final installment of the Rossi family, Georgio Rossi doesn't understand why he cannot allow Indians who have left the reservation to live on his land.

  • S10E11 Queen High

    • December 1, 1968
    • NBC

    Joe and Candy win a stamping mill in a poker game, but the fact of them not knowing how to run it, is the least of their worries.

  • S10E12 Yonder Man

    • December 8, 1968
    • NBC

    An army scout Ben once knew comes to the Ponderosa and asks Ben to stake a cattle ranch in Mira Flores, Mexico.

  • S10E13 Mark of Guilt

    • December 15, 1968
    • NBC

    Hop Sing tells Hoss and Candy they can use the ancient Chinese art of fingerprinting to prove Joe is innocent of murder.

  • S10E14 A World Full of Cannibals

    • December 22, 1968
    • NBC

    Ben agrees to hide a government witness in a land fraud case at the Ponderosa as part of the witness protection program. However, the witness - who along with eight men committed various crimes in connection with the case - is in constant danger, as his co-defendants ruthlessly track him down in an attempt to seal his silence.

  • S10E15 Sweet Annie Laurie

    • January 5, 1969
    • NBC

    Hoss offers to help Annie Laurie, a beautiful young woman who is running away from her abusive husband, a career criminal who is determined to keep his wife under his control and travel with her throughout the southwest, any which way he can.

  • S10E16 My Friend, My Enemy

    • January 12, 1969
    • NBC

    Only the testimony of an Indian wanted for horse theft can clear Candy of murder.

  • S10E17 Mrs. Wharton and the Lesser Breeds

    • January 19, 1969
    • NBC

    Candy sets out to help a feisty and elderly British woman recover the jewels stolen from her in a stage holdup.

  • S10E18 Erin

    • January 26, 1969
    • NBC

    A neighbor of the Cartwrights threatens Hoss' fiancé, Erin – a beautiful young woman who has been raised by Indians since her childhood – when Ben allows the Paiutes to camp on Ponderosa land.

  • S10E19 Company of Forgotten Men

    • February 2, 1969
    • NBC

    A retired Army sergeant, bitter that he never received his pension from the government, kidnaps one-time friend Candy and forces him to go along with a daring plan to blow up the U.S. mint in Carson City and hold the gold and silver for ransom.

  • S10E20 The Clarion

    • February 9, 1969
    • NBC

    Ben's friend is struggling to keep her newspaper going in the face of harrassment by the town boss of Gunlock, so without telling her, Ben buys the business.

  • S10E21 The Lady and the Mountain Lion

    • February 23, 1969
    • NBC

    A shady magician, with his twin daughters, comes to Virginia City and there is a lot of confusion with the daughters of the magician, twin confusion!

  • S10E22 Five Candles

    • March 2, 1969
    • NBC

    The floor of the Virginia City courthouse collapses, trapping Ben in the basement with three other people, one of whom may or may not be guilty of murder.

  • S10E23 The Wish

    • March 9, 1969
    • NBC

    Hoss spends his two-month vacation helping a black family get their farm in shape, and dealing with racism in the neighboring town.

  • S10E24 The Deserter

    • March 16, 1969
    • NBC

    Candy comes upon a soldier who is running from charges of desertion, and with Joe's help they foil a plan to sell rapid-fire rifles to the Indians.

  • S10E25 Emily

    • March 23, 1969
    • NBC

    Joe is shocked to see his ex-fiancee, Emily Anderson, in Virginia City. He had met her in Monterey five years earlier, and they had planned to get married. But her strict father thought Joe was too wild, and he burned all of Joe's letters before Emily saw them. Emily and Joe are still in love with each other, but Emily conveniently forgets to tell Joe that she is now Emily McPhail, the wife of Deputy Marshal Wade McPhail. Wade is on assignment with Marshal Calhoun to help guard a $90,000 currency shipment. Emily tells Wade they have to leave Virginia City immediately, since Joe's presence might interfere with their marriage, but he refuses to leave. He finds Joe and Emily embracing and engages with Joe in a savage fight, almost killing him at gunpoint. That is the first Joe hears of Emily's marriage. That is by no means the end of her lies, which eventually get Joe shot and nearly framed for murder.

  • S10E26 The Running Man

    • March 30, 1969
    • NBC

    Joe and Candy travel to Butlerville and learn that one of Ben's closest friends is burning out new settlers, whom he regards as squatters. Candy's old ex-flame is married to Jess Parker, who always saw Candy as a rival in the past, but things have changed with both men and Jess' wife Barbara. Cal Butler is the real problem: he will stop at nothing to keep Parker from testifying alive.

  • S10E27 The Unwanted

    • April 6, 1969
    • NBC

    Feeling unloved, a Marshal's daughter runs off with a Ponderosa hand her father thinks may be related to the man that shot him.

  • S10E28 Speak No Evil

    • April 20, 1969
    • NBC

    Coley Clayborn, who has always thought his mother abandoned him and his father, thinks she is only after the gold mine he inherited when she recently returned to Virginia City.

  • S10E29 The Fence

    • April 27, 1969
    • NBC

    While Ben and Hoss visit an old friend to negotiate the purchase of a mine, former Confederate soldiers arrive wanting to exact revenge on the Cartwrights' friend for starving POWs during the Civil War.

  • S10E30 A Ride in the Sun

    • May 11, 1969
    • NBC

    A pair of con artists swindle Ben out of nearly $30,000 after convincing the Cartwright patriarch to enter into a deal to buy his cattle. The brother and sister shoot Ben, rob the Virginia City Bank and go on the run with Little Joe hot on their trail.

Season 11

  • S11E01 Another Windmill to Go

    • September 14, 1969
    • NBC

    An Englishman with a passion for challenging ridiculous laws shows up on the Ponderosa grazing in a land-rowing boat mounted on a wagon.

  • S11E02 The Witness

    • September 21, 1969
    • NBC

    A young woman, Jenny Winters who is prone to telling tall tales, claims she witnessed the Logan gang holding up a stagecoach. The Cartwrights hide her at the Ponderosa, but that is only the beginning of what Jenny will learn from spinning tall tales.

  • S11E03 The Silence at Stillwater

    • September 28, 1969
    • NBC

    A young boy positively identifies Candy as the man wanted in Stillwater for robbery, arson and murder.

  • S11E04 A Lawman's Lot is Not a Happy One

    • October 5, 1969
    • NBC

    When he is called to testify in an out-of-town lumber shark case, Roy recruits Hoss to temporarily serve as sheriff. Hoss quickly finds his hands full dealing with a reluctant groom, who plans a robbery to make himself less appealing to his assertive fiancé; and a persistent salesman wanting to sell stock for a resort in the Virginia City area. Will Virginia City ever be the same?

  • S11E05 Anatomy of a Lynching

    • October 12, 1969
    • NBC

    Will Griner is acquitted of murder which upsets the folks of Virginia City. They feel Griner silenced witnesses and are ready to lynch him. Ben works to reopen the case by finding out the truth about the case before it is too late.

  • S11E06 To Stop a War

    • October 19, 1969
    • NBC

    Dan Logan, a former army scout and lawman who works for the Cartwrights, has his hands full with rustlers, a range war, and a one-time prostitute whose devotion is questionable.

  • S11E07 The Medal

    • October 26, 1969
    • NBC

    Ben lends a hand to a down and out war veteran, Matthew Rush, who received the Congressional Medal Of Honor.

  • S11E08 The Stalker

    • November 2, 1969
    • NBC

    Candy helps the widow of a man he shot and killed in self defense, unaware she is plotting revenge against him.

  • S11E09 Meena

    • November 16, 1969
    • NBC

    Little Joe and Candy defend Meena Calhoun and her crusty father, Luke, from horse rustlers. In the process, Joe helps Meena become assertive and stick up for herself.

  • S11E10 A Darker Shadow

    • November 23, 1969
    • NBC

    A Virginia City store clerk decides to take advantage of his co-worker's paralyzing sensitivity to bright light.

  • S11E11 Dead Wrong

    • December 7, 1969
    • NBC

    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.

  • S11E12 Old Friends

    • December 14, 1969
    • NBC

    Ben is sorry to learn that two of his oldest friends are on opposite sides of the law, after 27 years. Charlie Shepard once worked a mining claim with Ben, along with Jess Waddell, now a bounty hunter, and will stop at nothing to kill Charlie, regardless of what anyone tries to persuade him to do otherwise.

  • S11E13 Abner Willoughby's Return

    • December 21, 1969
    • NBC

    Joe agrees to help the man who tried to steal his horse, Abner Willoughby, who has returned to claim the box of gold he hid years ago, before going to sea.

  • S11E14 It's a Small World

    • January 4, 1970
    • NBC

    A prejudiced Virginia City banker spurns Ben's recommendation of a recent widower (with an infant daughter to raise) for a bank teller's job because he's a midget. The midget, a former circus performer, steals money from the bank to support his daughter.

  • S11E15 Danger Road

    • January 11, 1970
    • NBC

    Ben needs to haul three beams that are 30 feet long and the Cambeau Freight Company will not do it. A new, independent freight hauler may be the answer. However, when Ben meets Gunny, he orders him off the Ponderosa. Ben and Gunny served together in the Mexican war, and chose opposite sides. Ben puts his differences aside with Gunny and helps him win the government contract away from Cambeau Freight Company.

  • S11E16 The Big Jackpot

    • January 18, 1970
    • NBC

    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.

  • S11E17 The Trouble with Amy

    • January 25, 1970
    • NBC

    Ben comes to the aid of Amy Wilder, an eccentric animal lover whose mental competency is questioned when a neighbor declares an interest in her land for mining. The neighbor asks the court for a hearing to have Amy declared senile so he can obtain her land, setting off Ben's race against time to track down Amy's relatives to defend her mental state.

  • S11E18 The Lady and the Mark

    • February 1, 1970
    • NBC

    A new wealthy Ponderosa employee with a weakness for women becomes the target of con artists.

  • S11E19 Is There Any Man Here?

    • February 8, 1970
    • NBC

    When the daughter of a friend declares her love for him, Ben agonizes over what to do.

  • S11E20 The Law and Billy Burgess

    • February 15, 1970
    • NBC

    Ben seriously doubts an angry young man committed several murders to which he has confessed to.

  • S11E21 Long Way to Ogden

    • February 22, 1970
    • NBC

    Ben gambles the future of the Ponderosa when a convincing meat packer from Chicago, sets out to ruin the local cattle industry.

  • S11E22 Return Engagement

    • March 1, 1970
    • NBC

    En route to San Francisco, actress Lotta Crabtree arrives in Virginia City for a special performance. Hoss is smitten by the beautiful actress, which makes her leading man jealous. When he is killed during a performance, Lotta and then Hoss are suspected of the death. It is up to Ben to set things straight.

  • S11E23 The Gold Mine

    • March 8, 1970
    • NBC

    Two drifters come to the Ponderosa and they try to rob the Cartwrights but are driven away. Joe becomes close to the young Mexican, Ramon, who is with them. After they get into a little disagreement they throw Ramon out. The drifters then discover that Ramon has found gold. Ramon returns to the Ponderosa and is welcomed. The Cartwrights learn that Ramon's father, who had to take care of his large family, sold his son to the two men. The two drifters grab Ramon and force him to tell them where he found the gold. They are about to make their claim when the Cartwrights stop them and let Ramon claim the gold as his. Ramon then goes back to Mexico with his fortune.

  • S11E24 Decision at Los Robles

    • March 22, 1970
    • NBC

    Ben and Joe stop in Los Robles for a couple of beers and a night's rest. Ben sees the town boss, John Walker, bullying the saloon waitress, and he comes to her defense. When Ben steps outside of the saloon, Walker shoots him in the back. Badly wounded, Ben shoots back, killing Walker just before he falls unconscious. While Joe keeps a vigil at Ben's bedside, the priest tells him Los Robles had always been ruled unquestionably by John Walker and his son Jed. Now Jed will certainly want revenge. Sure enough, he tells Joe if he doesn't hand Ben over in 24 hours, he will kill every citizen in Los Robles, one an hour. To complicate matters more, Walker's foreman, Garth, deliberately tells Jed that Ben shot his father in the back, in hopes that Joe will kill Walker, so he can run the Walker ranch. When Joe tries to mobilize a few citizens to fight Walker and his army of men, he finds a town full of cowards. The biggest coward of all is the doctor. He purposely left the bullet in Ben's back, hoping that he'd die within 24 hours. Jed and Garth make final plans to blow up Los Robles with dynamite, unless Joe surrenders Ben to him.

  • S11E25 Caution, Easter Bunny Crossing

    • March 29, 1970
    • NBC

    "Here comes Hoss Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail... " That's what the folks of Virginia City were probably thinking when a Quaker woman talks a reluctant Hoss into dressing as the Easter Bunny for the orphanage's children. While hippety-hopping and waiting for Easter to be its way, Hoss while dressed in the Easter Bunny costume contends with a group of inept outlaws, who commit a comedy of errors in their attempts to rob stagecoaches.

  • S11E26 The Horse Traders

    • April 5, 1970
    • NBC

    In this second episode to feature Meena Calhoun and her father, Hoss and Joe's plans to sell horses from the livery stables in town is thwarted. Virgil and his two brothers also go into the livery business which creates troubles for Hoss and Joe.

  • S11E27 What Are Pardners For?

    • April 12, 1970
    • NBC

    Hoss meets two men. He forms a rapport with them and they tell him that they plan to rob the bank in the town they are going to. Hoss tries to stop them but he fails. Hoss decides to go into the town to warn the sheriff but is too late. The sheriff then arrests Hoss.

  • S11E28 A Matter of Circumstance

    • April 19, 1970
    • NBC

    Little Joe stays back at the Ponderosa to tend to its operation as Ben, Hoss, Candy and Hop Sing leave for a cattle drive, who leave as a severe thunderstorm approaches. Joe goes to the barn to calm a horse that was spooked by the thunder and lightning. But just when it seems like the horse has settled down, the horse goes wild, knocking down Joe and crushing his left arm and breaking his leg. Joe goes in and out of consciousness and – after struggling against driving rain and winds to get into the house – treats his wounds. However, the arm is infected and Joe, fearing gangrene has set in, debates whether to amputate the wound.

Season 12

  • S12E01 The Night Virginia City Died

    • September 13, 1970
    • NBC

    In the 12th season premiere, a series of destructive fires strike Virginia City, and always late at night. Is it the work of a ruthless arsonist, or someone very close to Deputy Clem?

  • S12E02 A Matter of Faith

    • September 20, 1970
    • NBC

    Dusty takes in orphaned Jamie Hunter, the son of a recently-deceased rainmaker. Jamie is determined to carry on his father's tradition by using drought-stricken Virginia City to prove his talents.

  • S12E03 The Weary Willies

    • September 27, 1970
    • NBC

    The Weary Willies are hippie-like former Civil War veterans who are now drifters and live off the land. Despite protests from fellow ranchers and the people of Virginia City, Ben allows the traveling band to stay at the Ponderosa. The real trouble begins when a teen-aged girl is raped and the Willies are blamed.

  • S12E04 The Wagon

    • October 4, 1970
    • NBC

    After being taken into custody by a sheriff who does not care if he is guilty or innocent of a crime, Hoss escapes from the prison wagon with a woman he is convinced got a raw deal.

  • S12E05 The Power of Life and Death

    • October 11, 1970
    • NBC

    A man called Davis has shot Colonel Clayton and escapes on horseback. Joe and Ben join the posse that sets out to find Davis. Ben and Joe volunteer to cross the desert. Ben and Joe find Davis hold up at a water hole, when Indians attack and Ben is wounded in the leg, and steal the horses. Joe unties Davis, who tends to a wounded Ben, who is suspicious that Davis will try to escape. After playing a game of cat and mouse, Ben and Davis come to an agreement: survival. Joe makes the decision to cross the desert on foot, while Ben and Davis are at the water hole, both men in need of medical help and justice.

  • S12E06 Gideon, the Good

    • October 18, 1970
    • NBC

    On the trail, Joe witnesses a woman kill a man, but the woman rides away before he can positively identify her. He rides into the nearest town, Black River and reports the crime to Sheriff Gideon Yates, and the two ride out to find clues. They find a handkerchief embroidered with the letter "L". Sheriff Yates knows who the killer is, his wife Lydia. She married him before she got a legal divorce from her first husband, Loomis, and killed him to silence him. Gideon tries to coax Joe out of town, but he recognizes Lydia's picture in a photographer's window. When Joe refuses to leave, Gideon tries to shoot him down in cold blood and orders a manhunt against him. Joe's only hope is a Mexican stable boy, who saw Gideon shoot him, and ultimately Joe and Gideon have one of the most memorable confrontations in the series' history.

  • S12E07 The Trouble with Trouble

    • October 25, 1970
    • NBC

    When Hoss volunteers to be Sheriff of a town called Trouble, he soon finds out that the town had correctly been named. Hoss almost manages to arrest the whole town, and captures the Clanton gang all by himself.

  • S12E08 Thornton's Account

    • November 1, 1970
    • NBC

    Ben's new horse throws him down a steep slope, injuring his back. Joe tries to round up some help, but the settlers in the valley live in fear of the devious owner and his hired help. Joe goes for help from a man named Thornton, but he is wounded by the lowlife cowboys, and has no choice but to ask them for help. A very imaginitive and visually creative dream Ben has of Joe calling out to him and falling beside him, before waking up and realizes he has just had a terrifying nightmare.

  • S12E09 The Love Child

    • November 8, 1970
    • NBC

    A dying woman and her son are rejected by her father because she had a child out of wedlock.

  • S12E10 El Jefe

    • November 15, 1970
    • NBC

    Ben and Hoss come to the rescue of Mexican farmers who are forced off their land by the greedy mine owner who runs the town of Prince River.

  • S12E11 The Luck of Pepper Shannon

    • November 22, 1970
    • NBC

    Pepper Shannon is a dime novel hero and outlaw. Ben gives a job to Pepper Shannon on the condition the one-time outlaw stays away from Jamie, who happens to admire him.

  • S12E12 The Impostors

    • December 13, 1970
    • NBC

    Hoss and Joe pretend to be stage robbers' partners in order to recover stolen Cartwright money. All goes well until the wife of one of the thieves shows up.

  • S12E13 Honest John

    • December 20, 1970
    • NBC

    Jamie forms a bond with a bum and his tame crow. Before long, Jamie suggests they repair an old wagon and leave the Ponderosa.

  • S12E14 For a Young Lady

    • December 27, 1970
    • NBC

    A girl's uncle and aunt want custody of her only because they believe she has the rights to her late grandfather's mine.

  • S12E15 A Single Pilgrim

    • January 3, 1971
    • NBC

    Settlers from Virginia argue over Hoss' fate after one of them accidentally shoots him.

  • S12E16 The Gold-Plated Rifle

    • January 10, 1971
    • NBC

    An insecure Jamie is unsure of his place in the family, having trouble adjusting at his new school and keeps getting harassed by a bully. When he takes Ben's prized gold-plated rifle and breaks it, he runs away, sending Ben to go looking for him.

  • S12E17 Top Hand

    • January 17, 1971
    • NBC

    The Cartwrights are about to start a major cattle drive with other ranchers. It has been decided that Ben's foreman will be trail boss on the drive. Weatherby, a fellow rancher who is also with Ben, has agreed to have Kelly as trail boss, until he finds out that Kelly was previously on a cattle drive with him, and fired him for drinking. Weatherby also suggests that his younger wrangler take the job as trail boss, and a conflict is started between both Ben's foreman and Weatherby's wrangler.

  • S12E18 A Deck of Aces

    • January 31, 1971
    • NBC

    Bradley Meredith, a Ben Cartwright look-a-like, causes trouble when he sells land to the railroad. Ben has already turned down the deal, but Meredith, acting as Ben, accepts the deal, which stirs up all kinds of trouble.

  • S12E19 The Desperado

    • February 7, 1971
    • NBC

    Hoss is held prisoner by a fugitive black couple who they admit hate white people and have nothing to lose by killing them.

  • S12E20 The Reluctant American

    • February 14, 1971
    • NBC

    An English couple comes to Nevada to learn why a ranch owned by the British investment firm is the only company holding not showing a profit.

  • S12E21 Shadow of a Hero

    • February 21, 1971
    • NBC

    Ben is shocked to learn the Army general he is backing as governor, advocates a policy of genocide towards all Indians.

  • S12E22 The Silent Killer

    • February 28, 1971
    • NBC

    An epidemic of influenza hits the Ponderosa and the only person who seems sure of what to do is the wife of a doctor, whom Doc Martin says is a fraud.

  • S12E23 Terror at 2:00

    • March 7, 1971
    • NBC

    A racist and his henchmen steal a Gatling gun, with plans to massacre everyone -- including the Cartwrights -- involved in a peace treaty signing between the U.S. Army and the Paitues in Virginia City. The man's hope is that the tragedy will spark another war and eventually lead to the genocide of all Native Americans.

  • S12E24 The Stillness Within

    • March 14, 1971
    • NBC

    Blinded by an explosion, Joe wallows in self-pity, and at first resists the efforts of a woman trying to teach him to live without sight, not knowing she is also blind.

  • S12E25 A Time to Die

    • March 21, 1971
    • NBC

    While visiting the Ponderosa, Ben's friend, April Christopher, is bitten by a rabid wolf. Ben and April and her daughter must come to terms with her illness as they all realize the terrible fate that awaits April.

  • S12E26 Winter Kill

    • March 28, 1971
    • NBC

    The foreman of a neighboring ranch shoots a special steer belonging to the Cartwrights, and his scheming boss plots to take unfair advantage of the mistake.

  • S12E27 Kingdom of Fear

    • April 4, 1971
    • NBC

    Ben, Hoss and Joe, along with Candy and a fellow rancher, are jailed on false trespassing charges by a greedy mining tycoon. The despot runs a gold mine (i.e., a thinly-veiled prison camp) and acquires slave labor by pressing phony criminal charges against the unfortunate inmates.

  • S12E28 An Earthquake Called Callahan

    • April 11, 1971
    • NBC

    The only person who can get Dusty out of jail is a professional fighter who will not return to Virginia City, so Joe stays on the man's heels no matter where he goes.

Season 13

  • S13E01 The Grand Swing

    • September 19, 1971
    • NBC

    Jamie deliberately disobeys Ben's order not to drive the supply wagons. During his recklessness, the wagon goes out of control on a sharp curve and is wrecked. Nobody is hurt but a badly injured horse has to be put to sleep. Fearing punishment, Jamie decides to run away, until Ben decides to take him on a tour of the Ponderosa, namely to see how others handle their mistakes in positive and negative ways.

  • S13E02 Fallen Woman

    • September 26, 1971
    • NBC

    An alcoholic woman lashes out at Hoss after his testimony sends her husband to prison. She gets back at him by forcing the big guy to take custody of her young son, Petey. Hoss must decide whether to ask the court to adopt him, or help the mother deal with her alcoholism.

  • S13E03 Bushwhacked

    • October 3, 1971
    • NBC

    Joe is shot and wounded while he is on a cattle drive in the Nevada desert. Two ranchers find him, delirious from thirst and the heat, and take him to their home to recover. While the ranchers summon a doctor, Joe struggles for life, mumbling incoherently and having surrealistic nightmares about a teepee and a wagon wheel. Ben and Hoss try to dechipher Joe's ramblings to piece together what happened.

  • S13E04 Rock-a-Bye, Hoss

    • October 10, 1971
    • NBC

    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).

  • S13E05 The Prisoners

    • October 17, 1971
    • NBC

    Joe volunteers to help an old lawman escort a slick outlaw to jail, but when their prisoner kills the sheriff and wounds Joe, he must face the task alone.

  • S13E06 Cassie

    • October 24, 1971
    • NBC

    To help the hapless wife and daughter of a lazy dreamer, Hoss arranges a "fixed" horse race.

  • S13E07 Don't Cry, My Son

    • October 31, 1971
    • NBC

    The wife of Virginia City's new doctor leaves him, after their son dies in childbirth. The doctor snaps and abducts another woman's baby.

  • S13E08 Face of Fear

    • November 14, 1971
    • NBC

    Neta, a teen-age girl who is a friend of Jamie's, witnesses an assault and robbery. The victim - Mr. Trumbull, a man who is about to inherit a fortune - dies. The culprit, a drifter named Griff Bannon, gets a glimpse of Neta and, after fleeing the scene, plots to assume his victim's identity and stalk the witness. Her father, meanwhile, is no help, since he raises her by "traditional values" and forbids her to socialize with the Cartwrights. Meanwhile, the imposter - now working for the Cartwrights – begins to track Neta's every move and plans to seal her silence, unless she can summon the courage to tell Jamie and the others about the crime she witnessed and identify the baddie.

  • S13E09 Blind Hunch

    • November 21, 1971
    • NBC

    A veteran blinded by the last battle of the Civil War, returns to Virginia City, to solve the mystery surrounding who killed his brother.

  • S13E10 The Iron Butterfly

    • November 28, 1971
    • NBC

    Hoss takes the blame when a visiting actress kills her former boyfriend. The ex-boyfriend's father, a senator, sets out to destroy the Cartwrights and the Ponderosa as retaliation, for the killing of his son.

  • S13E11 The Rattlesnake Brigade

    • December 5, 1971
    • NBC

    Jamie and three teen-agers - a girl and two boys - are kidnapped by Doyle, a hardened criminal with nothing to lose, and his gang of outlaws. The desperate outlaws use the youths as bargaining tools to make their escape from a trip to prison.

  • S13E12 Easy Come, Easy Go

    • December 12, 1971
    • NBC

    When Luke Calhoun loses all his money in a stock scheme, he and his daughter Meena stay at the Ponderosa with disruptive consequences. Luke turns the ranch into a casino and Meena continues her frantic search for a husband, where she left off in season eleven's "Meena".

  • S13E13 A Home for Jamie

    • December 19, 1971
    • NBC

    Just as Ben begins to formally adopt Jamie, his grandfather shows up to take him away. Ben tells the gentleman, "He's a young man with his roots in Ponderosa soil. This is the life he knows, the life he loves, the life he wants".

  • S13E14 Warbonnet

    • December 26, 1971
    • NBC

    Joe is stranded in the desert when his mare falls and breaks her leg. He falls unconscious from exhaustion and lack of water, and is found near death by a Paiute named Swift Eagle. But instead of saving Joe, Swift Eagle steals his gun and goes back to the reservation. His grandfather, Chief Red Cloud, finds the gun and insists they return it and help the owner. Red Cloud cares for Joe until he gets his strength back and then orders Swift Eagle to take Joe into town. In town, Joe meets the most powerful man there, Frank Ryan, who showers Joe with hospitality. Joe feels indebted to both Red Cloud for saving his life, and to Frank Ryan for extending hospitality in an unfamiliar town. So when Red Cloud challenges Frank to a fight to the death, Joe tries desperately to keep the peace. The reason for the fight? Fifteen years ago, Frank took Red Cloud's warbonnet, and has been proudly displaying it ever since, on the wall in his saloon. Red Cloud, now an old man, must regain his honor before he dies.

  • S13E15 The Lonely Man

    • January 2, 1972
    • NBC

    While panning for gold on his vacation, Hop Sing meets and falls in love with a shy woman. Their future plans are dashed when a judge confirms what Ben has told Hop Sing: the law specifically prohibits interracial marriages.

  • S13E16 Second Sight

    • January 9, 1972
    • NBC

    Hoss enlists the aid of Judith Coleman, a clairvoyant woman who has the gift of "second sight" to find Jamie. He has been missing in the high country and cannot be found by anyone. Judith's gifted psychic abilities have had a long history of men casting her off as a witch, so at first she is reluctant to help the Cartwrights search for Jamie, then changes her mind since she owes them a great deal. Her fiancee, Jess Avery, who is a minister, doesn't look with favor as to her abilities and she may face the consequences of losing him unless she finds Jamie. Hoss refers to Jamie as his "little brother" for the first time.

  • S13E17 The Saddle Stiff

    • January 16, 1972
    • NBC

    Fired ranch hand, Cactus, suggests that Ben is too old to put in a real work's week and challenges Ben to take a job as a ranch hand under the name "Ben Brown". He takes the job to prove himself better than Cactus.

  • S13E18 Frenzy

    • January 30, 1972
    • NBC

    Ben helps shepherd a young family, the Kosovos (Nick; his wife, Anna; and his son, Sandor), who had recently immigrated from Serbia. Nick soon finds he can't handle the pressure needed to become successful in America and, one evening while Ben is visiting, his mind snaps. He goes on a rampage, trapping Ben (who becomes injured) and a terrified Anna and Sandor inside their home. Ben must do all he can to keep Nick at bay and try to reason with the mentally ill rancher.

  • S13E19 Customs of the Country

    • February 6, 1972
    • NBC

    All about Joe and Hoss' visit to a small Mexican town named Agua Santos, which seems to have some rather peculiar laws. The two Cartwright boys soon find them in pretty deep trouble for breaking "laws" that barely would pass without notice stateside.

  • S13E20 Shanklin

    • February 13, 1972
    • NBC

    A band of ex-Confederate soldiers demands $25,000 from Ben. When Hoss resists their demands and tries to fight them, their leader, Shanklin, shoots Hoss in the abdomen. Hoss lingers near death, and when the doctor is unable to complete the surgery, a nearly inconsolable Ben persuades Shanklin (a confident, competent doctor) to save his son's life. Meanwhile, Jamie – who had witnessed the shooting and nearly got shot himself – searches high and low for Joe, who is involved with a beautiful starlet and intently focused on a poker match.

  • S13E21 Search in Limbo

    • February 20, 1972
    • NBC

    Sid Langley is a real estate broker who is not well liked in Nevada, thanks to his shady ways of doing business. An irritable Ben is barely polite with Langley when closing a land transaction. However, things soon get worse than that headache and blurred vision Ben suffers from when he learns that Langley has been critically wounded by an unknown assailant. Ben, who somehow can't remember the past 24 hours, fears he may have been the gunman and tries to reconstruct the activities of the past day to prove his innocence.

  • S13E22 He Was Only Seven

    • March 5, 1972
    • NBC

    A 7-year-old boy is killed after he walks into a bank during a robbery by the ruthless Springer gang. Joe and Jamie help the boy's angrily grieving grandfather track down Springer.

  • S13E23 The Younger Brothers' Younger Brother

    • March 12, 1972
    • NBC

    A comic tale of mistaken identity, as Hoss (and eventually Ben and Joe) are held in connection with a series of road gang robberies by the bumbling Younger Brothers.

  • S13E24 A Place to Hide

    • March 19, 1972
    • NBC

    The Cartwrights are once again brought in the middle of the Civil War. This time, the wife of former Civil War Col. Cody Ransom brings her young daughter to the Ponderosa, trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. However, Ben soon learns that Col. Ransom may be trying to search for his family. However, Union Maj. Donahue has been pursing Ransom and his men for many years after the war ended, and has refused to accept anybody's terms of surrender – especially since Donahue considers capturing Ransom a personal matter.

  • S13E25 A Visit to Upright

    • March 26, 1972
    • NBC

    Ben's ability to close a lucrative livestock contract with a conspicuous widow hinges on the sale of a dilapidated saloon in Upright that Hoss and Joe had impulsively purchased. However, the boys put off the sale when the town drunk (who acts as "saloon keeper") insist the crumbling Trails End Saloon may house a fortune. Things get even more complicated when a woman, claiming to be the daughter of the deceased former owner, envisions turning the Trails End into a booming saloon, hotel and restaurant.

  • S13E26 One Ace Too Many

    • April 2, 1972
    • NBC

    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.

Season 14

  • S14E01 Forever (1)

    • September 12, 1972
    • NBC

    Little Joe has finally found true love - the beautiful Alice Harper. The two have a wonderful courtship and very soon, the two are engaged. Unlike past relationships the Cartwright brothers have had, this time, Joe makes it to the altar. All appears well, as Joe and Alice start their new life together in their new home ... until one day Joe is out. Alice's indolent brother owes money to a ruthless businessman and has not yet paid, so they find Alice instead. When she can't pay the debt, they brutally kill her and burn Joe's house down.

  • S14E02 Forever (2)

    • September 12, 1972
    • NBC

    Little Joe learns of the tragic and savagely brutal circumstances of Alice's death and is determined to bring her killers to justice. While a good part of this episode focuses on the pursuit of the thugs that killed Alice, what made this episode was a moving scene where Ben comforts Joe over the death of his new wife. Sitting in the smoldering ruins of what was Joe's new home, Ben (who rarely gets emotional) and the ever-emotional Joe really grieve for Alice ... and in a way, this was their way to grieve the death of series star Dan Blocker.

  • S14E03 Heritage of Anger

    • September 19, 1972
    • NBC

    Ex-con John Dundee, a friend of the Cartwights, is being released from prison. Ben tries to help John readjust to society, but John wants revenge on those who sent him to prison – namely, ex-business partners, Anders, Bartlett and Sangster. Worse, the bad guys, who are friends with a corrupt lawman, are hatching a plan to send John back to prison ... this time, for murder.

  • S14E04 The Initiation

    • September 26, 1972
    • NBC

    Jamie's friend, Ted Hoag, is unfairly blamed for the death of another young fellow during a club initiation. In the end, it's a lesson in responsibility for the boys of Virginia City School.

  • S14E05 Riot!

    • October 3, 1972
    • NBC

    While at the Nevada State Prison to inspect conditions, Ben is taken hostage in a riot. The riot is an attempt by frustrated inmates to expose horrific conditions at the prison. While Joe and Candy plan to resolve the situation, Ben begins a friendship with Griff King (who isn't exactly receptive), and helps communicate the inmates' demands to the warden and state prison board.

  • S14E06 New Man

    • October 10, 1972
    • NBC

    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.

  • S14E07 Ambush at Rio Lobo

    • October 24, 1972
    • NBC

    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.

  • S14E08 The Twenty-Sixth Grave

    • October 31, 1972
    • NBC

    Mark Twain ruffles dangerous feathers in Virginia City with accusations of claim-jumping and murder.

  • S14E09 Stallion

    • November 14, 1972
    • NBC

    The moving tale of Little Joe and his beloved black stallion, which Ben purchases for his son as a birthday gift.

  • S14E10 The Hidden Enemy

    • November 28, 1972
    • NBC

    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.

  • S14E11 The Sound of Sadness

    • December 5, 1972
    • NBC

    A lonely old man opens his home to two orphan boys but runs into bureaucratic opposition when attempting to adopt them.

  • S14E12 The Bucket Dog

    • December 19, 1972
    • NBC

    Jamie obtains an Irish setter pup and forms a special bond between dog and man. The dog's owner learns the puppy is at the Ponderosa and arrives to claim it ... so he can put it to sleep (since it was a runt and, according to the master, an inferior example of the breed. The dog is soon in a trial for its life.

  • S14E13 First Love

    • December 26, 1972
    • NBC

    Jamie becomes friends with the wife of an unpopular schoolmaster, who often browbeats her.

  • S14E14 The Witness

    • January 2, 1973
    • NBC

    An elderly business associate of Ben's is killed after a man, posing as Candy, tries to rob her; the woman suffers a fatal heart attack, which – since it happens during the commission of a felony – is considered to be the same as if the assailant had pulled the trigger. The real Candy, who had been assaulted at a hotel by the same man, is held in connection with the old woman's death. A woman named Kate is the only one who can back up Candy's alibi, but she has left town with her husband, who is the thief. Griff agrees to go after Kate and have her provide a statement. Only thing is, he discovers – as Ben and Joe do later – that she, too, has a past that, if revealed at trial, could do serious harm to Candy's defense. Meanwhile, Ben is unsure about the young defense attorney's ability to defend Candy, particularly since the state's attorney has a nearly spotless conviction record. But the budding lawyer is determined to play David to the prosecutor's Goliath.

  • S14E15 The Marriage of Theodora Duffy

    • January 9, 1973
    • NBC

    A serious game of "let's pretend" begins when Griff and government agent Theodora Duffy pose as husband and wife to capture a gang of war criminals.

  • S14E16 The Hunter

    • January 16, 1973
    • NBC

    In what turned out to be the series finale, Little Joe is making a delivery for Ben when he meets Bill Tanner, a psychotic killer that is posing as a soldier he has killed. His delivery wagon stolen and sans supplies, food or water, Joe -- whom Tanner has called his "prey" -- tries to evade the well-stocked madman, who takes sadistic pleasure in his role as a predator.

Additional Specials