Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

[PaulBMA]

I don't know which episode as I'm more of a casual viewer so I don't know the episode title but ML says to MG something like "I haven't been whipping you in a while, and I think iIve been making a mistake!" and MG goes "No, Pa, please, don't! I didn't mean it!"

Charles should have just gone ahead and whipped Laura.

There's an episode of The Saddle Club where little sister Melanie humiliates Lisa Atwood by showing a photo of Lisa naked as a baby to Alpha Bitches Veronica and Kristi, and I feel that Lisa should have given Melanie a smack right then and there.

Yes The Saddle Club is aimed at girls and I'm a guy...

[RedbirdNelly]

1 hour ago, libgirl2 said:

I think the Olsens were just thrilled that someone loved Nellie enough to marry her! I have to confess, I loved the scene when it dawns on her that Percival "likes" her. I thought it was sweet to see the spoiled Nellie "cured" by love. Very Taming of the Shrew. 

 

unrealistic or not, I just enjoyed the episodes of Nellie and Percival and Nellie becoming a much better person. Maybe because of becoming fans of Nellie despite hating her, I was somehow cheering for her in a way and nice to see a turnaround. I remember when he dumps the eggs on her, says something about her being way too pretty to need a restaurant to get a husband and she's all happy because he called her pretty. :)

Thanks for those who brought up Cousin Jenny. I hate Cousin Jenny characters. they never work.

[libgirl2]

3 minutes ago, RedbirdNelly said:

unrealistic or not, I just enjoyed the episodes of Nellie and Percival and Nellie becoming a much better person. Maybe because of becoming fans of Nellie despite hating her, I was somehow cheering for her in a way and nice to see a turnaround. I remember when he dumps the eggs on her, says something about her being way too pretty to need a restaurant to get a husband and she's all happy because he called her pretty. 🙂

Thanks for those who brought up Cousin Jenny. I hate Cousin Jenny characters. they never work.

I always liked watching Nellie even at her worst. And I always wanted to see more of her and Percival! Didn't she say "he called me pretty" with this totally gaga look on her face? 

No, Cousin Jennys don't work, neither do orphaned James or Cassandras...... 

[PaulBMA]

Speaking of twins on shows, there was a wonderful line on TV Tropes Dot Org taken from a post on the old TWOP about how the parents would have to explain to their (cis) sons why they were on television playing a (cis) girl as a baby but a trans activist removed it as transphobic.

[RedbirdNelly]

21 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

I always liked watching Nellie even at her worst. And I always wanted to see more of her and Percival! Didn't she say "he called me pretty" with this totally gaga look on her face? 

No, Cousin Jennys don't work, neither do orphaned James or Cassandras...... 

exactly. I think the line is "He called me pretty!" with eggs running down her hair.

Agree on James, Cassandras, etc.

Albert may be the only "hey, let's add a new kid character" that seemed to work. He never felt like a Cousin Oliver (Brady Bunch reference) add on to me.

[BigBingerBro]

I feel that Albert worked because he was introduced and worked into the story in a logical way over several episodes and he had some strong scenes early on,   It wasn't like he just suddenly appeared and was part of the show in the span of one episode.

[RedbirdNelly]

does anyone have the scoop on Albert being added? was it because Mary's character was gone as a day-to-day person for Laura and Pa to interact with (since she's at the school) and Carrie was not showing signs of growing into a real character?

[PaulBMA]

Landon bluntly thought there was too much estrogen in the Ingalls family.

[PennyPlain]

I never had a problem with anyone's acting skills - it was the storylines and the melodrama that finally got me tuning out.  I saw one or two later episodes with Laura married and that was one or two episodes too many.

[wanton87]

29 minutes ago, RedbirdNelly said:

does anyone have the scoop on Albert being added?

I seem to recall hearing mentioned that it was an attempt to appeal to more young male viewers, since the stories were told from a female centrist point of view. I’m male, but I liked the books growing up, mostly, because they’re one of the better documented pioneer stories out there. Of course, it wasn’t until later that I learned that much of the children’s books were fictionalized, and if you want the real scoop, you need to pick up the Pioneer Girl transcript.

Interestingly, ML included the birth and death of baby Freddie, who was indeed a real life character (unlike Albert). But the real Laura left him out of the books altogether. I also find it kind of odd that in the books, Laura never once referred to Walnut Grove Minnesota by name, but rather “Plum Creek” Minnesota.

Edited January 16, 2020 by wanton87

[Snow Apple]

I remember an episode after Laura was married and she was mad at Almanzo for hanging out with an old girlfriend. The B plot was a running joke that Pa kept needing to buy new glass window panes because they kept breaking in wacky ways.

Imgine my surprise and delight when I stumbled on an episode of Bonanza which had the same running joke.

Edited January 16, 2020 by Snow Apple

[wanton87]

11 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

Imgine my surprise and delight when I stumbled on an episode of Bonanza which had the same running joke.

Right. There were more than a few episodes that ML recycled from Bonanza.

Quote

Some of the episodes written by Michael Landon were recycled storylines from ones that he had written for Bonanza. Season two's "A Matter of Faith" was based on the Bonanza episode "A Matter of Circumstance"; season five's "Someone Please Love Me" was based on the Bonanza episode "A Dream To Dream"; season seven's "The Silent Cry" was based on the Bonanza episode "The Sound of Sadness"; season eight's "He Was Only Twelve" was based on the Bonanza episode "He Was Only Seven"; and season nine's "Little Lou" was based on the Bonanza episode "It's A Small World".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_House_on_the_Prairie_(TV_series)

[libgirl2]

12 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

I remember an episode after Laura was married and she was mad at Almanzo for hanging out with an old girlfriend. The B plot was a running joke that Pa kept needing to buy new glass window panes because they kept breaking in wacky ways.

Imgine my surprise and delight when I stumbled on an episode of Bonanza which had the same running joke.

And for a family with little means, glass was expensive!

 

12 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

I feel that Albert worked because he was introduced and worked into the story in a logical way over several episodes and he had some strong scenes early on,   It wasn't like he just suddenly appeared and was part of the show in the span of one episode.

Yes, Albert never bothered me. I actually I liked him.

[alegtostandon]

19 hours ago, wanton87 said:

Right. There were more than a few episodes that ML recycled from Bonanza.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_House_on_the_Prairie_(TV_series)

That was the article I had read before.  I had also seen some recycled storylines on a show called Father Murphy, I think,  had the guy whose wife,  Alice,  was killed in the blind school fire on LHOTP.  I am not sure if that was a ML show. I have only seen a few episodes. 

Re: LIW red dress that she wore for years,  I understand that it may be an expense to buy a new dress,  but to me,  it was odd that the very last episode,  she was still wearing the same dress that was purchased when she was 15, after going through 2 pregnancies and losing every other posession when the Wilder homestead was destroyed in the tornado. 

[wanton87]

1 hour ago, alegtostandon said:

That was the article I had read before.  I had also seen some recycled storylines on a show called Father Murphy, I think,  had the guy whose wife,  Alice,  was killed in the blind school fire on LHOTP.  I am not sure if that was a ML show.

Didn’t know that, so thanks for the added info. I actually did watch the Father Murphy series, but since I never really watched Bonanza, I wouldn’t likely have recognized the recycled plots. Yes, you are right. It was produced by ML, and starred Merlin Olsen, formerly Jonathan Garvey in little house. It also featured Moses Gunn, who also previously starred in little house.

Here’s some trivia for you all. Catherine Cannon, who played Mae in Father Murphy, is married in real life to the guy that played Almanzo in little house. That same lady played the mother of one of the 90210 characters (I believe it was Donna?).

That Father Murphy series isn’t half bad, and those that like little house, would probably like it as well. The bad guy in it, was this evil, Snidely Whiplash looking little dude, that basically excelled in these evil incarnate type of roles. Here he is. Most of you probably recognize him, if not by name, by image.

Charles Tyner

[alegtostandon]

I had read somewhere that she played Donna Martin's mom on 90210, you would never know,  they looked nothing alike.  I will need to check Netflix for additional episodes.  One of the cable channels was showing it on weekends but must have stopped. 

I had no idea Donna Martin's mom was married to Almonzo! 

 

At first,  I thought that guy was Freddy Krueger, lol!  I do remember him being the guy wanting to shut down the orphanage on FM.  I then remember he was on the episode of LHOTP where Albert was addicted to cocaine,  he was the owner of the clothing store where Pa worked,  he was evil in that,  too!

Edited January 17, 2020 by alegtostandon

[BigBingerBro]

42 minutes ago, alegtostandon said:

Albert was addicted to cocaine

Wasn't it morphine?

[Mr. Sparkle]

47 minutes ago, BigBingerBro said:

Wasn't it morphine?

MorPHINE. 

[wanton87]

2 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

Wasn't it morphine?

Right, it was morphine. Then he tapped into Ol’ Doc’s stash, that went to patients that truly needed it. It seemed that everywhere that 19th century Damien went, death, mayhem, or at the very least, a first class con job, was sure to follow 😜

Edited January 18, 2020 by wanton87

[alegtostandon]

3 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

Wasn't it morphine?

I have no idea why I said cocaine!  Probably because I had my morphine pump filled yesterday,  lol!  Thanks,  everyone! 

[Snow Apple]

Father Murphy was where I first noticed a little actress named Shannon Doherty who was only in one episode. Say what you will about her as an adult but I thought she was cute and memorable as a child.

[alegtostandon]

1 hour ago, Snow Apple said:

Father Murphy was where I first noticed a little actress named Shannon Doherty who was only in one episode. Say what you will about her as an adult but I thought she was cute and memorable as a child.

Was that before her Jenny Wilder days?  I do think that was one I had seen,  was it where they thought she was a boy at first? 

[Snow Apple]

26 minutes ago, alegtostandon said:

Was that before her Jenny Wilder days?  I do think that was one I had seen,  was it where they thought she was a boy at first? 

Yes, that was before she was in LHOTP because I recognized "that girl from Father Murphy" when she became Jenny.

[wanton87]

10 hours ago, alegtostandon said:

Was that before her Jenny Wilder days?

You piqued my curiosity ALTSO, so I looked it up. She was in two episodes of Father Murphy in 1981 (The bear that bit me, parts one and two). I didn’t remember seeing her, or those episodes. She didn’t become part of the cast of little house until 1982, so this would have been pre-Jenny Wilder. I didn’t realize that she joined the cast of little house so late?

Don’t forget, she was also in “Our House” following little house, but preceding 90210. That show also featured perpetually cranky old geezer, Wilford Brimley, who must have been born at 75 years old 😛 But apparently was fit enough at one time to be a bodyguard for Howard Hughes (The internet is a wonderful thing folks)

 

On edit: Didn't see Snow Apple's reply until after I posted.

Edited January 18, 2020 by wanton87
Addendum

[BigBingerBro]

I'm sorry if this is slightly off-topic, but i can't seem to find a place to discuss funny closed caption mistakes.

I was watching the classic "Albert the drug addict" episode this morning on UP (coincidence it was just mentioned yesterday??) and the B-story line is young Jason wanting glasses.  When the school marm is asking him about his alleged eyesight problems (not being able to see the board) she says "You may need glasses young man.".  I usually have CC turned on because I watch from a distance.  The caption for this sentence was "You need man asses".  Needless to say, I did a Danny Thomas spit-take and coffee was everywhere!!

 

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

LOL! Who knew they were so progressive on the prairie!

 

[wanton87]

On 1/18/2020 at 7:18 AM, BigBingerBro said:

I'm sorry if this is slightly off-topic, but i can't seem to find a place to discuss funny closed caption mistakes.

It’s all good. Since we lost our dedicated subforum, and are now reduced to this solitary thread, that’s the only option that you have now. I looked, and I didn’t see an option to change the header title, as we were able to do before, but that was when you were able to create new threads, so that’s probably why.

I suppose another option, would be to just add some kind of a title at the top, such as:

Season 1, episode 1: Harvest Of Friends.

Then perhaps bold it, or something like that, to distinguish it from the previous conversation.

[VCRTracking]

It's episodes like "Harvest of Friends" that make me appreciate the Industrial Revolution.

[jird]

On 1/14/2020 at 6:15 PM, alegtostandon said:

If I recall,  Laura had bought a pair of shoes with heels with her first paycheck,  I think that's what she was hiding.

Yeah, one of the students told her she looked kinda small to be a teacher, so she bought the heeled shoes.

Speaking of teaching, I was watching the county fair episode where Mary totally ditches poor cute Patrick for the stupid balloon guy. Turns out maybe Mrs. Peele was right and Mary is a jezebel!😅

[alegtostandon]

Watching the episode where Albert & Andy want to be treated like men,  so Charles & Jonathon had them walk to Sleepy Eye to prove themselves, not expecting them to make it a few miles. They follow them,  not having any resources to eat or sleep.   I have seen this episode a couple of times.  One thing I remember from the other times I saw is after the boys make it to Sleepy Eye,  it begins to storm.  They go to a boarding house & tell a story about being orphans,  the woman takes pity on them & feeds them then gives them a warm bed.  I remember Charles & Johnathon, realizing neither brought their wallets or money,  watching them through a window,  waiting for the woman to discover the boys have no money when a cop catches them.  They tell the cop they've been following those 2 boys & they're waiting to see what they do next.  The cop,  I  thought,  put them in jail.  In this version,  after they watch the boys through the window, they go to sleep in a barn where they're told if they clean the barn,  they can stay.  Either I am losing it or they cut out the part that made the dad's look like pedophiles & spliced in a different scene. 

Also,  it dawned on me how ironic it was that Albert and Andy tell the boarding house woman that they're from Walnut Grove and lost their family when their house burned down.  Then, a couple episodes later,  Andy loses his mom to a house fire started by Albert! 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Is this the "shovels is in the corner" one? 

And "regular little men?" 

[BigBingerBro]

1 hour ago, alegtostandon said:

Either I am losing it or they cut out the part that made the dad's look like pedophiles & spliced in a different scene. 

If you're watching on Cozi during the weekday evenings, then they most likely cut it out.  They really butcher the show.

[VCRTracking]

Its always so clear watching episodes like that how much Michael Landon missed working with Dan Blocker and that Victor French and Merlin Olsen were substitutes.

[wanton87]

I wonder why ML didn’t have the son, Dirk Blocker, star in some more episodes. The only other member of Bonanza that I can think of that guest starred in little house, was Mitch Vogel. And he was only in a few episodes.

He must have been fond of Merlin Olson as well, since he created a show for him. Father Murphy wasn’t bad, and fans of little house would probably enjoy it as well. It wasn’t little house good, but decent enough that it’s still worth checking out, if you can find the episodes. My favorite character was that sinister little dude, that was always trying to screw over the orphanage 😁

[VCRTracking]

This whole pandemic is making me think of Matt Clark right now! God did he have awful luck on the show. First he loses his family to typhus, then anthrax!

[Mrs. Hanson]

I am watching reruns on Cozi tv in the afternoons as I am on spring break - then I work remotely.  I saw for the first time the episode where Caroline goes to help a friend who is pregnant and about to die from some disease and in labor.  At the same time, another woman is laboring and her baby dies!  So......Caroline and Doc Baker play "Switch the babies on the prairie!"  I was like, huh?  Guess they did not want to break the dad's heart whose real baby died when he entered the tent and asked how the baby was.  

I never get tired of Nancy Oleson getting dunked at the carnival/bazaar.

Interesting that in real life LIW never really liked teaching that much, she did it to help her family financially.

Another question I have:  Bonnie Bartlett played Grace but in the episode where Isaiah has a bit of a drinking problem, it was another actress.  Fine, maybe Ms. Bartlett was booked, but the sub was a brunette, looked nothing like the original!  And Grace was gone forever, correct?  Speaking of Isaiah, I do not like the episodes where he and Doc Baker get involved with younger women and the towns people lose their crap.  Let Doc Baker marry Anne Archer for goodness sake!!  

Then Harriet got all up in Rev Alden's business when he dared to date a widow lady.  Gotta love Harriet!  I read that she could be a real pain on the set, trying to direct things and giving notes on acting.  Michael Landon wanted to fire her and make Nels a widower but the character would have been greatly missed, so she stayed.

I was joking with a coworker before school was out:  "Look, I want to know at 5:00 what will happen at 6!  I want to know Pa Ingalls will fix whatever ails the town, Doc Baker will cure a disease, that Manly and Laura will be fine.  I need my comfort tv!!"

Edited March 29, 2020 by Mrs. Hanson

[BigBingerBro]

1 hour ago, Mrs. Hanson said:

I am watching reruns on Cozi tv in the afternoons

I've been watching them consistently as well.  Personally, I don't care much for the Laura/Almazo years...  One episode that I had never seen, is also one of the most unbelievable - not sure of the name, but it's where two bumbling ex-convicts kidnap Nels and ask for ransom which Harriet refuses to pay so she ends up getting kidnapped (after Nells convinces the ex-cons to do it) more and more of the tows-people start getting kidnapped.  The general idea for the episode is a cool idea, it was just poorly written and executed.  That's one of a few episodes I will skip the next time it comes on.

[Mrs. Hanson]

So while waiting patiently for LHOTP to come on I caught the ending of "Highway to Heaven" and I need to chant:  "I will not watch that show.  I will not watch that show."  Syrupy goodness at the core!!!  Darn you Michael Landon!!!

[jird]

Watched the episode where Mr. Edwards takes John Jr. hunting and then gets attacked by a bear and this episode has the worst fake blood I have ever seen anywhere.

[PSG]

Hey all, I checked the local listings for Cozi TV, and they are running the pilot this Thursday. It starts an hour earlier than usual. Lately they've been running the "New Beginnings" season, which sucks. Bring on the pilot! 

I remember the old thread--and I saw "the mime who raped Sylvia" on Cozi a week or two ago!

[Snow Apple]

Since I'm working from home, I'm able to catch episodes.

I saw the Return of Nellie. Loooooove that one. She brought back a spark to the show.

I also caught Mrs. Almanzo Wilder. Harve was clueless at best but I think he's just a jerk for stringing Eliza Jane along. He can't be *that* clueless about women, or even people in general.

[Snow Apple]

It still annoys me with what they did to Royal. He shows up with Jenny (no mention of his two sons) and Almanzo states they haven't seen each other in ten years and acting like Laura is meeting him for the first time.

Why didn't they just write it about one of Almanzo's other siblings?

 

[wanton87]

1 hour ago, Snow Apple said:

Why didn't they just write it about one of Almanzo's other siblings?

Yeah, there was a third brother that they could have used. Perley Day, or something along those lines? But he was young enough during the time-line of the farmer boy book, that he wasn’t even mentioned in the book. Huge plot holes in a story such as that, are annoying, and little house was notorious for this sort of thing.

As a side note, that family must have hated its sons. Royal, Almanzo, Perley Day? Those are the kind of names you a name a kid whose ass you wish to see get kicked on a regular basis 😆

[PSG]

So true about the Wilder boys' names!  😝

Dammit, Snow Apple, I missed the Nellie one again? I really want to see it.

 

[BigBingerBro]

So glad that Cozi is back to the first season.

"Country Girls" was on Friday - one of my favorites.  One thing I noticed which annoyed me for some reason was when Ma took Laura in the speak to Miss Beetle about her essay, when they were done talking and ready to leave, Charles, of course, was at the back of the schoolroom eavesdropping on this touching moment.  Damn, Michael just had to insert his character into every great moment, he couldn't let Melissa and Karen have their own moment.

[wanton87]

On 4/12/2020 at 4:22 PM, BigBingerBro said:

Damn, Michael just had to insert his character into every great moment

He also had to insert his bare chest into every, what could have been a great moment. We got it Chuck; you were proud of your physique. Didn’t they name a flower after him? Oh right 😆

 

Edited April 14, 2020 by wanton87
Name change

[CountryGirl]

I just rewatched the Sweet Sixteen episodes where once Laura dons the Feminine Bun of Maturity (TM TWP), Almanzo was instantly in love.

It's always bugged because in the books, it was clear Almanzo was doing the chasing and Laura, at least initially, was in it for his horses. 

But I did love the part where Laura, after Almanzo asks her to the social, expecting her to faint with gratitude at his feet, tells him "I'll have to think about it." Pa's smirk, which normally grated, was spot-on there. Even better was Eliza Jane's smirk and "Oh!" when Almanzo whined to her and revealed Laura had "to think about it." I wish we would have gotten more storylines with Eliza Jane, even if ML squandered storyline gold by not writing in the animosity between Laura and her future SIL, most notably the rocking the seat incident.

[Winipo75]

On 4/11/2020 at 9:54 AM, wanton87 said:

Yeah, there was a third brother that they could have used. Perley Day, or something along those lines?

I think Perley Day did appear in the series. Wasn't there something about him coming to town to visit Almanzo and Eliza Jane, and Pa was hoping Laura would become interested in the younger brother and forget her lust for Manly? I'm going purely on memory here. I haven't watched the show in awhile. I really need to dig out those DVDs!

 

[CountryGirl]

Yes, there was one episode with Perley Day where Pa and Mrs. Oleson were shoving Laura and Nellie at him. 

Almanzo was breaking in his new horse, Barnum, and Perley Day entered him into a buggy race (well, attempted to) after he'd already injured Barnum in an impromptu race with Doc Baker. Oh and he ripped off some of the take from Nellie's Restaurant.

He got punched out by Almanzo for almost rendering Barnum lame and Pa realized despite their age differences, Almanzo was the better man.

[wanton87]

On 4/17/2020 at 6:16 PM, Winipo75 said:

I think Perley Day did appear in the series.

Ahh, okay. I was thinking of the books, so I must have missed that episode. Actually, I missed most of the later episodes, because I was in high school at that point. And when you’re in high school, you often have other things on the mind. I do have the complete series on DVD now, so I have no excuse for not watching them. Funny though, since I’ve had them, I haven’t even got through the first season.

I can remember my teacher reading Little House In The Big Woods, to us kids (It was common for teachers in those days to read a chapter out a classic book, following lunch hour) and about a year or so later, the little house tv pilot premiered 😀