Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

[CountryGirl]

2 hours ago, Superclam said:

Watching the one with Buck Rogers now. "You get inside and take your shirt off!!" 

Giving him Charles' shirt to wear. No wonder Mary got all uptight. 

I didn't have the strength to watch "My Ellen." Way too creepy for the morning. 

I hate My Ellen for so many reasons. Especially Ellen drowning. A theme that will reoccur not once, but twice, with Jenny. 

And then the one with the puppies near-drowning - I still can't watch the first part of the Remember Me two-parter. Although it's the only episode where Mary is sporting braids.

[BigBingerBro]

1 hour ago, CountryGirl said:

I hate My Ellen for so many reasons.

The thing I hate the most about that episode was the B-Storyline with Buzzbee or whatever his name was.  Did he ever show up in any other episode?  It seemed like as viewers we should know some sort of backstory about that character, but I don't recall seeing him before or after that episode.

Edited July 23, 2020 by BigBingerBro

[CountryGirl]

5 minutes ago, BigBingerBro said:

The thing I hate the most about that episode was the B-Storyline with Buzzbee or whatever his name was.  Did he ever show up in any other episode?  It seemed like as viewers we should know some sort of backstory about that character, but I don't recall seeing him before or after that episode.

Buzzby was in a long list of LHOTP tertiary characters - one episode only and never to be seen again.

See also (from the last few weeks of episodes I've watched recently)

Olga "Watch me play, Papa!" Nordstrom aka RHOBH's Kim Richards

Jason of The Talking Machine 

Tinker Jones

Oh wait - there's a whole thread out there: 

 

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Just caught the end of the one with the mean teacher who replaces Miss Beadle. Now I'm starting the one with Lou Gossett Jr. where they transport the explosives. I remember liking this one. 

[CountryGirl]

1 hour ago, Superclam said:

 Now I'm starting the one with Lou Gossett Jr.  

And this one featured the mime rapist as well. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

23 minutes ago, CountryGirl said:

And this one featured the mime rapist as well. 

You lost me here. 

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Watching "Soldier's Return" now. Great episode, largely due to Richard Mulligan. 

[CountryGirl]

4 hours ago, Superclam said:

You lost me here. 

 

The bigoted white guy later played the town blacksmith who raped Sylvia in S8, while wearing a mime mask. 

[debraran]

9 hours ago, Superclam said:

Watching "Soldier's Return" now. Great episode, largely due to Richard Mulligan. 

I thought this was more realistic than Albert's for some reason. His seemed to be more for the drama of the withdrawal symptoms, the vomiting, etc. I liked that Ms Whipple had a son and he was a forgotten soldier. It was sad but realistic and his flashbacks reminded me of a MASH episode. Richard did a great job.

What I didn't understand about Albert, was I thought (of course might be wrong) that addiction back then was from using things for pain because you were hurt or liking your cough medicine because of the alcohol. I did find this : "In the late 1800s, consumers were delighted to discover morphine and laudanum. These narcotics were marketed to consumers as cure-all medications that could treat anything. Though they were intended for medicinal use, some people began abusing the “medicines” and addiction rates skyrocketed." It seemed to be more adults, not teens.

I assumed Michael wanted to do drug episodes after going through it with himself and his child but I never bought Albert doing it and suddenly turning into this surly individual because he moved to the city. I never saw worry from Charles about James or the girls living there. Albert was street savvy too from his prior living conditions.

I thought the Mr Edwards drinking episodes were realistic but not his losing another family. Again, I realize they needed to write them off, maybe their contracts were done, but it seemed odd. I did like his return though to Walnut Grove.

Edited July 24, 2020 by debraran

[Mr. Sparkle]

9 hours ago, CountryGirl said:

The bigoted white guy later played the town blacksmith who raped Sylvia in S8, while wearing a mime mask. 

Thank you. I haven't caught the Sylvia episode in my recent return to this show. Maybe I'll watch it the weekend. 

The nitro episode was another classic Little House "bigot learns a valuable lesson" episode. 

[BigBingerBro]

"Whisper Country" on UP this morning!!

[Mr. Sparkle]

1 hour ago, BigBingerBro said:

"Whisper Country" on UP this morning!!

I caught the ending. Very dramatic. 

I'm watching the one where Boss Hogg is beating up on poor little Albert Charles. 

On this sweltering day in the time of COVID, I think I'm going to spend my time on Amazon watching Sylvia and the rest of Whisper Country. 

[BigBingerBro]

49 minutes ago, Superclam said:

I caught the ending. Very dramatic. 

It's one of my favorite episodes, especially since that ending is so melodramatic.  I really wish they would have extended it just a bit to show Mary happily going back to teach there and perhaps tutoring Miss Peele in reading.  

[Mr. Sparkle]

Just now, BigBingerBro said:

It's one of my favorite episodes, especially since that ending is so melodramatic.  I really wish they would have extended it just a bit to show Mary happily going back to teach there and perhaps tutoring Miss Peele in reading.  

Ha, the raising of the bible to the sky was a nice touch. 

[jason88cubs]

I love the JOhnny Cash episode

[Mr. Sparkle]

8 minutes ago, jason88cubs said:

I love the JOhnny Cash episode

I caught it yesterday. Good episode. 

[debraran]

1 hour ago, Superclam said:

I caught it yesterday. Good episode. 

He was very good and his wife, considering they aren't actor's. I loved his scenes with everyone. I also loved him on the old detective show Columbo. The song he sung on there "I Saw the Light" which is only on youtube with him singing it is very good.

 

I felt bad at the end, he was so poor, but he came away with a lot more than he started with in some ways.

Edited July 25, 2020 by debraran

[Mr. Sparkle]

Well, I finally watched the two-part "Sylvia." I'm certain I've never seen Part 2 before. Just as dark as everyone has said. While of course the mime/clown was creepy as hell, that father was off the charts. 

[debraran]

6 hours ago, Superclam said:

Well, I finally watched the two-part "Sylvia." I'm certain I've never seen Part 2 before. Just as dark as everyone has said. While of course the mime/clown was creepy as hell, that father was off the charts. 

Wasn't he the nice guy Alice married for 3 wks in Crossed Lines? Saw that yesterday on Amazon. Garvey was doing his macho/chauvinistic bit while Charles was the progressive "forgive" guy. Harold was a once dapper gentleman who wooed Alice 20 years ago and forgot to say he gambled for a living. Dumb decision to help rob a bank and 18 years in jail. (think longer than today!) 

He did a lot of TV and westerns and movies including Bonanza. The part of Sylvia's dad was horrible but a pay check. I didn't remember him as Peter in the Easter movie King of Kings though. That redeems him in my eyes now. ; ) 

[debraran]

Another scene where Carries bed is seen inches from their bed post. She must have been a sound sleeper😉

The Most Precious Gift with Grace being born. It's so funny to hear Caroline say to Dr Baker, "I know what you are going to tell me, it's obvious isn't it, I'm going through the change" Doc "Aren't you a little young for that" Caroline "It happens"  she says.  I guess a few years later she forgets.

Edited July 26, 2020 by debraran

[CountryGirl]

Yes, interesting how she was all fine with menopause when she was pregnant with Grace and then had a meltdown when she thought she was pregnant the same time as Laura. 

Speaking of pregnancies, it was interesting how Caroline’s pregnancies lasted exactly one episode as did contemporary Mrs. Sims. Yet the younger generation tended to have several episodes featuring their pregnancies - Nellie, Laura. I thought Laura would never give birth. 

[debraran]

8 hours ago, CountryGirl said:

Yes, interesting how she was all fine with menopause when she was pregnant with Grace and then had a meltdown when she thought she was pregnant the same time as Laura. 

Speaking of pregnancies, it was interesting how Caroline’s pregnancies lasted exactly one episode as did contemporary Mrs. Sims. Yet the younger generation tended to have several episodes featuring their pregnancies - Nellie, Laura. I thought Laura would never give birth. 

Yes, that was more of a plot line issue I guess with the younger women. With Nellie they had to have the grandparents come, the food issues,  with Laura, there was the drought episode and probably others where she had problems. I thought back then they had to stop working when pregnant but maybe it wasn't a firm thing. I read online "A marriage bar is the practice of restricting the employment of married women. Common in Western countries throughout the 1900s, the practice often called for the termination of the employment of a woman on her marriage, especially in teaching and clerical occupations. Further, widowed women with children were still considered to be married at times, preventing them from being hired, as well.[1][2][3]" So stupid, but during war time they would relax it of course but then women got so much less it was okay. Walnut Grove could do what they wanted.  ; )

That bugged me about the menopause episode even when I was younger. I think it was because I was Italian and saw the "boy" thing with relatives, the jokes of the son being rotated around wasn't always a joke or stereotype.  When Caroline did that with lying etc. I thought this was all about giving Charles a son again, if she thought "I can't have another forgotten, non speaking daughter" she wouldn't be upset. There was also no way to know if Charles would have a son and then would she have a girl name picked out? IDK I liked the end of the show with him proposing and the romance but the disparity with her acceptance earlier and surprise and then the devastation later, was a bit odd. I know hormones etc well, but this was just written by a male for sure.

 

Edited July 27, 2020 by debraran

[CountryGirl]

So I caught a little of the awful My Ellen episode and then it struck me that Mrs. Taylor was played by the same actress who played Grace Snider Edwards after the Edwards were written out (Corinne Camacho).

Proving once again how much ML liked to recycle everything - plots, actors, et al.

[RedbirdNelly]

I watched My Ellen a month or so ago. I was watching some episode before it and my husband and I joked how hard core these episodes were--people die etc. He left the room, My Ellen started, he walked back in and I was all "it's 10 minutes in and this girl already died from drowning." Way to prove our point.

[CountryGirl]

It's the "Mline? I'm gonna be...mline???" two-parter aka "I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away."

To which I say, how would Mline Mary know that?

[Mr. Sparkle]

27 minutes ago, CountryGirl said:

It's the "Mline? I'm gonna be...mline???" two-parter aka "I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away."

To which I say, how would Mline Mary know that?

SAVAGE!!! 😝

[jird]

Watched "The Handyman," and for the first time realized it's only a couple of episodes after dirtbag John Jr. cheated on Mary and broke her heart, and it makes me have a tiny bit more sympathy for her crazypants behavior in suspecting something might be up between Ma and hot Gil Gerard.

[debraran]

2 hours ago, jird said:

Watched "The Handyman," and for the first time realized it's only a couple of episodes after dirtbag John Jr. cheated on Mary and broke her heart, and it makes me have a tiny bit more sympathy for her crazypants behavior in suspecting something might be up between Ma and hot Gil Gerard.

I never thought about that but she was nasty and knew her Mom was St Caroline. ; ) She let Nellie get under her skin.  And I agree, Chris was hot. He could have had chores lined up in Walnut Grove for a long time. lol

[CountryGirl]

2 hours ago, debraran said:

I never thought about that but she was nasty and knew her Mom was St Caroline. ; ) She let Nellie get under her skin.  And I agree, Chris was hot. He could have had chores lined up in Walnut Grove for a long time. lol

I would have popped popcorn with him anytime. 

[debraran]

6 hours ago, CountryGirl said:

I would have popped popcorn with him anytime. 

LOL, I found this pic looking and thought "who is that?" Must have been a director but in casual clothes. ; ) Looks like Melissa G is trying to get that last piece of pie between takes!

 

Edited July 30, 2020 by debraran

[Mr. Sparkle]

I watched the anthrax one earlier today. Not a bad episode, but they apparently ran out of story because it ended with a 5 minute song from Hester Sue. 

[CountryGirl]

Hester Sue sure could sing.

The Anthrax episode reminds of the tertiary character topic - father loses a son here and same guy, different son, loses his wife and child in another plague (typhus). 

[RedbirdNelly]

watched the end of the 2 parter where they move to the city followed by the one when the livery school kids play football against the private school kids. They lost their main weapon--big Luke --to the private school. In this show, kids and adults are in no way encouraged to stop referring to Luke as dumb. Apparently, making fun of people for not being sharp is ok. Even Teacher Garvey lets out some snide remark to the entire class when he finishes reading. Watching this now was just kind of weird. 

[CountryGirl]

I'll bet Ma wouldn't have stood for that, after all, IIRC, she threatened to wash out mouths with the strongest soap she could find when hearing how kids, her own included, including Prisspot Mary, called Abel "Dumb Abel McKay."

[RedbirdNelly]

1 minute ago, CountryGirl said:

I'll bet Ma wouldn't have stood for that, after all, IIRC, she threatened to wash out mouths with the strongest soap she could find when hearing how kids, her own included, including Prisspot Mary, called Abel "Dumb Abel McKay."

in this episode, no one cared. Remarks about him being stupid in front of Ma and Pa were made with no reaction beyond laughter.

 

[CountryGirl]

7 minutes ago, RedbirdNelly said:

in this episode, no one cared. Remarks about him being stupid in front of Ma and Pa were made with no reaction beyond laughter.

 

Well there's ML keeping it consistent...not.

[jird]

2 hours ago, CountryGirl said:

The Anthrax episode reminds of the tertiary character topic - father loses a son here and same guy, different son, loses his wife and child in another plague (typhus). 

I feel like ML really missed an opportunity not having that guy also lose his son in the blizzard when Miss Beadle tried to kill all the kids.

[Yogisbooboo64]

On 7/29/2020 at 4:33 PM, CountryGirl said:

It's the "Mline? I'm gonna be...mline???" two-parter aka "I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away."

To which I say, how would Mline Mary know that?

Finally got to see this eppy yesterday.  I'm confused....did Mary pronounce blind as mline?  I never understood this joke.  I felt for her when she was screaming for Pa at it being dark.

Nevertheless, I...could...not...STAND Mary!  Dang, she always had a stick up her ass and thought her petticoats didn't stink.  Watching from the beginning, I can see why the eppies were Laura heavy...she had fun.  

[Mr. Sparkle]

30 minutes ago, Yogisbooboo64 said:

Finally got to see this eppy yesterday.  I'm confused....did Mary pronounce blind as mline?  I never understood this joke.  I felt for her when she was screaming for Pa at it being dark.

Yeah, unpopular opinion here too... I never heard it as mline. 

Thylvia did have a pronounced lisp. 

[debraran]

7 minutes ago, Superclam said:

Yeah, unpopular opinion here too... I never heard it as mline. 

Thylvia did have a pronounced lisp. 

Mary could be annoying but I thought years ago, she said and did what I might have under those circumstances. I suffer from claustrophobia, and her "I can't breathe" was pretty accurate along with the self pity. I did like when they told her about the school and she realized she was going away, it was like, "Did I push it too far?"  She seemed less annoying as when she was a little girl afraid to be bad. "I'm telling Ma, You're not supposed to do that, I'm saving my candy, the list goes on. : )

Then poor Mary does ONE thing wrong, she gets banished from taking a test and getting an award. I can only imagine if she stole a music box or stayed out late, what would have happened to her.

 

Edited July 31, 2020 by debraran

[BigBingerBro]

2 hours ago, debraran said:

ONE thing wrong,

She nearly burned down the barn and killed everyone, even though it was an accident.

[bunnyblue]

5 hours ago, Susan Easey said:

I love the nicknames for the Ingalls girls: Half-Pint, Prisspot, Pee Puddles and Glued to High Chair.

I've also seen the Yellow Puddler for Carrie. There was also Drip Lip for Albert; that may have been from the TWOP days.

4 hours ago, Yogisbooboo64 said:

Finally got to see this eppy yesterday.  I'm confused....did Mary pronounce blind as mline?  I never understood this joke.  I felt for her when she was screaming for Pa at it being dark.

Yeah, I never heard it as "mline" either, but I like to say it 'cuz it is fun to make fun of Mary. I recently watched this episode after not having seen it in years and I had completely forgotten how good it was and how good MSA was in it. I can not even imagine how horrifying it would be to wake up one morning and not be able to see. I'd scream for my Pa too. 

4 hours ago, debraran said:

her "I can't breathe" was pretty accurate along with the self pity. I did like when they told her about the school and she realized she was going away, it was like, "Did I push it too far?" 

I'd feel pretty damn sorry for myself too if I were in Mary's shoes. I like that she was angry and just sat around in her pajamas all day until Charles & Caroline made the decision to send her to the blind school. And I felt bad for her when Charles was told to leave shortly after dropping her off at the school, so he abruptly bid her adieu, leaving her all alone. Of course TV Mary adjusted quickly and had a relatively happy life, while the real Mary Ingalls seems to have had a rather long lonely life. This is one of the changes I'm glad ML made to the show.

[debraran]

7 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

She nearly burned down the barn and killed everyone, even though it was an accident.

I know and fire was always killing people on the show or almost (think Albert, Gold Country, Charle's dad) but Laura never really got into trouble. Someone once had a list of all the times she pushed curfew, visited people she shouldn't, stole, lied, etc. and many times if Nellie was involved, that was the punishment, lol  or she was told they should do something but didn't. There was the cinnamon chicken incident and it did seem she was too old to have her Ma come with her to apologize. Their kids also ran away a lot, Laura, Albert, James. Taking off to California.....I'm surprised Caroline didn't go gray earlier.

 

 

Edited July 31, 2020 by debraran

[debraran]

17 hours ago, bunnyblue said:

I've also seen the Yellow Puddler for Carrie. There was also Drip Lip for Albert; that may have been from the TWOP days.

Yeah, I never heard it as "mline" either, but I like to say it 'cuz it is fun to make fun of Mary. I recently watched this episode after not having seen it in years and I had completely forgotten how good it was and how good MSA was in it. I can not even imagine how horrifying it would be to wake up one morning and not be able to see. I'd scream for my Pa too. 

I'd feel pretty damn sorry for myself too if I were in Mary's shoes. I like that she was angry and just sat around in her pajamas all day until Charles & Caroline made the decision to send her to the blind school. And I felt bad for her when Charles was told to leave shortly after dropping her off at the school, so he abruptly bid her adieu, leaving her all alone. Of course TV Mary adjusted quickly and had a relatively happy life, while the real Mary Ingalls seems to have had a rather long lonely life. This is one of the changes I'm glad ML made to the show.

Mary did get an Emmy nod for that episode and no one else ever did. Seems odd, but I googled it and lots of music and other things but not actor's. I wonder if that irked Melissa Gilbert.  She was nominated later for Miracle Worker but didn't win.

I wish they had more interesting stories with her and Adam but I think never having her have a child might seem odd but the shows were almost over. I think after that horrible fire 2 part show, she knew her time was limited. Lost a baby, another burned in a fire, that ship sailed.

 

Edited July 31, 2020 by debraran

[CountryGirl]

10 hours ago, debraran said:

 There was the cinnamon chicken incident and it did seem she was too old to have her Ma come with her to apologize.

That reminds me. When Laura quit teaching and Mrs. Olesen took over (unnn dun twaaa!) the class for a while,, she made this cold chicken dish for Almanzo and he clearly didn't like it and she got mad and threw both their plates in the sink and stormed off.

He mumbled to himself, "I liked your cinnamon chicken better." LOL.

I always wondered if he ad-libbed that part.

[debraran]

1 hour ago, CountryGirl said:

That reminds me. When Laura quit teaching and Mrs. Olesen took over (unnn dun twaaa!) the class for a while,, she made this cold chicken dish for Almanzo and he clearly didn't like it and she got mad and threw both their plates in the sink and stormed off.

He mumbled to himself, "I liked your cinnamon chicken better." LOL.

I always wondered if he ad-libbed that part.

It sounds better than something the writers would have written. Occasionally they let them, but not often. I remember one of the female actors, forgot if it was Ms Beadle or Alice that said she asked him once if she could do a scene a different way and Michael paused, thought and said, "sure" and changed things for her. She never asked again. (probably wise) ; )

 

[Snow Apple]

Dang it. I made a point to watch Sweet Sixteen today just for the scene where Laura buys the dress at the Oleson's and they cut out the entire scene. I loved the exchange with Ma and Mrs. Oleson.

[OpalNightstream]

Autopsy: the last hours of Michael Landon is on right now on Reelz channel

 

[jason88cubs]

when Charles said "your ma's apple fritters" and winked, was he really talking baout the food or something else lol

[bunnyblue]

I'm watching "The Wedding" (famous for little Susan's "I'm Here! I'm Here! I'm Here!") and I can't get over Mary's perfectly manicured fingernails. For an 1800's blind country girl she had a hell of a talent for being able to maintain such long pretty nails. 

I've always thought Nellie looks odd when she runs, and I finally figured out why. For some weird reason instead of letting her arms swing like a normal person, she grabs the skirt of her dress with both hands, which leaves her arms awkwardly stuck to her side. This has the unfortunate effect of making her upper body look stiff while her boobs bounce from side to side. Now that I noticed it, I can't not notice it every time Nellie runs.

It drives me crazy that the show couldn't keep straight Caroline's maiden name. In "I Remember, I Remember", young Caroline's family are the Holbrooks, in a later episode Charles recalls falling in love with Caroline Quiner, in "Author Author!" her father is Frederick Holbrook, and then in "Whatever Happened to the Class of '56" she's back to being Caroline Quiner. And this constant screw up was only in the span of 2 seasons! Continuity was a foreign concept for the show.

Edited August 5, 2020 by bunnyblue