Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse under the Metromedia Restaurant Group. The names of the restaurants were derived from the classic TV series "Bonanza", which was set at a place called Ponderosa Ranch. In 1963, Dan Blocker, who played Eric "Hoss" Cartwright on "Bonanza", started the Bonanza Steakhouse chain. The first Bonanza opened in Westport, Connecticut. Sam Wyly and his brother Charles Wyly bought the small Bonanza restaurant chain three years later. The company grew to approximately 600 restaurants by 1989, when the Wylys sold it to Metromedia. In 1965, Dan Lasater, Norm Wiese and Charles Kleptz founded Ponderosa in Kokomo, Indiana, moving the headquarters to
Bonanza: The Next Generation as the son of Little Joe Cartwright, and Gillian Greene, daughter of Lorne Greene, as his love interest. The film was written by David Dortort and Paul Savage, and directed by William F. Claxton. "Bonanza: The Next Generation" was the pilot for a television series that was never produced but was followed by "" (1993) and "" (1995). Bonanza: The Next Generation Bonanza: The Next Generation is a 1988 American made-for-television western film and a sequel to the 1959–1973 television series "Bonanza" starring John Ireland, Robert Fuller, Barbara Anderson, Michael Landon Jr., Brian A. Smith and John Amos. None of