Upon its debut in 1959, Bonanza hit audiences with unprecedented triumph and to this day remains NBC’s longest-running Western and the second-longest-running Western in all of American television. But all good things must come to an end and series co-star Dan Blocker predicted when Bonanza would conclude with uncanny accuracy.
It’s made all the more eerie when considering that Blocker’s surprising death at the age of just 43, catalyzed the show drawing to a close. It lasted one season without Blocker, known as the gentle giant Hoss Cartwright, enough for Bonanza to become the first program to address the death of a main character outright, before ending on January 16, 1973 – and Blocker wasn’t far off with predicting this years prior.
Dan Blocker foresaw ‘Bonanza’ ending with stunning accuracy
Bonanza survived its share of shakeups, against the odds, determinedly adhering to its formula of four Cartwright stars. America remained endeared to Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker and Michael Landon, although Roberts would eventually bow out. Still, the series endured for years after his 1965 exit. But Blocker sensed the end approaching and as early as 1971 said as much in an interview discussing the show’s longevity.
“I think it could [go on forever],” Blocker mused, adding, “I think it will eventually become an economic burden for the network and the sponsors to such an extent that they will probably drop it.”
He elaborated, “I foresee the show lasting another couple of years, but you see, when we’re working in film, we get so much film backlogged that it becomes unfeasible for the network to continue to pay out money, just making new produce when they have 13 years of produce in reserve that the public has only seen one-third of. So it just doesn’t make sense economically to continue the thing. I should imagine by the 15th year, it will have run its course.”
Blocker predicted and, ultimately, ushered in the end of ‘Bonanza’
Blocker died on May 13, 1972, from a pulmonary embolism after gallbladder surgery; he developed a blood clot in his leg, according to a news report immediately following his death. That autumn, the Bonanza writers actually wrote in Hoss’s death, marking the first time a show would address a major character death directly.
The heart of Bonanza had always been the Cartwright men and the purest heart of all was, undoubtedly, Hoss’s. Although Bonanza stayed afloat through Pernell Roberts’ exit and some trial-and-error cast introductions, this loss had an unmistakable note of finality to it. So, the network dropped the show after its 14th season, which Landon called “by far the least popular and least requested season in the show’s rerun package.”