debraran

I agree, if it was just a movie, a one time thing, maybe. You can't change that viewers thought it was "real" any more than you can change minds now about things. I think like you, the ones with them trapped in a cabin during a blizzard with the Native American saving them was "gritty" for the show. I didn't need to see Pa skin an animal or Ma cook it, but mentioning the work was what she meant too. Everything just appeared done most of the time and she was always radiant. ; ) Seeing them make flour or Caroline plow a field was "gritty" for the show. I always wanted something, special on the Long Winter and how they survived but then you couldn't have Laura meeting an older man in the woods or finding a baby...well maybe you could, lol

Charlotte Stewart talked of Karen wanting that but understanding later, the public wanted to think it was like LHOP. Part of interview " Stewart noted that Grassle often felt the series failed to realistically portray Midwestern farm life in the 1800s. “[Grassle] thought the show was a bit too lightweight in its exploration of themes such as family, marriage relationships, the harshness of prairie life, and so on,” Stewart wrote. “She wanted the show to be grittier, as she said once in an interview, adding that at one point she felt like the show was ‘Let’s Pretend on the Prairie.’ She says she’s come to see it differently with time.”

Yes, watching it again on Hulu few years ago, I missed a lot because after what they did to Romano, I signed off. I would watch the "Clooney is back" episodes or Mark's ghost so to speak but it was hard. I am glad it ended the way it did with Carter but I felt with him, it was left with a ? Does he find happiness? There were some gems thrown in the last few years but much less than the first 6. Still in my eyes, the number one show for medical and seeing the reunion with them on youtube 2 years ago was fun.

I might be wrong, but in one bio book of the show, I think they said the crying was very real of course with Grace which is sad. She cried a lot, another time it didn't seem planned was when they moved back to Walnut Grove. Maybe it was Karen who mentioned it. Yes it was silly and I don't understand how being "fat" for the circus is okay but no one is supposed to comment on it. Odd concept and the fact that she wasn't that huge, the clothes added to it. And Nel's never would have not seen his sister because of her weight or Harriet not know he had one. I'm not sure if that was the worst plot or the blind children there or Laura acting like a bitch and getting away with it again. I guess Monzo's girlfriend didn't realize she belonged in the big city with John Jr's . ; )

I agree with above. It was a rollercoaster ride with some big bumps but fun. Louis was my fav. The rest were Barbie dolls including Harvey. They started to have more depth but Donna and the ladies in general were fluff and trying to act tough but you just went with it. I found myself having my first hate watch in a way but really missing it when I watched the last one.

If they were on good terms I can't imagine him not using him at least once but he did have his son. I wished he came back again but that wasn't how it was with characters like that.

Yes, it was much better and thanks for all the extra info. I loved his performance and thought the baby born after Saint Charles left was a bit much but so Michael Landon. lol I can't watch the LHOP version without wanting the acting performance from the original. Dan was a great actor and knocked this out of the park with subtle strokes instead of sledgehammer. All of them were excellent. This short video from Johnny mentions what he remembers of that episode and Its so Dan to get him gifts and be kind.

Watching the episode where Charles try to wave his wand with the horse dealer. I thought their chemistry and touching was much more than anything on The Handyman.Well maybe the touching, Chris was pretty sexy and nice guy. When Charles complimented her cooking and hands and after her husband rejected her, he put his hands on her from behind while she said she was invisible. Chris just caught Caroline when she was falling. : ) I kind of liked the Bonanza version better with Hoss. He had a lazy day copying it but of course he had more flirting etc. on LHOP Hoss was just such a big teddy bear.

Okay, but that wasn't deliberate, just careless. I think the reason the actress who played Nancy stayed away from LHOP reunions was her character was disliked so much. Not her fault, but I think she's going this year and hoping most forgot the awful scripts she was paid to read. I think overall, she had some of the "you hate me" worst scripts of anyone on the show. So sad, Michael killed the show with having a sociopath on it. She was never redeemable and I'm not sure who in his life was like that, but it retrospect, it was sad. She wasn't even made that way by the system, she was like that when they got her which is worse. I would have loved to see Harriet get a "Nellie" in looks but she was nice and you saw a different type of daughter, maybe overwhelmed by the things they had, but a normal kid. Harriet spoiled Nellie but Nellie wasn't evil. Vindictive and jealous at times but not evil. Maybe the anger at the tabloids and his wife or the tarnish on Mike's image, IDK, but he lost focus and let the show die. Even Melissa G knew it toward the end. You felt you were just going through the motions.

I don't remember that...Wow. I thought it was odd he was made an addict, attracted to kids he wouldn't have liked, but Michael did want to bring somethings in his life to the screen. (I think Cheryl his daughter had addiction issues) Suicide was another thing he had way to often and his mom used to pretend to do that. He had a lot of issues to work out in scripts. Was that in a conversation with Doc? I must have glossed over it probably thinking the same thing you did. Wasn't show I wanted to watch a lot. I just remember the kind storekeeper asking Charles why he left, and he said something about "failed crops" or whatever. He did have him on another episode, a friend that had a heart attack while traveling with him. I got the demonizing of the city, but they weren't all dens of sin, sure they had a saloon but not every shopkeeper was mean and insensitive and WG wasn't free from crime, rapists, racists and mayhem. All I know is Caroline looked happy in the one episode of her on a telephone call and her home seemed very nice and she had so much room, you never saw Carrie or Grace or her other kids in any scene. I wish they showed more of it, eating dinner at a table with real plates, having a bathroom for Carrie, a bed not 2 feet from their grade school child. I hated seeing the Carter's stuff in the little house...sure they had less kids but it was so crowded with things, like she downsized but didn't give enough away. : )

I just read that Jonathan's wife on the show is going to be at the reunion in Ct too. I wouldn't bother her about it, but I did wonder about her relationship if any to him since they had so many scenes together. Did he keep in touch with her or like her, that kind of stuff. The show was going off the rails then, but I did like Jon's scenes with his dad and how mature he was. They tried to make the young couple not able to keep their hands off each other, something you didn't see with others, but the show was getting older and flagging in ratings . Mike hated reunion shows but a couple of years later would have loved a 2 hour special with everyone meeting in the city or showing WG while Nel's and Harriet and Willie are getting ready to go to Nellie's for Thanksgiving. Something like that. Or vice versa. Alas it wasn't meant to be but it would have erased the last years I think and they wouldn't have aged that much in a few years (Mike's worry)

Yes, even when the weather just hit the little house and not anyone else's you wonder why he just didn't try being a blacksmith. ; ) I think after the rapiest died, it was open. Even when the crops were okay, a kid would get kicked by a horse, the only one doing chores it seems. Can't have a birthday or anniversary or holiday go well. Can't let Caroline have a trip that goes well, a reunion where everyone is not doing badly usually because they were "well off". Can't have an old friend have a decent husband, Charles was last of the them in the big woods I guess. Can't move your family to the "bad city" without sacrificing the smart, street savvy one to morphine because Albert would do that.....wasn't enough to burn down a school, kill his sister's baby and friends mom, I'll go crazy and make Pa take me back to Walnut Grove, because detoxing in the bad city is impossible. I can go back there later though. You just have to love it. ; )

I remember thinking Cindy did not need a face lift but what a world they live in. I am glad he let Charles go grey on show. Most of them don't look great no matter how much money they have to pay the doctor.

“My attraction to Gil gave me an adrenaline rush, the work had gone well, and tension over my contract was in the past,” the Little House star recalled. “All was right with my world. Wasn’t it?”“He had that charisma many women find irresistible,” she remarked of Gerard. “When he showed up on the set, even the little girls sat up and took notice. He was sweet and hard-working and endeared himself to all of us women – young and old.” Hmm, maybe if he held onto the tool belt. ; )

I don't think he’s made any and Melissa Sue is in Canada I’m going to do Saturday if all goes well Don’t know anyone who’d pay to go, so solo.

I can’t believe for 50th reunion LHOP is coming to my state. Never happened. CT LHOTP original cast members scheduled to appear will include: Dean Butler (Almanzo Wilder)Melissa Gilbert (Laura Ingalls)Charlotte Stewart (Miss Beadle)Melissa (Missy) Francis (Casandra Ingalls)Alison Arngrim (Nasty Nellie)Allison Balson (Nasty Nancy Olsen)Lucy Lee Flippen (Eliza Jane Wilder)Pamela Roylance (Sarah Carter)Stan Ivar (John Carter)David Friedman (Jason Carter)Wendi Lou Lee (Grace Ingalls)Jennifer Donati (baby Rose Wilder)Olivia Barash (Sylvia Webb)Karen Grassle (Caroline Ingalls)Gil Gerard- (Chris Nelson)Leslie Landon-Matthews (Miss Plum)Victor & Tracy French (Victor French’s Children) & special guest, Susan McCray (casting director for LHOTP). Three BIG days of fun, as we celebrate 50th I was surprised to see Gil Gerard after what Karen wrote about him ;)

Was that the same season (show started to go off rails) when Donna thought she should be partner too? I think Louis has a bad day being dumped and yells at the associates and she wants Donna to use her super powers to get her to be in control of them but it fails. All I remember for now.

I was never a Donna fan, I did note also she never repeated an outfit, was the "stepford" secretary and pined for Harvey while he screwed other women and she kept busy on occasion with a guy she'd never love. Kind of sad...10 years of that until he finally woke up. Geez And she thought she deserved the salary she got and never suspected Harvey padded it?? I did like Louis most of the time because good or bad, he had the most dimension and depth. They were all cutthroat but he saw it. Rachel didn't act in this show, she pivoted constantly on her high heels and walked away after saying something not too profound. I never felt any chemistry with her and Mike. Re the jail weight comment, some do lose weight for sure, but many (look at OJ) get puffy and do gain weight because of the heavy carbs and lack of real exercise. Some get extra food depending on their influence and job. The reality of law and boards and all that, I suspended. This was my first hate watch, I used to watch Million Little Things and say that but I had to stop, it was just too much. This show, sometimes was background, sometimes I was actively watching and sometimes I was watching but also paying bills etc. You missed something, it usually wasn't a big deal, certain episodes were better than others. I found a page that gave a synopsis of each so I could have a heads up.

Yes, you rarely saw chores being done, just promises to do them or Laura saying she'd do Mary's to get her to do something else. They did fish and pick berries (which also got them in trouble) and Laura met older men but the hard things like laundry and dishes and peeling potatoes, no. I guess they couldn't have a show if everyone was as busy as a real pioneer family. Unlike the poor chap who got beaten like he killed someone for being late for his chores (which was Albert's fault) for talking him into staying longer. He never had to do anything either.

He also had them take other routes home from school, not the road. They would go by creeks and other homes, etc. If they took just the road home, I doubt they'd get into so much mischief. ; )

Yes, his presence was enough, I'm sure that extra money for the stove got spent somewhere else. Charles got many gifts, remember the pajamas and hat and shirt and scarf and mittens, but Ma? Even Carrie got a toy Laura made I think but Uncle Chris make her a nice wooden one when he saw she was left out during his visit. Another one who never really had a birthday on LHOP. I never saw a gift of cloth doll, rocking horse etc. We saw one birthday cake Ma got when they made a mess they couldn't clean up yet but more were made for others. She was just the silent,"it's not about me" wife/mother. For whatever reason when they were ridiculously snowed in , there were gifts galore for everyone, store bought gifts, I remember being distracted by it. But again, Charles knew what was in his because he "peeked" but what did Caroline get???

Yes, you nailed it. 😄 And knowing Charles wanted to buy his wife a stove like an "adult" he gives him a catalog picture and doesn't tell him his very minor daughter is giving him her horse for the stove. It wasn't HIS gift. Even if he mentioned working on the saddle, he would have kept mum I bet. Totally ludicrous. Poor Caroline never got anything really for Xmas, things were made for Charles, it was her only big gift in 20 years. Even the dishes were not to be. Tin plates, same clothes, 50 kids in a room, but never broke her. In the "bad " city though, their home was lovely. I saw scenes with Caroline on the phone (gasp) talking to a relative, and it seemed very nice and although we never saw the little ones, with all the rooms maybe they were lost. lol.

On No!! I meant the seamless cleanup. lol. I am in the minority for real, that is what ruins the Xmas show for me. I didn't think a child that young could barter with an adult (sorry Nels, you are almost perfect but not this time) and the chaos to get it back, silly, because we can't make Nellie like animals or Laura have a bad decision. Her dad could have bought the stove and Laura bartered by working or whatever, something else special, but alas I know I'm in minority. Just didn't like it. I realize though though you are jesting and I had a visceral reaction to something "sweet". 😉

And perfect every time. ;) Never saw dishes washed. I want that kitchen!

I remember in the books the kids loving the pigs tail. I guess like our bacon, which sounded good. I don't think it was ever in the show. Or the pig’s bladder can be blown up to make a nice balloon. They had mainly turkey roasts. I pretty much gave up pork, once in a while but it did look good.