After Bonanza ended, Lorne Greene became interested in science fiction

Fans were used to seeing Greene in the Ponderosa, but science fiction helped him travel to outer space.

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Lorne Greene portrayed Ben Cartwright on Bonanza for 14 seasons. That's over a decade of wearing vintage clothing that reflected living in the West and using terminology that was outdated at the time.

Greene was able to focus on a few different things during the series run, like music. However, many of his albums were Western-inspired, and it seemed like he couldn't detach himself from the genre.

That is until the show ended, and he had to put his focus elsewhere. Five years after Bonanza said goodbye to its dedicated fans, Greene appeared in another series, Battlestar Galactica. This time instead of living in the West, outer space was his home.

Starring in the Sci-Fi action-adventure show made Greene very interested in science fiction. He was so interested that he indulged in the genre often.

A Chicago Tribune article from 1978 stated, "Greene said he read about 30 science fiction books to get a mindset on this thing called outer space." The actor played Commander Adama, his planet's president, a military and spiritual leader who gathers human survivors aboard a giant warship-spaceship during the destruction of their planet by evil forces.

Greene also watched about two dozen science fiction films, including Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Blob, The Thing, 2001, and It Came From Outer Space.

"I'm so engrossed in science fiction stuff that I've become starstruck," he told the Chicago Tribune in 1978. He was already interested in making Earth a better place, but his new love for outer space strengthened that connection even more.

Greene even had a message for those who loved outer space and science fiction as much as he did. "While everyone has this great fascination for outer space, let's not lose sight of our own planet."

It's safe to say that the actor was born to lead, helping out others and being the leader in the Ponderosa and space.

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21 Comments

Travlin 3 months ago
Re ME Toons. I wish you would consider doing two one half hours of Rocky and Bullwinkle back to back at eleven PM. every night so that it would be a one hour show. Thanks
Snickers 14 months ago
For one thing. Adama did not gather survivors aboard a giant warship-spaceship. The Galactica lead a fleet of many ships containing the survivors of the 12 colonies.
Avie 18 months ago
I was introduced to Greene on the set of "Battlestar Galactica" at Universal Studios in late spring of 1978. He was very gracious and warm, asking me to have lunch with him and the cast.

It's a very fond memory, particularly a funny story (which i won't repeat here) he told about a bit of cheeky irreverence he directed at David Sarnoff, the founder and chairman of NBC during Greene's time doing "Bonanza," at a network party they both attended.
KentuckyPhil69 18 months ago
As a devout Lorne Greene fan, would love to see Battlestar Galactica on MeTV!!!! Just saying... Anything would be better than green acres and Hogan's heroes!!!
sandbagger KentuckyPhil69 18 months ago
A week ago, or so. I was at my local Wal-Mart,and I noticed the DVD of all the seasons on the original "Battlestar...". Is somebody giving me a sign???
KentuckyPhil69 sandbagger 18 months ago
I hear ya! Would love to come across that!
Gossemer KentuckyPhil69 18 months ago
While I respectfully disagree with the Hogan' s heroes thing. I so agree with Battlestar Galactica. It was on a long time ago. But would love to have it back. That show had all of it. Brotherhood, courage, action. Careing for others. Not like todays shows of self absorbance
KentuckyPhil69 Gossemer 18 months ago
You got that right!
OVkid 18 months ago
I got to see Lorne Greene in person when I was a kid in 1969. I was in disbelief that I was actually seeing Ben Cartwright in real life. He was very gracious.
Mblack 18 months ago
By the time Battlestar Galactica came on, I'd been reading science fiction for a decade, and seen SF movies that came before Star Wars.

This reminds me of William Shatner's SF interests.
Snickers Mblack 14 months ago
I was hooked on Sci-Fi when I saw my first episode of Star Trek. I was nine years old at the time and have loved reading or watching anything in the field ever since.
Karellen 18 months ago
Does this article mean Battlestar Galactica is returning to METV?
Pacificsun Karellen 18 months ago

Well, they haven't had a change to "Sci-Fi" Saturday (overnight hours) in 5 years.
Moody Karellen 18 months ago
Battlestar Galactica is available on Tubi which is a free streaming service.
Runeshaper Karellen 18 months ago
That would be EXCELLENT!
WilliamJorns Pacificsun 3 months ago
Agreed! Even "Battlestar Galactica" would be better than any of that schlock from Irwin Allen.
LoveMETV22 18 months ago


I wonder 🤔🤔..... What the double might have said?
LoveMETV22 18 months ago
This comment has been removed.
Rob 18 months ago
Wow, he read 30 books and watched two dozen movies? That would take me years to accomplish!
CaptainDunsel Rob 18 months ago
...and a couple of months for any true "sci-fi geek".
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