Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

[Zella]

38 minutes ago, crazy8s said:

fun game - watch for cross over actors between LHOP and the waltons.  Willie Ames, Victor French, carl and John jr. also fun to see similar story lines Todd Bridges got sort of the same story/guest spot on both shows.

I'll definitely keep an eye out! Victor French popped up the other day, and I didn't even recognize him! 

[CountryGirl]

1 hour ago, Zella said:

Yes! Also I liked how Charles in the books was a big Almanzo fan, and it was her mother who had her misgivings about him rather than how the show went with Pa being antagonistic to him. 

Yes. I think it was the pancakes. 🤣

[Zella]

Just now, CountryGirl said:

Yes. I think it was the pancakes. 🤣

Hahahahaha yes!!!!! I couldn't remember what it was. I just remembered the air of judgment. Lol

[debraran]

16 hours ago, Blergh said:

Yeah, and the older I get, the more it seems I find myself considering  the descriptor of 'he was a prankster' as mark of a person I'd find annoying if not bullying, meanspirited and cruel- instead of a person I would genuinely want in my life!  While there were positive aspects to ML's life (and things to have admired about him), it seems the shadowside appears to have been rather overwhelming if one had been in his acquaintance. 

It's also different when it's your boss. Dressing in a KKK sheet type thing to scare or impress in some way, Moses Gunn was hilarious to him and if Moses didn't laugh, he wouldn't be a "good guy". Changing someone's hat size is one thing but other kinds of pranks were mean spirited or done to make him laugh, not so much the other person. Karen said "the guys" would sometimes make fun of her and I think Harriets weight comments were a dig from Michael since it was only her it was acceptable to make fun of. I do think he respected her chutzpah though.  Maybe he was a product of his upbringing and then stardom but he wanted things his way all the time. The tabloids are awful, but expecting them to respect his family when he was cheating on wife with makeup girl was crazy. They live for that. You play a saint and act like a human, all the nice gloves are off. That's Hollywood. He might have mellowed as he got older. He definitely would have had a love/hate with social media.

 

 

Edited December 24, 2021 by debraran

[Blergh]

While I agree that ML's family did NOT deserve to be bombarded by the rags, OTOH, he himself was FAR more inconsiderate of them for having fooled around on their mother AND expecting everyone to just somehow keep it a secret. 

Also, via him consistently (and constantly ) playing saints even when he was in a position to  choose any kind of role he wanted- yet behaving like an increasingly fallable human, that somewhat upped the rags wanting to take him down. I'm NOT saying it justified this but it's not surprising that they'd have been more interested in doing so than in a performer who had consistently played bums,cheats and/or losers. 

[jason88cubs]

Merry Christmas all!

[Mr. Sparkle]

May you all get pennies and your own cup today! 

[Snow Apple]

Will you all save your peppermint sticks? No me!

[Mr. Sparkle]

I am way more Laura than Mary. I would've downed that heart shaped cake in a second! 

[Egg McMuffin]

Please keep an eye on your toddlers today even if you’re tempted to defend a family friend who has gotten into a fight. And avoid psycho kidnappers, at all cost.

[Blergh]

OK, I got Miss Grassle's book as a Christmas present.

@ Debraran already went over what she said about ML and I more or less agree that he didn't do her (or the other adult cast members) right so I'm not going to rehash this. However, I truly think she could have summed up how  the whole salary contest in a couple of paragraphs transpired at once instead of constantly referring to it even when ostensibly talking about other aspects of the show or production.

Spoiler

 

Also, I disagreed with her assessment of 'Stone Soup' and thought Caroline had had  pivotal role in helping to save Laura and her unborn grandchild's lives as well as the orchard via caring for the exhausted Laura  and repeating that story (and it was good seeing Caroline function as a teacher again). 

I liked her detailed descriptions of how The Pilot TV Movie got produced, the crews' roles and every step she took to transform herself into the iconic Caroline. Also, she did a good job recounting some of her more memorable episodes and how she relished some of the challenges (e.g. controlled but real fire in the barn spooking the barn animals in 'The Award').

Yes, it was nice that she got to bond not just with the late Miss MacGregor  playing the foil Mrs. Oleson but also Victor French as Mr. Edwards, Dabbs Greer as Rev. Alden, Karl Swenson as Mr. Hansen, Charlotte Stewart as Miss Beadle. I would have liked to have read more about how she interacted with them and the girls instead of the tedious contest between herself and ML.

Alas, the contest isn't the only hashmark. I'm not sure I believe her 2nd hand claim via allegedly ML that Victor French 'drank himself to death' rather than had died from lung cancer- especially since none of his surviving family or any other cast member (including Charlotte Stewart -who'd had a more intimate bond with him back then) had claimed the former to have been Mr. French's cause of death.  Also, considering that for many years after the show was over  (and ML's death) everyone else including Miss MacGregor herself had  stated that she missed the last episodes due to a pilgrimage to India, I'm not sure Miss Grassle's claim that Miss MacGregor did so   out of being totally demoralized by ML is valid.

NOT dealing with the show, I  got confused as to whom Miss Grassle was dating, got married to and had affairs with but even more disheartening was the detached and dispassionate way she talked about her affairs, companions and husbands- and for that matter virtually everyone else. Even when her father died in a tragic way, she described how she had a strong reaction to his death but hadn't said much about her feelings towards him beforehand beyond her dismay at his alcoholism and self-destruction - yet didn't seem to consider that when she started drinking (and becoming an alcoholic). Contrast that with Miss Stewart's bio which went into emotional (and often passionate) detail about her family, her exes, her late husband and friends.  On a positive note, she did talk about her her production of Battered (1978) helped start getting the ball rolling re updating laws and addressing the serious of domestic violence.  Alas, Miss Grassle's account showed virtually no sense of humor about herself (which even Miss Anderson's coolly received account DID have glimpses of said humor) . Lastly, the bulk of it ended on a hopeful note of her on  marrying someone with children and anticipating having children of their own. .. then it rushes through her deathbed reconciliation with ML to end  the book with one of the former crew praising her for her professionalism during her contest with ML roughly fifteen years afterward. Nothing about the 2nd marriage ending nor anything at all about her 3rd marriage (which, surprise, also ended in divorce).  Nothing about her adopting a child (much less addressing how it was in earlier accounts it was reported that she had adopted a girl but in more recent ones she talks about her son). 

 

I give this one a C+.

 

Edited December 26, 2021 by Blergh

[debraran]

1 hour ago, Blergh said:

OK, I got Miss Grassle's book as a Christmas present.

@ Debraran already went over what she said about ML and I more or less agree that he didn't do her (or the other adult cast members) right so I'm not going to rehash this. However, I truly think she could have summed up how  the whole salary contest in a couple of paragraphs transpired at once instead of constantly referring to it even when ostensibly talking about other aspects of the show or production.

  Hide contents

 

Also, I disagreed with her assessment of 'Stone Soup' and thought Caroline had had  pivotal role in helping to save Laura and her unborn grandchild's lives as well as the orchard via caring for the exhausted Laura repeating that story (and it was good seeing Caroline as a teacher). 

I liked her detailed descriptions of how The Pilot TV Movie got produced, the crews' roles and every step she took to transform herself into the iconic Caroline. Also, she did a good job recounting some of her more memorable episodes and how she relished some of the challenges (e.g. controlled but real fire in the barn spooking the barn animals in 'The Award').

Yes, it was nice that she got to bond not just with the late Miss MacGregor  playing the foil Mrs. Oleson but also Victor French as Mr. Edwards, Dabbs Greer as Rev. Alden, Karl Swenson as Mr. Hansen, Charlotte Stewart as Miss Beadle. I would have liked to have read more about how she interacted with them and the girls instead of the tedious contest between herself and ML.

Alas, the contest isn't the only hashmark. I'm not sure I believe her 2nd hand claim via allegedly ML that Victor French 'drank himself to death' rather than had died from lung cancer- especially since none of his surviving family or any other cast member (including Charlotte Stewart -who'd had a more intimate bond with him back then) had claimed the former to have been Mr. French's cause of death.  Also, considering that for many years after the show was over  (and ML's death) everyone else including Miss MacGregor herself had  stated that she missed the last episodes due to a pilgrimage to India, I'm not sure Miss Grassle's claim that Miss MacGregor did so   out of being totally demoralized by ML is valid.

NOT dealing with the show, I  got confused as to whom Miss Grassle was dating, got married to and had affairs with but even more disheartening was the detached and dispassionate way she talked about her affairs, companions and husbands- and for that matter virtually everyone else. Even when her father died in a tragic way, she described how she had a strong reaction to his death but hadn't said much about her feelings towards him beforehand beyond her dismay at his alcoholism and self-destruction - yet didn't seem to consider that when she started drinking (and becoming an alcoholic). Contrast that with Miss Stewart's bio which went into emotional (and often passionate) detail about her family, her exes, her late husband and friends.  On a positive note, she did talk about her her production of Battered (1978) helped start getting the ball rolling re updating laws and addressing the serious of domestic violence.  Alas, Miss Grassle's account showed virtually no sense of humor about herself (which even Miss Anderson's coolly received account DID have glimpses of said humor) . Lastly, the bulk of it ended on a hopeful note of her on  marrying someone with children and anticipating having children of their own. .. then it rushes through her deathbed reconciliation with ML to end  the book with one of the former crew praising her for her professionalism during her contest with ML roughly fifteen years afterward. Nothing about the 2nd marriage ending nor anything at all about her 3rd marriage (which, surprise, also ended in divorce).  Nothing about her adopting a child (much less addressing how it was in earlier accounts it was reported that she had adopted a girl but in more recent ones she talks about her son). 

 

I give this one a C+.

 

I agree, the editing was bad but I don't blame Karen for that. What she wrote and how it was put together, what she had vs what they thought fans wanted to hear etc.

I also felt reading it, some things were spread out and could have been put in one chapter. It did go on years though. I do feel that Victor probably did drink himself to death and had cancer. Mike blamed his upcoming death of course, mainly on cancer but mentioned in interviews he took care of his muscles, but not his insides, he drank and smoked way too much. Katherine could also have been both, she went away and didn't care to be on show after he destroyed most of it. I can see it both ways. They never saw eye to eye and Katherine said he was a "peacock" from the beginning, but they weren't going to air grievances in public. They lie about Jonathan too, he's anywhere they feel that day, doing a play, a banker, a monk, a recluse.

I thought it could have been so much better, even the Gil Gerard thing was glossed over and I wish she left the tidbit out about her memory but it was part of her life. I did like that the chemistry I felt with her and the kids was real with "Uncle Chris" and didn't have to be "acting".

None of the many cast and friends who gave comments and reviews said it wasn't true, they all had more sanitized versions but later said "yes, those things happened" Even Melissa knew about some of the more colorful things later but said it was a different time and you stayed quiet. If I thought she lied, I'd pass on comments on book but we all have different lenses seeing the same thing.

Edited December 26, 2021 by debraran

[Blergh]

Let me put it this way: I don't think that Miss Grassle MUST have been lying about the cause of Mr. French's death or Miss MacGregor's absence. However, I also am not so certain that    what  she said on those particular subjects were necessarily the whole truth and nothing but for the reasons I covered. Questioning whether claims could be valid due to claims being different from all previous sources isn't the same as declaring claims must be dishonest! 

Anyway, back to the subject at hand, it was most  satisfying hearing her firsthand account of how the show got put together and how she worked through often less-than-idyllic conditions (yes, including the salary dispute) but there were other parts that seemed lacking.   E.g, ONE blow-by-blow account of what Miss Grassle went through when flying to tour different cities to do interviews for the show would have sufficed instead of, it seemed,  her rehashing every tour she went on.  And, IMO, it's puzzling that Miss Grassle early on claimed to have adopted a daughter but now refers to her offspring as her grown son. Were these two individuals (and, if so, what became of the daughter)  or did the child who was originally her  daughter have   gender re-assignment procedures and is now her son?

P.S. I agree that it's also puzzling how Mr. Gilbert's post-show fate has had so many different versions told. I wonder if the truth could be that no one from the show (including his immediate  family) stayed in touch with him for more than a few years afterwards and have totally lost track of what's become of him.  I don't claim to know his MO or speak for him. However, I think if Mr. Gilbert WAS reachable to his former castmates and/or wanted to participate in meeting-and-greeting fans, he'd have been doing so all along (or at the very least had conveyed   updates/regrets). 

Edited December 28, 2021 by Blergh

[debraran]

1 hour ago, Blergh said:

Let me put it this way: I don't think that Miss Grassle MUST have been lying about the cause of Mr. French's death or Miss MacGregor's absence. However, I also am not so certain that    what  she said on those particular subjects were necessarily the whole truth and nothing but for the reasons I covered. Questioning whether claims could be valid due to claims being different from all previous sources isn't the same as declaring claims must be dishonest! 

Anyway, back to the subject at hand, it was most  satisfying hearing her firsthand account of how the show got put together and how she worked through often less-than-idyllic conditions (yes, including the salary dispute) but there were other parts that seemed lacking.   E.g, ONE blow-by-blow account of what Miss Grassle went through when flying to tour different cities to do interviews for the show would have sufficed instead of, it seemed,  her rehashing every tour she went on.  And, IMO, it's puzzling that Miss Grassle early on claimed to have adopted a daughter but now refers to her offspring as her grown son. Were these two individuals (and, if so, what became of the daughter)  or did the daughter have   gender re-assignment procedures and is now her son?

P.S. I agree that it's also puzzling how Mr. Gilbert's post-show fate has had so many different versions told. I wonder if the truth could be that no one from the show (including his immediate  family) stayed in touch with him for more than a few years afterwards and have totally lost track of what's become of him. 

Blergh, I think something happened at home with Jon and barring mental illness, just wrote them all off. What I do know is that some of them kept in touch for a few years, Melissa, Sue, some adults, the twins, "knew someone who knew him" but it was like a big secret. For Pete's sake "Albert" worked with him a lot and never would say word either about him or working with him, etc. It was like a dark secret. Melissa G said she saw him twice since then and that's it.

What I gleamed from a book by a French writer Patrick Loubatiere, who interviewed Katherine, Richard, Dabbs and Karen was he was very well liked by adults and played with the boys etc. on set. Richard Bull really liked him and said he was the smartest kid on the set (unlike Allison's sometimes unkind words when he was little) and grew into a fine actor. He alluded to Melissa G parents being "all about her" and he was ignored but he appreciated him and Katherine. He said when he finished, he took what money he could get and left. That was it, he fulfilled what he had too and left what seemed like a dysfunctional family but who knows? He left parents and step sister and everyone in that sphere. Your imagination can go haywire thinking abuses or a dozen other scenarios and have them all be wrong or partly right. The lying has always been silly and one fan told me who knew someone who worked on set, he wont say anything but that anything you see on the web is untrue, every photo, everything. I was like "Is he in jail or dead or in another country? " He just said, everything is wrong.

All I know is in 2021 with SS # and many other search tools, no one is really missing if working and I hope he is okay but I always resented for some reason Alison telling tales about him at fan meetings. At least Melissa just said she didn't know. Granted no one cares about a guy who in a show 30 years ago, but it's like the pink elephant in the room that is there but everyone just whispers about.

http://lauralittlehouseontheprairie.blogspot.com/2014/08/prairie-memories-by-patrick-loubatiere.html

I agree with you on more than one truth, I didn't mean she didn't spin her thoughts or Michael's but I expected more from the book and realize the author sometimes doesn't have any recourse if they want the money.

[Snow Apple]

I saw the Brenda Sue episode for the first time in years and Laura was even more childish than I remembered. A respectable married woman starting a fight in the street is just ridiculous. And in front of the school children!

When Ma thought Pa was having an affair, she was angry but planned to sit down for a serious discussion. She didn't go after the widow shrieking and with fists swinging.

Edited December 27, 2021 by Snow Apple

[Egg McMuffin]

23 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

I saw the Brenda Sue episode for the first time in years and Laura was even more childish than I remembered. A respectable married woman starting a fight in the street is just ridiculous. And in front of the school children!

When Ma thought Pa was having an affair, she was angry but planned to sit down for a serious discussion. She didn't go after the widow shrieking and with fists swinging.

I saw that was on COZI TV today but I missed it. I’m surprised the board didn’t fire Laura for that ridiculous display. I bet if Alice Garvey hadn’t burned to a crisp they would have. Even Mr. Applewood might have been preferable.

[Blergh]

2 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

I saw the Brenda Sue episode for the first time in years and Laura was even more childish than I remembered. A respectable married woman starting a fight in the street is just ridiculous. And in front of the school children!

When Ma thought Pa was having an affair, she was angry but planned to sit down for a serious discussion. She didn't go after the widow shrieking and with fists swinging.

Yet, keep in mind that Laura immediately stopped what she was doing when Caroline called her on it!

[Egg McMuffin]

I think we need to rank the Walnut Grove teachers, from best to worst. Here’s a list of them, in chronological order:

• Eva Beadle Simms. Pros: Gentle, caring, understanding. Cons: Can’t handle the older boys; sends children out into raging blizzards.
• Caroline Ingalls. Pros: She’s Ma - say no more. She’s like Miss Beadle, only better, and with common sense. Cons: None that I can think of.
• Hannibal Applewood. Pros: Could handle the older boys. Cons: A total bastard. On the other hand, he didn’t take any shit from Laura and didn’t make her a teacher’s pet.
• Alice Garvey. Pros: Retired from the job after a relatively brief stint. Cons: Short-tempered; irritable; miserable; excessively concerned about her son embarrassing her with his poor school performance; can’t catch cheaters.
• Eliza Jane Wilder. Pros: No-nonsense; runs a tight ship; had no teacher’s pets. Cons: Prissy, though she can be a badass when she needs to be.
• Laura Ingalls Wilder. Pros: None. Cons: Irritable; doesn’t seem to enjoy the job; brawls in the street; has low EQ (example: thinks that embarrassing an emotionally disturbed girl is a good idea).
• Harriet Oleson: Pros: Ahead of her time, in terms of instruction in art and language. Irritable but big-hearted; funny. Cons: Goes overboard with her expanded curriculum, with subjects the children don’t need; doesn’t understand that a dress code in a farming community is a lost cause.
• Etta Plum. Pros: way nicer than predecessor Laura; knows how to take a punch. Cons: Dull and personality-free.

[Katy M]

25 minutes ago, Kyle said:

ends children out into raging blizzards.

She only did that once.

 

25 minutes ago, Kyle said:

Laura Ingalls Wilder. Pros: None. Cons: Irritable; doesn’t seem to enjoy the job; brawls in the street; has low EQ (example: thinks that embarrassing an emotionally disturbed girl is a good idea).

Pro: She can see what's going on behind her and doesn't automatically blame Willie for everything.

[Blergh]

4 hours ago, Kyle said:

I think we need to rank the Walnut Grove teachers, from best to worst. Here’s a list of them, in chronological order:

• Eva Beadle Simms. Pros: Gentle, caring, understanding. Cons: Can’t handle the older boys; sends children out into raging blizzards.
• Caroline Ingalls. Pros: She’s Ma - say no more. She’s like Miss Beadle, only better, and with common sense. Cons: None that I can think of.

[/quote]

Quote

• CON: ONLY teaches all of two episodes in Eight Seasons.  BTW, who was supposed to be teaching the Walnut Grove students from the time Mary went blind/ Mrs. Simms left Walnut Grove to Mrs. Garvey taking up the mantle in Winoka?

 

• Hannibal Applewood. Pros: Could handle the older boys. Cons: A total bastard. On the other hand, he didn’t take any shit from Laura and didn’t make her a teacher’s pet.
• Alice Garvey. Pros: Retired from the job after a relatively brief stint. Cons: Short-tempered; irritable; miserable; excessively concerned about her son embarrassing her with his poor school performance; can’t catch cheaters.

 

But did Mrs. Garvey retire  or was she . .. FIRED (via the Blind School Conflagration )?!

• Eliza Jane Wilder. Pros: No-nonsense; runs a tight ship; had no teacher’s pets. Cons: Prissy, though she can be a badass when she needs to be.[/QUOTE]

 

Oddly enough, wound up being Albert's fave teacher in spite of him not considering her the most breathtaking of older women. Considering Albert's checkered history, I'm not sure whether that's a pro or con!

 

• Laura Ingalls Wilder. Pros: None. Cons: Irritable; doesn’t seem to enjoy the job; brawls in the street; has low EQ (example: thinks that embarrassing an emotionally disturbed girl is a good idea).

 

Not to mention that she didn't consider asking any of her sibs to help her out with  her orchard and it was only Caroline being able to guilt trip Laura's own students into salvaging it that  kept it from turning into apple fritters!

 

• Harriet Oleson: Pros: Ahead of her time, in terms of instruction in art and language. Irritable but big-hearted; funny. Cons: Goes overboard with her expanded curriculum, with subjects the children don’t need; doesn’t understand that a dress code in a farming community is a lost cause.

 

However, via pressuring that impoverished tiny  farm girl's parents to cough up a penny for her mandatory stockings, she WAS able to reap a little cash for the Mercantile while she was away from running the till.

 

•  
• Etta Plum. Pros: way nicer than predecessor Laura; knows how to take a punch. Cons: Dull and personality-free.

Though one wonders if Miss Plum would have gotten the job were it not for a certain new Burr Oak men's store employee having had pull and , with her previous teaching experience, why was Hester Sue not considered for the post?

Edited December 31, 2021 by Blergh

[Mr. Sparkle]

1 hour ago, Kyle said:

Caroline Ingalls. Pros: She’s Ma - say no more. She’s like Miss Beadle, only better, and with common sense. Cons: None that I can think of.

Pro: she can smack the crap out of a baseball. 

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, Kyle said:

Eva Beadle Simms. Pros: Gentle, caring, understanding. Cons: Can’t handle the older boys; sends children out into raging blizzards.

I don't know if this is a pro or con, but I know Laura thinks it's a pro: She smells like lemon verbena.  I have no idea what that smells like.  Or how strongly she smells of it.

[jird]

3 hours ago, Katy M said:

She only did that once.

This made me laugh way more than it should have - thank you!

Also, Miss Wilder inspired sufficient loyalty in the kids for them to beat up Bartholomew in order to keep her as a teacher. (Although clearly they hadn't learned enough from their teachers to remember that was also the solution to dealing with Bubba.) 

[debraran]

Caroline would have been a great teacher, even though she said as a Mom you are always one she had the personality to make most kids love her. I think Harriet would have great for a special subject or even to teach kids about starting a store or business, if farming wasn't attractive. Although she did it with Nel's, she for that time was a strong woman doing something most didn't. You could work at the mail room, sew, but a bank or have a store? You never saw that again. I liked that Nels said how smart she was with "most"decisions and good with figures or math.

Edited December 31, 2021 by debraran

[jason88cubs]

Jan 1, 2022- This year only cash on a barrel-Charles

Jan 2, 2022-I'm out of tobacco Mrs Oleson, can I charge it?-Charles

Harriet-Charles, we won't offer credit for something simple like tobacco

Charles-FINE I SEE HOW IT IS (storms out)

[Egg McMuffin]

My list of teachers, from best to worst: 

• Miss Beadle
• Eliza Jane
• Ma (tenure comment above taken seriously)
• Harriet
• Miss Plum
• Laura
• Mr Applewood
• Alice Garvey

[jird]

Watching The Rac(c)oon, and man, Pa just all set to shoot poor Jack because he's barking and wagging his tail. Apparently my dogs have rabies every time the UPS truck drives by.

[CheshireCat]

I caught a rerun of the Pilot this morning. I'm not a dog person but boy, what an adorable dog Jack is!

[Blergh]

14 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

I caught a rerun of the Pilot this morning. I'm not a dog person but boy, what an adorable dog Jack is!

Yep, and no matter how broad and corny the show wound up or annoying Grown Up Laura became,   to the end  one could ALWAYS count on Jack running down the hill with the Spunky, Sympathetic Child Half-Pint in the Closing Credits

[Zella]

I never really forgave Pa for not ensuring Jack was on the wagon when they crossed or Laura for being so dismissive of him right before he died. Jack was a good boy. 

[Blergh]

11 minutes ago, Zella said:

I never really forgave Pa for not ensuring Jack was on the wagon when they crossed or Laura for being so dismissive of him right before he died. Jack was a good boy. 

And kudos must be given to the casting department for finding a working canine who not only looked EXACTLY like Mrs. Wilder's beloved  pal had been illustrated (and I'd like to think she had carefully described him to the illustrator as best she could)  but also had believably handled so many of the physical and emotional challenges his literary model had endured! Oh, and it should be noted that  as per the Books, Jack died peacefully of old age!   While he hadn't been as much a boon companion to Laura as she grew up as when she was a tiny child, she and the rest of the Ingallses DID value him to the very end! 

[CountryGirl]

42 minutes ago, Blergh said:

And kudos must be given to the casting department for finding a working canine who not only looked EXACTLY like Mrs. Wilder's beloved  pal had been illustrated (and I'd like to think she had carefully described him to the illustrator as best she could)  but also had believably handled so many of the physical and emotional challenges his literary model had endured! Oh, and it should be noted that  as per the Books, Jack died peacefully of old age!   While he hadn't been as much a boon companion to Laura as she grew up as when she was a tiny child, she and the rest of the Ingallses DID value him to the very end! 

RL/Book Jack was a brindle bulldog.

 

No offense to TV Jack, who was adorable, but being a member of the Shaggy Dog breed, he looked nothing like RL/Book Jack.

Just another example of ML not giving a fig for the books.

[Snow Apple]

Hate to burst anybody's bubble, but in real life, Pa traded the ponies, Pet and Patty, for horses and Jack went with them. Laura probably loved Jack which is why she wrote a sad but sweet ending for him in the books.

[greekmom]

On 12/22/2021 at 10:43 AM, Kyle said:

Very well put. They missed a golden opportunity with adult Nellie. Alison Arngrim was a versatile actress. They could have milked Nellie and Perciville’s romance over a whole season. And she didn’t have to be tamed so drastically. She could have reformed, but still have been feisty. And they could have slowly developed a friendship between her and Laura - that would have been dramatically satisfying after all the antagonism between them as children. Those two actresses had so much chemistry. But after Nellie was married, they hardly ever appeared in the same scene.

I thought they missed the boat with Nancy - good performer but terrible character (akin to Julia Duffy in “Designing Women”). Allison Balson could have pulled off a character who was mischievous but not evil.

They really missed an opportunity for a spin off.  Nellie in the Big City of NY.  Can you imagine the whole small town girl fish out of water meshing with her Jewish inlaws?  Gold Jerry. Gold.

On 12/22/2021 at 8:18 PM, Zella said:

I'm sure a crying and gratuitously shirtless Charles would have helped him work through it in a tear-jerker two-parter before they moved on and deported Nels to New York to join Mary and Adam. 

Nah.  The red headed Irish chick would have showed up and help console Nels.

[Mr. Sparkle]

8 minutes ago, greekmom said:

Nah.  The red headed Irish chick would have showed up and help console Nels.

As sure as grass grows green in Galway she would! 

[Zella]

10 minutes ago, greekmom said:

Nah.  The red headed Irish chick would have showed up and help console Nels.

I'd wondered about that, but I think they'd still get banished to New York after the end of the two-parter in which shirtless Charles comforts Nels and then Nels finds new life with his Irish girlfriend. Can't have anyone else's love story competing with the Ingalls family!

[Blergh]

20 hours ago, greekmom said:

They really missed an opportunity for a spin off.  Nellie in the Big City of NY.  Can you imagine the whole small town girl fish out of water meshing with her Jewish inlaws?  Gold Jerry. Gold.

Nah.  The red headed Irish chick would have showed up and help console Nels.

Oddly enough, despite BOTH the Cohens/Daltons and Kendalls spouses having been exiled to NYC, at no point is there any hint that either couple attempted to look up the other one- much less caught up with each other while strolling through Central Park eating roasted chestnuts out of newspaper cones (the fast food for 1880's city folk). And none of the Ingallses or Olesons asked about the other family's grown offspring living in the same city! 

Edited January 4, 2022 by Blergh

[jason88cubs]

I always thought it was crazy how many times Laura snuck out at night

 

No way that was safe at all back then. Walking all the way into town in middle of the night with no light but the stars?

[jason88cubs]

On 1/2/2022 at 4:53 PM, jird said:

Watching The Rac(c)oon, and man, Pa just all set to shoot poor Jack because he's barking and wagging his tail. Apparently my dogs have rabies every time the UPS truck drives by.

I know he's not a vet but wouldn't the Doc be able to see if he has rabies?

[jird]

I don't think it's necessarily a bad episode, but I cannot watch the episode where Mary and Laura buy medicine to get Rev. Alden a better Bible. I just can't take the secondhand cringe while they're trying to sell the medicine.

[BigBingerBro]

9 minutes ago, jird said:

the episode where Mary and Laura buy medicine to get Rev. Alden a better Bible.

That one actually has some pretty interesting one-time characters and residents of Walnut Grove.  The old lady who was actually an alcoholic and wanted Laura's medicine for the alcohol content only.  Also, the female pig-farmer that refused to pay for the pills the pigs ate.  Classic!

[Mr. Sparkle]

1 hour ago, jason88cubs said:

I know he's not a vet but wouldn't the Doc be able to see if he has rabies?

I swear I read somewhere that he was actually a vet and not a people-doctor. I'm not sure of the source. 

I don't think Doc was based on anyone real. 

[Katy M]

3 hours ago, jason88cubs said:

I know he's not a vet but wouldn't the Doc be able to see if he has rabies?

You mean when Charles was about to shoot him or shortly after being bitten by Jasper?  The former, I don't know. The latter, definitely not.  Vets can't even do that today.

[Blergh]

4 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

That one actually has some pretty interesting one-time characters and residents of Walnut Grove.  The old lady who was actually an alcoholic and wanted Laura's medicine for the alcohol content only.  Also, the female pig-farmer that refused to pay for the pills the pigs ate.  Classic!

Too bad Mary and Laura didn't just take her pigs to the butcher and see if they could have raised the bacon.

 

Come to think of, there WAS no butcher in Walnut Grove and yet somehow the Olesons never wanted to for meat. ..

[Egg McMuffin]

They bartered for meat I’m sure. There was no shortage of farmers with poor cash flow. Or farmers who wanted to unload bad mutton.

[debraran]

8 hours ago, Blergh said:

Too bad Mary and Laura didn't just take her pigs to the butcher and see if they could have raised the bacon.

 

Come to think of, there WAS no butcher in Walnut Grove and yet somehow the Olesons never wanted to for meat. ..

I wondered about that too, they surely ate well. You saw a vegetable garden once when the goat episode was shown, but never where they got items. Nel's hunted at times but not much talk about that either. When the neighbors did badly with crops, they seemed to eat fine, maybe a lot of eggs. ; )

I also wondered if fish was a big staple. What did Dr Baker and Hansen do for food. You never saw them do anything but maybe fish once and Doc got fruit and eggs but didn't really have a place to keep anything in his office/bedroom. Did he even have a kitchen?

Edited January 6, 2022 by debraran

[Snow Apple]

Seeing the food issue spelled out, I guess opening Nellie's restaurant makes business sense in a small town after all.

[Blergh]

2 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

Seeing the food issue spelled out, I guess opening Nellie's restaurant makes business sense in a small town after all.

Yeah, but where did they get their fresh food from? 

 

BTW, Nellie's last dialogue as an LHOTP (and not in her Season Nine visit) was to ask 

"Who had the lamb stew?"

Considering all the turmoil with anthrax and mutton, I'm surprised Caroline's Restaurant  didn't  avoid anything to do with sheep much less  gone vegetarian!  I'm not sure it would have been wise to have trusted even a tamed Nellie with that dish!

[Snow Apple]

5 hours ago, Blergh said:

Yeah, but where did they get their fresh food from? 

In the book, The Long Winter, the town almost starved because the train with food and supplies couldn't get through. Maybe the restaurant can get regular deliveries from out of town suppliers. They may even have deals from the local farmers. They already buy eggs from the Ingalls and other families.

[Blergh]

2 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

In the book, The Long Winter, the town almost starved because the train with food and supplies couldn't get through. Maybe the restaurant can get regular deliveries from out of town suppliers. They may even have deals from the local farmers. They already buy eggs from the Ingalls and other families.

Makes sense re The Books.

 

However, it seemed once they finished the Pilot Movie( which painstakingly depicted how every morsel of food was brought forth), the show became about as indifferent to the logistics of supplies as Gilligan's Island!