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Harriet's Happenings: LHOTP in the Media

babyhouseman
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babyhouseman

babyhouseman

I thought of this group when I saw this article, http://www.buzzfeed.com/spenceralthouse/heartbreaking-tv-moments-that-made-you-cry-your-eyes-out

It's about sad TV moments. They mention a LH episode:

 

"When Caroline’s parents make a trip to see her, but her mom dies en route. Caroline runs to the wagon to see her mom but is instead greeted by her coffin." or as TWOP calls it "Ma's Ma Is a Little Stiff from the Ride."

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bookbase

bookbase

Just ran across this: http://www.today.com/entertainment/today-host-little-house-prairie-reunion-2D79595300?cid=social_20140429_10853804

LHOTP reunion on the Today show tomorrow with a big announcement!!

On the down side, it's during the 4th hour with Hoda and Kathie Lee. Unwatchable.  I'll probably wait until afterward and just watch the clip.  8 Little House stars are going to be in attendance

Rhondinella

Rhondinella

That was a fun piece, but way too short.  I wanted to hear more from Matthew and Allison specifically.

 

Also would have been nice if Kathie Lee had practiced the names beforehand.  I mean, "Arngrim" and "Laborteaux" may not be the most natural names to pronounce, but with a couple minutes of practice she could have gotten them at least closer to right.

 

Finally, my 8 year-old self cannot even believe I'm saying this, but I think I want to hang out with Allison Arngrim.  She seems like she'd be a hoot to have drinks with.

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SillySpookyGirl

SillySpookyGirl

I read AA's book in about a day. She is awesome! I would love to drink with her. There is a FB page dedicated to the reunion in Walnut Grove this summer. AA posts quite a bit there. And I saw someone asked Dean Butler a question, and he answered it. There are some fun discussions, though nothing as hilarious and twisted as the stuff that was on the TWOP board.

scowl

scowl

I ripped thorugh Arngrim's book in a couple of days. Her family was close competition to River Phoenix's family in the unconventional department. Incredible she turned out normal.

 

The most shocking thing to me wasn't the most shocking thing in the book (no spoiler). I was shocked that Arngrim was able to receive unemployment on the weeks she didn't appear on the show!  Tax dollars supporting actors on television shows?

 

MSA also wrote a book about her days on Little House called "Way I See It [sic]". The reviews on Amazon are mostly negative since it is mostly an episode guide of the show.

scowl

scowl

The book to read about the Phoenix family is "Last Night at the Viper Room".

 

Arngrim had an unusual family. Phoenix had an insane family. I can see how both family's "hands off our star child" policy turned a child into an delusional adult who lived a messed up life. River wrecked his career, lived in a dump, and died with every known drug in his bloodstream while Stefan had years of domestic violence, several arrests, and drug addiction. 

scowl

scowl

I tried to get through Melissa Gilbert's "Prairie Tale". She doesn't have a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that Arngrim's book was full of nor does she really discuss much about the show. In fact she hardly discusses her acting career at all. The book is mostly about her endlessly troubled personal life which is a result of her consistently poor decisions which she sometimes admits were poor decisions but never regrets making, i.e. marrying an uncontrollable alcoholic who she caught screwing a hooker in her house while she was asleep wasn't a bad decision because she got her first baby out of the marriage.

 

I felt like I was reading something written by a teenage girl about things that happened recently, not by a woman in her forties looking back at her messed up life. For example in a single paragraph she recalled how she was bothered by two women who were looking at her at a club and described it as if it had been some kind of invasion of her privacy. However after they came up to her and told her how much they loved her on LHOP, she immediately turned to her celebrity friends and bragged about how she was so much more famous than them because she was on a television show. The hypocrisy of "Leave me alone, you nobodies" followed by "Look at me, I'm so famous" is still completely lost on her.

 

I stopped reading when Gilbert was depressed, broke, and was hardly getting any work, then decided to cheer herself up by getting a boob job.

 

It's funny that Arngrim came from a crazy family yet has made mostly wise decisions in her life. I think she had the brain of an adult by the time she was ten so she already knew where she wanted to go in life.

scowl

scowl

Gilbert made her mother sound like the stereotypical controlling stage mom protecting her asset, I mean her daughter, from anything that might harm her. It's probably not an exaggeration -- both her sister and her brother were on TV shows too so it sounds like they started their acting lessons in the maternity ward. 

 

I don't think she even cares why her brother split with her family. She hardly even talked about her sister Sara who was also on a successful television series for nine years and then went on to movies like Poison Ivy and High Fidelity, and is still in demand in television. You would think her sister's parallel life experience in the entertainment industry would give Melissa some insight into her own life and career but it sounds like they don't even talk to each other.

 

I congratulate anyone who was able to make it through Gilbert's book. Arngrim book reads like an adult looking back at her childhood with wisdom and that's what made it entertaining. Gilbert is the opposite. She still sounds like an angry teenager. I got tired of her blaming her failures on the drug addicts and self-absorbed celebrities who she called her friends. 

Cheezwiz

Cheezwiz

I didn't read Melissa Gilbert's book as it was quite poorly reviewed - though I am slightly tempted, just to get the dirt on her relationship with Rob Lowe in the eighties. Can't be bothered with Prisspot's book, as it received even worse reviews - apparently it's little more than an episode guide to the series. Based on what Alison Arngrim wrote, Melissa Sue Anderson sounded like a really odd duck - just completely cold and standoffish, possibly in the grip of a really evil stage Mom.

 

I would like to read the new book that just came out in November which details more of the history of the real Laura Ingalls & Rose Wilder - it's called "Pioneer Girl" and sounded quite interesting.

scowl

scowl

The oddest thing about Gilbert's book is that you would think she spent every spare moment with Rob Lowe and they were always days from getting married even while she acknowledged that he was quite busy with other women who sound much more glamorous. I found this lack of awareness to be very disturbing -- she's writing this and still not understanding what we the reader can clearly see was going on.

 

She was the president of the Screen Actors Guild but hardly mentions anything she worked on past Little House. Yes, these were throw-away Lifetime movies but good actors can learn something from any project large or small if they love to act. Gilbert is not a good actress and clearly didn't care about anything she worked on. All she mentions is trivia she found out about other declining actors like William Shatner, then it's back to her personal life.

 

Both Arngrim and Gilbert spend most of their books talking about their personal lives but Arngrim's book is full of decisions she made (usually smart ones) and lessons she learned from them. You really feel she's always thinking a step or two ahead in her life. Gilbert's book is about stuff that happened to her with no explanation as to why they happened except in the cases she had someone to blame. She never stops sounding like a teenager.

Cheezwiz

Cheezwiz

I will probably give Gilbert's book a miss, but I was truly surprised and amazed by Alison Arngrim's book. For what could have been a quick throwaway showbiz memoir, she managed to successfully weave a lot of separate strands together - her crazy family & difficult personal life, her experiences on the show, and the workings of the TV industry in general during the 70's.  Even her descriptions of Melissa Sue Anderson were not mean-spirited - more an expression of bafflement at her chilly behavior than anything. She also seemed to feel something was off in Prisspot's family life that may have contributed to her demeanor. AA definitely seems like she has a lot of smarts humour and heart. Would love to have drinks with her!

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