8.3/10124 votesLoading...#1 - The Wish
Season 10 Episode 23 - Aired 3/9/1969
Hoss spends his two-month vacation helping a black family get their farm in shape, and dealing with racism in the neighboring town.
Director: Michael Landon
Writer: Michael Landon
8.2/10267 votesLoading...#2 - Hoss and the Leprechauns
Season 5 Episode 12 - Aired 12/22/1963
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.2/10110 votesLoading...#3 - Mark of Guilt
Season 10 Episode 13 - Aired 12/15/1968
Hop Sing tells Hoss and Candy they can use the ancient Chinese art of fingerprinting to prove Joe is innocent of murder.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.2/10109 votesLoading...#4 - Kingdom of Fear
Season 12 Episode 27 - Aired 4/4/1971
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.1/10236 votesLoading...#5 - Twilight Town
Season 5 Episode 4 - Aired 10/13/1963
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.1/10106 votesLoading...#6 - The Other Son
Season 7 Episode 4 - Aired 10/3/1965
A mule skinner and his two sons are hired by Ben to transport nitroglycerin to California.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.1/10116 votesLoading...#7 - To Die in Darkness
Season 9 Episode 28 - Aired 5/5/1968
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""?
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.1/10139 votesLoading...#8 - The Stillness Within
Season 12 Episode 24 - Aired 3/14/1971
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.1/10220 votesLoading...#9 - Forever
Season 14 Episode 1 - Aired 9/12/1972
Little Joe finds true love in newcomer Alice Harper. Following a courtship, the two are engaged. Unlike most of the Cartwrights' previous girlfriends, Alice makes it to the altar. Joe and Alice are starting their new life together, and she soon becomes pregnant. 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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/10274 votesLoading...#10 - The Avenger
Season 1 Episode 26 - Aired 3/19/1960
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.
Director: Christian Nyby
Writer: N/A
8.0/10138 votesLoading...#11 - The Legacy
Season 5 Episode 11 - Aired 12/15/1963
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/10114 votesLoading...#12 - All Ye His Saints
Season 7 Episode 14 - Aired 12/19/1965
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/10108 votesLoading...#13 - The Wormwood Cup
Season 8 Episode 31 - Aired 4/23/1967
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/10109 votesLoading...#14 - The Gentle Ones
Season 9 Episode 7 - Aired 10/29/1967
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/10129 votesLoading...#15 - The Burning Sky
Season 9 Episode 18 - Aired 1/28/1968
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/10105 votesLoading...#16 - My Friend, My Enemy
Season 10 Episode 16 - Aired 1/12/1969
Only the testimony of an Indian wanted for horse theft can clear Candy of murder.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/10106 votesLoading...#17 - The Saddle Stiff
Season 13 Episode 17 - Aired 1/16/1972
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/10129 votesLoading...#18 - The Hidden Enemy
Season 14 Episode 10 - Aired 11/28/1972
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.9/10243 votesLoading...#19 - Death at Dawn
Season 1 Episode 32 - Aired 4/30/1960
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.9/10210 votesLoading...#20 - The Mission
Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 9/17/1960
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.
Director: James Neilson
Writer: Robert E. Thompson
7.9/10171 votesLoading...#21 - The Honor of Cochise
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 10/8/1961
The Cartwrights and a bigoted army captain are pinned down by Cochise and his braves, who claim the officer poisoned 30 of their people.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.9/10151 votesLoading...#22 - The Ride
Season 3 Episode 18 - Aired 1/21/1962
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.9/10163 votesLoading...#23 - The Gamble
Season 3 Episode 27 - Aired 4/1/1962
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.9/10182 votesLoading...#24 - The Crucible
Season 3 Episode 28 - Aired 4/8/1962
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".
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.9/10178 votesLoading...#25 - Any Friend of Walter's
Season 4 Episode 26 - Aired 3/24/1963
Classic comedy in which Hoss first meets prospector Obie and his lazy but allegedly brilliant mongrel dog, Walter.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Bonanza
Every episode of Bonanza ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Bonanza!
The High-Sierra adventures of Ben Cartwright and his sons as they run and defend their ranch while helping the surrounding community.
Genres:WesternAction & AdventureDramaFamily
Network:NBC
Best Episodes Summary
"The Wish" is the best rated episode of "Bonanza". It scored 8.3/10 based on 124 votes. Directed by Michael Landon and written by Michael Landon, it aired on 3/9/1969. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "Hoss and the Leprechauns".