Griff King
Griff King was a former prison inmate serving out his parole on the Ponderosa. His character was rather hurriedly added in the fourth episode of what would turn out to be the final season - and not even a full season at that. Dan Blocker's death left a gap that the producers tried unsuccessfully to fill with the addition of Griff and the return of David Canary as Candy. What little backstory was given on Griff is mainly in his first two episodes "Riot!" and "New Man" with a few minor additions in "The Witness" "The Sound of Loneliness" and "The Marriage of Theodore Duffy." Had the series continued for another season or two, it's likely Griff would have had long lost relatives, friends and enemies coming out of the woodwork. Although his lack of backstory can be attributed to the speed with which his character was constructed, it was also the practice of television writers not to lock characters into too definite a family history. As shown by the appearance of the occasional Cartwright half-brother, cousin, etc., it's always convenient to give writers the option of writing into an episode a character who has some kind of emotional hold on a featured player.
Tim Matheson
Fans will recognize Matheson from a variety of roles, starting from his early days on shows like Leave it to Beaver and Bonanza to his humorous lead as Eric “Otter” Stratton in Animal House — where the iconic quote used as the book’s title comes from. Matheson is also a two-time Emmy-nominated actor for his role as Vice President John Hoynes on The West Wing, and plays Dr. Vernon Mullins on Netflix series Virgin River.
Griff King was a former prison inmate serving out his parole on the Ponderosa. His character was rather hurriedly added in the fourth episode of what would turn out to be the final season - and not even a full season at that. Dan Blocker's death left a gap that the producers tried unsuccessfully to fill with the addition of Griff and the return of David Canary as Candy. What little backstory was given on Griff is mainly in his first two episodes "Riot!" and "New Man" with a few minor additions in "The Witness" "The Sound of Loneliness" and "The Marriage of Theodore Duffy." Had the series continued for another season or two, it's likely Griff would have had long lost relatives, friends and enemies coming out of the woodwork. Although his lack of backstory can be attributed to the speed with which his character was constructed, it was also the practice of television writers not to lock characters into too definite a family history. As shown by the appearance of the occasional Cartwright half-brother, cousin, etc., it's always convenient to give writers the option of writing into an episode a character who has some kind of emotional hold on a featured player.
Tim Matheson
Fans will recognize Matheson from a variety of roles, starting from his early days on shows like Leave it to Beaver and Bonanza to his humorous lead as Eric “Otter” Stratton in Animal House — where the iconic quote used as the book’s title comes from. Matheson is also a two-time Emmy-nominated actor for his role as Vice President John Hoynes on The West Wing, and plays Dr. Vernon Mullins on Netflix series Virgin River.
