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 Big Bonanza The Big Bonanza The Big Bonanza is a 1944 American film starring Jane Frazee, Richard Arlen, Gabby Hayes, Robert Livingston and Lynne Roberts. Escaping from jail after being falsely accused of cowardice, Army captain Jed Kilton ends up at odds with his old friend, Sam Ballou. Sam has been raising Jed's little brother during the Civil War, but when Jed and sidekick Hap ride into Nevada Springs, they find Sam owns a saloon and has the boy is living there in an unsuitable setting. Jed becomes acquainted with Sam's sweetheart, dancehall gal Chiquita McSweeney, and with a prim and proper