Bonanza
The family lived on a thousand square-mile (2,600 km) ranch called the Ponderosa on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe in Nevada opposite California on the edge of the Sierra Nevada range]. The vast size of the Cartwrights' land was quietly revised to "half a million acres" (2,000 km) on Lorne Greene's 1964 song, "Saga of the Ponderosa." The ranch name refers to the Ponderosa Pine, common in the West. The nearest town to the Ponderosa was Virginia City, where the Cartwrights would go to converse with Sheriff Roy Coffee (played by veteran actor Ray Teal), or his deputy Clem Foster (Bing Russell).
Temperatures Rising
ABC placed "Temperatures Rising" in its 8:00 PM Tuesday night time-slot, where it debuted on September 12, 1972. Because one of the stars was black, some of ABC's affiliated stations in the southern and midwestern parts of the United States refused to air the series or broadcast it in a different time slot. Airing opposite it were "Bonanza" on NBC, and the new sitcom "Maude" on CBS. "Bonanza" was entering its fourteenth year and offered up an ambitious two-hour season premiere dealing with the marriage of Little Joe Cartwright (Michael Landon). "Maude", starring Beatrice Arthur in the title role, was a spin-off of "All in the Family". Both shows presented "Temperatures Rising" with stiff opposition in the "ratings game". The two-hour season premiere of "Bonanza" performed exceptionally well in the ratings. "Maude" did much better than "Temperatures Rising" in the New York City area, while "Temperatures Rising" fared better than "Maude" in the Los Angeles area. In subsequent weeks, "Bonanza"'s ratings dropped sharply and NBC cancelled the series in November 1972. According to Asher: ""Temperatures Rising" put "Bonanza" out of business and was beating "Maude" in the Los Angeles area until mid-season, when NBC switched to some heavy movies which hurt us". Despite this the series finished its first year with a consistent 29 share of the ratings at a time when a 30 share was enough to assure renewal for another season. ABC, however, wanted to improve the ratings and decided to make significant changes to "Temperatures Rising" for its second season.