Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

[Snow Apple]

I think Harriet figured all the locals know Nellie and the only way she can catch a husband was a stranger staying at the hotel. I don't know how that would work though if she's in the kitchen cooking and away from view.

[BigBingerBro]

I also agree 100% that Walnut Grove was way too small and remote for a hotel/restaurant but it certainly did give us a lot more episode options as it seems like most of them after it was erected focused within the Restaurant.

[Zella]

16 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

I think Harriet figured all the locals know Nellie and the only way she can catch a husband was a stranger staying at the hotel. I don't know how that would work though if she's in the kitchen cooking and away from view.

You might be on to something! 😂

[Katy M]

16 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

I think Harriet figured all the locals know Nellie and the only way she can catch a husband was a stranger staying at the hotel. I don't know how that would work though if she's in the kitchen cooking and away from view.

Theoretically, if Nellie were a good cook (which obviously she was not), a customer would say, "This is the best cooking I've ever tasted.  I must simply meet the chef."  And then she would come out, they would gaze into each other's eyes and he would immediately get down on one knee and propose.

[CountryGirl]

Or if just seeing her didn't work, she could always wow them with her singing.

[debraran]

2 hours ago, Katy M said:

Theoretically, if Nellie were a good cook (which obviously she was not), a customer would say, "This is the best cooking I've ever tasted.  I must simply meet the chef."  And then she would come out, they would gaze into each other's eyes and he would immediately get down on one knee and propose.

Here Comes he Brides is on and I still laugh at Harriet saying  something like this when Nelly says why don't you like him " We all have aspirations for our daughters and mine is not to see you crowned the Minnesota Pig Queen!" 

Luke was a nice kid but I think even the saintly Ingall's might think it odd if Luke came to dinner without shoes. ; ) Callus's or not, not very safe as someone who loved to go barefoot as a kid. : )  Mr Simms was a handsome man and he had 2 shows at least with Miss Beadle. The other was when she had her son I think. I remember him as Scully on MASH.

 

[CountryGirl]

16 minutes ago, debraran said:

Here Comes he Brides is on and I still laugh at Harriet saying  something like this when Nelly says why don't you like him " We all have aspirations for our daughters and mine is not to see you crowned the Minnesota Pig Queen!" 

Luke was a nice kid but I think even the saintly Ingall's might think it odd if Luke came to dinner without shoes. ; ) Callus's or not, not very safe as someone who loved to go barefoot as a kid. : )  Mr Simms was a handsome man and he had 2 shows at least with Miss Beadle. The other was when she had her son I think. I remember him as Scully on MASH.

 

Fugly Johnson didn't wear shoes either. And we got a nice juice close-up of his nasty dogs at the fishing hole. 

[RedbirdNelly]

I'm not saying the hotel made sense but I'm glad we had it, because it brought us the Percival episodes which were great.

[Blergh]

On 2/17/2021 at 7:22 PM, RedbirdNelly said:

I always liked the show where the woman with the petition to allow women to own property shows up, Pa is a jerk to Ma and she goes to live in the hotel (and rallies other wives) until the men agree to sign. It was nice to see Ma with some spunk and to get to do more. Of course, Percival was on the ladies' side from the get-go because he rocks.

And the biggest irony :, Percival came into the marriage a transient with going from job to job but having few assets beyond the clothes on his back and his wits- and no home. Yet, even though, due to the laws of the time, Percival   automatically became the sole proprietor and owner of Nellie's Hotel and Restaurant due to his marriage to Nellie, he actually supported the idea of Nellie and the other married women having equal rights to the  farms, homes and properties they lived in with their husbands- even his mother-in-law Harriet!  Yes, I'm sure Harriet had never imagined that Nels would insist on exercising his legal right to the the Mercantile being his alone while their  new son-in-law that she was constantly concocting faults for proved NOT to be a fortune-hunter  even though he COULD have via having legally acquired the hotel& restaurant through his marriage- and she never expressed any gratitude for him wanting fairness for Nellie, the other wives and herself. Of course, the whole deal of gifting Nellie a hotel and restaurant at that time virtually guaranteed that she would have more likely than not attracted  fortune hunters interested in the large edifice that would have been automatically theirs alone upon   marriage. IOW, Nellie dodged a major bullet by having an honest man who wanted to work with her and live together in their mutual establishment rather than someone who'd have wanted to boss her around and have her live with him in what would have been his establishment alone. 

Edited February 21, 2021 by Blergh

[RedbirdNelly]

I do like that the show brought up the issue of women not being able to own property--let alone vote. That was an episode when they brought attention to a bit of history that viewers probably didn't know about. And it wasn't presented as 'Charles saves the world."  (of course, Charles did play a key role because once he showed leadership others followed)

[Blergh]

17 hours ago, RedbirdNelly said:

I do like that the show brought up the issue of women not being able to own property--let alone vote. That was an episode when they brought attention to a bit of history that viewers probably didn't know about. And it wasn't presented as 'Charles saves the world."  (of course, Charles did play a key role because once he showed leadership others followed)

A widow or an unmarried woman COULD own property in her own name but this was usually the result of an inheritance spelling it out (though there were a few who managed to obtain their properties entirely via their own hard work and wits). However, a married woman could NOT unless her husband had signed a prenuptial agreement spelling out that her premarital property would legally stay hers even after their marriage. Also, too, the women's rights speaker touched upon the draconian child custody laws in which a married woman had zero legal control over her own children's custody or fate and legally would have been helpless had her husband decided to put them in an orphanage or workhouse even in cases when the children weren't biologically theirs (as depicted in David Copperfield having had this happen due to his fortune hunting stepfather Mr. Murdstone).

In LHOTP, family farms were central and Caroline and the other wives were depicted having worked side-by-side with their husbands to feed their families with them so it made perfect sense that the issue of property rights for these farms,etc. would have been addressed and have that issue depicted- albeit in a somewhat lighthearted Lysistrata deal. However, I think there simply would have been no way to have  had a David Copperfield outrage depicted on the same episode without it weighing down everything and  the parties to have been  being able to believably reconcile at the end. 

Of course, voting in any kind of election in almost every state at that time was out of the question for women-  regardless of their marital status,age or even personal wealth but that issue wasn't as constant in women's lives as child custody or property rights. 

Edited February 20, 2021 by Blergh

[Mr. Sparkle]

The guy who played mean Mr. Sprague also played some scrubby farmer in "Money Crop"! 

Strange episode. Did we ever see that guy and his wife again? Or all the angry, impatient farmers? 

[ctlady]

20 hours ago, RedbirdNelly said:

I'm not saying the hotel made sense but I'm glad we had it, because it brought us the Percival episodes which were great.

If only just to watch him give Nellie and Harriet a verbal dress down and watch Nels stare at him in awe and wonder for it!

[Zella]

Though I like Percival, last night I watched the episode where he basically fat shames a pregnant Nellie and Harriet. I know Harriet is a bitch, but I can't stand how the show was acting as if she was somehow overweight. And even if she was, it seems pretty at odds with the message conveyed in the circus episode about Nels's sister. I usually like Nels, but I thought he was a real asshole in that episode too. 

[jird]

2 hours ago, Superclam said:

The guy who played mean Mr. Sprague also played some scrubby farmer in "Money Crop"! 

Strange episode. Did we ever see that guy and his wife again? Or all the angry, impatient farmers? 

I just learned that last week, too!  Blew my tiny mind.

1 hour ago, Zella said:

Though I like Percival, last night I watched the episode where he basically fat shames a pregnant Nellie and Harriet. I know Harriet is a bitch, but I can't stand how the show was acting as if she was somehow overweight. And even if she was, it seems pretty at odds with the message conveyed in the circus episode about Nels's sister. I usually like Nels, but I thought he was a real asshole in that episode too. 

Yes, one of the consistent rules of LH is that it's horrible to make fun of people for being overweight, unless they're Harriet, and then it's hilarious.

[debraran]

Nice excerpt from Miss Beadle about Melissa Sue.

Describing Gilbert and Arngrim as outgoing, Stewart shared that Anderson was “never a girl who seemed to fit in with the rest of the kids, nor particularly seemed to want to.” Despite Anderson’s more reserved demeanor, Stewart found her to be highly professional and easy to have as a co-star.

“She was always ready to work, nailed her part, and was prepared,” Stewart said of Anderson. “So I didn’t have any difficulty working with her, and in fact I liked her a lot. She seemed like a very normal, healthy, non-Hollywood kid. She wasn’t there to hog to spotlight.”

As the seasons progressed, Stewart witnessed Anderson being edged out by her young cast mates.

“I did see [Anderson’s’] aloofness (or perceived aloofness) between takes and, over time, her isolation from the other kids,” the Little House star recalled. “In many ways she carried herself like a young adult from early on. … [Anderson] has also written a book about her Little House experiences but, like her presence on set, it doesn’t allow the reader to look too deeply into her life.”

Stewart attributed Anderson’s somewhat standoffish persona to being more tied to her family than show business.

Like many of the other kids, many of whom had a paid caretaker with them on the set, Melissa’s mom was there almost all the time,” Stewart explained. “She was my favorite of the actor-kids’ moms on Little House – some of whom were either big, over-the-top personalities or were just basket cases.”

Anderson was the first and only actor on Little House on the Prairie to be nominated for an Emmy. She left the series in 1981. Stewart’s character was written out at the end of the show’s fourth season.

I found it interesting she liked MSA mom and though she was nicer than the others. I got the impression MG mom was all over her and not so much her brother but I assume others were nuts too. ; )

[jason88cubs]

8 hours ago, Superclam said:

The guy who played mean Mr. Sprague also played some scrubby farmer in "Money Crop"! 

Strange episode. Did we ever see that guy and his wife again? Or all the angry, impatient farmers? 

maybe a couple of the farmers?

 

wasnt Larabbee one of em?

Watched "The Rivals" i never understood why Charles was so rude to the waiter

 

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

1 hour ago, jason88cubs said:

maybe a couple of the farmers?

 

wasnt Larabbee one of em?

Probably. A lot of the side townspeople had recurring roles, especially in the first season. 

1 hour ago, jason88cubs said:

Watched "The Rivals" i never understood why Charles was so rude to the waiter

Seriously, Charles and Jonathon were both saints. Except to Monsieur Francois, who did nothing but suggest a menu for them. 

[CountryGirl]

The Rivals episode - where Laura puts apples in her dress and Jonathan gets his unofficial nickname of “Them’s Snails!”

[jason88cubs]

10 hours ago, CountryGirl said:

The Rivals episode - where Laura puts apples in her dress and Jonathan gets his unofficial nickname of “Them’s Snails!”

It's funny how different Laura looked when she went without the pigtails that episode. She looked so much older, then we she wore the pigtails it was little Laura again

[Blergh]

1 hour ago, jason88cubs said:

It's funny how different Laura looked when she went without the pigtails that episode. She looked so much older, then we she wore the pigtails it was little Laura again

Let's not forget that while she wore the pigtails, Manly dismissed her as a 'kid' and 'little girl' but the minute she made the bun her permanent coiffure, he considered her hot to trot! 

[jason88cubs]

Charles"NObody goes out at night, unless it' to go to the outhouse and you better have to go!"

Carrie "PA?"

Charles" Yes"

 

Carrie" I have to go "

 

 

i lose it everytime

[Zella]

3 hours ago, Blergh said:

Let's not forget that while she wore the pigtails, Manly dismissed her as a 'kid' and 'little girl' but the minute she made the bun her permanent coiffure, he considered her hot to trot! 

I found that whole sequence of their relationship really hard to follow because I thought he was super flirtatious with her from the beginning, to the point that it made me uncomfortable, given their age difference, and then he suddenly was like "Oh she's just a kid--how gross do you think I am!?" 

I also just watched the one about women and property, and I was confused about Harriet and the store because in the last season she had sold her shares to Nels. I guess they forgot that. LOL They had a missed opportunity, too, to include Eliza Jane there if she'd still been around. One episode indicated they were still following the books in that she had filed on her own homestead claim, so she was a woman who owned property in her own right but would have lost that if she'd married. 

Edited February 20, 2021 by Zella

[RedbirdNelly]

3 hours ago, Blergh said:

Let's not forget that while she wore the pigtails, Manly dismissed her as a 'kid' and 'little girl' but the minute she made the bun her permanent coiffure, he considered her hot to trot! 

I could never figure out why she was still wearing pig tails at that point, including when she was trying to convince people to stop treating her like a little girl.

[BigBingerBro]

1 hour ago, RedbirdNelly said:

I could never figure out why she was still wearing pig tails at that point, including when she was trying to convince people to stop treating her like a little girl.

I was expecting a touching series of scenes where Ma would teach her how to fix her hair like a lady and work with her to buy/sew some new "grown up" dresses, etc.  But nope never happened.  What a missed opportunity.

[CountryGirl]

5 hours ago, Blergh said:

Let's not forget that while she wore the pigtails, Manly dismissed her as a 'kid' and 'little girl' but the minute she made the bun her permanent coiffure, he considered her hot to trot! 

The Feminine Bun of Maturity as dubbed on TWOP. 

[Zella]

I'm starting "Sylvia Part 1" for the first time. I'm not ready! 

[Mr. Sparkle]

There's so much wrong with both of those episodes. Besides the obvious, that father is... special. 

[CountryGirl]

You’ll need a palate cleanser after that. I can’t watch that 2-parter anymore. 

5 minutes ago, Superclam said:

There's so much wrong with both of those episodes. Besides the obvious, that father is... special. 

I liked him better when he was Alice’s first husband. 

[BigBingerBro]

[Zella]

Yeesh, even knowing some spoilers and having the forewarnings, I was still taken aback by how singularly unpleasant those 2 episodes are. I did need a palate cleanser. (Tried to snuggle with my Chihuahua, but that interrupted the Nightly Cleansing of the Paws, so I decided to come on the internet and complain instead.)

A lot of it was just over-the-top melodrama, which I usually find pretty hilarious, but it was so off-putting and disturbing, that it wasn't entertaining in a trainwreck sort of way. I don't need to ever watch Sylvia again. 

[Wonkabar5]

Imagine watching it as a near 13 year old in real time.😱

[Zella]

Just now, Wonkabar5 said:

Imagine watching it as a near 13 year old in real time.😱

31-year-old me is very glad 13-year-old me didn't watch that! 

[debraran]

7 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

I love the pic with Miss Beadle and Mary especially after reading his interviews/book about how much she liked her.

[jird]

9 hours ago, Wonkabar5 said:

Imagine watching it as a near 13 year old in real time.😱

I think I was 10 or so when it aired, and until I was an adult I thought the guy in the mask was her dad. The whole thing was very confusing for me.

[alexa]

13 hours ago, Zella said:

Yeesh, even knowing some spoilers and having the forewarnings, I was still taken aback by how singularly unpleasant those 2 episodes are. I did need a palate cleanser. (Tried to snuggle with my Chihuahua, but that interrupted the Nightly Cleansing of the Paws, so I decided to come on the internet and complain instead.)

A lot of it was just over-the-top melodrama, which I usually find pretty hilarious, but it was so off-putting and disturbing, that it wasn't entertaining in a trainwreck sort of way. I don't need to ever watch Sylvia again. 

I have no idea why they aired these episodes for LHOTP, as even with the normal drama, this was a bit much for the average viewer.  Very disturbing. 

[Snow Apple]

9 hours ago, jird said:

I think I was 10 or so when it aired, and until I was an adult I thought the guy in the mask was her dad. The whole thing was very confusing for me.

I was around that age too, and for some reason, I thought it was Mrs Oleson just trying to scare Sylvia. I quickly knew it wasn't her but I still thought it was just some creep trying to kill Sylvia. I guess I was too young or too sheltered to know about rape, even though I knew she got pregnant somehow.

I also didn't know she died and was confused when Albert showed up with a new girlfriend in the adopting Nancy episode.

Edited February 23, 2021 by Snow Apple

[BigBingerBro]

21 hours ago, jird said:

I think I was 10 or so when it aired, and until I was an adult I thought the guy in the mask was her dad. The whole thing was very confusing for me.

When I was a kid, I thought is WAS Albert in the mask.  I don't think I ever realized it wasn't until I saw it again as an adult.  Shows how creepy that episode was/is!

[CountryGirl]

Boo!

[Blergh]

Let's not forget that the supposed 'humor' of that show was for Mrs. Oleson to get up in arms about Willie having been caught peeking at poor Sylvia while changing her clothes but the instant Willie claimed to his mother that Sylvia . ..'enticed' him and the other schoolboys via just changing her clothes where they could see her- Mrs. Oleson suddenly became a wagoncircling mother hen towards her son and the other 'helpless' lads and actually insisted on holding an emergency school board meeting to attempt to have Sylvia EXPELLED! Yes, I know that Harriet supposed to be the show's comic relief and she ultimately didn't get her way but what was  funny about having her try to expel a girl who was just changing her clothes and had had  no idea that anyone was going to see her doing so?!

[Zella]

50 minutes ago, Blergh said:

Let's not forget that the supposed 'humor' of that show was for Mrs. Oleson to get up in arms about Willie having been caught peeking at poor Sylvia while changing her clothes but the instant Willie claimed to his mother that Sylvia . ..'enticed' him and the other schoolboys via just changing her clothes where they could see her- Mrs. Oleson suddenly became a wagoncircling mother hen towards her son and the other 'helpless' lads and actually insisted on holding an emergency school board meeting to attempt to have Sylvia EXPELLED! Yes, I know that Harriet supposed to be the show's comic relief and she ultimately didn't get her way but what was  funny about having her try to expel a girl who was just changing her clothes and had had  no idea that anyone was going to see her doing so?!

Yep. And the phrase "boys will be boys" is repeated ad nauseam by multiple characters about the boys spying on her, including both Oleson parents, Laura, and Charles. 

[CountryGirl]

It's pretty damn gross if you think about it. Even worse is the father blaming her for the boys being creeps and essentially having her bind her breasts to keep them from looking. He also blames her for being raped because I guess she was somehow "asking for it?" just walking home from school. 

IIRC, there isn't one single person who stands up for Sylvia in terms of it being the boys who need to be taken to task for their disgusting behavior, not to mention the rapist. Even Albert's reaction, to be Sylvia's savior, is misplaced. But I guess I am expecting too much for a show set in the 1880s.

[Wonkabar5]

I’m another one who had not realized Sylvia had died. I  just thought she was tired and went “to sleep.” 

😕 

[Zella]

41 minutes ago, CountryGirl said:

It's pretty damn gross if you think about it. Even worse is the father blaming her for the boys being creeps and essentially having her bind her breasts to keep them from looking. He also blames her for being raped because I guess she was somehow "asking for it?" just walking home from school. 

IIRC, there isn't one single person who stands up for Sylvia in terms of it being the boys who need to be taken to task for their disgusting behavior, not to mention the rapist. Even Albert's reaction, to be Sylvia's savior, is misplaced. But I guess I am expecting too much for a show set in the 1880s.

There's also a really gross moment played for laughs where Charles says all boys try to get a peek at the swimming hole, and Harriet protests nobody did that to her, and Nels has some flippant comment. Like you're supposed to be flattered that boys are peeping toms, and when they don't do that to you, they're showing good taste. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

2 hours ago, Wonkabar5 said:

I’m another one who had not realized Sylvia had died. I  just thought she was tired and went “to sleep.” 

😕 

I knew she died, but even watching it a few weeks ago, I'm not exactly sure how. It seemed like she only fell from a moderate height. Although, she's not the first to die from a fall on this show. Charles, on the other hand, only cracked some ribs and showed us his manly chest. 

Edited February 23, 2021 by Superclam
Grammah.

[Zella]

3 minutes ago, Superclam said:

Charles, on the other hand, only cracked some ribs and showed us his manly chest. 

If she'd had Charles's manly chest to protect her from the fall, she'd still be with us, just with cracked ribs! 

[jason88cubs]

The 2 episodes centered around Mary going blind

 

I wont deny I get some tears flowing

[QQQQ]

On 2/22/2021 at 8:47 AM, jird said:

I think I was 10 or so when it aired, and until I was an adult I thought the guy in the mask was her dad. The whole thing was very confusing for me.

Me too!!!!!

[debraran]

2 hours ago, jason88cubs said:

The 2 episodes centered around Mary going blind

 

I wont deny I get some tears flowing

I saw that yesterday. Except for the running back and forth to the doctors (and not a good money year) I thought it was pretty realistic for LHOP. I could see her eyes failing, thinking she needed stronger glasses and then they didn't work well. Laura feeling jealous because ANOTHER older boy liked Mary instead of her. (Seth was cute though)  I felt so bad she couldn't have had a relationship with him. Then the denial which is very real from Pa and then a little from Ma. The waiting and then having to realize it was real. Mary's "suffocating" would have been how I felt and her depression. Ma looked horrid and pale and it fit the episode. Talking to Doc Baker and his advice and their fear. Very real. Mary getting nervous she was too sad and depressed and not wanting to go. I thought her adjustment was pretty accurate too and her "leave me alone and let me feel sorry for myself" Who wouldn't, she was pretty, smart, ready to become a teacher with a cute beau and now everything was upside down. She might not deserve to win, but Melissa Sue deserved to be nominated.

I even forgave probably not realistic , cute blind teacher who helped her and how nice everyone was. I would hope they could have been true.

Sad it started the beginning of the end with Mary, he didn't have to have her married or kids dying and all that. They could have adopted a blind child from the school maybe. : )

Edited February 23, 2021 by debraran

[Snow Apple]

In the book, Mary talked about liking her teachers and fellow students. She even spent a summer break with her friend Blanche. Too bad there was no cute teacher to marry in real life. I wonder why she never married? I thought the point of going to school was learning to handle skills like homemaking.