The first season of the American Western television series Bonanza premiered on NBC on September 12, 1959, with the final episode airing April 30, 1960.

[1] The series was developed and produced by David Dortort, and season one starred Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon.

By 1959, RCA had made progress in producing color television, but American consumers were not adopting the new technology.

[6] Originally, Dortort wanted Guy Williams for the role of Adam, but he was already committed to Disney's Zorro at the time, so Pernell Roberts was cast instead.

[6] NBC originally wanted guest stars, but the costs of filming the show in color cut into the budget significantly.

[7] Other filming locations included:[9] Jay Livingston and Ray Evans wrote the original theme song.

It was originally planned that the leads would sing the lyrics while riding out of Virginia City, but ultimately, the song was used instrumentally.

For all its pretensions, with a large cast, name guests, color and an hour's length, proves to be little more than a patch work of stock oater ideas without a fresh twist to distinguish it...[4]Poor ratings and high production costs led to NBC considering cancellation early in the process, leading to rumors that the show actually was cancelled; but fans wrote in and NBC realized it did have a viable audience.