Main Cast: Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon
Release Year: 1966
Run Time: 60 minutes
Plot
Season eight of Bonanza begins with one of the series' most famous episodes, "Something Hurt, Something Wild," in which the nonplussed Little Joe Cartwright (Michael Landon) is accused of sexual assault by the daughter of one of Ben Cartwright's (Lorne Greene) best and oldest friends. Later down the season we are treated to the series' second two-part episode, "The Pursued," marking one of the final TV appearances by former Rawhide star Eric Fleming as a polygamous Mormon rancher. This is followed by "To Bloom for Thee," in which Geraldine Brooks, cast as Ben Cartwright's first wife Elizabeth in an earlier episode, appears as the girlfriend of Ben's son Hoss (Dan Blocker)! Other memorable eighth season episodes include "A Christmas Story," featuring Wayne Newton and Jack Oakie in a Western retelling of Dickens' A Christmas Carol; "Ponderosa Explosion," the one in which Joe and Hoss decide to get rich quick by raising rabbits; and "Black Friday," featuring the first of three appearances by John Saxon as ranch hand-turned-gunslinger Steve Friday -- one of several efforts to introduce a recurring character worthy of replacing former series regular Pernell Roberts. As it had during the past two seasons, Bonanza closed out season eight as the highest-rated program in the United States. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
