The actor Pernell Roberts, who paved the way for David Caruso to prematurely bail on his television career and then suffer in movie ignominy until he found redemption in series television again, has died.

Roberts played Adam Cartwright for six years on Bonanza, the iconic TV western that aired for a total of 14 years, the second longest-running western in television history (after Gunsmoke).

He quit Bonanza in 1965 when his initial contract was up, complaining that his character had remained ill-defined and the basic premise of the show — three adult sons living with their widowed father on the family ranch, the Ponderosa — was dumb: "Doesn't it seem a bit silly for three adult males to get Father's permission for everything they do?" he once asked a reporter.

Of course, the basic premise of Bonanza led to one of the funniest scenes in movie history in Barry Levinson's brilliant Tin Men:

"Sam (played by Jackie Gayle): You know when I saw Bonanza the other day, something occurred to me.

Ernest Tilley (played by Danny deVito): Eh?

Sam: Ya got these four guys living on the Ponderosa and ya never hear them say anything about wanting to (have sex).

Ernest Tilley: Huh.

Sam: I mean ya never hear Hoss say to Little Joe, "I had such a (expletive) when I woke up this morning."

Ernest Tilley: No, no, no...

Sam: They don't talk about broads – nothing. Ya never hear Little Joe say, "Hey, Hoss, I went to Virginia City and I saw a girl with the greatest (butt) I've ever seen in my life." They just walk around the Ponderosa: "Yes, Pa, where's Little Joe?" Nothin about broads. I don't think I'm being too picky. But, if at least once, they talked about getting (excited). I don't care if you live on the Ponderosa or right here in Baltimore, guys talk about (having sex). I'm beginning to think that show doesn't have too much realism."

And I can't remember who told this joke, but we still laugh: "Here's the thing about Bonanza. It's three 40-year-old men, living with their 45-year-old father."

But I digress. Everyone in Hollywood at the time told Roberts he was crazy to quit the show, and indeed, his career tanked after that. He may actually be the first cautionary tale that many actors and actresses roundly ignored for decades afterwards, quitting their hit shows for supposedly bigger and better movie careers.

So Roberts largely disappeared until 1979, when he turned up as the title character in Trapper John, M.D. (speaking of career "oopses," Wayne Rogers, the original Trapper John on M*A*S*H, bailed on that little piece of success after three years). Of course, that medical drama is better known for giving us Gregory "Gonzo" Harrison, 1980s-era pin-up, than for Roberts' skills.

Roberts was the last of the Cartwrights to go: Dan Blocker, (Hoss), died in 1972; Lorne Greene (Daddy Ben) died in 1987; and icon Michael Landon (Little Joe) died in 1991. Clearly, Adam and Joe must've looked like the long-deceased mom, and Hoss got saddled with Dad's gene pool.

I was never much of a Bonanza fan, although I'm sure over the years I've seen them all in syndication. I did always love the opening, with the Ponderosa map going up in flames and the four of them galloping toward the camera as the

can't-get-it-out-of-your-head theme music played.

I was always more of a Big Valley girl. The never-ending sagas and sexcapades of the randy Barkley family (siblings Jarrod, Nick, heath and Audra — played by Richard Long, Peter Breck, Lee Majors, and Linda Evans — and matriarch Victoria, played by Barbara Stanwyck — FABULOUS) were far more interesting to this pre-teen girl than the blah-biddity-blah-blah of the Cartwright men. Because really, even though I did not know it at the time, I agree with Sam from Tin Men. There was just something missing.

How about you? Bonanza? Big Valley? Trapper John, M.D.? Tragic career decisions? Discuss.