Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

[Snow Apple]

3 hours ago, jird said:

Yes, it was the era of orangutans or chimps. The only difference was that the poor chimps always had to wear clothes.

And roller skate.

[Mr. Sparkle]

5 hours ago, jason88cubs said:

let us know how you enjoyed it

Well, that's an hour of my life I'm not getting back. It was just as dumb as everyone suggested. 

10 hours ago, CountryGirl said:

Well, Blanche did save Disaster Rose. So there's that.

I'd like to point out that Blanche actually started the fire from which she saved the baby. 

[CountryGirl]

Obviously I didn’t pay that close of attention. LOL. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

I did like the slowed down, sad version of "Ole Dan Tucker." 

2 minutes ago, CountryGirl said:

Obviously I didn’t pay that close of attention. LOL. 

I'd also like to point out that, unlike Mary and Adam, the F---ing orangutan was smart enough to get the baby out of the burning house! 

[CountryGirl]

9 minutes ago, Superclam said:

I did like the slowed down, sad version of "Ole Dan Tucker." 

I'd also like to point out that, unlike Mary and Adam, the F---ing orangutan was smart enough to get the baby out of the burning house! 

YES!!! Team Blanche. 

[jason88cubs]

hallmark drama showed the movies today

 

i got em on the dvr

[Mr. Sparkle]

I've never seen the second movie, but I saw the last one when it was first on TV, all those years ago! 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Y'know what? Since it's Sunday, and Caroline would want us to be positive, I'm going to name some episodes I like. 

I'm watching the first one with Mr. Sprague, and it's a good episode. 

I also like the one with the rats, and the one with Mr. Pike. And of course, Country Girls. 

[CountryGirl]

Some of my faves:

A Harvest of Friends - I’m a sucker for the ending

Country Girls (it inspired my SN after all) - it was one of the most true-to-the-books episodes and introduced us to the deliciously evil Nellie Olsen

Christmas at Plum Creek - Laura trading her beloved Bunny to get Ma a stove always makes me misty

I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away - Mary going blind will always be a stand out, especially those moments when a terrified Mary wakes up to find her world has gone dark  

The Circus - Nels gets a backstory and a sister, Laura gets revenge on “that snippy Christy”

Back to School - Lucy Lee Flippin’s Eliza Jane, cinnamon chicken, and “I’m a WOMAN!” Half-Pint and Nellie’s mud-wrestling match

Sweet Sixteen - Laura dons the Feminine Bun of Maturity and Manly finally takes notice 

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not - there’s the drama of Manly and the belt-wearing saloon girl (General Hospital’s Nancy Lee Grahn), but the main draw is the introduction of Percival and his taming of the shrew, ahem, Nellie.

[jird]

Country Girls.

The Richest Man in Walnut Grove - I love the family working together and Laura learning to be proud of that work.

Blizzard - I'm a sucker for a Christmas episode, even if it does involve a town full of children nearly dying. And it led me to read The Children's Blizzard, which was a great book.

And I like any of the episodes where we get to see how much Nels and Harriet love each other - I would have liked more of those moments.

[Snow Apple]

2 hours ago, jird said:

 

And I like any of the episodes where we get to see how much Nels and Harriet love each other - I would have liked more of those moments.

The later seasons are not popular, but I like the episode where when Willie gets married and Harriet disapproved. The end was a nice moment when Nels told Harriet that his mother didn't want him marrying her but it was the best thing he ever did. And then they danced.

[debraran]

31 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

The later seasons are not popular, but I like the episode where when Willie gets married and Harriet disapproved. The end was a nice moment when Nels told Harriet that his mother didn't want him marrying her but it was the best thing he ever did. And then they danced.

When he was sick was another time and when he was with Molly and at the end Nels and Harriet walked at night together after she burned the roast. (willie dug in though)

Edited October 18, 2020 by debraran

[CountryGirl]

I also liked getting some Harriet backstory when Reverend Alden got married and we learned she had been engaged before Nels. 

[debraran]

10 hours ago, CountryGirl said:

I also liked getting some Harriet backstory when Reverend Alden got married and we learned she had been engaged before Nels. 

And at Willie's wedding, his parents didn't want him to marry her...maybe because of engagement? Rules were odd then but she had money, it had to be something.

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, debraran said:

And at Willie's wedding, his parents didn't want him to marry her...maybe because of engagement? Rules were odd then but she had money, it had to be something.

I think it was just Harriet.  Willie was supposed to be going to college. I think she wanted him to get out of Walnut Grove and be a bigwig in some city.  Not stay in Walnut Grove and be a farmer, or whatever.

[debraran]

52 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I think it was just Harriet.  Willie was supposed to be going to college. I think she wanted him to get out of Walnut Grove and be a bigwig in some city.  Not stay in Walnut Grove and be a farmer, or whatever.

No I meant Nels parents didn’t want him marrying Harriet. He said that to her that day and he married her anyway 

[CountryGirl]

I always loved the Harriet/Nels storylines, especially their tender moments.

But I also enjoyed seeing them spar:

[jird]

Okay you guys, don't say I never did anything for you.

Here is the order of kidnappings in The Legend of Black Jake, so that Katy knows she's not crazy. I do not, however, have it in me to summarize everything that happened, because just watching it made my brain leak out my ears.

• Nels.  Nels is robbed because the dumb guys heard him talking about having "pure gold," which was actually a fishing lure. When they realize he doesn't have any gold, they decide to kidnap him for ransom.
• Harriet.  Harriet refuses to pay ransom, and Nels joins forces with the dumb guys to kidnap her, thinking that she'd fork over the money if it was for her (they tell her Nels is dead).
•  Bill the banker. Harriet tells the kidnappers that no one else but her has the authority to get money from her bank account, so they kidnap the banker.
• Doc Baker. Bill the banker has what looks like a heart attack, so the dumb guys go kidnap the Doc.
• Rev. Alden. The Reverend happened to be at Doc's house, so they took him, too.
• Pa and Almanzo. Our resident doofuses attempt to go rescue everyone, and see bad guys breaking into the bank. The bad guys are, of course, Rev. Alden and Doc Baker, who have been dispatched to break into the bank and get the money. (I'm not sure how all 4 of them ended back up in the custody of the dumb guys, I think I blacked out for a while.)

And Harriet did indeed suggest that they kidnap Caroline so she could do the cooking, but they didn't actually do it.

I refuse to recap Nels in flourface pretending to be a ghost, or Willie eating the licorice gun he and Nancy were going to use to rob the bank, or Rev Alden getting whacked on the head and forgetting the bank safe combination, so you're on your own for details.

(And let's not talk about how it was just HI-larious that Nels let his wife and his kids think he was dead, and acted like nothing had happened.)

Edited October 19, 2020 by jird

[Lisa418722]

Reading all the comments about Nels and Harriet, I think I've come to an unpopular decision - they were my favorite couple.  They weren't all "lovey dovey" with each other and they had their ups and downs, but always seemed to love each other in the end. 

[jason88cubs]

I liked alot of the early episodes. but I did like "Someone please love me"

 

"Country grils"

 

"Richest Man"

 

"Plague"

[Mr. Sparkle]

8 minutes ago, Lisa418722 said:

Reading all the comments about Nels and Harriet, I think I've come to an unpopular decision - they were my favorite couple.  They weren't all "lovey dovey" with each other and they had their ups and downs, but always seemed to love each other in the end. 

This show would have been a lot worse without the Olesons, especially Harriet. 

[BigBingerBro]

I've always wondered if Harriet used any of Caroline's left over eggs that weren't sold.

[alexa]

1 hour ago, Lisa418722 said:

Reading all the comments about Nels and Harriet, I think I've come to an unpopular decision - they were my favorite couple.  They weren't all "lovey dovey" with each other and they had their ups and downs, but always seemed to love each other in the end. 

I think a lot of the recent comments are positive about Nels and Harriet.

[ctlady]

Watched 'The Award' yesterday - which, to me, is a very convoluted episode. I've always missed the beginning of it and now I finally saw it in it's entirety

First, I thought the book that was going to be given as an award was a dictionary.  I must've gotten up and walked out when Miss Beadle loaned Mary the book to study from - which I thought was said dictionary - which was why Mary was upset when it was destroyed in the fire and why she got that job at Olson's to earn money to purchase a replacement in time to award after the test.  But....I guess it was a different 'history' book.  That's what I get for walking away!

Mary had to sneak out to the barn in the middle of the night to study because she didn't want to wake Laura and thought Ma would get mad, but Caroline had no objection to Mary working at Olsons every day after school and all day on Saturday in addition to homework and chores.  And I don't recall Caroline questioning why Mary wanted to work so much (except at the end where she gave her a 50 cent coin to contribute to the household) rather than Mary just admitting the book Miss Beadle loaned her got burned and she wanted to replace it.  Just too much misunderstandings and not being honest.

I don't know if anyone else noticed this, but the background instrumental music that played throughout this episode is the melody from The Music Box episode  (Dum dum dum........dum dum dum......)

[Mr. Sparkle]

5 hours ago, ctlady said:

I don't know if anyone else noticed this, but the background instrumental music that played throughout this episode is the melody from The Music Box episode  (Dum dum dum........dum dum dum......)

They've used it several times, especially in the older episodes. They recycled a lot of music, and I recently read they used some music from LHotP for Highway to Heaven. 

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

I'm watching an episode I've never seen before - Money Crop. It's a little boring. Plenty of LH tropes - wagon accident, angry farmers overreacting, characters we will never see again, and Charles as voice of reason and savior. 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Superclam

[debraran]

8 hours ago, Superclam said:

I'm watching an episode I've never seen before - Money Crop. It's a little boring. Plenty of LH tropes - wagon accident, angry farmers overreacting, characters we will never see again, and Charles as voice of reason and savior. 

The theme was fine, but never seeing him again was typical and I wished they did appear again.  It was a lot of yelling and you knew Charles would be the one to get him, but it was nice seeing Harriet stick up for his wife and condemn the "nasty men". I liked seeing a real toy too, rare in Walnut Grove except dolls at the store.

My beef was it was the 1800's, wagon accidents happen all the time, robberies, etc. (even Mary would find that out) First thing they think of is he ran of with their money and left his very pregnant wife. Duh. My hubby who doesn't really like the show caught that one and said that reaction without any other thought was beyond the norm and just built to the dramatic rescue. But we know Charles is usually the savoir and got the town to help the family or they'd have to listen to him chastise them in church.  : )

[debraran]

9 hours ago, Superclam said:

They've used it several times, especially in the older episodes. They recycled a lot of music, and I recently read they used some music from LHotP for Highway to Heaven. 

 

It's probably just me but I hate that music so much it makes me skip the episode. Also that Laura's punishment was dealing with Nellie which was also her fault. She knew the worst that would happen is she'd have to help the Oleson's maybe with chores and Nellie looking on but the fact she stole was never really addressed. (I guess if I remember she was "borrowing it") James stealing was different and I remember more anger. I think he ran away and it was forgotten?

[CountryGirl]

Well, running away after he burned down the blindschool and killed his nephew and BFF's mom worked for Albert.

[Mr. Sparkle]

1 hour ago, CountryGirl said:

Well, running away after he burned down the blindschool and killed his nephew and BFF's mom worked for Albert.

Even got a hug from the dude whose wife he killed! 

[jason88cubs]

I thought Moneycrop was pretty boring to.

 

I also thought 100 mile walk was dull too. what  4th episode and Charles is already having to walk to find work? Greta job Charlie

[Mr. Sparkle]

23 hours ago, Superclam said:

characters we will never see again,

I take this back! One of the angry mob was the blacksmith in The Richest Man in Walnut Grove. Also, as I've learned from iMDB, the character of "Baker Makay" was on 3 times, once as Abel's father. 

[jason88cubs]

I really enjoyed "The LOng Road home"

[jason88cubs]

Fell asleep to LHOP and that darn goat kept waking me up in whatever episode they had about Fred the goat

[CountryGirl]

The Fred episode was silly, but it did give me immense pleasure seeing Fred knock several Walnut Grove denizens on their arses, most especially Charles.

[jason88cubs]

28 minutes ago, CountryGirl said:

The Fred episode was silly, but it did give me immense pleasure seeing Fred knock several Walnut Grove denizens on their arses, most especially Charles.

I remember that scene, i woke up saw Charles on teh ground and thought "good"

[Mr. Sparkle]

Ha! It was on yesterday and I turned it off. Add that to the list of episodes I won't watch! 

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

But I'll say this again: if you don't get a little misty at the end of "Stupid Carrie is Stuck In a Mineshaft," then you should have your doctor check if you have a heart. 

[Katy M]

I don't even remember that Fred episode.  I wonder if I'm senile or I just happen to always miss it when it's on.

[Mr. Sparkle]

11 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I don't even remember that Fred episode.  I wonder if I'm senile or I just happen to always miss it when it's on.

You're not missing much. A lot of set-up of bad slapstick comedy. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

LOL, I have a lunch break and was going to turn on LH. I looked at my TV guide, and what episode is on? The Godsister, of course. And for some reason, it's 1hr 34m on UPTv. 

Pass! 

[Mr. Sparkle]

On another note, I caught the last episode of the 2 part "Gold Country" yesterday. I only vaguely recall it from my youth, and I haven't seen it this time around. Not a bad episode, but the guy who played Zachariah really over did it! 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Oof, Jack dying is a real tear-jerker. Could've done without Charles' nipples though. 

 

[debraran]

He played about 5 characters on the show but the suicide theme was a bit much. Did people do that back then as often or did Michael have an obsession with fire and death? He even had his father want to burn alive because his wife died. I know they lived through a lot but that was preferable to moving to Walnut Grove and being with your family. Did they really think a grave was "the person"? The loony dad that wanted his "wanton daughter" to die too in fire. Really not family oriented that way.  The blind school had to burn and kill.

I don't mind seeing a PTSD haunted guy die from morphine because that probably did happen and it was sad but believable.

Edited October 30, 2020 by debraran

[Mr. Sparkle]

25 minutes ago, debraran said:

He played about 5 characters on the show b

You're right, and of course, he was also on Bonanza. 

[jason88cubs]

Walnut Grove was  a nice quiet town, a town with happiness, a friendly town, with a wave and a smile. No tornadoes, no plagues, hardly any sickness. The one day it all changed. A creepy feeling crawled through the atmosphere all because of this man. Tornadoes! Plauge! Anthrax! Fires! Town going bankrupt! This man ruined Walnut Grove

 

[jason88cubs]

Did they actually trick or treat back then?

 

I mean they were so poor what on earth could they give the kids?

 

Charles couldn't even provide a little sugar

[Katy M]

12 hours ago, jason88cubs said:

Did they actually trick or treat back then?

 

I mean they were so poor what on earth could they give the kids?

 

Charles couldn't even provide a little sugar

I don't know what, if anything, they did in the 1870s/80s, but trick or treating for candy didn't really start until the 1920s.  I also don't know if soaping windows was a thing back then.  i never did stuff like that, but I think it would lose it's appeal if you have the store owner's blessing.  Then it's just a chore.

[alexa]

I just saw the episode where Laura goes to Arizona with Eliza Jane.  I have never seen that one before.  Eliza Jane was the biggest pain in the rump in that episode.  You would have thought she learned something about men after Harv.  Lol!

[debraran]

4 hours ago, Katy M said:

I don't know what, if anything, they did in the 1870s/80s, but trick or treating for candy didn't really start until the 1920s.  I also don't know if soaping windows was a thing back then.  i never did stuff like that, but I think it would lose it's appeal if you have the store owner's blessing.  Then it's just a chore.

I found this  "In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers than about ghosts, pranks and witchcraft. At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Bobbing for apples came later. 

I suppose the only house I'd go to is the Olesons who had plenty of candy ; )