Season 8 poster
34 episodes

Bonanza - Season 8

First aired Sep 11, 1966Season 8

Browse all 34 episodes in this season, including available images, air dates, runtimes, ratings and episode summaries from TMDB.

Episodes

Something Hurt, Something Wild still

Episode 1

Something Hurt, Something Wild

8.0
Sep 11, 196649 min1 votes

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

Horse of a Different Hue still

Episode 2

Horse of a Different Hue

NR
Sep 18, 196649 min

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

A Time to Step Down still

Episode 3

A Time to Step Down

NR
Sep 25, 196649 min

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

The Pursued (1) still

Episode 4

The Pursued (1)

NR
Oct 2, 196649 min

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

The Pursued (2) still

Episode 5

The Pursued (2)

NR
Oct 9, 196649 min

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

To Bloom for Thee still

Episode 6

To Bloom for Thee

NR
Oct 16, 196649 min

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

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Episode 7

Credit for a Kill

NR
Oct 23, 196649 min

Though his friend is badly in need of the reward money, Joe insists it belongs to him, to protect his friend from the dead outlaws' brothers.

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Episode 8

Four Sisters from Boston

NR
Oct 30, 196649 min

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

Old Charlie still

Episode 9

Old Charlie

NR
Nov 6, 196649 min

A young cowpoke is killed during a fight with Hoss, but the old blowhard who runs the Virginia City stables, takes the credit, placing him in danger from the dead man's brothers.

Ballad of the Ponderosa still

Episode 10

Ballad of the Ponderosa

NR
Nov 13, 196649 min

A young troubadour, who blames Ben for the death of his father, returns to Virginia City. In one scene, Ben says the young man is welcome to use Adam's guitar.

The Oath still

Episode 11

The Oath

NR
Nov 20, 196649 min

While in another town, on business, Ben runs into a saloon employee who is a big figure, and after he kills an old miner, who has burned down his house, Ben takes him into the sheriff. He is sentenced and hung. Before his departure, Charlie Monahan, has made his half-breed son, Charlie Two, swear an oath to kill Ben. Little Joe is made aware of this and must track him down to prevent him from carrying out his oath against Ben. Charlie Two is unaware that Joe is Ben's son, as they meet on the trail.

A Real Nice, Friendly Little Town still

Episode 12

A Real Nice, Friendly Little Town

NR
Nov 27, 196649 min

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

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Episode 13

The Bridegroom

NR
Dec 4, 196649 min

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

Tommy still

Episode 14

Tommy

NR
Dec 18, 196649 min

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

A Christmas Story still

Episode 15

A Christmas Story

NR
Dec 25, 196649 min

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

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Episode 16

Ponderosa Explosion

NR
Jan 1, 196749 min

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

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Episode 17

Justice

NR
Jan 8, 196749 min

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

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Episode 18

A Bride for Buford

NR
Jan 15, 196749 min

Dolly Bantree has a crooked manager ""Blackie"", who blackmails Dolly to fleece newly rich miner Buford out of his newfound wealth. Hoss suspects something and gets all duded up to pose as a rich mark to test Dolly.

Black Friday still

Episode 19

Black Friday

NR
Jan 22, 196749 min

In the town of Chiso, Joe encounters a former Ponderosa cowhand who is now a gunfighter and expecting to be killed on Friday the 13th. John Saxon makes the first of his three appearances in the series, in this episode as Steven Friday.

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Episode 20

The Unseen Wound

NR
Jan 29, 196749 min

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

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Episode 21

Journey to Terror

8.0
Feb 5, 196749 min1 votes

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.

Amigo still

Episode 22

Amigo

NR
Feb 12, 196749 min

A wounded comanchero sides with the Cartwrights when the rest of the gang, led by Captain Fenner, shows up to burn and rob the Ponderosa.

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Episode 23

A Woman in the House

NR
Feb 19, 196749 min

Mary Wharton, an old friend of the family, comes to live on the Ponderosa with her shiftless husband. When Ben learns Mary is the victim of domestic abuse, he sends Russ packing.

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Episode 24

Judgment at Red Creek

NR
Feb 26, 196749 min

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

Joe Cartwright, Detective still

Episode 25

Joe Cartwright, Detective

NR
Mar 5, 196749 min

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

Dark Enough to See the Stars still

Episode 26

Dark Enough to See the Stars

NR
Mar 12, 196749 min

Young Billy Wilcox wanders onto the Ponderosa, sick, hungry, and alone. Ben finds him, and after he regains his strength, offers Billy a job. Jennifer Yardley, who with her father is visiting the Cartwrights, is interested in Billy. Billy is more concerned about a lawman that has come to town because he has a past that could be problematic: he killed a man in self-defense and ran.

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Episode 27

The Deed and the Dilemma

NR
Mar 26, 196749 min

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

The Prince still

Episode 28

The Prince

NR
Apr 2, 196749 min

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

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Episode 29

A Man Without Land

NR
Apr 9, 196749 min

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

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Episode 30

Napoleon's Children

NR
Apr 16, 196749 min

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

The Wormwood Cup still

Episode 31

The Wormwood Cup

NR
Apr 23, 196749 min

A woman - convinced Little Joe intentionally killed her brother - offers $1,000 to the man who kills the youngest Cartwright in what she deems a ""fair fight."" Joe, meanwhile, must overcome his guilt over killing another man in self defense while trying to avoid the dead man's bitterly grieving father.

Clarissa still

Episode 32

Clarissa

NR
Apr 30, 196749 min

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

Maestro Hoss still

Episode 33

Maestro Hoss

8.0
May 7, 196749 min1 votes

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

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Episode 34

The Greedy Ones

NR
May 14, 196749 min

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