Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

[Zella]

1 minute ago, Superclam said:

If you read even the wikipedia article about him, my boy was neurotic as hell, and it sounds like his mother had a lot to do with it. 

Oh yeah I mainly know ML trivia from Bonanza in which I thought he was often an ass to my boy Pernell (who was his own special brand of ass but was a mighty handsome asshole). LOL

But I do have sympathy for Michael Landon based on his childhood. It undoubtedly really screwed him up. 

Edited April 30, 2021 by Zella

[Blergh]

It's odd that of the four  then 'girls' who wrote about their LHOTP tenures, while each had quite a bit to say about ML, they said very little about Miss Grassle- despite her playing the protagonist's iconic Ma. I can't recall Miss Francis (Cassandra) or Miss Gilbert (Laura) saying anything about her at all. While Miss Arngrim admired her professionalism and said her character was someone that Miss Anrgrim herself admire, Miss Anderson said the most in which she admitted that due to Miss Grassle wanting the series to deal with the actual issues of pioneers (including some that still are relevant) while ML wanted to somewhat avoid deeper issues (though, natch, wasn't above having warped episodes), there was conflict between the two but she didn't go into much detail apart from stating that one time, after Miss Grassle had been absent from the set for  some time, she was greeted by a crewmember with a 'good morning' and she replied with 'What's good about it?' 

I know that the series' focus was far more on Pa and Laura than on Ma (even more than the books did) but it does seem odd that none of them related more about her than that! I know that she was a thoroughly professional performer and one can't have expected any of the above to have considered her a second mother but still it's odd that their autobios were rather terse about her. 

Oh, yes, I know that ML had quite a few issues that he never quite moved past . I can't say I envy the late Dan Blocker for having to have been what appears to have been a sorely needed peacemaker for those two  Bonanza bulls- no coincidence when he (and Hoss) died, the show quickly choked its last despite efforts of  Ben (Lorne Greene) semi-adopting other characters.  And, it can't have been easy for the LHOTP cast and crew  to have had  no court of last resort re dealing with him at times.  Still he did star in three and star& produce two unforgettable and intriguing series (plural)- and was a valuable albeit flawed father-figure mentor to Miss Gilbert who, early on, had no real offstage alternative despite her mother's multiple marriages. 

I'm looking forward to hearing about what Miss Lester's LHOTP recollections were. I can recall Hester-Sue having dialogue with Mary, Adam, Harriet, Charles, Caroline, Nellie and Albert ( to say nothing of Joe Kagan) but I can't recall her having any dialogue with Laura. Of course, it also needs to be stated that none of the above mentioned 'autobio then-girls' brought up what it was like to work with Miss Lester despite the opportunities they gave themselves ( I also realize that Miss Stewart's time on the show was over by the time Miss Lester's started). 

[Katy M]

7 hours ago, Blergh said:

 

Oh, yes, I know that ML had quite a few issues that he never quite moved past . I can't say I envy the late Dan Blocker for having to have been what appears to have been a sorely needed peacemaker for those two  Bonanza bulls- no coincidence when he (and Hoss) died, the show quickly choked its last despite efforts of  Ben (Lorne Greene) semi-adopting other characters. 

Well, it couldn't have been all bad blood.  I noticed that Lorne Greene was in an episode of Highway to Heaven.

[Zella]

2 minutes ago, Katy M said:

Well, it couldn't have been all bad blood.  I noticed that Lorne Greene was in an episode of Highway to Heaven.

I think Michael Landon got along fairly well with both Lorne Greene and Dan Blocker. He butted heads with Pernell Roberts and TPTB, though. 

[Egg McMuffin]

Pernell Roberts butted heads with everyone on that show and was notoriously difficult. For years, he wouldn’t let news programs or other shows use his Bonanza clips in stories or retrospectives, let alone talk about it on camera. I remember Entertainment Tonight in the 80s doing a retrospective on Bonanza and explicitly stating at the end “Pernell Roberts wouldn’t give us permission to use clips he appeared in.” Wow.

The other three were pretty tight, but yeah - Dan Blocker was the one everyone loved and Greene and Landon had sharper edges.

[Mr. Sparkle]

I'm watching the 9th season episode where Mrs. Carter's dour caricature of a newspaperman father comes to visit. In the mercantile, he asks where the Carter farm is, and Nels says "2-1/2 miles straight up the road." So that solves one mystery, although I'm sure there are earlier episodes that contradict. 

The rest of my family is out, so I have the chance to watch the UpTV episodes this morning. All season 9, including the Older Brothers and morPHINE. 😥

[Zella]

3 hours ago, Kyle said:

Pernell Roberts butted heads with everyone on that show and was notoriously difficult. For years, he wouldn’t let news programs or other shows use his Bonanza clips in stories or retrospectives, let alone talk about it on camera. I remember Entertainment Tonight in the 80s doing a retrospective on Bonanza and explicitly stating at the end “Pernell Roberts wouldn’t give us permission to use clips he appeared in.” Wow.

The other three were pretty tight, but yeah - Dan Blocker was the one everyone loved and Greene and Landon had sharper edges.

He was difficult, but he has also said some of it was exaggerated and invented by the press. The Bonanza showrunner has also said that though Roberts was difficult, he himself felt like he contributed to the problem by not giving him time off to do the stuff he wanted to do, and if he had it to do over again, he would have kept Pernell on a much looser leash. 

Edited May 1, 2021 by Zella

[debraran]

8 minutes ago, Zella said:

He was difficult, but he has also said some of it was exaggerated and invented by the press. The Bonanza showrunner has also said that though Roberts was difficult, he himself felt like he contributed to the problem by not giving him time off to do the stuff he wanted to do, and if he had it to do over again, he would have kept Pernell on a much looser leash. 

Back then it was easier to do because you only went on rags like the Enquirer or an occasional TV shot. I think bonanza forums have interviews with him. Didn't seem so bad.

One interview said  "All I cared about was my emotional well being. That job was very unpleasant, and I never regretted leaving.” Roberts also didn't enjoy his character, who was in his 30s, to always seek approval and direction from his father and called this part of the storyline “silly.” He gave up a million but didn't get along with Michael either. Lot of egos in one room.

[Zella]

2 minutes ago, debraran said:

Back then it was easier to do because you only went on rags like the Enquirer or an occasional TV shot. I think bonanza forums have interviews with him. Didn't seem so bad.

One interview said  "All I cared about was my emotional well being. That job was very unpleasant, and I never regretted leaving.” Roberts also didn't enjoy his character, who was in his 30s, to always seek approval and direction from his father and called this part of the storyline “silly.” He gave up a million but didn't get along with Michael either. Lot of egos in one room.

Yeah I love Bonanza, but a lot of the things he complained about were valid. It is interesting to me that in later years Michael Landon was given more creative control of the show. I have wondered if that was the showrunner learning his lesson from the blowout with Roberts and giving Landon an incentive to stay.

FWIW for all of the bitterness Roberts had about the show, in his later years, he did say he watched reruns to see old friends. 

[Blergh]

1 hour ago, Superclam said:

I'm watching the 9th season episode where Mrs. Carter's dour caricature of a newspaperman father comes to visit. In the mercantile, he asks where the Carter farm is, and Nels says "2-1/2 miles straight up the road." So that solves one mystery, although I'm sure there are earlier episodes that contradict. 

 

I HATED how   Mrs. Carter was excused from her part re letting her father and Harriet drag a townswoman's name through the mud by spilling the beans in what was supposed to be Mrs. Carter's paper that she was a grass widow instead of a sod one!  Truly, Laura should have said it WAS her fault since she'd known her father was a muckracking tabloid king so she should have never let him anywhere near her paper and,as a wife and mother of two,she was WAY too old for him to send up to bed without supper for standing up to him. 

 

As for Pernell Roberts and Bonanza, I think since he wound up outliving the rest of the Cartwrights by quite a few years, he likely enjoyed having the 'final word' re who said what and what went down. 

Yes, Lorne Greene didn't openly clash like Mr. Roberts  and ML (and, yes, Mr. Greene and Mr. Landon's friendship lasted the rest of their lives) but Mr. Greene wasn't the cast fave like Mr. Blocker had been. 

Edited May 1, 2021 by Blergh

[alexa]

Question about episode with Ma with the leg infection.  I haven’t watched the whole thing for years until yesterday as it is not a favorite for me and difficult to watch.  Doc said at the end she opened the infection just in time.  Did she actually do something with the knife?  I always thought she got it out to cut off her leg but then passed out and Pa came home.  
 

Plus it really annoys me how they somehow thought Caroline baked all of those pies but still had time to leave with Charles.   

[Zella]

4 minutes ago, alexa said:

Question about episode with Ma with the leg infection.  I haven’t watched the whole thing for years until yesterday as it is not a favorite for me and difficult to watch.  Doc said at the end she opened the infection just in time.  Did she actually do something with the knife?  I always thought she got it out to cut off her leg but then passed out and Pa came home.  
 

Plus it really annoys me how they somehow thought Caroline baked all of those pies but still had time to leave with Charles.   

I can't remember exactly because I thought that scene was a little too intense for me. But I remember being so pissed off that Alden and whoever was with him just thought she left the pies for them and didn't make any effort to do a little more legwork into making sure she was okay before they swiped the pies and went on their merry way. What a bunch of assholes! If I were Caroline, I'd never have made another pie for the community of Walnut Grove as long as I lived. 😂

[BigBingerBro]

7 minutes ago, alexa said:

Did she actually do something with the knife?

Yeah she sterilized it in the fire and then used it to cut open the wound, but we didn't actually see that, it was implied.  She got the strength and widsom from a bible verse.

[debraran]

1 hour ago, alexa said:

Question about episode with Ma with the leg infection.  I haven’t watched the whole thing for years until yesterday as it is not a favorite for me and difficult to watch.  Doc said at the end she opened the infection just in time.  Did she actually do something with the knife?  I always thought she got it out to cut off her leg but then passed out and Pa came home.  
 

Plus it really annoys me how they somehow thought Caroline baked all of those pies but still had time to leave with Charles.   

Yes she lanced it, got the puss and infection out to some degree and time did the rest. No penicillin sadly. I don't think she could literally cut her leg off of course, but she could have bled to death if she cut any deeper.

Yeah, that horse flew that Charles was on, I was thinking it probably was like "what's going on?" Then the "nice" neighbor wouldn't return the cow, like it ended up in his yard daily. They did have some doozy neighbors in their town. Didn't seem like the "Ingall" name had him all aflutter. ; )

Yeah Rev Alden was made clueless, him and the Misses he was with.

[alexa]

8 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

Yeah she sterilized it in the fire and then used it to cut open the wound, but we didn't actually see that, it was implied.  She got the strength and widsom from a bible verse.

Well I saw that but the verse kept talking about not needing two feet and to cut off the leg.  So I had never thought that equaled opening the infection until Doc said it later.  I guess I wish it was more clear, as I always thought she had really planned to cut off her leg which is obviously insane.  Weird episode...

[Zella]

Just now, alexa said:

as I always thought she had really planned to cut off her leg which is obviously insane.

That was how I interpreted it, too, and one reason I stopped paying attention during that scene. LOL

[alexa]

1 minute ago, Zella said:

That was how I interpreted it, too, and one reason I stopped paying attention during that scene. LOL

I think for me too, and then I would skip the episode most of the time because it is a difficult one.  But I always remembered thinking she wanted to cut off her leg!  lol

[Egg McMuffin]

10 hours ago, Blergh said:

I HATED how   Mrs. Carter was excused from her part re letting her father and Harriet drag a townswoman's name through the mud by spilling the beans in what was supposed to be Mrs. Carter's paper that she was a grass widow instead of a sod one!

I hated Mrs. Carter, period. Get out of Ma’s clothes, and get the hell out of the little house.

[Zella]

The Carters were like the equivalent of watching paint dry. Actually, that might be an insult to paint. 

[Blergh]

In the Season Nine opener 'Times Are   Changing', Jenny nearly deliberately drowns herself to attempt to reunite with her dead parents but the non-swimmer Jeb Carter manages to pull her out in a nick of time almost at the expense of his own life!

OK, when Jenny awoke in her bed, what does Laura do? Totally chew her out for what she did and do her best to guilt trip her without Manly (Jenny's uncle and next of kin) doing more than standing there next to his screaming spouse  and being a logbump- much  less asking her to consider that eviscerating a deeply troubled and depressed preteen will NOT  get them to forever put all thoughts of suicide out of their head.   I mean, Laura's lucky that Jenny didn't hang herself in the barn the first chance she got after all that! 

Also, even though Jeb suffered from Carter Dishwater Dullness, I wish there had been some more acknowledgement and appreciation for HIS heroism for having put his OWN life on the line to successfully  save another person's life when he himself hadn't been able to swim. 

Edited May 5, 2021 by Blergh

[BigBingerBro]

In the first season Christmas episode, Pa barters with Nels to produce a set of wagon wheels in exchange for the stove.  Nels exclaimed that Charles was no wheelwright, but Charles insisted he didn't know unless he tried and ended up producing some pretty good looking wheels.  

I recently watched a victorian documentary which featured someone who is expert in making wheels from that period, and there was a whole lot more intricate "technology of the time" and experience required to create and repair wagon wheels.  Far more than what Charles could muster up in his barn at nighttimes.  

[Blergh]

I wonder if Charles put together his wheel skills  from Christmastime to use when making Nellie's unneeded wheelchair- or could he have been gifted at that skill solely due to having been a Cartwright in another incarnation?

[Egg McMuffin]

We’re talking about a man who willed a miracle and somehow healed his adopted son from a terminal gunshot wound. A little ole wheel must have been a piece of cake for Pa.

[Blergh]

18 minutes ago, Kyle said:

We’re talking about a man who willed a miracle and somehow healed his adopted son from a terminal gunshot wound. A little ole wheel must have been a piece of cake for Pa.

True! Charles healed James from the gunshot wound- only to take him away to be cooped up in a tiny city apartment with   three sisters while Charles and Caroline worked zillions of hours and Albert became what back then was termed a 'morphine fiend' and none of them said a peep what James was up to after his Walnut Grove departure. I wonder if James ever thought if it might  have been better after all had he and Cassandra just stayed with the strict farm couple with a framing, resentful son than that. 

[Zella]

If I were Albert, I'd be pretty salty that Charlie didn't even try for a miracle for the leukemia. 

[debraran]

11 hours ago, Blergh said:

In the Season Nine opener 'Times Are   Changing', Jenny nearly deliberately drowns herself to attempt to reunite with her dead parents but the non-swimmer Jeb Carter manages to pull her out in a nick of time almost at the expense of his own life!

OK, when Jenny awoke in her bed, what does Laura do? Totally chew her out for what she did and do her best to guilt trip her without Manly (Jenny's uncle and next of kin) doing more than standing there next to his screaming spouse  and being a logbump- much asking her to consider that eviscerating a deeply troubled and depressed preteen will NOT  get them to forever put all thoughts of suicide out of their head.   I mean, Laura's lucky that Jenny didn't hang herself in the barn the first chance she got after all that! 

Also, even though Jeb suffered from Carter Dishwater Dullness, I wish there had been some more acknowledgement and appreciation for HIS heroism for having put his OWN life on the line to successfully  save another person's life when he himself hadn't been able to swim. 

Was Jeb the one who hurt himself not to say he couldn't swim? I'm surprised back then most didn't learn early but I understand anxiety well.

Laura should be used to suicide, I  sometimes wondered if Michael was obsessed with that and fire. Her grandfather tried to burn himself (do they realize how much that hurts?) Jeb the guy at the gold mine, Mr Edwards tried to kill himself, Mrs Whipple s son either killed himself with an overdose or it was accident. Even the crazy guy who's daughter had a baby wanted to die by fire. There might have been more but I blocked them out.

I didn't hate the Carter's but Michael thinking someone could shove way too much furniture into the little house and live there like they did, No. I did like they had room, nothing where Carrie's bed was, no invisible crib for Grace, they had a real dresser, etc. but it looked odd. You could tell no one cared about the writing anymore with many rerun scripts, the newspaper gossip, etc.

Yes I agree with post about the wheel making, with all Charles talents, selling hats at the meanest store in town was silly, he could have become a blacksmith or made wheel repairs or almost anything. He had a way of finding the meanest people in town. lol Why didn't he work for the kind man who let Albert have another chance. ; )  I really liked that character, he used him again but not the same person, he was another friend.

Edited May 4, 2021 by debraran

[Blergh]

On 5/4/2021 at 4:25 AM, debraran said:

 

Laura should be used to suicide,  .. Jeb the guy at the gold mine, 

Ah, but since Charles told Laura he'd had a chat with Jeb which got Jeb to 'understand' that Laura was supposedly blameless AND spirited the Ingallses away from the gold rush town (while telling Caroline that horrible truth but swearing Caroline to secrecy re Jeb's actual fate), Laura was not supposed to know about that! Of course, since the show depicted what her character actually DID know, one may wonder if this meant that either Laura later went back to the area and found out on her own OR if Caroline defied Charles's edict and DID tell Laura Jeb's fate (and,either way, would Laura have known by the time Jenny nearly tried drowning herself). 

Edited May 6, 2021 by Blergh

[Egg McMuffin]

14 hours ago, Blergh said:

In the Season Nine opener 'Times Are   Changing', Jenny nearly deliberately drowns herself to attempt to reunite with her dead parents but the non-swimmer Jeb Carter manages to pull her out in a nick of time almost at the expense of his own life!

Laura and Zaldamo need to keep Jenny away from the water. Didn’t she nearly drown in another episode, too?

Edited May 4, 2021 by Kyle

[jason88cubs]

Imagine being like Charles, anytime a situation happens, you play dramatic music than you go and involve yourself in the situation to try to solve it

[Egg McMuffin]

I’ve always thought there was an opportunity for a retelling of Landon’s LHOTP from the Oleson’s point of view, a la Wicked. Think of the story possibilities of the Olesons having to deal with sanctimonious Charles; physically violent Laura (the bees, the wheelchair down the hill); devious Albert (changing the newspaper ad in the Pen and the Plow); hypocritical Caroline (credit at the store), etc.

[Mr. Sparkle]

"So, this guy we've never met before comes into a store and asks us to give him a plow, seeds, etc. at full credit! We say we can't do that, and he gets so offended! Like we're supposed to know who Charles Ingalls is!" 

[Blergh]

52 minutes ago, Kyle said:

I’ve always thought there was an opportunity for a retelling of Landon’s LHOTP from the Oleson’s point of view, a la Wicked. Think of the story possibilities of the Olesons having to deal with sanctimonious Charles; physically violent Laura (the bees, the wheelchair down the hill); devious Albert (changing the newspaper ad in the Pen and the Plow); hypocritical Caroline (credit at the store), etc.

And, since they had someone who looked a great deal like a middle-aged Colonel Sanders drop by there once, they could request Charles play Hank Williams's song 'Mind Your Own Business' on his fiddle and see his reaction! 

[Egg McMuffin]

We’d have to include a remake of “The Inheritance” episode, where Charles goes on a spending spree with confederate money, and conspires with his friends to swindle the Olesons out of what he owes them.

[Snow Apple]

What if in reality, Harriet was so grouchy and frustrated is because she's secretly struggling to pay bills? Her customers ask for credit, or pay with eggs. Her husband is such a soft touch that he gives away merchandise to the poor so he's the town good guy, leaving her with the role of villian. Harriet think appearances mean respect and that's why she spend money she barely has on dresses, talking machines, and horses for Nellie. 

Her only pleasure is listening in on phone conversations because she's lonely. 

HaHa. This is fun.

[jird]

I have to say, boring as he was, I'll take Jeb's blandness over James' active annoyingness. I wanted to smack him every time he was on screen. And both the Carter parents were useless.

[jird]

43 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

What if in reality, Harriet was so grouchy and frustrated is because she's secretly struggling to pay bills? Her customers ask for credit, or pay with eggs. Her husband is such a soft touch that he gives away merchandise to the poor so he's the town good guy, leaving her with the role of villian. Harriet think appearances mean respect and that's why she spend money she barely has on dresses, talking machines, and horses for Nellie. 

Her only pleasure is listening in on phone conversations because she's lonely. 

HaHa. This is fun.

YES. Harriet was a horrible person many times, but it was amazing how everyone acted like it was so wrong of her to want the store to make a profit, or for them to be paid for what they spent, including the confederate money episode. Her creditors were coming after her, did everyone just think that she should have said, "Oh well, please foreclose on my home/store to pay for all of CHARLES INGALLS' stuff"?

[Katy M]

45 minutes ago, jird said:

Her creditors were coming after her, did everyone just think that she should have said, "Oh well, please foreclose on my home/store to pay for all of CHARLES INGALLS' stuff"?

Charles told them he didn't have the money yet, and rather than waiting, Nels and Harriet pushed clothes onto them.  Yes, he should have stood his ground and waited, but maybe they should just take the clothes back and try to sell them to somebody else. the only other things I remember him buying are school books for the school and an organ for the church (which still makes me roll my eyes), those things should have been paid for by the entire town anyway.  And, again, while Charles should have put his foot down everybody bears responsibility for pressuring them to spend the money they didn't yet have.

So, while I agree that Harriet was usually in the right for wanting to make a profit and expecting to get paid for her goods, I'm not giving her a pass on that one.  It's like a banker pushing a loan on a person who hasn't even asked for one and not doing due dilegence on a credit check first.

[Egg McMuffin]

What happened to “cash on the barrel”, Pa?

[debraran]

Charles bought tools too I think and shoes for the girls. He went a little crazy and forgot who he was lol. This guy who in real life left without paying bills, wanted poor Nel's to help him and we ALL KNOW, he would have lost that crop with a tornado that just hit his house or rain or bugs.  : ) Sure Harriet went nuts too but she finally thought she could make a profit off someone. How many eggs and 5 cent items she got during the day. I felt for Nel's that day he turned Charles down. He had to pay for that stuff BEFORE he sold it. That's why I felt bad when cold hearted Albert made Nel's take a hit with his 100% off sale, not just Harriet.

I thought the organ was silly, hundred of dollars even back then but the townspeople can "dig deep" to help pay for it. Dig deep? How deep were these poor farmers pockets? The organ would add nothing to the Bringing in the Sheaves always sung off key anyway.

I like the Wicked storyline, a nice flip for a 90 min episode instead of some of the Halloween ones etc they had. Rarely did Harriet get things for herself, just Nellie. She wore the same 3 dresses most of the time, wasn't like the rich women they showed with lovely things like Widow Thurman. Harriet wasn't that kind of rich.

[CountryGirl]

On 5/4/2021 at 9:56 AM, Kyle said:

Laura and Zaldamo need to keep Jenny away from the water. Didn’t she nearly drown in another episode, too?

Yep. In the very same season, in the Marvin’s Garden episode, we have Ralph Bellamy playing yet another Walnut Grove doctor, who was apparently tucked in mothballs with Dr LaDoux and whoever that asshole was who got Harriet all hot and bothered with the prospect of having a royal affliction called “the vapors, since this is the first we see or hear of him. 

Any who, he’s the doctor who does Jenny’s rehab by potting plants and taking care of wounded birds after she almost drowns trying to find the locket with her father’s picture in. 

[alexa]

9 hours ago, Katy M said:

Charles told them he didn't have the money yet, and rather than waiting, Nels and Harriet pushed clothes onto them.  Yes, he should have stood his ground and waited, but maybe they should just take the clothes back and try to sell them to somebody else. the only other things I remember him buying are school books for the school and an organ for the church (which still makes me roll my eyes), those things should have been paid for by the entire town anyway.  And, again, while Charles should have put his foot down everybody bears responsibility for pressuring them to spend the money they didn't yet have.

So, while I agree that Harriet was usually in the right for wanting to make a profit and expecting to get paid for her goods, I'm not giving her a pass on that one.  It's like a banker pushing a loan on a person who hasn't even asked for one and not doing due dilegence on a credit check first.

This 1000 times.  I was so annoyed with everyone in this episode.  Nels pushed to buy on credit, and the reverend asked for an organ even when he said he had no money yet.  When the foreclosure came up at the end and no one offered a dime for that organ, or owned up to their part, I was very unhappy with how that went.  

[bunnyblue]

I'm rewatching season 3 (again) and there have been at least 2 instances when the town raided the Oleson Mercantile for supplies. They did it in the "Blizzard" for warm clothing, liquor, lanterns & oil. They also raided the Mercantile when Carrie fell down the well; cleaned them out of shovels, lamps & oil, rope, and coffee. I laughed because I was watching these episodes just as you guys where having the discussion about why Harriet comes across as such a hardass. With Nels practically giving their stuff away and the town helping themselves to supplies when they're having a crisis, I understand why Harriet was sometimes tough on people buying stuff on credit. With all the expensive stuff they carried but rarely sold, the town stealing their supplies, and everyone paying on credit or with eggs, it's a miracle the Mercantile ever turned a profit. 

There were also 2 straight episodes were Charles bared his chest. First when the Galender brothers beat the crap out of him and he required the wrap-of-healing around his ribs and then when Laura shot him in the gut and he spent almost an hour deliriously shirtless. ML sure loved his to show off his barrel chest.

[Zella]

2 minutes ago, bunnyblue said:

There were also 2 straight episodes were Charles bared his chest. First when the Galender brothers beat the crap out of him and he required the wrap-of-healing around his ribs and then when Laura shot him in the gut and he spent almost an hour deliriously shirtless. ML sure loved his to show off his barrel chest.

It's been a very long day for me, but remembering this made me laugh so hard just now. I think Pa was physically incapable of being injured in such a way that he didn't have to bare his manly chest. 

[debraran]

4 hours ago, bunnyblue said:

I'm rewatching season 3 (again) and there have been at least 2 instances when the town raided the Oleson Mercantile for supplies. They did it in the "Blizzard" for warm clothing, liquor, lanterns & oil. They also raided the Mercantile when Carrie fell down the well; cleaned them out of shovels, lamps & oil, rope, and coffee. I laughed because I was watching these episodes just as you guys where having the discussion about why Harriet comes across as such a hardass. With Nels practically giving their stuff away and the town helping themselves to supplies when they're having a crisis, I understand why Harriet was sometimes tough on people buying stuff on credit. With all the expensive stuff they carried but rarely sold, the town stealing their supplies, and everyone paying on credit or with eggs, it's a miracle the Mercantile ever turned a profit. 

There were also 2 straight episodes were Charles bared his chest. First when the Galender brothers beat the crap out of him and he required the wrap-of-healing around his ribs and then when Laura shot him in the gut and he spent almost an hour deliriously shirtless. ML sure loved his to show off his barrel chest.

I agree and with any epidemic/plague they offered whatever they needed of course to make the church a hospital or for Doc Baker to use. They never got those things back usually, with the illnesses, they were burned. Oh well, good thing to do of course, the right thing, but it was paid for and nothing coming in for it. I never thought they were selfish. Even when she wanted to pay for the books, in "real" life why not? The bell should have been community but money was tight.....the same money that Reverend thought they could dig deep for when purchasing the organ. lol   Tinker was smarter than most of them fortunately.

 

Edited May 6, 2021 by debraran

[jird]

8 hours ago, bunnyblue said:

I'm rewatching season 3 (again) and there have been at least 2 instances when the town raided the Oleson Mercantile for supplies. They did it in the "Blizzard" for warm clothing, liquor, lanterns & oil. They also raided the Mercantile when Carrie fell down the well; cleaned them out of shovels, lamps & oil, rope, and coffee.

 

Those times were where Harriet always showed a different side. I think it was the Blizzard episode where before there was even talk of needing supplies, Harriet told the men they were going to need warmer clothes, and they should go get them from the storeroom. She never had a problem taking care of the town in an emergency, at least.

[BigBingerBro]

Did the mercantile ever get burglarized?  I can't recall any episodes where it may have occured.  It seems strange that they never had that happen considering the range of seedy people that passed through Walnut Grove.

 

[Egg McMuffin]

Let’s see. Bad seed James stole a razor from the Mercantile in “Growin Pains.” I believe that Albert stole some morPHINE from the shipping area in “Home Again,” if that counts. And when you think about it, the townspeople unknowingly stole from the place due to the fake 100% off sale ad that Albert placed in the Pen & the Plow in “Harriet’s Happenings.”

Note how all of these thefts were the fault of the sanctimonious Ingalls clan.

[BigBingerBro]

53 minutes ago, Kyle said:

Note how all of these thefts were the fault of the sanctimonious Ingalls clan.

Oh right and Laura stole Nellie's music box.  Dum DUM Dum....

[Egg McMuffin]

Also, Caroline stole someone’s live baby and swapped it for a dead one.

[Blergh]

20 hours ago, Kyle said:

Also, Caroline stole someone’s live baby and swapped it for a dead one.

I know her intentions were good and the baby of Caroline's dead friend with a creep husband was far more likely to have been raised by a doting couple who had so desperately wanted a child (at least in the beginning).

However, how long before the other couple would notice that 'their' son wasn't showing the slightest resemblance to anyone on either side of their families?

Oh, well. Good thing Laura didn't write that one down for 'the books' so there was zero chance of them or  the baby ever reading it and putting two and two together!