34. Inspiration from the ‘Fireside Theater
David Dortort is credited with creating the premise for Bonanza, as well as being one of the show’s producers. According to reports, Dortort got the idea while he was writing an episode of Fireside Theater in 1953. He felt strongly that it was a good idea and he decided to run with it and considering the show would run for a total of 14 years, I think it’s safe to say he had good intuition.