Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

[jason88cubs]

woke up last week to A Christmas They Never Forgot, right at the part where Carrie wakes up Charles and they are all having a jolly good time, never mind they are snowed in for quite awhile

[Mr. Sparkle]

12 hours ago, jason88cubs said:

A Christmas They Never Forgot

I like that they took Almanzo's story from the book, but the "happy slave" narrative is hard to take. 

[debraran]

9 hours ago, Superclam said:

I like that they took Almanzo's story from the book, but the "happy slave" narrative is hard to take. 

Always hated that part too, used to FF if watching it on Amazon. Gag worthy.

The most honest scene he did was with Solomon but then Solomon finding a guy like Charles and Walnut Grove probably was not true but I'll buy it more than the "happy slave" trope. His 100 year question was timeless.

Edited May 31, 2022 by debraran

[jason88cubs]

11 hours ago, Superclam said:

I like that they took Almanzo's story from the book, but the "happy slave" narrative is hard to take. 

I cant tell ya the last time i saw the full epsiode

Edited June 1, 2022 by jason88cubs

[Mr. Sparkle]

10 minutes ago, jason88cubs said:

I cant tell ya the last time i saw the full epsiode

I've seen it in the last 2 years, but only once. I either missed it, or it wasn't shown as often in my pandemic binge. 

[Blergh]

On 5/30/2022 at 5:11 PM, debraran said:

No Doc Baker complained of no raise (and he was on a long time) and I think Richard Bull. Katherine seemed fine with things but we don't know what went on behind the scenes. 

I wasn't saying that Miss Grassle was the ONLY regular who didn't consider the salaries to be sufficient. 

However, given the litany of complaints that the late Miss MacGregor supposedly had about ML, it's somewhat puzzling that even via those 2nd hand and/or postmortem sources, so far no one has claimed that she had any complaints about the salary.

[debraran]

7 hours ago, Blergh said:

I wasn't saying that Miss Grassle was the ONLY regular who didn't consider the salaries to be sufficient. 

However, given the litany of complaints that the late Miss MacGregor supposedly had about ML, it's somewhat puzzling that even via those 2nd hand and/or postmortem sources, so far no one has claimed that she had any complaints about the salary.

Yes, I wish now I never gave it away but Patrick Loubatiere interviewed her in  Prairie Memories years ago and Richard Bull and few others. It was extensive and I think many of my memories of her were from that. I found many interviews to be repetitive online or edited but she might have said something in that one. She seemed to be unlucky in love but smart in taking care of herself and I teared up with she met with Richard Bull's wife when he died to say they both had a great husband. The scene where she falls in the water on LHOP was one of her many ideas.

I know Richard Bull in that interview gave insight on Jonathan when others didn't touch it. He said he wasn't favored, ignored by mom, very smart, smartest kid on set, other compliments. Katherine was very honest and after a while I gave it to a LHOP fan.

[Blergh]

I agree that Miss MacGregor sounds as though she'd have been interesting and (mostly) fun to know if one had had reason to know her. She was such a live wire that, according to Miss Arngrim, she actually had her phone number listed in the LA directory . .and gabbed for HOURS with fans who'd call her about to talk about Mrs. Oleson,etc. 

It's too bad that her proposed autobio wound up never published and/or completed as she sounds as though she'd lived a rather unusual life (and I'm not just talking about her having become a Hindu as an adult). 

[debraran]

12 hours ago, Blergh said:

I agree that Miss MacGregor sounds as though she'd have been interesting and (mostly) fun to know if one had had reason to know her. She was such a live wire that, according to Miss Arngrim, she actually had her phone number listed in the LA directory . .and gabbed for HOURS with fans who'd call her about to talk about Mrs. Oleson,etc. 

It's too bad that her proposed autobio wound up never published and/or completed as she sounds as though she'd lived a rather unusual life (and I'm not just talking about her having become a Hindu as an adult). 

She always wrote fans back too, sometimes if they wanted a lot, she'd ask for a SASE since she wasn't rich, but would add a drawing or photo etc. Pretty cool of her. One fan wrote a list of questions and she wrote funny answers to each one. I wish I thought or knew how to do that back then. One fan though said she wrote she was 90 now and didn't believe it, so she still was doing it close to her death at 93. ; )

Edited June 2, 2022 by debraran

[Blergh]

I always thought it interesting how Hersha Parady got hooked up with LHOTP via her helping to care for a semi-stray dog that Miss MacGregor was also looking out for and meeting& befriending her. Although she had to have had enough talent to win the casting directors and ML over since I doubt they would have been eager to have given Miss MacGregor the satisfaction of casting one of her cronies.

I like how virtually every surviving cast member who has gone on record about anything to do with LHOTP has sung Miss MacGregor's praises as a person- especially those who played folks who Harriet clashed with! 

P.S. It's too bad Ruth Foster didn't go on record about  her POV of Miss MacGregor offcamera before her death since her character of Mrs. Foster was one of the very few Walnut Grove residents who didn't get flak from Harriet (even when  Mrs. Foster took advantage of the '100 percent off' sale)! 

[jason88cubs]

anyone owe boxset for dvd?

[Mr. Sparkle]

I'm strictly Amazon Prime for this show now. 

[jason88cubs]

On 6/14/2022 at 9:13 AM, Superclam said:

I'm strictly Amazon Prime for this show now. 

My local wal mart has the entire box collection for like 59 or 69 dollars

I keep debating on buying it

[Mr. Sparkle]

9 minutes ago, jason88cubs said:

My local wal mart has the entire box collection for like 59 or 69 dollars

I keep debating on buying it

You can probably get it cheaper at Amazon. 

They should give you a discount for taking the 9th season. (And most of the 8th, honestly.)

[jason88cubs]

I saw "Someone please love me today" for  a later season episode, it's pretty good

[ctlady]

I always thought the blind children at the circus in Annabelle was cruel. The circus is more about seeing for entertainment than sound. Charles’ blow by blow description of everything is no replacement for visually witnessing it. And dang Grace crying throughout the entire thing. She should’ve been removed from the scene than keep her in there looking frightened with Carolyn trying to cheer her up

[debraran]

4 hours ago, ctlady said:

I always thought the blind children at the circus in Annabelle was cruel. The circus is more about seeing for entertainment than sound. Charles’ blow by blow description of everything is no replacement for visually witnessing it. And dang Grace crying throughout the entire thing. She should’ve been removed from the scene than keep her in there looking frightened with Carolyn trying to cheer her up

And you know it wasn't fake. Poor thing probably was tired. That was a silly show with Laura and Almanzo and the dress and the describing of the events. If they were deaf I could see it. I would be so scared if I couldn't see with the noise and commotion.

I didn't think having a "fat" person was ever nice  and the tall person was usually on stilts but showing that after all the cracks about Harriet's weight (when she wasn't heavy) and dieting etc. seemed shallow. Same with Mr Bevin's, the writers should learn their own lessons! You can make fun up to so many pounds. Oh yes, Elmer too.

Edited June 20, 2022 by debraran

[jird]

I'm surprised Michael Landon didn't just cast the Lucky Charms leprechaun to play all of the Irish characters on this show.

[Brn2bwild]

On 6/14/2022 at 7:13 AM, Superclam said:

I'm strictly Amazon Prime for this show now. 

You can watch the entire series on Peacock.  Only $5/month, a lot less than Amazon.

[Zella]

7 hours ago, Brn2bwild said:

You can watch the entire series on Peacock.  Only $5/month, a lot less than Amazon.

It's entirely free on Amazon Prime, though, which isn't true of all of their offerings. So, if you already have Prime for things like shipping, it's a pretty good deal. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

1 hour ago, Zella said:

It's entirely free on Amazon Prime, though, which isn't true of all of their offerings. So, if you already have Prime for things like shipping, it's a pretty good deal. 

That's what I do. I have Prime and I also have someone's borrowed Peacock account. I like Prime's interface better. I almost never watch Peacock. 

That said, I barely watch LH anymore after watching the entire series through about 10 times when I was working from home. I'm giving Charlie and the gang a break! 

[Egg McMuffin]

19 hours ago, Superclam said:

That's what I do. I have Prime and I also have someone's borrowed Peacock account. I like Prime's interface better. I almost never watch Peacock. 

That said, I barely watch LH anymore after watching the entire series through about 10 times when I was working from home. I'm giving Charlie and the gang a break! 

Terrible! Only if enough people watch can we prevent the blind school from burning down this time.

[Mr. Sparkle]

If we all chant "SHUT THE DOOR" at the screen, maybe Hester Sue will hear us. 

[jird]

On 6/27/2022 at 7:13 AM, Superclam said:

If we all chant "SHUT THE DOOR" at the screen, maybe Hester Sue will hear us. 

And "TAKE THE BABY" at Mary and Adam.

[Katy M]

7 hours ago, jird said:

And "TAKE THE BABY" at Mary and Adam.

Yeah.  I think Hester Sue takes way too much of the blame on this board.  Sure, maybe the fire spread faster from her leaving the door open. But, if Albert and his buddy hadn't started the fire in the first place, there would have been no fire, and if Mary and Adam had taken the baby, there would have been no casualties.

[Blergh]

Actually, I wish Adam Kendall had listened to those viewers who might have shouted at him 'TURN AROUND! Don't seek out  Mary Ingalls!' . Think of ALL the grief both of their lives would have been spared had they neither met the other!

[ctlady]

So after watching 'Thylvia' for the umteenth time yesterday, it just hit me that the actor who plays her father (Royal Dano) had also played Alice Garvey's estranged first husband in Crossed Connections

[Blergh]

9 hours ago, ctlady said:

So after watching 'Thylvia' for the umteenth time yesterday, it just hit me that the actor who plays her father (Royal Dano) had also played Alice Garvey's estranged first husband in Crossed Connections

So could he have baked Sylvia's presumed late mother? Oddly enough, they never actually spell out what had happened to the teen's mother. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't recall anyone doing more than implying that the older woman had died.

[debraran]

7 hours ago, Blergh said:

So could he have baked Sylvia's presumed late mother? Oddly enough, they never actually spell out what had happened to the teen's mother. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't recall anyone doing more than implying that the older woman had died.

I get confused, there was another crazy dad with pregnant child. One recap said the father said to Sylvia Inside the Webb home, Mr. Webb accuses Sylvia of flirting with the boys at school and that's why they want to leer at her.  She denies it, but he doesn't believe her.  He tells her there's a devil in her like the one that killed her mother. He warns her that if those boys come back, he'll whip her and that she'd better bind herself tighter so the boys won't look at her.  She obeys with tears streaming down her face.

Devil killed her? There was the other kook who burned himself and tried to take others with him. He was another one who might have had his wife just leave, not sure. (Be My Friend) Of course Mr Ingall's pop tried to do that too.....the infatuation with death and fire was too much at times.

[Egg McMuffin]

There are four constants in the Little House world: death, fire, blind people, and Pa’s bare chest.

[CountryGirl]

2 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

There are four constants in the Little House world: death, fire, blind people, and Pa’s bare chest.

I would add the TARA - turn and run away (there were several epic ones in the first part of "I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away").

[ctlady]

Watched The Nephews yesterday and - dang - Laura's rust and teal dress is still holding up.  I don't know how old she's supposed to be in this episode, but she first got that dress in Sweet Sixteen, so she obviously still had some growing to do.  Considering they most likely had to wash their clothes in the stream and beat them against a rock, I'm surprised that, with the sheer number of times she wore that dress, it hasn't turned into a dish rag.

[Blergh]

The nephews' parents sure were dishrags to have encouraged them to have become such obnoxious and mean brats!

[Egg McMuffin]

Have we discussed Albert’s little morPHINE problem lately? LET IT OUT! And then he spews that white stuff right on camera. I guess morPHINE makes your vomit white.

[jird]

Alert! Albert has the fatal nosebleeds on Hallmark right now!

[Egg McMuffin]

Well, if Albert hadn’t done all that nose candy, maybe he wouldn’t have contracted Fatal Nosebleed Syndrome.

[Mr. Sparkle]

13 minutes ago, Egg McMuffin said:

Well, if Albert hadn’t done all that nose candy, maybe he wouldn’t have contracted Fatal Nosebleed Syndrome.

Fake news. Albert was on smack. 

[Egg McMuffin]

😀

Who knows what other drugs Albert was doing in the Big Bad City.

[Mr. Sparkle]

6 minutes ago, Egg McMuffin said:

😀

Who knows what other drugs Albert was doing in the Big Bad City.

It's true, "the city" was the most morally corrupt place on Earth. 

[debraran]

2 hours ago, Superclam said:

It's true, "the city" was the most morally corrupt place on Earth. 

Yes with the occasional nice person who might die before series was over. It was comical how every city had noise, mayhem, awful, sinful people, prostitutes roaming about, gun shots etc, even drugs. Drinking was rampant, store owners crooked, except for the one Albert robbed. lol

But of course, when Mr Landon decided to move on, where does his family of how many, go to live. The city....Carrie, Cassandra, her brother James,Grace...some other kids he picked up, just fine for them.

Edited July 18, 2022 by debraran

[Blergh]

10 hours ago, debraran said:

Yes with the occasional nice person who might die before series was over. It was comical how every city had noise, mayhem, awful, sinful people, prostitutes roaming about, gun shots etc, even drugs. Drinking was rampant, store owners crooked, except for the one Albert robbed. lol

But of course, when Mr Landon decided to move on, where does his family of how many, go to live. The city....Carrie, Cassandra, her brother James,Grace...some other kids he picked up, just fine for them.

AND Pa's going to work in a men's clothing store while living in an apartment in the city (with all their offspring) is somehow considered a step UP by Mr. Edwards from actually  farming the land one owns ?!

I mean, this seems like something they'd have  dissed other men for doing in past seasons. 

[Egg McMuffin]

14 hours ago, debraran said:

Yes with the occasional nice person who might die before series was over. It was comical how every city had noise, mayhem, awful, sinful people, prostitutes roaming about, gun shots etc, even drugs.

And don’t forget the constant - and loud - melodies from player pianos in the saloons.

[debraran]

19 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

And don’t forget the constant - and loud - melodies from player pianos in the saloons.

I thought they were all deaf in the city, lol. It was funny when you think because you are an "Ingalls" you can room above a saloon and expect everyone to go to bed by 9 and whisper so they can get their beauty sleep.

[Blergh]

59 minutes ago, debraran said:

I thought they were all deaf in the city, lol. It was funny when you think because you are an "Ingalls" you can room above a saloon and expect everyone to go to bed by 9 and whisper so they can get their beauty sleep.

All of this would have truly puzzled RL Mrs. Wilder- especially since player pianos wouldn't get invented until 1896!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Player_piano

Evidently, ML decided to follow the tradition of earlier Western-themed movie and television productions by having any and all saloons include a player piano despite the fact that these were a few decades ahead of their time for the time period.

However, I'm sure RL Mrs. Wilder would have concurred that frontier cities/towns were noisy enough without player pianos.

P.S. Let's also not forget when the Ingalls and Garveys were set to leave Winoka at 6AM (after the patriarchs had quit their jobs with Mr. Standish AND the saloon had gotten [temporarily]destroyed by the fireworks exploding) , Harriet had used a good part of Nel's roulette wheel windfall to buy herself and her offspring 'rich' clothes and having woken up the woman outfitter to do so- at 5 AM! I suppose Harriet must have flashed a major wad of cash to have gotten the proprietress to have done so (and with Mr. Standish's saloon turned into a cinder she likely realized that there wouldn't be that many other wealthy patrons in the near future).

[debraran]

And it’s not like Walnut Grove didn’t have its share of “ bad” people.  They had a bunch of mean bigots, drunks, somehurt children, crazy religious dads, crazy moms who kidnapped children and ugly rapists. Drugs also killed Mrs Whipples son. Not the big city but they had their share of mayhem. 

[Blergh]

10 hours ago, debraran said:

And it’s not like Walnut Grove didn’t have its share of “ bad” people.  They had a bunch of mean bigots, drunks, somehurt children, crazy religious dads, crazy moms who kidnapped children and ugly rapists. Drugs also killed Mrs Whipples son. Not the big city but they had their share of mayhem. 

At least Walnut Grove's well-heeled 'villains' ( Harriet and Nellie) were wacky kooks instead of outrightly mean (Mr. Standish).

[Mr. Sparkle]

I just saw an episode of The Rifleman starring Royal Dano, who you might remember as Thylvia's ultra-creepy father, as well as Alice Garvey's first husband. In this, he basically plays an old geezer, which is interesting since he was only 37 at the time. 

[Blergh]

9 minutes ago, Superclam said:

I just saw an episode of The Rifleman starring Royal Dano, who you might remember as Thylvia's ultra-creepy father, as well as Alice Garvey's first husband. In this, he basically plays an old geezer, which is interesting since he was only 37 at the time. 

I guess he had the Wilford Brimley/ Charles Lane Syndrome! Those two looked like senior citizens for quite a few decades starting in their 30's! 

[jason88cubs]

Still amazes me how ALbert started the fire, which resulted in 2 deaths and Charles was still all "WE LOVE YOU SON!"

[Blergh]

8 hours ago, patriciahelenkit said:

well, Charles knows that Albert is not the woman who used a helpless baby to break a window so they can mutually agree to smear her instead! ;)

But even though it's witnessed by virtually all the sighted folks, apart from Hester Sue's immediate reaction upon seeing Alice in the window with the baby as she's trying to break out ("Oh my GOD. The baby!"), no one ever alludes to Alice's insane final act. Ever. 

It truly becomes the ultimate Little House Cabin Elephant!