Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

[Mr. Sparkle]

21 minutes ago, Kyle said:

One of the episodes of DOSDOS is 90 min long, so our local station never showed it in the rerun rotation back in the 1980s. It was only when LHOTP went to cable that I was able to see it again.

Yeah, I was just looking it up on my cable guide, and Hallmark Drama isn't showing it where it's scheduled in the next 2 weeks. They're also skipping "The Godsister" which is better news. I don't know that I've seen the entire DOSDOS now that I think about it. I'll look for it on UPtv when it comes up. 

Unfortunately, they are not skipping Sylvia Parts 1 & 2, which are on tonight. 

[Brn2bwild]

12 hours ago, Zella said:

Yeah that Arizona episode, besides being implausible in premise, is not flattering to Eliza Jane either. I don't even know why they bothered bringing her back. 

It's like they forgot how to write her character in the interim.  Same for Nellie -- she comes back nice and relatable with no signs of a temper tantrum.  The actress said that Nellie's homecoming was actually like her homecoming, that none of the actors was really acting, and it shows.  I didn't see Nellie; I saw Alison Arngrim reuniting with Melissa Gilbert and her other actor friends.  I really wanted to see flashes of the old Nellie in her dealings with Nancy (the pinching her nose to stop her snoring isn't enough).

And yes, Nancy, they do hate you.  Nels and Willie, at least.  I wish Nels would admit it instead of pretending he actually loved that monster.

[bunnyblue]

I've decided to watch random episodes of the later awful seasons (because there's no way I'm actually going to watch all episodes after season 5) and chose "Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow" since you guys have been discussing it. Where to begin?

Eliza Jane is so creepy with her babying Almanzo and basically turning into the other woman in the Wilder marriage. I hate that they turned her into a clingy controlling spinster who enjoyed the thought of taking over her little brother's care and family. And who owned that farm anyway? Eliza Jane kept calling it our home and took the reins when trying to sell it but Laura also kept calling it her house. 

I wanted to smack Laura when she intentionally broke the glass bread plate that Caroline gave to her and salvaged from the destroyed Wilder house. But I do understand her meltdown at discovering the destroyed house; why the hell would they keep that information from her? So dumb. But that scene did give us little Grace's hilarious reaction: child realizes her sister is crazy and hightails it out of there, lol. With all the tragedies that befell Laura this episode, I'm surprised Grace didn't turn up missing or dead after Laura scared her away.

How the hell did everyone fit inside the little Ingalls farmhouse after Laura & Almanzo moved in? By my count there were 4 adults, 5 kids, 1 baby, and a cat. Did Charles add an addition in the barn during the episodes I didn't watch?

I thought Harriett's reaction to Laura & Almanzo possibly moving to Minneapolis was odd. Why would she be upset they'd be leaving? She never liked Laura. If anything, I'd think she'd be giddy that Caroline would be losing her daughter just like she lost Nellie.

You know, I don't remember Charles & Caroline being so upset about Mary leaving the nest and moving far away as they were at the thought of Laura leaving them. I guess I know who their favorite kid was. 

We give Charles a lot of crap, but he went above and beyond in these 2 episodes. Dude mortgaged his farm and went to work on the railroad to get the money to temporarily save the Wilder farm, and then he did most of the heavy labor in rebuilding their house. If I were in his shoes I'd have pawned off Laura & Almanzo and their multitude of problems onto the willing Eliza Jane.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

I think I'm going to watch this on Amazon when I get a moment, since everybody's talking about it. 

[Egg McMuffin]

I didn’t realize it was on Amazon/imdb. I started to watch DOSDOS, but had to stop when Laura told Zaldamo that “Pa never buys anything on credit.” What a crock of shit.

[debraran]

12 minutes ago, Kyle said:

I didn’t realize it was on Amazon/imdb. I started to watch DOSDOS, but had to stop when Laura told Zaldamo that “Pa never buys anything on credit.” What a crock of shit.

I like how on Amazon I can quickly FF on laptop as I watch or rewind. They have some "goofs" in the beginning and extra things.

Yes, "cash on the barrel" is forgotten often. I'm glad Sprague turned him down once since it wasn't that important. Dishes? I just never could figure out, despite Mr Landon always wanting them poor, why we couldn't see ONE year, one episode where they had extra money and something bad didn't happen. Lost job, tornado, hail, Mary gets kicked by a horse. Sure farmers have bad luck but the Ingall's were cursed. Guy couldn't even buy a window without it breaking more than once. (did anyone else wonder how much money he lost 3 times when Laura broke it?) I'd have her pay for it. She had a real house.

Grace, they all had nice clocks or vases or furniture. They had rooms with walls. Poor Ma had same clothes over ten years, everything she made, no store bought, no special things but lemon verbena, no nice dishes (sorry) glasses, hats, coat, soap, something. I know she had "everything" but still.

Edited August 17, 2021 by debraran

[bunnyblue]

And another thing about "Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow": 

It was kind of awkward when Laura confided in Pa that Almanzo hadn't kissed her or touched her in months. I found it uncomfortable for 2 reasons: I find it hard to believe a woman of that time would say something like that to her father, and Melissa Gilbert had such a babyface I didn't want to hear about Laura's lack of sex life with her husband.

Laura also climbed up a tree to rescue the cat in this episode. I know they wanted to portray Laura retaining her spunky and tomboyish behavior into adulthood, but seeing her climb the tree only served to remind me she was really still just a kid with a grown man for a husband. I think that if MG had been in her early 20's then I wouldn't have had such a problem with Laura's marriage but since she was only 16/17, it made Laura's tribulations as a wife a bit uncomfortable to watch. I know, I know, it was a different time; both the 1880s and the 1970s. 

The episode that follows DOSDOS is the one where Mr. Edwards' marriage falls apart because of his alcoholism. Peacock started playing it automatically but I stopped it because I want to watch it when I can give it my full attention. I have no memory of ever seeing this episode even though I must have at some point since I used to watch the reruns on TBS when I was kid. I did catch a glimpse of recast Grace, though. She looks nothing like original recipe Grace. Hmph!

Edited August 18, 2021 by bunnyblue

[Blergh]

Something just occurred to me: the Ingallses named their youngest daughter Grace- yet they never said that they'd named her for their former bestie's wife! 

Yes, I know that the RL Ingallses did indeed have their youngest daughter named that but the show's Ingallses never said where they got the name from. Was ML still so sore over Victor French's (as it turned out temporary) departure that he refused to acknowledge any possible link via the youngest daughter's name? 

Let's not forget that the Ingallses and Edwardses left 'Gold Country' together but then the next season not a trace of any of the latter family back in Walnut Grove and the Ingallses' new besties were the Garveys! 

[Zella]

So, I'm not always very charitable to Michael Landon on here, but I don't think the lack of acknowledgment had anything to do with irritation at Victor French for leaving. If so, I doubt Landon would have allowed him to come back or done another series with him because dude could hold a grudge when he wanted to. 

I am not sure it ever even dawned on them to acknowledge the connection because I simply don't think the shared first names were an intended connection. I mean, I didn't even consider the fact that Grace and Grace shared a name until now or wondered if Grace Wilder was named after Grace Edwards, and I feel like I've put more thought into show continuity than they often did. LOL

Edited August 18, 2021 by Zella

[Egg McMuffin]

I do think - and it’s been documented elsewhere - that Landon was pissed at French. That’s why the Edwards clan just disappeared without any kind of acknowledgement whatsoever. Even when John Jr returned to dump Mary because she was too much of a bumpkin, there was no mention of his adopted family. But I agree that name of the Ingalls’ youngest daughter was just a coincidence.

Edited August 18, 2021 by Kyle

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, Kyle said:

But I agree that name of the Ingalls’ youngest daughter was just a coincidence.

Which is weird.  I mean obviously they had read the books before starting production.  I wonder if he had always planned to leave out baby Grace and then changed his mind.  But, either way, why name a side character a name that you know there is a high probability of becoming a family member's name.

6 hours ago, Zella said:

o, I'm not always very charitable to Michael Landon on here, but I don't think the lack of acknowledgment had anything to do with irritation at Victor French for leaving. If so, I doubt Landon would have allowed him to come back or done another series with him because dude could hold a grudge when he wanted to. 

I remember an interview with Victor French, maybe around the time Michael Landon died.  He said something about Michael Landon being able to forgive him and allowing him back on the show and then doing Highway to Heaven with him.  Actually, I think I'm playing fast and loose with the word remember, but it definitely had something to do with forgiveness which would suggest that he was mad at some point.

[Blergh]

Well, ML knew that the RL Ingallses DID have their lastborn daughter named Grace so I'm wondering if the original plan might have been for the show Ingallses to have had her after X number of seasons- with the fictional Grace Snyder Edwards being her godmother (but that got totally scuttled via Victor French's departure). 

[RedbirdNelly]

I kind of wish someone could redo the show where it's still the family show it was (not a dark super realistic reboot) but with more logic and continuity between episodes. 

I've also realized from reading this that I stopped watching this show prior to the last seasons. I thought we always watched it but I stop remembering shows after Nelly gets married and Laura marries Almonzo. 

[Pirpana]

I'm interested. How many different channels/networks are showing LH back there in the America at the moment?

And another thing, with those two-parter episodes where one is regular in length and the other one is longer. Some of you have said that longer ones aren't shown as often/at all. Do they still show the shorter one and not give a damn that story stays unfinished?

[Egg McMuffin]

For the weekday reruns, if it was a two-parter where one episode was 90 min (DOSDOS, “There’s No Place Like Home”), they didn’t show either episode in our market. The other 90 minute episodes like “The Godsister” were missing too. I’m not sure they were even part of the original broadcast syndication package. I know the pilot wasn’t. The first time I saw those episodes - as well as the post-series TV movies - in reruns was on TBS in the late 1980s. And even TBS showed the 90 minute episodes and movies on the weekends, rather than as part of the weekday rotation.

Edited August 18, 2021 by Kyle

[Zella]

37 minutes ago, Pirpana said:

How many different channels/networks are showing LH back there in the America at the moment?

I think the answer might vary by region. I don't have cable or satellite, and I am sure one of my offshoot channels from antenna probably gets it, but I've never seen it advertised. (Probably just not a channel I watch.) When I watched the show few months ago, I did it all on Amazon Prime. 

[Egg McMuffin]

COZI, a digital broadcast subchannel owned by NBC, currently shows it. And INSP and Hallmark Drama from what I understand (I don’t have cable). I don’t think many - if any - local stations are showing it as part of a broadcast syndication package. The oldest scripted comedy or drama series that I’m aware of that are regularly in broadcast syndication are The Simpsons and Seinfeld. But there may be an odd market here or there that still shows it.

[Mr. Sparkle]

In my cable package (Spectrum NYC) it's available 9AM - 2PM on UPtv, channel 124 and then 2PM - 7PM on Hallmark Drama, channel 127. It varies on the weekends, sometimes they have marathons. 

For streaming, it's on Amazon Prime and Peacock. Really quite a lot of Little House options. 

Personally, I'd rather watch it when it's broadcast with commercials. Then I can pay attention with one eye and do other things with the other. When I stream something, I feel a weird obligation to pay close attention. 

[Pirpana]

3 hours ago, Superclam said:

In my cable package (Spectrum NYC) it's available 9AM - 2PM on UPtv, channel 124 and then 2PM - 7PM on Hallmark Drama, channel 127. It varies on the weekends, sometimes they have marathons. 

Wow, five hours a day, twice a day. No wonder you guys inform here so often about episode X being shown on somewhere. I've often raised my eyebrows, "Hey, wait a minute, didn't they just show that one". 😄

Thank you to all three of you for enlightening me. You Americans seem to have somewhat endless options which also differ between places. Well, I shouldn't be surprised really considering here in Finland we have 20 (!) free channels and for those with deep pockets practically every channel in other European countries.

[debraran]

4 hours ago, Superclam said:

In my cable package (Spectrum NYC) it's available 9AM - 2PM on UPtv, channel 124 and then 2PM - 7PM on Hallmark Drama, channel 127. It varies on the weekends, sometimes they have marathons. 

For streaming, it's on Amazon Prime and Peacock. Really quite a lot of Little House options. 

Personally, I'd rather watch it when it's broadcast with commercials. Then I can pay attention with one eye and do other things with the other. When I stream something, I feel a weird obligation to pay close attention. 

I can get that but I feel with TV, if I need to do something or someone talks over something, I miss it. With my lap top, I can rewind it or pause. Sometimes I do other things and just listen depending on the show or interest level. I can also pause it to see something closer.

[Mr. Sparkle]

10 minutes ago, debraran said:

I can get that but I feel with TV, if I need to do something or someone talks over something, I miss it. With my lap top, I can rewind it or pause. Sometimes I do other things and just listen depending on the show or interest level. I can also pause it to see something closer.

I agree. With shows I'm invested in, or movies I really want to see, I'll watch on my laptop, with the lights off and headphones on. 

11 minutes ago, Pirpana said:

Wow, five hours a day, twice a day. No wonder you guys inform here so often about episode X being shown on somewhere. I've often raised my eyebrows, "Hey, wait a minute, didn't they just show that one". 😄

Related to this, and also to the classic LH trope of characters coming and going, I saw the one with the Russian family today while I was eating lunch. We never saw the Pyatokovs before, and we never saw the family that bought their farm again. 

[Pirpana]

^^ That's my way too. As a matter of fact, I have all the episodes on my pc as video files and that's why I'm able to notice subtle changes in the way how an actor delivers his/her lines. In fact, I've translated the whole series to my own language for my own pleasure - after buying them on Blu-ray first, of course. And my alias is actually Finnish version of Half-Pint.

[Zella]

I would probably enjoy the LHOTP experience more if I'd seen it in rereuns on TV rather than binging. The first few seasons were enjoyable to binge, but after the show started getting bad, it was a chore to sit through it. I only made it to the end because I wanted to see the infamous orangutan and Schlong of Healing episodes. 

I also hated the way the commercials are added when I watched via Amazon. I guess it's technically on IMDB TV via Amazon? But commercials would literally cut off scenes and then the last 30 seconds of the scene would follow the commercial. It made me angry every time. 

[debraran]

7 hours ago, Zella said:

I would probably enjoy the LHOTP experience more if I'd seen it in rereuns on TV rather than binging. The first few seasons were enjoyable to binge, but after the show started getting bad, it was a chore to sit through it. I only made it to the end because I wanted to see the infamous orangutan and Schlong of Healing episodes. 

I also hated the way the commercials are added when I watched via Amazon. I guess it's technically on IMDB TV via Amazon? But commercials would literally cut off scenes and then the last 30 seconds of the scene would follow the commercial. It made me angry every time. 

You get commercials with Amazon Prime?

[Egg McMuffin]

IMDb TV is Amazon’s ad-supported service. I don’t know how they decide what goes to imdb and what doesn’t. They just made a deal for the Normal Lear library and some shows are ad-supported and some aren’t.

[Zella]

5 hours ago, debraran said:

You get commercials with Amazon Prime?

I'm pretty sure it was because of the IMDB channel it is on via Amazon rather than Amazon Prime itself. I've never before had to deal with commercials on there, let alone badly placed ones. 

[alexa]

10 hours ago, Zella said:

I'm pretty sure it was because of the IMDB channel it is on via Amazon rather than Amazon Prime itself. I've never before had to deal with commercials on there, let alone badly placed ones. 

Yes, I was always confused when I was finding some of the episodes on Amazon that people here were viewing on Amazon, and my only option was IMDB / Amazon so I had to have the commercials.  And now Peacock is required for some of the former IMDB shows--I am watching Parenthood again, and after watching a few episodes on IMDB, I had to download Peacock to watch it.  

And it is annoying as there have been other shows I have started on Amazon, that suddenly require another app, and some of them cost money, so I have to stop watching whatever I started.  

[debraran]

I don't know when that started but I see it now, IMDB. That's annoying. Glad it's just them so far. It was just like owning the dvd's before but I guess nothing lasts forever. : (  Still free if you have amazon prime but commercials are annoying.

[Egg McMuffin]

I went back and watched DOSDOS last night. I’m hard pressed to think of who was the bigger pill in that episode: Laura or Zaldamo or Eliza Jane. I wanted the tornado to suck up the house while all three were in it.

Laura is probably the least guilty of the unbearable trio in that episode. Had I been her, I would have sent EJ packing the minute she started overriding Laura’s wishes when it came to Zaldamo’s care. And as for the big baby himself, he would have been feeding and washing himself while he was in “woe is me” mode.

[Brn2bwild]

48 minutes ago, Kyle said:

I went back and watched DOSDOS last night. I’m hard pressed to think of who was the bigger pill in that episode: Laura or Zaldamo or Eliza Jane. I wanted the tornado to suck up the house while all three were in it.

Laura is probably the least guilty of the unbearable trio in that episode. Had I been her, I would have sent EJ packing the minute she started overriding Laura’s wishes when it came to Zaldamo’s care. And as for the big baby himself, he would have been feeding and washing himself while he was in “woe is me” mode.

I think it really underscores how Laura's youth resulted in a power imbalance. They all thought that they could ignore her and lie to her without repurcussions because she was still a child, and it NEVER gets called out.

[jird]

1 hour ago, Brn2bwild said:

I think it really underscores how Laura's youth resulted in a power imbalance. They all thought that they could ignore her and lie to her without repurcussions because she was still a child, and it NEVER gets called out.

I agree. I can almost understand Almanzo acting that way in general, simply because he was the husband and therefore in charge of making all the decisions in those days (like Pa deciding the family was going to move back to Wisconsin without even asking his wife), but the fact that he wasn't even making the decision, he was just letting his sister tell him what to do and expecting Laura to accept it without question makes me ragey.

[CountryGirl]

Laura, Almanzo, and EJ all come off as insufferable in DOS/DOS. Then there’s the weird laughing from Laura as she’s giving birth. 

But we have the memorable line from Half-Pint about only having “a baby, a cat and a plate. And no home. No home.” And then she breaks the plate. 🙄 

Plus, we have Grace doing a great turn and run away, a LHOTP staple. 

Speaking of the child normally trapped in the high chair, while in RL Grace was the youngest Ingalls child, I thought it was also because of Laura naming the baby she found in the “Be My Friend” episode. 

[Blergh]

11 hours ago, CountryGirl said:

Laura, Almanzo, and EJ all come off as insufferable in DOS/DOS. Then there’s the weird laughing from Laura as she’s giving birth. 

But we have the memorable line from Half-Pint about only having “a baby, a cat and a plate. And no home. No home.” And then she breaks the plate. 🙄 

Plus, we have Grace doing a great turn and run away, a LHOTP staple. 

Speaking of the child normally trapped in the high chair, while in RL Grace was the youngest Ingalls child, I thought it was also because of Laura naming the baby she found in the “Be My Friend” episode. 

Ironically, RL Mrs. Wilder DID lose a home (to fire) and every single possession within BUT a single plate which she would preserve for the rest of her life so I can't imagine she'd have not been furious with how she'd be portrayed destroying the one item that had been spared!

Or course, in no time flat, after this episode, the Wilders were shown living a far more comfortable abode than Casa Ingalls  ever would be ( albeit smaller than their original house) in spite of the fact that it seemed only due to help of the Ingalls parents themselves.  Then, at the series end, they left their newer house (and evidently their farm) to make Grand Hotel on the Prairie before they blew it up to become homeless wanderers just  to keep them railroaders from getting it! 

[Brn2bwild]

3 hours ago, Blergh said:

Ironically, RL Mrs. Wilder DID lose a home (to fire) and every single possession within BUT a single plate which she would preserve for the rest of her life so I can't imagine she'd have not been furious with how she'd be portrayed destroying the one item that had been spared!

Or course, in no time flat, after this episode, the Wilders were shown living a far more comfortable abode than Casa Ingalls  ever would be ( albeit smaller than their original house) in spite of the fact that it seemed only due to help of the Ingalls parents themselves.  Then, at the series end, they left their newer house (and evidently their farm) to make Grand Hotel on the Prairie before they blew it up to become homeless wanderers just  to keep them railroaders from getting it! 

It's ironic that most of the events in those episodes actually did happen in some form (though don't know about the twister), but it was over years, not days.  This could have made a decent season-long story arc, but for some reason Michael Landon decided he'd rather pack in all of the tragedy at once?

[Mr. Sparkle]

Ok people, I'm doing this. All 73 minutes of part 1 and 48 minutes of part 2 of Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow. I may chime in on here if something good comes up, or I need a bathroom break. 

[Zella]

38 minutes ago, Brn2bwild said:

It's ironic that most of the events in those episodes actually did happen in some form (though don't know about the twister), but it was over years, not days.  This could have made a decent season-long story arc, but for some reason Michael Landon decided he'd rather pack in all of the tragedy at once?

And usually I found the episodes based on the real stuff better than the storylines created for the show. I'm not sure why they shit the bed so hard in those episodes. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Well, he had a stroke & lost the crop. That's all, right?? RIGHT???? 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Of course our boy Charlie saving the day. 

This is maudlin. 

[Brn2bwild]

4 minutes ago, Superclam said:

Of course our boy Charlie saving the day. 

This is maudlin. 

Saving the day all the while saying the same things to Almanzo that Laura says.  Why listen to your wife when you can listen to a manly man like St. Charles?

[Mr. Sparkle]

Yeesh. Eliza Jane. 🤢

[Mr. Sparkle]

Well, part 1 done. 48 minutes of part 2 left. I need a break. Very dreary. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Alright, that's over. The sappy ending got me, I must admit. 

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

On 8/16/2021 at 10:48 AM, jird said:

Laura was awful in the later seasons (and in this one - leaving your BABY alone in a tornado so that you can go get a cat that doesn't even live in the house and is smart enough to take care of itself? You'd think she would have learned something from Mary),

I was about to write "see? Laura takes the baby during a tornado, unlike SOME people we know!" but then of course, Laura had to save a cat she named 35 seconds earlier. 

On 8/16/2021 at 1:12 PM, Kyle said:

And Caroline magically fixes the plate - who knew she was so talented?

Seriously, there's a glass blowing lab underneath that shack? 

[Mr. Sparkle]

On 8/17/2021 at 5:04 PM, bunnyblue said:

You know, I don't remember Charles & Caroline being so upset about Mary leaving the nest and moving far away as they were at the thought of Laura leaving them. I guess I know who their favorite kid was. 

Curious why Mary didn't get the plate when her baby was born. Did Ma just not get there in time?

Ok, that was mean. 

On 8/17/2021 at 10:36 PM, bunnyblue said:

Laura also climbed up a tree to rescue the cat in this episode. I know they wanted to portray Laura retaining her spunky and tomboyish behavior into adulthood, but seeing her climb the tree only served to remind me she was really still just a kid with a grown man for a husband.

Since the episode was such a downer, I was waiting for her to go falling out of the tree and break her ribs. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Apparently this was Eliza Jane's last LH episode. What a crappy way to go out! I liked her in a lot of episodes; she was just as horrid as everyone said in this one. 

What's weird for me is that in all the times I've watched this show in the 80s and again in the past year, I don't recall seeing a single scene from part 1 or 2 before. I've seen all the 90 minute episodes before, but not this one. 

[Egg McMuffin]

Michael Landon learned his dramatic laziness from Bonanza, where they also used to frequently bring in guest characters who the main characters had known for years, even though we’d never heard of them before, and would never hear about them again. Or a single episode would focus on an event that took place over months, yet would never be referred to in subsequent episode.

I remember when there was a “Family Ties” episode where Alex had a nervous breakdown over the death of his “best friend”, whom we had never seen in the previous four seasons of the show. And I was like - yeah, they used to pull this crap on Bonanza and LHOTP.

[Zella]

I love Bonanza, but yes, I agree that Landon repeated some of its worst narrative tendencies in LHOTP. 

[jason88cubs]

My coworker has been watching

She said there's some good stuff and some really bad stuff olol

[Mr. Sparkle]

Guess which one I'm watching now? I'll give you a hint:

SNIPE, SNIPE, LONG-LEGGED SNIPE!!! 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Question: does anyone know when they stopped with Laura doing narration? They had it in Harvest of Friends and Country Girls, but I don't remember it after.