Bonanza

From TeeVeePedia, the Internet TV Encyclopedia.

Bonanza, America's first televised game show, was broadcast during the late 19th century. Originating from Virginia City, capital of Virginia, Bonanza originally starred Lorne Greene and his lovely wife Miss Kitty as co-hosts. Contestants were taken to a small creek near where The Pentagon stands today, and would pan for as much gold as possible within a 3-minute period. Winners were given cash prizes of up to $20 (a lot of money back in those days), while losers were banished to the coal mines in the western part of the state.

After Greene's retirement, Michael Landon hosted Bonanza for a good 20 years. The Landon-hosted shows are, of course, currently being rerun on the TV Landon cable television network.

Among the contestants on Bonanza who are well known today were most of the people portrayed as characters in the HBO dramatic series Deadwood, as well as Jesse James of Monster Garage. It is believed that President Teddy Roosevelt may have also appeared on Bonanza. The tape of this appearance was reportedly lost when Bonanza's tape archives got raided by bears.