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The Best Episodes of Bonanza Season 8

Every episode of Bonanza Season 8 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Bonanza Season 8!

Binge this in 20h 25m·Peaking at 8.2/10
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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Bonanza Season 8 Episode 7 - Credit for a Kill
    8.2/10(132 votes)

    S8:E7

    Though his friend is badly in need of the reward money, Joe insists it belongs to him, to protect his friend from the dead outlaws' brothers.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 19 - Black Friday
    7.8/10(132 votes)

    S8:E19

    In the town of Chiso, Joe encounters a former Ponderosa cowhand who is now a gunfighter and expecting to be killed on Friday the 13th. John Saxon makes the first of his three appearances in the series, in this episode as Steven Friday.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 21 - Journey to Terror
    7.8/10(126 votes)

    S8:E21

    Joe visits his married friends in Arizona Territory, only to discover the husband has become a criminal and is secretly part of a notorious gang.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 24 - Judgment at Red Creek
    7.8/10(114 votes)

    S8:E24

    Hoss and Joe have their doubts as to who really robbed a way station, suspecting the two men they captured are innocent.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 31 - The Wormwood Cup
    7.8/10(130 votes)

    S8:E31

    A woman - convinced Little Joe intentionally killed her brother - offers $1,000 to the man who kills the youngest Cartwright in what she deems a ""fair fight."" Joe, meanwhile, must overcome his guilt over killing another man in self defense while trying to avoid the dead man's bitterly grieving father.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 14 - Tommy
    7.7/10(126 votes)

    S8:E14

    The Cartwrights protect a woman and her deaf-mute little son from the boy's outlaw stepfather.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 29 - A Man Without Land
    7.7/10(116 votes)

    S8:E29

    The foreman of a neighboring ranch frames Joe for murder as part of a scheme to get his employer's property.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 20 - The Unseen Wound
    7.6/10(126 votes)

    S8:E20

    Ben discovers that his friend, Sheriff Paul Rowan, is suffering from stress brought on by his wartime experiences.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 9 - Old Charlie
    7.5/10(123 votes)

    S8:E9

    A young cowpoke is killed during a fight with Hoss, but the old blowhard who runs the Virginia City stables, takes the credit, placing him in danger from the dead man's brothers.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 11 - The Oath
    7.5/10(118 votes)

    S8:E11

    While in another town, on business, Ben runs into a saloon employee who is a big figure, and after he kills an old miner, who has burned down his house, Ben takes him into the sheriff. He is sentenced and hung. Before his departure, Charlie Monahan, has made his half-breed son, Charlie Two, swear an oath to kill Ben. Little Joe is made aware of this and must track him down to prevent him from carrying out his oath against Ben. Charlie Two is unaware that Joe is Ben's son, as they meet on the trail.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 25 - Joe Cartwright, Detective
    7.5/10(135 votes)

    S8:E25

    Joe becomes fascinated by detective literature and drags Hoss into the picture when he suspects the bank is going to be robbed.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 3 - A Time to Step Down
    7.4/10(118 votes)

    S8:E3

    After the Cartwrights put wrangler Dan Tolliver out to pasture, the embittered old man plans to take part in robbing the Ponderosa.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 8 - Four Sisters from Boston
    7.4/10(143 votes)

    S8:E8

    The Cartwrights come to the rescue of four inexperienced homesteaders, when devious cattle ranchers try to run them off their property.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 13 - The Bridegroom
    7.4/10(129 votes)

    S8:E13

    Joe plays matchmaker in this story of a rancher attempting to marry off his supposedly unremarkable daughter.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 34 - The Greedy Ones
    7.4/10(113 votes)

    S8:E34

    The Ponderosa is in danger of being overrun by gold hunters.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 4 - The Pursued (1)
    7.3/10(129 votes)

    S8:E4

    A Mormon with two wives is badgered by the town's people and then things get much worse.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 26 - Dark Enough to See the Stars
    7.3/10(111 votes)

    S8:E26

    Young Billy Wilcox wanders onto the Ponderosa, sick, hungry, and alone. Ben finds him, and after he regains his strength, offers Billy a job. Jennifer Yardley, who with her father is visiting the Cartwrights, is interested in Billy. Billy is more concerned about a lawman that has come to town because he has a past that could be problematic: he killed a man in self-defense and ran.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 1 - Something Hurt, Something Wild
    7.2/10(148 votes)

    S8:E1

    The Cartwrights' friendship with a neighboring rancher is threatened by his mentally unstable daughter.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 2 - Horse of a Different Hue
    7.2/10(116 votes)

    S8:E2

    So the Cartwrights will not be killed, one of Ben's oldest friends must make sure Joe does not win a horse race.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 5 - The Pursued (2)
    7.2/10(115 votes)

    S8:E5

    As the persecuted party awaits Ben and Hoss' return, Herber is shot and killed. Joe retaliates and shoots Herber's assassin.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 12 - A Real Nice, Friendly Little Town
    7.2/10(139 votes)

    S8:E12

    When the woman he was planning to marry is strangled, Joe forces the only suspect to come forward, in a very tense-filled episode.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 16 - Ponderosa Explosion
    7.2/10(120 votes)

    S8:E16

    Two Virginia City old-timers fool Hoss and Joe into raising rabbits, and the Ponderosa is overrun with paws and whiskers.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 17 - Justice
    7.2/10(135 votes)

    S8:E17

    When the woman he was planning to marry is strangled, Joe forces the only suspect to come forward.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 18 - A Bride for Buford
    7.2/10(109 votes)

    S8:E18

    Dolly Bantree has a crooked manager ""Blackie"", who blackmails Dolly to fleece newly rich miner Buford out of his newfound wealth. Hoss suspects something and gets all duded up to pose as a rich mark to test Dolly.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Bonanza Season 8 Episode 22 - Amigo
    7.2/10(124 votes)

    S8:E22

    A wounded comanchero sides with the Cartwrights when the rest of the gang, led by Captain Fenner, shows up to burn and rob the Ponderosa.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 8 Ratings Summary

"Credit for a Kill" is the best rated episode of Bonanza season 8. It scored 8.2/10 from 132 votes. Written and directed by Unknown, it aired on October 23, 1966. This episode is rated 0.4 points higher than the second-best, "Black Friday".