I was thrilled to set foot on Mr. Cartwright's spread myself one time. Only one thing was wrong: they tell the tourists "Yep - that's where it all happend." The hell it did. Bonanza was shot on soundstages of Warner Brothers - the whole Ponderosa set was built there - and even though it was a great set, it's clearly visible (painted backdrops) in most shots dealing with the immediate outside of the ranch. Of course they travelled to Tahoe every once in a while to do some cover shots, to "blurr" the lines between sets and real outdoor shots. The indoor ranch set which must be a working set - so you can take walls away to move the camera and have lights in the ceiling etc. - was done at Hollywood as well.
Pernell Roberts wanted out because he felt he had more to give as an actor than to play the same part over and over. And there was a feud between him and Little Joe which he regretted later.
