PASADENA, Calif. — One of the longest-running shows in the history of television may start running again later this year, albeit in a different form. The Pax network has announced plans to try to revive "Bonanza," albeit in a different form than it appeared during a 13 1/2-year run on NBC.
The network is planning a "Bonanza" prequel to be titled "Ponderosa." Pax President Jeff Sagansky called it "a franchise that is still viable after 40 years."
"We're going to tell the story of the Cartwrights' early years," he said.
The show will pick up shortly after Ben Cartwright (played by Lorne Greene in "Bonanza") has been widowed for the third time. His oldest son, Adam (Pernell Roberts in the original), is 18; his youngest son, Little Joe (Michael Landon in the original) is 11; Hoss (Dan Blocker) is somewhere in between.
"The family buys a small piece of scrub in the wilds of Nevada," Sagansky said — a piece of scrub that eventually grows into the legendary Ponderosa ranch. "The family has to make a go of it against impossible odds. . . . They're just a small family that's trying to make this little piece of land work and everybody around them is trying to make them go away."
The show is being developed by producer Beth Sullivan, who created and ran "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman." "She is actually working with David Dotort, who was the original creator and producer for all those years of 'Bonanza,' " Sagansky said.
A two-hour movie has been ordered, and Pax is hoping to turn it into a weekly hourlong series.
"This whole idea was sparked because we were running 'Bonanza' in daytime. It's been doing fantastic for us," Sagansky said. "We decided to run a few episodes in marathons in prime(time), and they did record numbers for us. . . . So we thought, gee, maybe they're trying to tell us something. Obviously they loved the first show — could we re-create the magic?"
We'll find out sometime this fall.
MORE "MYSTERIOUS": The strange saga of "Mysterious Ways" is certain to continue into next season — and continue to take place on two different networks.
The series was originally developed for NBC, which ended up passing on the show. So Pax picked the series up.
And, in a bit of cross promotion between the two networks (NBC owns 32 percent of Pax), mysterious ways premiered as a limited-run summer series on NBC before moving over to Pax in the fall.
Now it's airing on both networks, as NBC is using the series to plug a hole on Mondays at 7 p.m. and it continues to air on Pax on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Actually, the Peacock is doing more than just plugging a hole — it has already ordered 13 episodes of "Mysterious Ways" for next season.
Pax, meanwhile, has ordered 22 episodes of the series — meaning that at least 13 installments will air on both networks.
E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com