Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

[Mr. Sparkle]

43 minutes ago, BigBingerBro said:

The Garinville Whipple episode it one of my favorites.  I don't know if I'm dumb or a victim of syndication edits, but I don't really understand how he died at the end.  Did he get high on the morphine and fall out of a tree?  I know Charles discovers him with the morphine papers in his hand and he appears to be under a tree branch......  Is there more to it?

I've always found it vague if he died of an overdose, or if he had an accident with his carriage. Either way, morPHINE was involved. 

That is one of the better episode, IMO, and pretty creepy at times. I usually don't think of Richard Mulligan as anything more than a goofy comic from Soap or that later show he was on, but he showed acting chops here. 

1 hour ago, die Frau said:

Also: I did see him scolding Mary for writing 8th notes incorrectly. Is that the only time he was less-than-nice to her or was there more? She told Pa that Granville "never wanted to see her again," and I wasn't sure if she was being melodramatic or if another scene got cut.

I don't remember another scene. Melodrama was never in short supply on this show. 

[Blergh]

Of course, her dealing with Granville was the only time any kind of a background story for Mrs. Whipple got done.  She evidently was a widow and her husband had been prosperous enough to leave her a rather fancy, albeit cozy cottage with furnishings almost as grand as the Olesons' but in better taste- yet Mrs. Whipple didn't seem to have a great deal of liquid assets at hand because why else would she have been earning her living taking in others' sewing (especially since virtually all Walnut Grove women knew how to sew - even Mrs. Oleson once complained about having to darn Nels's socks).  And yet Granville returned expecting his aged mother to support him!

There also was the one-shot duo of the fallen soldier's mother and son who lived in Walnut Grove. It seemed that the soldier's father and wife had died (the latter perhaps in childbirth?) but whether they had their own farm and how they were earning their living never got addressed. Also, it seemed odd that the fallen soldier's mother hadn't connected with Mrs. Whipple herself in all the time either had lived in Walnut Grove despite both of them having had sons who had been in the very same unit. 

[Zella]

Add me as another one who was confused about what happened to Granville at the end. I couldn't figure out if he accidentally OD'd, if he committed suicide via morphine, or if he had an accident with the carriage while high. 

[jird]

1 minute ago, Zella said:

Add me as another one who was confused about what happened to Granville at the end. I couldn't figure out if he accidentally OD'd, if he committed suicide via morphine, or if he had an accident with the carriage while high. 

Yeah, I always assumed he was out in the storm and got injured (by a falling tree or something, I guess), and that's what killed him.

LH did a lot of 70s/80s-era episodes on the evils of drugs and alcohol.

[Pirpana]

Yeah, here's a couple of screenshots from that scene on Blu-ray. First one is a couple shots before the "big reveal", Charles is about to step into the frame to go to the fallen tree. Here we can only just see Granville's hand holding onto a bag of morphine. How are we even supposed to realize there is something there, except for blaring, sinister music.

And in second pic we see Granville's head facing away from us and his hand, holding bag of morphine, in a position it looks like he is sleeping using his hand as a "pillow". And it almost looks like as if he'd been lying there for many years or something, rest of his body is completely covered-up by dried-up leaves. Or better yet, like there's only his head! Very confusing. How exactly he ended up in that position under that fallen tree?

And just imagine how confusing it must have been for viewers in 1970s when they didn't have FullHD TVs and a possibility to pause to examine more closely.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Pirpana

[Blergh]

7 hours ago, Pirpana said:

Yeah, here's a couple of screenshots from that scene on Blu-ray. First one is a couple shots before the "big reveal", Charles is about to step into the frame to go to the fallen tree. Here we can only just see Granville's hand holding onto a bag of morphine. How are we even supposed to realize there is something there, except for blaring, sinister music.

And in second pic we see Granville's head facing away from us and his hand, holding bag of morphine, in a position it looks like he is sleeping using his hand as a "pillow". And it almost looks like as if he'd been lying there for many years or something, rest of his body is completely covered-up by dried-up leaves. Or better yet, like there's only his head! Very confusing. How exactly he ended up in that position under that fallen tree?

And just imagine how confusing it must have been for viewers in 1970s when they didn't have FullHD TVs and a possibility to pause to examine more closely.

I've never seen the screenshots before! 

 

So, IOW, it seems that Granville either passed out from the morphine and immediately afterwards, that huge old tree fell on him crushing him to death OR he was stumbling along in a morphine high when the tree fell on him (IOW, something that would have been termed 'an act of God').  

I had always just thought he'd passed out then died next to the tree  since it  was not  played out that clearly via actual filming but those virtually subliminal shots are far more disturbing (although how many viewers would have gotten the message of 'DON'T take morphine for highs or a random gigantic tree will fall on you!'?). 

Edited March 2, 2021 by Blergh

[BigBingerBro]

Thank God I'm not the only one that found that ending confusing.  😃

[jason88cubs]

Would the Reverend stay with people?

 

I would hear them say well the Reverend is staying with "so and so" this weekend

 

My question si where did he actually stay/sleep

 

Back then no one really had extra bedrooms

 

So if the Ingalls invited where did he sleep? i cant imagine them having him in the barn

[jird]

13 minutes ago, jason88cubs said:

Would the Reverend stay with people?

 

I would hear them say well the Reverend is staying with "so and so" this weekend

 

My question si where did he actually stay/sleep

 

Back then no one really had extra bedrooms

 

So if the Ingalls invited where did he sleep? i cant imagine them having him in the barn

I think he only stayed with people who did have room, like those random widows with giant houses. Eventually, in one of the stupid later seasons the town collectively gave him a house or something.

[die Frau]

They sometimes mention where he is staying in the early episodes. In one episode he was staying with Amy Hearne(the old woman from season one with the ungrateful children) and I believe he stayed with Mrs. Whipple (before poor Granville returned.) 

[Zella]

My grandparents grew up poor in the 40s, and they said they used to be kicked out of their beds onto the floor to give space to guests. It wouldn't surprise me at all if, as families took their turns with Reverend Alden, someone got evicted from their room to make space for him. People also shared beds a lot more back then, so it's perhaps even more likely that he would have slept in someone else's beds with them in it. [Think of the scene in True Grit of Mattie sharing a bed in the boardinghouse.] It seems weird to a modern sensibility, but my understanding is 19th century people didn't find it all that odd. (Or if they did, they didn't say so because it was just what was done.)

Just based on what I understand of the hospitality rules back then, I don't think anyone would have dared admit they couldn't put up the reverend, and it probably was a duty shared throughout the community, in much the same way that people took turns housing the teacher.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Zella

[jason88cubs]

you think they could have added a back bedroom or something to the school/church

[Zella]

11 minutes ago, jason88cubs said:

you think they could have added a back bedroom or something to the school/church

That wouldn't have solved the issue of his meals, though. 

[CountryGirl]

TV Reverend Alden was a roaming pastor, going from town to town, so he wouldn't have had permanent lodging anyway. I always envisioned him staying at someone's home or one of the empty rooms above Doc Baker's and the post office (the only lodging until Nellie's place came along).

[Mr. Sparkle]

2 hours ago, CountryGirl said:

TV Reverend Alden was a roaming pastor, going from town to town, so he wouldn't have had permanent lodging anyway. I always envisioned him staying at someone's home or one of the empty rooms above Doc Baker's and the post office (the only lodging until Nellie's place came along).

I've always wondered about this. Sunday is obviously the big day, so did Walnut Grove not get him every Sunday? Did he do services on Thursdays in other towns? 

[Zella]

12 minutes ago, Superclam said:

I've always wondered about this. Sunday is obviously the big day, so did Walnut Grove not get him every Sunday? Did he do services on Thursdays in other towns? 

I think the show is inconsistent on this. They seem to indicate that he does a circuit, which would strongly imply he's not there every Sunday, but they never seem to show what they do on the Sundays he's not there. LOL So, he basically functions like a character who lives there, despite the show making it clear that he's not a full-time resident and even taking some pains to show him traveling (like in the Johnny Cash episode).

Edited March 3, 2021 by Zella

[Mr. Sparkle]

We know he goes to the town in Whisper County, we just don't know how often or when. 

[CountryGirl]

1 hour ago, Superclam said:

We know he goes to the town in Whisper County, we just don't know how often or when. 

I would think once would be more than enough with Miss Peale preaching from the Bible when she can't even READ!

Which reminds me...WTAF, Reverend Alden, having Mary leave home to go teach at that freak show town. And WTAF, ML, when it was RL Laura who had the teaching experience from hell with Mrs. Brewster and the knife on the other side of the bedsheet/curtain.

[debraran]

4 hours ago, Zella said:

I think the show is inconsistent on this. They seem to indicate that he does a circuit, which would strongly imply he's not there every Sunday, but they never seem to show what they do on the Sundays he's not there. LOL So, he basically functions like a character who lives there, despite the show making it clear that he's not a full-time resident and even taking some pains to show him traveling (like in the Johnny Cash episode).

They have mentioned Charles fills in from time to time. Who else would? lol   We saw him give the sermon when he wanted to dress down Harriet about different languages and being "literate" Probably could work today too.

I told someone who was checking in an Asian patient today with limited English, when she said "Why don't they learn English" most of our Italian relatives came here like that and many stayed that way. My grandfather spoke broken English most of his life and some learned, some didn't. I liked that episode because it showed another Landon lesson.

[jird]

16 minutes ago, debraran said:

They have mentioned Charles fills in from time to time. Who else would? lol   We saw him give the sermon when he wanted to dress down Harriet about different languages and being "literate" Probably could work today too.

I told someone who was checking in an Asian patient today with limited English, when she said "Why don't they learn English" most of our Italian relatives came here like that and many stayed that way. My grandfather spoke broken English most of his life and some learned, some didn't. I liked that episode because it showed another Landon lesson.

During the blizzard episode where Miss Beadle tried to kill all the kids, Harriet notes that Rev. Alden isn't spending the Christmas service with them (even though Walnut Grove donates more money than Sleepy Eye!) and that Charles giving the sermon will be "very quaint."

I always tell my kids that when they hear someone speaking English with an accent that it means they are fluent in at least two languages (which is more than I am!).

 

[debraran]

57 minutes ago, jird said:

During the blizzard episode where Miss Beadle tried to kill all the kids, Harriet notes that Rev. Alden isn't spending the Christmas service with them (even though Walnut Grove donates more money than Sleepy Eye!) and that Charles giving the sermon will be "very quaint."

I always tell my kids that when they hear someone speaking English with an accent that it means they are fluent in at least two languages (which is more than I am!).

 

Some know 3! Can you imagine my mom said it was an embarrassment to teach your kids another language at home and that's why so many Italian kids and many others I'm sure never learned to be bilingual. Other countries and cultures never thought that but its a shame because it would have been much easier to further my language abilities later.

I remember that episode, I had a feeling he did i more than once. I was going to say Caroline could have too but then I realized (shudder!) that would have been scandalous. ; )

 

[debraran]

Just watched last half of the circus episode. It could have been better but having blind children "watch" a circus when if blind from birth wouldn't make much sense to them. To touch a clown or elephant, maybe but it seemed odd having Charles narrate it. I hadn't remembered that before not seeing that one often. Almonzo's girlfriend was a bit too "This is so boring" For Pete's sake, what did they do in Walnut Grove for fun anyway? This was one of the big things. ; )  After the 8th closeup of her face, I was "we get it" .

Annabelle wouldn't be considered as big today and probably not a show on it but he did have overweight characters another time., the dad in the evil city and Elmer? I did love the Nel's hug at the end and the enthusiastic clapping of his children. The way Laura got to ruin the dress and they laughed at it, was not right. Caroline called her a "little devil" and smiled. Good thing it hadn't been Mary years before. She'd have been banned from tests/awards for a year. lol

Edited March 5, 2021 by debraran

[jird]

14 hours ago, debraran said:

The way Laura got to ruin the dress and they laughed at it, was not right. Caroline called her a "little devil" and smiled. Good thing it hadn't been Mary years before. She'd have been banned from tests for a year. lol

Yes! Remember how they framed a whole episode earlier in the season about Laura having to go apologize for the cinnamon chicken prank, and this seems way worse to me and her parents just laughed it off.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Say what you want about Michael Landon, but he does "emotionally destroyed" face as good as anybody. Both his and MSA's acting in Enchanted Cottage are top-notch. I got a little moved at the end. 

"Someone Please Love Me" on the other hand, is pretty crappy, as we've discussed here before. I'm surprised to find out ML didn't write/direct it, because it's a classic "Charles is better than anyone else" episode. I also realized for the first time that the daughter was played by the same actress who played Alicia. Also, the father seems to be wearing a really bad wig. 

ETA: Wiki says ML did write it and it's a copy of a Bonanza episode that he wrote. Imdb says Blanche Hanalis wrote it. I'm gonna go with wiki. 

2nd edit: I read imdb wrong. It was indeed Landon. 

Edited March 7, 2021 by Superclam

[Pirpana]

^Actually, he did write it and based it on a Bonanza episode which he also wrote. Moreover, episodes also had same director, Billy Claxton. Sometimes I wonder how it felt for Claxton to direct basically exactly same story twice. Like this one and "Caroline nearly cuts her leg off" episode.

ETA: Oh, you were faster to correct yourself than me, lol.

Edited March 6, 2021 by Pirpana

[Zella]

Season 8 has been as much of a slog as all of you warned me. The main thing I've noticed is just how shrilly and frantically unfunny it is, even when it appears to desperately be trying to be funny. 

I was looking forward to the orangutan episode--dare I say I was propelled forward with glee at the sheer absurdity of it. But I realized last night, I had miscalculated how far I am from it since it is toward the end of season 9. I have a long ways to go before I see the orangutan, and I am ashamed of how much that disappointed me. 

[Pirpana]

By the way, here's a good YouTube video about the infamous Thylvia episode: 

 

 

Guy makes a valid point there which has been overseen even over here, I think. So there's a rapist in Walnut Grove but no one seems to mind that. Where is the posse finding that creep?

[Zella]

2 minutes ago, Pirpana said:

Guy makes a valid point there which has been overseen even over here, I think. So there's a rapist in Walnut Grove but no one seems to mind that. Where is the posse finding that creep?

They're so blase about the peeping tom, I'm not surprised. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

13 minutes ago, Zella said:

Season 8 has been as much of a slog as all of you warned me. The main thing I've noticed is just how shrilly and frantically unfunny it is, even when it appears to desperately be trying to be funny. 

Then I have some bad news for you about Season 9... 

I won't spoil it, and I know you've probably read about it here, but the 2nd part of "He Was Only 12" is so bat-shit crazy that it's downright entertaining. That's the last episode of the season. 

 

[Zella]

8 minutes ago, Superclam said:

Then I have some bad news for you about Season 9... 

I won't spoil it, and I know you've probably read about it here, but the 2nd part of "He Was Only 12" is so bat-shit crazy that it's downright entertaining. That's the last episode of the season. 

 

Knowing that it can be so awful it is entertaining will sustain me through the darkness. 🙂 

[Mr. Sparkle]

19 minutes ago, Pirpana said:

By the way, here's a good YouTube video about the infamous Thylvia episode: 

 

Guy makes a valid point there which has been overseen even over here, I think. So there's a rapist in Walnut Grove but no one seems to mind that. Where is the posse finding that creep?

Sad that rape is only one part of the horror of this 2-parter. 

[debraran]

3 hours ago, Superclam said:

Say what you want about Michael Landon, but he does "emotionally destroyed" face as good as anybody. Both his and MSA's acting in Enchanted Cottage are top-notch. I got a little moved at the end. 

"Someone Please Love Me" on the other hand, is pretty crappy, as we've discussed here before. I'm surprised to find out ML didn't write/direct it, because it's a classic "Charles is better than anyone else" episode. I also realized for the first time that the daughter was played by the same actress who played Alicia. Also, the father seems to be wearing a really bad wig. 

ETA: Wiki says ML did direct it and it's a copy of a Bonanza episode that he wrote. Imdb says Blanche Hanalis wrote it. I'm gonna go with wiki. 

2nd edit: I read imdb wrong. It was indeed Landon. 

Yes, he took quite a few scripts from Bonanza but I liked the one with Hoss better. No bad wigs (it really was) no naming a son after Charles. I found it on youtube. He wrote both but enhanced the LHOP one a bit so he had a few more shining moments. ;_) I suppose giving the cast a week off and he didn't really have to write it again was like a vacation while working. I did this before, like an old shoe type of thing.

 

[Katy M]

4 hours ago, Superclam said:

Say what you want about Michael Landon, but he does "emotionally destroyed" face as good as anybody. Both his and MSA's acting in Enchanted Cottage are top-notch. I got a little moved at the end. 

I love that episode.  the scene in the eye doctor's office is just amazing.  With Mary joyously saying that yes, she can see the non-existent light and Charles's face.  Perfection.

[Mr. Sparkle]

7 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I love that episode.  the scene in the eye doctor's office is just amazing.  With Mary joyously saying that yes, she can see the non-existent light and Charles's face.  Perfection.

Yes! That's exactly what I meant. His face in that very scene was heartbreaking. 

 

[Pirpana]

2 hours ago, debraran said:

Yes, he took quite a few scripts from Bonanza but I liked the one with Hoss better. No bad wigs (it really was) no naming a son after Charles. I found it on youtube. He wrote both but enhanced the LHOP one a bit so he had a few more shining moments. ;_) I suppose giving the cast a week off and he didn't really have to write it again was like a vacation while working. I did this before, like an old shoe type of thing.

 

Thanks for that, debraran, I watched it just for fun. It was a bit strange to watch that 'cause I basically knew what was going to happen in the next scene and the next. Only that fist fight at the surprised me. I'd say the story worked better on Bonanza since Hoss was a bachelor and in that sense he and Sarah could have had a future together. On LH we knew all along Charles had his family waiting for him in Walnut Grove.

And it was funny to hear familiar musical cues which I only know from Little House. For example, the music playing in the background when the children are having their milk is the same one playing when Adam gets his eyesight back on LH after surviving blasting oil explosion. (How likely is that, by the way?) I wonder if David Rose recycled his themes even on Highway to Heaven, haven't watched that show.

Also, I know at that time it was a standard practice to shoot a lot on soundstages, but boy it was strange when they went out of the house and it felt like they were inside still, with those matte paintings of trees. And one last thing, holy moly was that house huge! Just look at the scene in the kitchen mentioned above. The walls are as high as in some freaking cathedral! 

[Zella]

36 minutes ago, Pirpana said:

 

And it was funny to hear familiar musical cues which I only know from Little House. For example, the music playing in the background when the children are having their milk is the same one playing when Adam gets his eyesight back on LH after surviving blasting oil explosion. (How likely is that, by the way?) I wonder if David Rose recycled his themes even on Highway to Heaven, haven't watched that show.

The actual theme from LHOTP is also stolen from Bonanza! There's an episode of Bonanza called "Top Hand" (which is a pretty good one for a post-Adam episode--I usually boycott those) that features it repeatedly. I can't find the full episode online but here's a snippet with the music in question:

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by Zella

[Pirpana]

^Whoa, lol! Guess their philosophy was "why to reinvent the wheel". Or why fix something that ain't broken.

[debraran]

I didn't want to watch the whole show where Hoss dies or isn't there, it's implied. Michael takes the place of Hoss in the episode, he meets the girl that eventually died (of course) I did catch the end on you tube where Joe is saying goodbye to his bride at her grave and he looked so much like Charles then and Charles from the horrible (IMHO) episode when James is in a coma. He didn't start out that way in the 2 part show but was chasing people for a while in the second half he couldn't shave. I guess I stopped watching the show or reruns when he started to age and look more like Ingall's in my mind than Cartwright.

There was an interview with Mariette Hartley who I realized now was on Bonanza multiple times. I cringe at the indian character she played and how blonde and light her baby was etc  and they had to dirty it up. The PC and accuracy was not the norm at the time. She did say how dirty in talk Michael was and I heard other Hop Sing jokes that were "colorful" but it was a different time and most of it was on late night shows kids couldn't hear.

Luckily Michael made the LHOP story a step up by having the woman go with the Indian on her own and her son was loved and wanted but her Indian husband died. The Cartwright's were the Ingall's the only good family who did the right thing. : )

 

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by debraran

[debraran]

I posted this in another LHOP page but am I the only one that didn't know Michael was the bear in episode about Mr Edwards forcing his son (persuading heavily) to hunt?  Glad there is one thing I didn't know after 30 years. ; )

[Mr. Sparkle]

@debraran I can tell you that you are definitely NOT the only one who didn't know that! 

 

[Zella]

OK I need to bitch. Like, a lot.

I just watched the multipart "Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow." I'd actually been curious about this one since it's more based on things that happened in Laura's early married life.

But, if as I noted a few days ago, the "funny" episodes of season 8 are stridently and frantically trying too hard to be funny, the same can be said even more from the dramatic ones. OMG such narm. I started laughing at several inopportune times because the acting was so bad.

I'll admit that I've often been pulled in by the more melodramatic episodes early in the show's run. Even as late as Mary going blind, I got sucked into it because it was well acted. But this? Yeesh.

Also if I was Ma, I'd be damned if I'd give Laura's little pissy ass a repaired version of that plate she broke during her hissy fit. 

Oh and I didn't post about this a couple of days ago, but the "Stone Soup" episode also left me scratching my head. Overall, it was probably one of the better ones of the season. But I was baffled by everyone in Minnesota acting like Charles and Almanzo going to Arizona meant they were escaping the heat. Have any of you Walnut Grove yokels ever even heard of a desert? Also Manly's been on my shitlist ever since he failed Basic Horsemanship 101 at the end of the episode by pulling his team in during a thunderstorm after a long drive and apparently just leaving them out in the elements in front of the house rather than putting them up and doing all the associated chores because he instead goes to stuff his face. 

Also is poor Hester Sue the new punching bag now that Mary's not around? That episode where her ex-comes back--which I watched last night--was infuriating. Run, Hester Sue! RUN! You deserve better! 

Edited March 9, 2021 by Zella

[jird]

10 hours ago, Zella said:

Also if I was Ma, I'd be damned if I'd give Laura's little pissy ass a repaired version of that plate she broke during her hissy fit. 

Oh and I didn't post about this a couple of days ago, but the "Stone Soup" episode also left me scratching my head. Overall, it was probably one of the better ones of the season. But I was baffled by everyone in Minnesota acting like Charles and Almanzo going to Arizona meant they were escaping the heat. Have any of you Walnut Grove yokels ever even heard of a desert? Also Manly's been on my shitlist ever since he failed Basic Horsemanship 101 at the end of the episode by pulling his team in during a thunderstorm after a long drive and apparently just leaving them out in the elements in front of the house rather than putting them up and doing all the associated chores because he instead goes to stuff his face. 

 

 

So much pissiness in Days of Sunshine! Laura's hissy fit was a little over the top, but it was also pretty crappy of her family not to tell her her house had been destroyed. Recurring theme that drives me nuts on this show: "Oh, let's not tell the person whose life this affects, because we know better! Mary doesn't need to know she's going blind."

And Stone Soup was ridiculous. Ma had 687 kids at that house, and I refuse to believe that she wouldn't have insisted that they spend some of their time helping at Laura's house, or that James and Albert wouldn't have decided that on their own.

[ctlady]

On 3/4/2021 at 7:03 PM, debraran said:

Annabelle wouldn't be considered as big today and probably not a show on it but he did have overweight characters another time., the dad in the evil city and Elmer? I did love the Nel's hug at the end and the enthusiastic clapping of his children.

I really did like this episode.  The scene I thought was most awkward was where Annabelle was giving a talk at the blind school and invited the kids to come up and 'touch' fat body to prove she was fat.  They all got up and started feeling her.  Blind or not, I thought that was cringy

On 3/4/2021 at 7:03 PM, debraran said:

It could have been better but having blind children "watch" a circus when if blind from birth wouldn't make much sense to them. To touch a clown or elephant, maybe but it seemed odd having Charles narrate it.

I know - that was just ridiculous leaving these kids to picture things in their mind.  

[Zella]

2 hours ago, jird said:

And Stone Soup was ridiculous. Ma had 687 kids at that house, and I refuse to believe that she wouldn't have insisted that they spend some of their time helping at Laura's house, or that James and Albert wouldn't have decided that on their own.

Yeah I've been reading memoirs from the time and a little later, and when men would be away, it was pretty normal for arrangements to be made for another man or boy to stop by morning and evening to tend to the barn chores. I'd think that would be even more true for a pregnant woman who was just starting an orchard during a drought and who has her family just down the road. 

The entire depiction of Laura's work world is so anachronistic that I giggled like a loon when she and Manly had a chat yesterday about her working after the baby was born since she wouldn't be teaching school as soon as she got married. And I may have damaged my eyes from rolling them every time they act like she's just going to casually whip up something in her 19th century kitchen after being gone all day. It's so obviously storylines from the early 1980s rather than the 1880s. 

2 hours ago, jird said:

Laura's hissy fit was a little over the top, but it was also pretty crappy of her family not to tell her her house had been destroyed. Recurring theme that drives me nuts on this show: "Oh, let's not tell the person whose life this affects, because we know better! Mary doesn't need to know she's going blind."

Oh it was crappy of them for sure. (They also did the same thing to Hester Sue. Let's not tell her that her husband hasn't reformed!) I just have very little patience for Laura. I really loved her character in the first season or so, but I find her absolutely insufferable now and have for a long time. It would bother me less if she didn't always get a pass. If Ma had just been like, "Screw you, you little hag! You're not getting another plate from me!" I would have been less bothered by it. 

[Tamiele]

I am watching the daily episodes on Vision TV.  Today's show is all about when Perley Day comes for a visit.  The annoying thing is that Albert decides to beat on Andrew Garvey over the love of a girl at school.  How soon they forget that Albert's pipe smoking carelessness literally killed his nephew and Andrew's mother in the previous episode.  Good grief!! 🙄

[CountryGirl]

15 minutes ago, Tamiele said:

I am watching the daily episodes on Vision TV.  Today's show is all about when Perley Day comes for a visit.  The annoying thing is that Albert decides to beat on Andrew Garvey over the love of a girl at school.  How soon they forget that Albert's pipe smoking carelessness literally killed his nephew and Andrew's mother in the previous episode.  Good grief!! 🙄

Oh the one with Penelope. She was such a little snip.

[debraran]

12 hours ago, Tamiele said:

I am watching the daily episodes on Vision TV.  Today's show is all about when Perley Day comes for a visit.  The annoying thing is that Albert decides to beat on Andrew Garvey over the love of a girl at school.  How soon they forget that Albert's pipe smoking carelessness literally killed his nephew and Andrew's mother in the previous episode.  Good grief!! 🙄

Yes how awkward is that, they just wrap up an episode with hugs after that deplorable fire episode but then he is friends with the kid who's mom he killed. Life goes on but don't beat on him. He had enough pain.  I liked it when they just left town to start over.

Laura is insufferable when older, some fans say she was tired of the show, Michael was, ratings were dipping a lot, and the writers grew bored. I just can't watch most of them. I don't need a total believable episode with food, cooking etc. but at least try. In real life I don't think she liked teaching but it fit with the show more. One of the most realistic but gross episodes had Almonzo giving Laura a dirty diaper when she came home and she brought it outside to dump somewhere. I wanted to kiss my washer after that. : ) Of course on the set it was different. In the episode with Jane, Laura's friend, I read when Laura handed baby Rose to Jane, you could see that Rose was wearing a disposable diaper. That was almost 100 years before they were invented but you can't blame them for that one.

 

[Pirpana]

54 minutes ago, debraran said:

In the episode with Jane, Laura's friend, I read when Laura handed baby Rose to Jane, you could see that Rose was wearing a disposable diaper. That was almost 100 years before they were invented but you can't blame them for that one.

Well, in a way we can. For using a camera angle from which we can see that! 🙂

[Tamiele]

After watching the 2-part May We Make Them Proud, I realized how good of an actor Matthew Labyorteaux was.  Most of the shows I don't get to emotional over but the scene where Mary is screaming and he is backing out of the room saying he didn't mean it - it made me tear up.  He and Michael Landon could pull the tears out of me.  Too bad Matthew really didn't do more acting after LHTP.  Patrick had some acting success but Matthew must not have pursued it.

[Mr. Sparkle]

3 hours ago, Tamiele said:

Too bad Matthew really didn't do more acting after LHTP.  Patrick had some acting success but Matthew must not have pursued it.

Didn't he do one show afterwards? Something with computers or something like that? I have very vague memories. 

ETA: it was called "Whiz Kids." I don't think I ever watched it. Beyond that, it looks like he did some voiceover work. 

Edited March 10, 2021 by Superclam