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 Royal Family (TV series) Rich of "Entertainment Weekly" later wrote, "It was an end so ironic that for a brief moment cast mates figured Foxx — whose 1970s TV character often faked heart attacks — was kidding when he grabbed a chair and fell to the floor." Foxx was taken to Queen Of Angels Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, where he died that evening. The show's producers eventually decided to resume work on the series, running commercials in Foxx's memory that included the line "Like any family, "The Royal Family" will go on." Jackée Harry was added to the cast as Victoria's younger sister Ruth,