Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

[jird]

52 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

What was the graduation episode called? I don't remember it.

It was Back to School, part 1, the episode where Almanzo and Eliza Jane first show up.

[jason88cubs]

I thought sometimes the Oelson's had to much merchandise in their store.

 

Walnut Grove seemed like a poor town so some of the stuff they had seemed really unnecessary.

[Snow Apple]

1 hour ago, jason88cubs said:

I thought sometimes the Oelson's had to much merchandise in their store.

 

Walnut Grove seemed like a poor town so some of the stuff they had seemed really unnecessary.

I don't know. Some of those folks (who we see once and never again) have nice houses with fancy furniture and lamps and stuff. We're just used to the Ingalls.

[Zella]

Also one of the earlier episodes featured someone complaining about how that store was the only one nearby; otherwise, they'd go elsewhere to shop to avoid Harrient. I imagine the Olesens did a lot of trade with farmers in outlying areas simply because they were the closest store. 

[debraran]

7 hours ago, Zella said:

Also one of the earlier episodes featured someone complaining about how that store was the only one nearby; otherwise, they'd go elsewhere to shop to avoid Harrient. I imagine the Olesens did a lot of trade with farmers in outlying areas simply because they were the closest store. 

I remember the show where a recurring character  said after looking at fabric a while, said she would look in Mankato because they had more of a selection. Caroline of course bought some because she wasn't as fussy and couldn't get to Mankato. ; )

I marveled at their money because even though they lived in a farming community, they bought everything in the store, some very nice things and had mostly people buying everyday essentials. That's why all the "credit" they gave didn't buy those items. "Put in on the books please" certainly wouldn't exist today unless it was YOUR credit card.

[jason88cubs]

I remember seeing "The legacy" the first time and being so confused by the opening scene. I had no idea what was going on lol

[Pirpana]

^Ha ha, me too! I even had to skip back to beginning and check if it had the LH intro or not.  But it was a very cool way to open an episode. And for me, as a Finnish guy, it was funny when the woman complained their truck was hot like a sauna.

They also used that same plot device later in season 9 when Landon said in voiceover those famous words about LIW's books: "This time, no one made any changes." He would have shown nice self-irony had he added "except for me, of course".

Edited May 28, 2021 by Pirpana

[jason88cubs]

I was looking at old schedules to see what LHOP was going up against, man I can't even imagine living during that time having to choose between shows. Not knowing in the future I could watch any episode I missed due to this wonderful thing called DVD'S.

 

I saw the show went up against WKRP for 2 years. I would have lost my mind trying to pick between the two.

 

Well actully if i was  a teenage boy I'm sure WKRP would have been the choice then the last half hour would have been LHOP

[Zella]

On the subject of picking between LHOTP and other shows:

About 15 years ago when she was still alive, my great grandmother would watch her soap (Days of Our Lives) religiously every weekday and then turn the TV off for a couple of hours and turn it back on for LHOTP reruns on another channel. When she would turn it back on, Jerry Springer would be on on the soap channel, and she would bitch about the couple of minutes of Jerry she would watch before she flipped it over. "Look at that trash! Look at it!"

"Now this is a nice show!" She'd say after we got to LHOTP. 

I never actually paid attention to LHOTP at the time, but since she seemed so distressed about Jerry Springer, I once suggested to her that we just change it over to the LHOTP channel after the soap was over, so she never had to see Jerry again.

And she glared at me like that was the stupidest idea she had ever heard, and in that moment, I realized that that minute or two of Jerry Springer that she complained about bitterly every day was actually the highlight of her day more so than LHOTP, though she liked that too. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Edited May 29, 2021 by Zella

[Egg McMuffin]

4 hours ago, jason88cubs said:

I saw the show went up against WKRP for 2 years. I would have lost my mind trying to pick between the two.

WKRP creator Hugh Wilson spoke of his frustration at trying to beat Little House in the ratings. “Every time we gain on 'em, they set a house on fire or blind another child.”

[BigBingerBro]

I just caught the episode where Nellie graduates and didn''t see any party.  (unless I totally missed it or it was removed in a syndication edit).  They took the class out of school to unveil the new Hotel and Restaurant whereupon Harriet gets caught up in the tarp during the unveiling.  Then Miss Wilder hurried the kids back into school and Nels and Harriet dragged Nellie into the restaurant.  When was the party?

[Blergh]

32 minutes ago, Kyle said:

WKRP creator Hugh Wilson spoke of his frustration at trying to beat Little House in the ratings. “Every time we gain on 'em, they set a house on fire or blind another child.”

Of course, it likely didn't help that right about the time when Loni Anderson was in her prime Miss Arngrim herself had a bikini photo out.  And let's not forget that on WKRP Herb's wife Lucille said that their family  only watched 'wholesome shows like Little House ' and then mentioned all the disasters on it that transpired! 

[Blergh]

4 minutes ago, BigBingerBro said:

I just caught the episode where Nellie graduates and didn''t see any party.  (unless I totally missed it or it was removed in a syndication edit).  They took the class out of school to unveil the new Hotel and Restaurant whereupon Harriet gets caught up in the tarp during the unveiling.  Then Miss Wilder hurried the kids back into school and Nels and Harriet dragged Nellie into the restaurant.  When was the party?

It happened when Nels 'gladly' ceded to Harriet's wish to 'kindly leave' Nellie and her- and then Harriet almost succeeded in guilt-tripping Nellie into appreciating the hotel as a husband-magnet (read: fortune-hunter magnet) for her. This was one of the very few times in which Harriet spoke in a low tone of voice instead of her usual high-pitched hysterical shrieking and that alone may have spurred Nellie to carefully listen. However, just when Harriet was on the cusp of 'victory', she handed Nellie all the ammo her daughter needed by asking her if she had 'any questions' which led Nellie to re-iterate her original query of 'Who is going to do the cook-ing?'

Yeah, no doubt Nels was happy to party on his own away from those two AND the rest of Nellie's schoolmates got over missing it at Eliza Jane's insistence of returning to school straight away. 

[Egg McMuffin]

Ah, “Back to School” - probably my favorite episodes of the series, with so many great moments: Nellie’s graduation speech, Harriet imploring the students to tell their parents about the restaurant (in the middle of the street), “Who’s going to do the cooking”, cinnamon chicken, the runaway millstone (and Pa hiding behind those flimsy doors), the mud fight, Harriet’s satisfied smirk in the background when mud-covered Nellie is telling the Ingalls that Almanzo kissed Laura. This was also the year where they transitioned Nellie from emotionally troubled schoolgirl to all-out comic relief, and Alison Arngrim was more than up to the challenge.

[Mr. Sparkle]

8 hours ago, jason88cubs said:

I was looking at old schedules to see what LHOP was going up against, man I can't even imagine living during that time having to choose between shows. Not knowing in the future I could watch any episode I missed due to this wonderful thing called DVD'S.

 

I saw the show went up against WKRP for 2 years. I would have lost my mind trying to pick between the two.

 

Well actully if i was  a teenage boy I'm sure WKRP would have been the choice then the last half hour would have been LHOP

I watched exactly 2 episode in their first run: Mary Goes Blind, and Let's Blow Up the Town. It just wasn't cool to watch Little House when I was a boy of a certain age. It probably never was cool, but after that certain age, I didn't care anymore. 

 

[jason88cubs]

I do recall them not having a lot of rain in episodes at least rain you saw. Probably hard to get that set up filming wise

[Mr. Sparkle]

30 minutes ago, jason88cubs said:

I do recall them not having a lot of rain in episodes at least rain you saw. Probably hard to get that set up filming wise

Hmmm... I can only think of a handful of weather related episodes:

• Ma almost cuts off her leg: she has to go get the cow out of the rain. Interesting, because the rest of the family is camping, not that far away, but they don't mention it. 
• The beginning of Gold Rush, when they're leaving the town, it's raining, and you can see that it's still California sunny out. 
• The one where Charles & Jonathon follow Albert and Andy and it rains on them. 
• I vaguely recall it raining in the one where Edward's son is killed in Chicago and they go to find out what happened, but I won't swear to it. 
• Hail in 100 Mile Walk destroys the crop
• And of course snow in Blizzard

[Egg McMuffin]

There was also snow in “A Christmas They Never Forgot”, which ended with that silly shot of the little house being buried in snow up to the second floor.

[jason88cubs]

16 minutes ago, Kyle said:

There was also snow in “A Christmas They Never Forgot”, which ended with that silly shot of the little house being buried in snow up to the second floor.

which somehow resulted in NO CONCERN for the animals or the fact that they would likely starve to death due to running out of food because their were trapped for probably at least 2 or more weeks

 

I mean their was a lot of concern in the episode where they go caught in the blizzard where they shacked up and Charles almost killed the horse

 

but in this episode? Nah lets just laugh and gather the presents

[Mr. Sparkle]

11 minutes ago, jason88cubs said:

I mean their was a lot of concern in the episode where they go caught in the blizzard where they shacked up and Charles almost killed the horse

That's another weather one! I just saw it for the first time a week or so ago. Pretty good episode. I think they shot in on a soundstage, not outside. 

[jason88cubs]

1 minute ago, Superclam said:

That's another weather one! I just saw it for the first time a week or so ago. Pretty good episode. I think they shot in on a soundstage, not outside. 

yea it's a great episode. One of my favs.

[BigBingerBro]

The one pandemic related episode where they use the blind school as a hospital it was super windy and bitter cold, but no snow.

[jason88cubs]

5 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

The one pandemic related episode where they use the blind school as a hospital it was super windy and bitter cold, but no snow.

That's one good thing this show did. They really made you feel like it was severely cold even if it was really 80 on set

[jason88cubs]

I know there was a few episodes where Laura snuck out  in the dark.like that had to be super dangerous back then, All you had was a lantern, I mean that could not have given you that much light to walk in the pitch black could it have?

 

Plus the risk of wild animals. I feel like if a kid did that and got caught their would be MAJOR repercussions.

You never saw ANYONE go out at night at all pretty much

[Blergh]

On 6/1/2021 at 11:33 AM, jason88cubs said:

I know there was a few episodes where Laura snuck out  in the dark.like that had to be super dangerous back then, All you had was a lantern, I mean that could not have given you that much light to walk in the pitch black could it have?

 

Plus the risk of wild animals. I feel like if a kid did that and got caught their would be MAJOR repercussions.

You never saw ANYONE go out at night at all pretty much

Good point! In that place or time, few if any folks would go outside beyond their own barns in the dark unless they had  lamps and pitchforks/ rifles in hand- yet Laura always seemed to not even have a lantern in hand when she's take off  running (as though she was a 1970's mallrat living in a gated suburb- with LOTS of streetlamps). Yet, Charles and Caroline didn't punish her or even attempt to remind her of the very real risks of doing that. 

[debraran]

1 hour ago, Blergh said:

Good point! In that place or time, few if any folks would go outside beyond their own barns in the dark unless they had  lamps and pitchforks/ rifles in hand- yet Laura always seemed to not even have a lantern in hand when she's take off  running (as though she was a 1970's mallrat living in a gated suburb- with LOTS of streetlamps). Yet, Charles and Caroline didn't punish her or even attempt to remind her of the very real risks of doing that. 

Especially since Ma was so scared of wolves, she thought they could open doors with their paws! : )

 

[Egg McMuffin]

Not to mention rapists in mime masks running around.

[Mr. Sparkle]

27 minutes ago, Kyle said:

Not to mention rapists in mime masks running around.

To be fair, mime rape rates dropped considerably after that one guy was apprehended. 

[debraran]

11 hours ago, Superclam said:

To be fair, mime rape rates dropped considerably after that one guy was apprehended. 

true, and boys stealing to feed their families. That was sad but the most exciting thing to happen that month probably. ; )

[jason88cubs]

Decided to check out Monster of Walnut Grove last night.

 

Charles allowed Laura and Mary to walk, without a lantern that I saw, in the dark to The Oelson's mercantile to soap the windows for Halloween.

I just can't imagine in real life them allowing that. If I recall it was a pretty long walk. I can't seem them allowing that in real life

[BigBingerBro]

1 hour ago, jason88cubs said:

I can't seem them allowing that in real life

Charles commented that Nels told him he didn't mind as it was half the work done to wash the windows.

[jason88cubs]

19 minutes ago, BigBingerBro said:

Charles commented that Nels told him he didn't mind as it was half the work done to wash the windows.

Sorry I meant let them go alone out at nighttime

[Blergh]

11 hours ago, jason88cubs said:

Decided to check out Monster of Walnut Grove last night.

 

Charles allowed Laura and Mary to walk, without a lantern that I saw, in the dark to The Oelson's mercantile to soap the windows for Halloween.

I just can't imagine in real life them allowing that. If I recall it was a pretty long walk. I can't seem them allowing that in real life

I got what you said re them walking such a long way with nothing but moon and stars for light.

However, even if one imagines Charles having a 'good natured' prank deal with Nels re the soap, it's hard to believe that Caroline would have been willing to have them waste   soap (which was a HUGE chore to make and pioneers used homemade soap for everything from clothes to Saturday night baths to  dishes). 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Beggorah, the Irish stereotypes in "Second Spring" are as thick as St. Patrick's shillelagh, they are! 

[Blergh]

10 hours ago, Superclam said:

Beggorah, the Irish stereotypes in "Second Spring" are as thick as St. Patrick's shillelagh, they are! 

Not to mention that the flirty boarding house proprietress might as well have sought out  Colonel Sanders to harmonize with her on 'When Irish Eyes Are Smiling' since the song wouldn't even be written until 1912 (roughly a quarter century after this episode's timeline).  Yeah, ALL Irish folks happen to sing that song regardless of the time period just like all US Americans happen to sing 'I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy' (1904)! [major eye roll even for LHOTP]. 

 Sakes, there's like zillions of Irish  songs in both Gaelic and English that were around in that era. How tough would it have been for ML to have picked more of those?! 

Edited June 6, 2021 by Blergh
took out song actually used- green with embarrassment

[Pirpana]

^Sorry if I misunderstand you somehow but she actually did sing The Wearing of the Green when Nels got there for the first time.

[Egg McMuffin]

That’s the one with Suzanne Rogers - Maggie from Days of Our Lives - right? She was getting the NBC primetime guest roles that her costar Susan Flannery (Laura) asked for but didn’t get before leaving that show. I guess it’s hard to imagine Flannery and her icy blonde persona fitting in well with all the saccharine goings-on in Walnut Grove.

[Blergh]

2 hours ago, Pirpana said:

^Sorry if I misunderstand you somehow but she actually did sing The Wearing of the Green when Nels got there for the first time.

You're right! I've edited the post! Sorry.

[Mr. Sparkle]

The show was not shy with their ethnic stereotypes. Italians, Irish, and let's not forget Native Americans. 

2 hours ago, Kyle said:

That’s the one with Suzanne Rogers - Maggie from Days of Our Lives - right? She was getting the NBC primetime guest roles that her costar Susan Flannery (Laura) asked for but didn’t get before leaving that show. I guess it’s hard to imagine Flannery and her icy blonde persona fitting in well with all the saccharine goings-on in Walnut Grove.

Yes, but I never heard of her until today. Per imdb, she didn't work much outside of Days of Our Lives, but it looks like she's been on for close to 50 years! 

[BigBingerBro]

1 minute ago, Superclam said:

The show was not shy with their ethnic stereotypes. Italians, Irish, and let's not forget Native Americans. 

Also jewish people, circus people and african americans

[Mr. Sparkle]

1 minute ago, BigBingerBro said:

Also jewish people, circus people and african americans

Yep. 

[Blergh]

1 hour ago, BigBingerBro said:

Also jewish people, circus people and african americans

It sure seems circus people came out the best re LHOTP stereotypes. Yes, it was nice to think that one-shot Annabelle Oleson (the fat lady) had found a purpose performing and a de facto family among her fellow circus folks but how many of these side-show attractions (back then called 'freaks') truly weren't exploited by those who exhibited them and isolated from others including their actual families? It seems Annabelle wound up being VERY lucky she wound up with the troupe she toured with! 

[Zella]

I never could get over how the show (justifiably) took a stand against bullying Annabelle for her weight but then turned around and repeatedly had the same characters who opposed that bully Harriet for her weight. On top of that, Harriet wasn't even really overweight. There was definitely a recurring thread of "It's not okay to be mean to these nice people because that's not nice, but it is totally okay to be a dick to these other people because we don't like them anyway." It really undercut any message they ever did about bullying or kindness. 

[debraran]

8 hours ago, Zella said:

I never could get over how the show (justifiably) took a stand against bullying Annabelle for her weight but then turned around and repeatedly had the same characters who opposed that bully Harriet for her weight. On top of that, Harriet wasn't even really overweight. There was definitely a recurring thread of "It's not okay to be mean to these nice people because that's not nice, but it is totally okay to be a dick to these other people because we don't like them anyway." It really undercut any message they ever did about bullying or kindness. 

I never liked that either. They showed it with the heavy man who helped out at the blind school and I forgot not seeing it in a while,  Albert and Andy and Laura made fun of him. In synopsis :Amelia Bevins is a new girl at school. Laura asks her to go home with her the afternoon of her first day at school to work on their essays and they go by the Blind School on the way home. When they get there, Laura and Albert and Andy start making fun of the over-weight man who has started working there. Amelia makes an excuse and runs off. Unbeknownst to them, it's her father."

He had an overweight student a couple of times but I thought the "fat" comments were rude. I wondered at times if Michael who didn't always get along with Katherine wrote them in on purpose!

The oddest thing I read was that someone told MSA to lose weight early on to look like more of a skinny prairie girl but she was skinny and I'm glad Mr Landon didn't agree.

I can't believe I missed (or forgot) that Ms Beadle dated Mr Edwards. ; )

https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/little-house-on-the-prairie-miss-beadle-actor-charlotte-stewart-was-hooking-up-with-this-co-star.html/

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by debraran

[Blergh]

According to MSA in her book, at the audition, ML said she reminded him of his first girlfriend in high school. I'm a bit surprised her mother didn't get them OUT there after that! 

[CountryGirl]

18 hours ago, Kyle said:

That’s the one with Suzanne Rogers - Maggie from Days of Our Lives - right? She was getting the NBC primetime guest roles that her costar Susan Flannery (Laura) asked for but didn’t get before leaving that show. I guess it’s hard to imagine Flannery and her icy blonde persona fitting in well with all the saccharine goings-on in Walnut Grove.

I think SF could have been BFFs with Harriet. 

[Egg McMuffin]

I always think of Susan Flannery as that PR expert helping to reform JR’s image on Dallas. Maybe she could have helped reform Charles’ image. “Less sanctimony, Charles, and fewer broken ribs!”

Or she could have run the Walnut Grove newspaper, with more integrity than Higgins from Magnum PI. She probably would have been bored to tears, though.

[Blergh]

3 hours ago, Kyle said:

I always think of Susan Flannery as that PR expert helping to reform JR’s image on Dallas. Maybe she could have helped reform Charles’ image. “Less sanctimony, Charles, and fewer broken ribs!”

Or she could have run the Walnut Grove newspaper, with more integrity than Higgins from Magnum PI. She probably would have been bored to tears, though.

Why couldn't they have had Hester Sue run the Walnut Grove newspaper and Mrs. Carter become Mrs. Oleson's cook?

[Egg McMuffin]

Hester Sue’s Happenings!

[debraran]

4 minutes ago, Kyle said:

Hester Sue’s Happenings!

I would have loved that, humorous, clean fun. I know Walnut Grove was progressive but they were always weird with black roles. Hester Sue lived somewhere and went to church if i remember correctly (she sung) but then Joe they had this big deal with them voting on it. They let Samson go to school though but he'd not be allowed to anywhere else. One black doctor thought he could see patients in Walnut Grove, another knew he couldn't and told Samson he had to just see the Indians or black people.

I like the messages he sent but it wasn't really realistic.  I still think Todd Bridges show was the closest and a great episode.