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
The Joey Bishop Show (TV series) picked up "The Joey Bishop Show" for the 1964–65 television season. The Season 4 debut episode, "Joey Goes to CBS", premiered on Sunday night September 27, 1964 at 9:30 P.M. opposite NBC's highly popular western series "Bonanza". As a result, ratings for "The Joey Bishop Show" were low. By late fall 1964, ratings had not improved. In an effort to save the series, CBS moved it to Tuesday nights. Ratings still remained low and CBS announced the series’ cancellation in January 1965. The series finale aired on March 30, 1965. The Joey Bishop Show (TV series) The Joey Bishop Show