15 Things You Didn’t Know About ‘Bonanza’

13. Sheriff Roy Coffee

Roy Coffee was one of the more frequently recurring characters on the show. The sheriff of nearby Virginia City, Coffee was a decent man who happened to be embodied by one of the most prolific actors of his generation. Ray Teal was on 98 episodes of Bonanza, but he was also in more than 250 movies throughout his career as well as 90 TV shows.

14. Lorne Greene Is One Of America’s Favorite TV Dad’s

One of the show’s producers, David Dortort, was appalled at the way American fathers were represented in the media when Bonanza aired (because he thought most TV Dads were morons). So, he made his series an hour long (as opposed to half and hour) in order to have time to flesh out the character of Lorne Green (who was Canadian) in order to turn him in to the kind, caring father that men should strive to be. Of course, it was a little unhealthy and adolescent how three grown men had to kowtow to their dad all the time.

15. Dan Blocker, Almost MASH Star

In 1970, two years before his death, Dan Blocker was considered one of Robert Altman’s top choices for an unknown lead role in MASH. Unfortunately for Blocker, the film’s producers refused to give Altman permission to cast the actor.