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Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

spidermiss2426
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jird

jird

Today's random LH fact: I looked up the actress who played Elna Jacobsen in the 100 Mile Walk (the pregnant wife of one of Charles' work buddies -- not the one who got blown up), and learned that she played the elderly lady in The Green Mile having a romance with the older Paul, who was played by our very own Reverend Alden, Dabs Greer. 

Forget six degrees of Kevin Bacon, I'm convinced there's two degrees of Little House everywhere. 

elaine.jpg

Paul.jpg

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jason88cubs
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 crawle

Egg McMuffin
Egg McMuffin

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.”

Jacqs
Jacqs

We are still a family even though we are now just a thread. Just imagine us as now being Pa's two room shanty which he never bothered expanding, despite Grace, Albert, James, Cassandra etc...

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Zella

Zella

9 minutes ago, jird said:

Today's random LH fact: I looked up the actress who played Elna Jacobsen in the 100 Mile Walk (the pregnant wife of one of Charles' work buddies -- not the one who got blown up), and learned that she played the elderly lady in The Green Mile having a romance with the older Paul, who was played by our very own Reverend Alden, Dabs Greer. 

Forget six degrees of Kevin Bacon, I'm convinced there's two degrees of Little House everywhere. 

elaine.jpg

Paul.jpg

I rewatched The Green Mile for the first time in a long time recently and nearly died when I realized who was playing Paul as an old man. I had no clue his lady friend also had a LHOTP connection, though! 

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Mr. Sparkle

Mr. Sparkle

Damn! Ma is laying in to Mary for almost burning down the barn! 

18 hours ago, Zella said:

I rewatched The Green Mile for the first time in a long time recently and nearly died when I realized who was playing Paul as an old man. I had no clue his lady friend also had a LHOTP connection, though! 

I remember watching it in the theaters and being "hey! It's Reverend Alden!" 

Dabbs Greer apparently had a lot of small roles after LH ended. Probably more than most of the cast. 

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VCRTracking

VCRTracking

(edited)

So I'm watching this old show I never heard of called "Crisis" originally called "Kraft Suspense Theater", an anthology that aired from 1963 to 1965. The episode was titled "A Hero For Our Times" starring Lloyd Bridges as an executive with a wife and 3 kids who is at his mistress' apartment one night when he sees a woman being murdered in the building next door. He anonymously calls the police and quickly leaves the scene. The police arrest the wrong man, an old janitor at the dead woman's building, because he is a drunk with a criminal record. Lloyd Bridges then has the dilema of whether he should come forward and risk his marriage and career to save an innocent man. The innocent man was played by Reverend Alden himself, Dabs Greer! Then I was surprised to reading the closing credits who played the real murderer: Victor French! I totally didn't recognize him without his beard:Screenshot_20210702-221217.thumb.png.6e8300aaf6c071918a8d66a541ad2f4c.png

Edited by VCRTracking
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Zella

Zella

2 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Then I was surprised to reading the closing credits who played the real murderer: Victor French! I totally didn't recognize him without his beard:

I had the same experience with an episode of Gunsmoke. A beardless Victor French seemed so familiar but I couldn't place him at all. Then I looked up the episode on IMDb and was like "Oh snap, Mr. Edwards!" I like to think of myself as good at pinpointing people in other roles, but I don't think I ever would have figured that out on my own. 

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Blergh

Blergh

(edited)
9 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

So I'm watching this old show I never heard of called "Crisis" originally called "Kraft Suspense Theater", an anthology that aired from 1963 to 1965. The episode was titled "A Hero For Our Times" starring Lloyd Bridges as an executive with a wife and 3 kids who is at his mistress' apartment one night when he sees a woman being murdered in the building next door. He anonymously calls the police and quickly leaves the scene. The police arrest the wrong man, an old janitor at the dead woman's building, because he is a drunk with a criminal record. Lloyd Bridges then has the dilema of whether he should come forward and risk his marriage and career to save an innocent man. The innocent man was played by Reverend Alden himself, Dabs Greer! Then I was surprised to reading the closing credits who played the real murderer: Victor French! I totally didn't recognize him without his beard:Screenshot_20210702-221217.thumb.png.6e8300aaf6c071918a8d66a541ad2f4c.png

It's too bad few made the connection while these performers were still living but I'd like to think that Messrs. French and Greer had their fun thinking how bogus it would have been for anyone to have mistaken Reverand Alden for Isaiah Edwards!

@Zella, I got what you're saying,before  he did LHOTP, a beardless Mr. French did an episode of The Waltons  in February, 1974 playing a man struggling to save his marriage while considering adopting an orphan. Not only was he beardless but his voice was somewhat higher and clearer sounding than Isaiah's! 

Of course, Miss Arngrim said that ML deliberately cast adult performers as regulars who'd played a variety of roles beforehand  but had NOT had regular much less identifiable roles prior to LHOTP so viewers wouldn't waste much if any time comparing their prior performances to the current LHOTP roles. I mean, few if anyone likely said 'Yes, Charlotte Stewart is fine as Miss Beadle but she really shined as a high school reporter crushing on Mike in My Three Sons!'

Edited by Blergh
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Mr. Sparkle

Mr. Sparkle

7 hours ago, Zella said:

I had the same experience with an episode of Gunsmoke. A beardless Victor French seemed so familiar but I couldn't place him at all. Then I looked up the episode on IMDb and was like "Oh snap, Mr. Edwards!" I like to think of myself as good at pinpointing people in other roles, but I don't think I ever would have figured that out on my own. 

He's also in "An Officer and a Gentleman" as Debra Winger's father. He just has a mustache. 

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Blergh

Blergh

21 hours ago, jason88cubs said:

Good day to watch "Centennial"

It was a fairly good epic miniseries about the settlement of Colorado (albeit a bit simplified as many of Mr. Michener's works were). 

However, upon looking at the cast list, I don't see a single LHOTP cast member or even known guest who also was in Centennial (despite both series having been on NBC). If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me. 

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Mr. Sparkle

Mr. Sparkle

19 minutes ago, jason88cubs said:

yes I was. I love that scene where Harriet just keeps rambling and rambling to the tax guy while Nels is looking at her like "shutup!!!"

It's kind of when Harriet started to go from just a mean, petty b---- to comic foil, which, in my opinion, suited the actress better. 

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Blergh

Blergh

2 hours ago, Superclam said:

I believe @jason88cubs was referring to this:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0632984/

Not a bad episode. Classic LH use of characters we never heard of before or after. 

Oh, D'OH! On my part!

 

YEESH! I'd forgotten that that was also the title of a LHOTP episode!

 

OK, I liked it overall and enjoyed the impassioned speech that the now-dispossessed immigrant father gave about the US being a land of opportunity and freedom and, yes, I liked Harriet getting to be more of a whacky foil than just the mean, heartless villain she'd been up to that point. 

The only sour note is that I disliked it when the immigrant father forbade his wife from speaking Russian inside their own abode saying that they were now in a new nation. OK, I understand that it's pragmatic to learn the language of one's new home ASAP and to speak it as much as possible when interacting with others who can't speak own's original language. However, as someone who is two and three generations removed from different ancestral tongues and  can only speak a few words of either language (which makes extended family reunions a bit awkward), I believe that something from one's own soul is lost if one deliberately tries to forget one's own original language- regardless of how much more appealing one's new nation is compared to the one of one's birth! And, besides, regardless of the immigrant father's best intentions, it was rather domineering, bullying and sexist to insist that his wife FORGET their original language!  I wonder if ML would have considered if his own life might have been broadened had he known his father's ancestral Yiddish and/or his mother's ancestral Irish Gaelic?

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jason88cubs

jason88cubs

4 hours ago, Blergh said:

Oh, D'OH! On my part!

 

YEESH! I'd forgotten that that was also the title of a LHOTP episode!

 

OK, I liked it overall and enjoyed the impassioned speech that the now-dispossessed immigrant father gave about the US being a land of opportunity and freedom and, yes, I liked Harriet getting to be more of a whacky foil than just the mean, heartless villain she'd been up to that point. 

The only sour note is that I disliked it when the immigrant father forbade his wife from speaking Russian inside their own abode saying that they were now in a new nation. OK, I understand that it's pragmatic to learn the language of one's new home ASAP and to speak it as much as possible when interacting with others who can't speak own's original language. However, as someone who is two and three generations removed from different ancestral tongues and  can only speak a few words of either language (which makes extended family reunions a bit awkward), I believe that something from one's own soul is lost if one deliberately tries to forget one's own original language- regardless of how much more appealing one's new nation is compared to the one of one's birth! And, besides, regardless of the immigrant father's best intentions, it was rather domineering, bullying and sexist to insist that his wife FORGET their original language!  I wonder if ML would have considered if his own life might have been broadened had he known his father's ancestral Yiddish and/or his mother's ancestral Irish Gaelic?

very well said

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debraran

debraran

16 hours ago, Blergh said:

Oh, D'OH! On my part!

 

YEESH! I'd forgotten that that was also the title of a LHOTP episode!

 

OK, I liked it overall and enjoyed the impassioned speech that the now-dispossessed immigrant father gave about the US being a land of opportunity and freedom and, yes, I liked Harriet getting to be more of a whacky foil than just the mean, heartless villain she'd been up to that point. 

The only sour note is that I disliked it when the immigrant father forbade his wife from speaking Russian inside their own abode saying that they were now in a new nation. OK, I understand that it's pragmatic to learn the language of one's new home ASAP and to speak it as much as possible when interacting with others who can't speak own's original language. However, as someone who is two and three generations removed from different ancestral tongues and  can only speak a few words of either language (which makes extended family reunions a bit awkward), I believe that something from one's own soul is lost if one deliberately tries to forget one's own original language- regardless of how much more appealing one's new nation is compared to the one of one's birth! And, besides, regardless of the immigrant father's best intentions, it was rather domineering, bullying and sexist to insist that his wife FORGET their original language!  I wonder if ML would have considered if his own life might have been broadened had he known his father's ancestral Yiddish and/or his mother's ancestral Irish Gaelic?

That was a strange time and outlook, re language. I hate when people talk about hearing people talk Spanish and not English but back in my mom's day, (she's 90) all immigrants from Poland and Italy spoke their language and many didn't learn English, just the kids. My grandfather never got a better job because of that. What is sad is that my mom learned Italilan from her dad, her mom spoke English but she never taught her children. My kids friends had parents that were from Columbia or Puerto Rico and they didn't teach their children their language. It became an embarrassment instead of an asset. I see that changing today and it's a good thing.  In Europe they would think we were stupid, they all learn another language. Even if we don't border other countries the same way, it's never a bad thing, never a thing to be ashamed of and I hope we outgrow that mentality today. 

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libgirl2

libgirl2

On 7/5/2021 at 8:15 AM, Blergh said:

It was a fairly good epic miniseries about the settlement of Colorado (albeit a bit simplified as many of Mr. Michener's works were). 

However, upon looking at the cast list, I don't see a single LHOTP cast member or even known guest who also was in Centennial (despite both series having been on NBC). If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me. 

Just about everyone else was in Centennial though. Gosh, I love that miniseries. And yes, I would rather be in Colorado. 

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Blergh

Blergh

15 hours ago, jason88cubs said:

I know times were different but I always felt bad that Laura couldn;t see Mary get married

While the show's Laura likely felt bad she didn't get to see the show's Mary get married (which it should be noted did NOT happen IRL). no doubt Miss Gilbert herself more likely than not felt relieved that her character didn't have to fake loving Miss Anderson's character for the occasion. Note that Laura DID manage to see Nellie's (permanent) wedding- which seems preposterous for the show's Laura to have done but since offstage Miss Gilbert and Miss Arngrim were besties, this was something that I'm sure Miss Gilbert was happy to have done.

 

BTW, I wonder if it's possible that Miss Gilbert may have spelled out to ML in advance (as the seasons rolled on) that she wanted Laura to have as few gushy scenes as possible with Miss Anderson?

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Egg McMuffin

Egg McMuffin

14 hours ago, Blergh said:

BTW, I wonder if it's possible that Miss Gilbert may have spelled out to ML in advance (as the seasons rolled on) that she wanted Laura to have as few gushy scenes as possible with Miss Anderson?

I doubt it. Michael Landon ran a tight ship and expected his company to act like the professionals they were.

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debraran

debraran

19 hours ago, Blergh said:

While the show's Laura likely felt bad she didn't get to see the show's Mary get married (which it should be noted did NOT happen IRL). no doubt Miss Gilbert herself more likely than not felt relieved that her character didn't have to fake loving Miss Anderson's character for the occasion. Note that Laura DID manage to see Nellie's (permanent) wedding- which seems preposterous for the show's Laura to have done but since offstage Miss Gilbert and Miss Arngrim were besties, this was something that I'm sure Miss Gilbert was happy to have done.

 

BTW, I wonder if it's possible that Miss Gilbert may have spelled out to ML in advance (as the seasons rolled on) that she wanted Laura to have as few gushy scenes as possible with Miss Anderson?

Since Michael really liked MSA and they weren't really enemies , she didn't play with them often, I would have said "tough" When you are an actress, you have to do a few hugs with people you don't like. You weren't going to kiss. I understand more with a guy at that age, getting too close but I never noticed it with MSA and her first John Jr so she did a good job and that wasn't going to last.

Melissa faked it with Almonzo but I never felt any chemistry with them either.

 

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Blergh

Blergh

Well, the fact remains that Miss Gilbert's Laura did not participate or witness Miss Anderson's Mary's wedding despite their characters supposedly being close and loving but DID witness Miss Arngrim's Nellie's wedding despite the latter character being at best someone Laura barely tolerated and at worst at outright enemy. 

So,  IMO it's possible that Miss Anderson and ML themselves may not have really wanted Miss Gilbert there for her character to claim to love her when Miss Gilbert made it no secret she barely tolerated Miss Anderson (and maybe ML was just tired of  trying to get these two barely cordial performers to pretend they loved each other). 

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Katy M

Katy M

4 hours ago, Blergh said:

Well, the fact remains that Miss Gilbert's Laura did not participate or witness Miss Anderson's Mary's wedding despite their characters supposedly being close and loving but DID witness Miss Arngrim's Nellie's wedding despite the latter character being at best someone Laura barely tolerated and at worst at outright enemy. 

So,  IMO it's possible that Miss Anderson and ML themselves may not have really wanted Miss Gilbert there for her character to claim to love her when Miss Gilbert made it no secret she barely tolerated Miss Anderson (and maybe ML was just tired of  trying to get these two barely cordial performers to pretend they loved each other). 

They had plenty of scenes together after that point.  The family never traveled as a whole on that show unless they were planning on moving permanently.  I don't think there was anything nefarious going on behind the scenes of that decision.

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VCRTracking

VCRTracking

They're like Vin Diesel and the Rock in the Fast and Furious movies now! If they had digital technology back then they could have did a "Good Wife" and put Melissa in scenes with MS without them having to interact.

Thinking about it, you know Landon would have gone nuts if he had had access to CGI technology!

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debraran

debraran

(edited)
4 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

They're like Vin Diesel and the Rock in the Fast and Furious movies now! If they had digital technology back then they could have did a "Good Wife" and put Melissa in scenes with MS without them having to interact.

Thinking about it, you know Landon would have gone nuts if he had had access to CGI technology!

I think Michael would have had fun with a lot of things but I feel the "feud" was never a feud. In regard to Good Wife, etc. those were popular, well paid actress's, not kids and the fact that it's not discussed even today is mature and says more about incident than we need to know. You don't scorn Julianne!

I don't think children have that power and no one ever said they were "enemies". The adults barely noticed anything and MSA said she didn't play with them except at certain functions. I think like "mean girls" sometimes you pick on someone when alone in a group of kids and saying 'hate" or 'mean" is exaggeration. MSA always had class, spoke kindly or said nothing about them, not even to hype her book for more buyers. Adults have said on set she was more mature and had a mom on the set a lot. I can see the gang up on the third child who didn't act like you did but as adults to perpetuate it for money and drama is tacky. I understand wanting to make being different and wanting to be alone more than it was, but MSA was never actively mean. You see many outtake pics of her playing and playing board games with other kids, staff and extras. I'm not saying she didn't do anything, she wasn't perfect and you react to others behavior,  but when you write books and want something to spark it up, you can make something larger out of something small.

She also didn't stay in CA and moved to Canada with her husband to raise her children and stay away from that life. In retrospect it might have helped her and her family still seems intact and happy.

 

Edited by debraran
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VCRTracking

VCRTracking

(edited)

ML  put her in his semi autobiographic TV movie "The Longest Runner" around the time of the show's second or third season and I wonder if that might have rankled Gilbert.

Edited by VCRTracking
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Katy M

Katy M

3 minutes ago, VCRTracking said:

ML  put her in his semi autobiographic TV movie "The Longest Runner" around the time of the show's second or third season and I wonder if that might have rankled Gilbert.

I don't know why it would have. I would think something like that would only rankle if you wanted the role yourself and MG would have been too young and she would have known it.

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VCRTracking

VCRTracking

50 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I don't know why it would have. I would think something like that would only rankle if you wanted the role yourself and MG would have been too young and she would have known it.

Also it would have been weird since the part is the girl the young ML stand in has a big crush on!

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Zella

Zella

(edited)
3 hours ago, Kyle said:

Do people ever have these speculative conversations about male actors refusing to work with each other or being jealous of each other?

They certainly do regarding Fast and the Furious and Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel. That's literally all I know about those movies because I've never watched them. But I have probably read everything ever written about the passive aggressive possible feud between them, including vague callouts about candy asses and allegations of green screening them together in a scene. It's a wild, petty ride.

Edited by Zella
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debraran

debraran

(edited)

Yes, "back in the day" you'd find out feuds and disagreements with stars many years later. One old one I remember was "Ethel and Fred" from Lucy. You'd never know and that's the way it should be. You are acting and it's not a date. Now harassment is something else.

I also think it was nice that Melissa Sue made up with Michael much sooner than MG. I understand Melissa's feelings but she wasn't an angel herself. Melissa Sue invited him to her wedding as a peace offering and other LHOP cast.  Melissa Gilbert talked to him when he was sick. I'm glad they made up, you never know how long you have.

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10150755671042494&set=here-is-another-photo-of-melissa-talking-with-michael-and-cindy-landon-at-her-we

This might explain some adolescent angst too

 

https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/little-house-on-the-prairie-melissa-gilbert-was-jealous-of-melissa-sue-andersons-looks-and-attention-from-boys-she-was-way-beyond-my-league.html/

Edited by debraran
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Egg McMuffin

Egg McMuffin

Nancy was written very poorly. Why they decided to make her such a psycho is beyond me. The only time when she was tolerable was when Nels and Harriet got held for ransom. And also in the episode where Willie got married and then she acted just like a mischievous little girl who was excited to be in her brother’s wedding. That would have been a much better direction for her, and the actress certainly was able to play that.

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Zella

Zella

(edited)

All the new kids were pretty awful. The others were at least just bland and easily ignored instead of one-note psychos. (And I say that as someone who actually likes a lot of psycho characters. But Nancy was annoying as hell.)

Edited by Zella
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debraran

debraran

(edited)
10 hours ago, Kyle said:

“You hate me!” Ugh.

As bad as the badly written “Alyssa” and just as grating. Such a shame shows can't leave before they kill it. While many wont remember the later shows, the younger ones in most memories, watching on Amazon Prime, I see how it changed and it's sad. But we had great TV for a while and for that I am grateful.

Edited by debraran
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debraran

debraran

(edited)
4 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Nancy wanted to be hated just so she could be the center of attention, and be treated as a victim.  That is why she inflicted so much pain and treated everyone like shit.  Harriet fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

The way that Nancy treated Blanche was just awful.  What writer in their write mind would put into a script where a character slaps an animal? 

Nancy reminds me of that little psycho (Rhoda) from the movie, The Bad Seed.

I assumed Michael hated the show at that point and was caught up in other things. It was beyond awful and he just didn’t care anymore. 

Edited by debraran
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debraran

debraran

(edited)
5 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

I assume Michael had much higher aspirations given the next series he starred in, Highway to Heaven.

True and Father Murphy. He was leaving Little House for the time being but not giving it any air to grow or breathe. If he wrote or directed those scripts early on, no one would be watching them today.

He also married Cindy in 1983 in Feb and show ended a month later. Years prior were the rumors and all that so I feel it might have hampered it a bit too.

Edited by debraran
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jird

jird

LH is on Peacock, and the episode description for A Harvest of Friends is making me laugh way more than it should:

After promising to fix a store's roof and stack stacks of grain, Charles falls out of a tree.

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