Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

[jird]

[Blergh]

1 hour ago, jird said:

Did the elder Mr. Labyorteaux hang onto that shirt from the time he was three or was half-way (or half-heartedly) trying to emulate ML's showing off his chest? At least he didn't seem to get injured the way Charles Ingalls was supposed to have been!

[CountryGirl]

The half-shirt is appalling but it's still better than their Speedo shot.

I wish I was joking.

[Egg McMuffin]

I’m watching Wave of the Future, an entertaining if ridiculous episode. I don’t understand how that restaurant is so busy when it’s located in the sticks, in a town filled with poor people. I don’t buy that Harriet, who in the past has been portrayed as a shrewd businessperson, would jump feet first into that terrible franchisee deal. And don’t get me started on Colonel Sanders showing up and wanting to turn Nellie’s/Caroline’s into a KFC.

But it is a showcase for the Olesons, and that reason alone makes it a fun episode.

[Blergh]

1 hour ago, Kyle said:

I’m watching Wave of the Future, an entertaining if ridiculous episode. I don’t understand how that restaurant is so busy when it’s located in the sticks, in a town filled with poor people. I don’t buy that Harriet, who in the past has been portrayed as a shrewd businessperson, would jump feet first into that terrible franchisee deal. And don’t get me started on Colonel Sanders showing up and wanting to turn Nellie’s/Caroline’s into a KFC.

But it is a showcase for the Olesons, and that reason alone makes it a fun episode.

Agreed but I vote that we can just pretend that episode came from  a character's bad dream their minds concocted after eating some . .. off fried chicken on account of having the ice box being out of lamb or mutton!

[Mr. Sparkle]

3 hours ago, CountryGirl said:

The half-shirt is appalling but it's still better than their Speedo shot.

I wish I was joking.

No, I'm not googling that, and you can't make me. 

[Egg McMuffin]

Is there anything so awkward as a teenaged boy? Especially one who’s trying to be sexy?

[CheshireCat]

On 1/3/2022 at 12:28 PM, CountryGirl said:

RL/Book Jack was a brindle bulldog.

...

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

It's entirely possible that he didn't care. But it's also possible that there are rules with regards to which dogs can be used as a pet and/or as a pet around children.

[debraran]

2 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

It's entirely possible that he didn't care. But it's also possible that there are rules with regards to which dogs can be used as a pet and/or as a pet around children.

Barney was the dog who played Jack in Little House on the Prairie.

In the original book series, Jack was a bulldog. "But Michael Landon didn't care, he fell in love with Barney at first sight, Melissa Gilbert was crazy about him too."[1]

Barney's final appearance on the show was the first episode of Season 4 titled "Castoffs" where Laura found Jack dead in the barn. He was still seen running down the hill with Laura in the end credits through most of the series.

Barney also had a larger contract than some of the actors did on the show.

From LHOP A-Z and Kent McCray interview

[Egg McMuffin]

Re: Christmas at Plum Creek. A sweet episode, but Nels should have spilled the beans and told Charles that Laura had bargained for the stove. Instead, Charles had an extra eight dollars in his pocket after Christmas and Laura wound up weeping over giving Bunny to that demon spawn Nellie (I’m impressed that they picked up the Bunny story again almost two years later, though)

Of course, this is the same Nels who suggested that Charles spend his money on a china lamp or a knickknack shelf instead of the stove. Because the Ingalls had a lot of knickknacks or needed fancy decorations in their crapshack.

[BigBingerBro]

29 minutes ago, Egg McMuffin said:

this is the same Nels who suggested that Charles spend his money on a china lamp or a knickknack shelf instead of the stove.

Yes!  I watched that episode over the holidays and had not remembered that from watching previously.  You'd think he would have suggested something equally as practical as the stove.   I guess ML decided to take the whole "christmas secrets" thing all the way, but yeah Nels in real life totally would have tipped Charles off regarding Laura's "deal"

[debraran]

1 hour ago, BigBingerBro said:

Yes!  I watched that episode over the holidays and had not remembered that from watching previously.  You'd think he would have suggested something equally as practical as the stove.   I guess ML decided to take the whole "christmas secrets" thing all the way, but yeah Nels in real life totally would have tipped Charles off regarding Laura's "deal"

No way in hell, Nel's would have bargained with a child who had good intentions but completely ridiculous. He also could afford (and did ) buy a horse later. Harriet would have done it in a heartbeat but not Nel's.  And  with all the fabric at Oleson's, Mary and Ma had to get the same one for Charles. (more believable but still) Someone knits him a scarf but what about Ma? Mary never thought of her mother, just her Pa. I never saw Caroline get anything but a cake from the kids, nothing homemade, a card, scarf, mittens.

In my fantasy ending, Charles tells Nel's, he's sorry, here's the 8.00, Bunny is staying and Nellie will have to deal with the 100 other gifts they got her. An 8 year old can't sell her horse. Then the saddle would go on her and that is that. ; )

 

Edited January 9, 2022 by debraran

[jason88cubs]

So did Nels not put the order in for the stove?

[debraran]

2 hours ago, jason88cubs said:

So did Nels not put the order in for the stove?

No, I'm sure he didn't. So Charles got 8.00 and no present for Caroline. ; )

[Egg McMuffin]

Maybe he should have gotten her a nice ham.

[Mr. Sparkle]

I know she enjoyed a piece of beef. 

[jird]

On 1/9/2022 at 4:10 PM, debraran said:

No, I'm sure he didn't. So Charles got 8.00 and no present for Caroline. ; )

What do we think Caroline did with the shirt she didn't give Charles? Do you think she just swapped the two each time she washed them so he never knew he had two identical shirts, like we did with my son's stuffed bunnies when he was two?

[Egg McMuffin]

Probably gave it to Chris.

[debraran]

9 minutes ago, Egg McMuffin said:

Probably gave it to Chris.

She should have and not gotten Mary so mad that she gave HER shirt to the hunk. She just should have said she saved a duplicate all this time for this special occasion. ; )

Edited January 11, 2022 by debraran

[Katy M]

On 1/9/2022 at 3:06 PM, jason88cubs said:

So did Nels not put the order in for the stove?

No, because the Ingalls don't need two stoves, nor would they have room for two.

[Blergh]

8 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

Maybe he should have gotten her a nice ham.

Wasn't Caroline already married to one -even if he could fiddle without the bow ever touching the strings?

[Wonkabar5]

I have not been logged in for absolutely months (taking care of my aging mother), so I have just found out and read here re: Ma’s new autobiography.  I just requested it from the library. Hmmm.

I’m assuming this has been ghostwritten? Whether formally credited as such, or not…lol

I can only say that someone very near and dear to me has had professional dealings with her and while very nice, her manner can be a bit “curt, brusque but also very professional.”  That’s about all I can say here. In a very professional setting, she’s just not going to be “cuddly,” so to speak. 

And everyone has a very different style….

[debraran]

1 hour ago, Wonkabar5 said:

I have not been logged in for absolutely months (taking care of my aging mother), so I have just found out and read here re: Ma’s new autobiography.  I just requested it from the library. Hmmm.

I’m assuming this has been ghostwritten? Whether formally credited as such, or not…lol

I can only say that someone very near and dear to me has had professional dealings with her and while very nice, her manner can be a bit “curt, brusque but also very professional.”  That’s about all I can say here. In a very professional setting, she’s just not going to be “cuddly,” so to speak. 

And everyone has a very different style….

I actually thought another writer would have helped, since she did come off curt and abrupt at times in the book. I thought personally, it could have been edited much better and more photos would have been nice. The LHOP kids liked her from what they've said and she liked the little ones on the set and kept them busy at times. She was very professional and Katherine liked her in part because they were trained on stage and had that air and professionalism.

I remember when Tom Cruise was making it big and although not my fav actor, seemed to walk through some movies. He was star material no matter what. Paul Newman's wife told him he should do some stage work, hone his acting, it would get so much better but he probably felt "Why?" She bugged Paul to go back too though too. : ) TV is an different animal though and back then, even more so.

[Wonkabar5]

Ok, which one of you wrote that review of KG’s book on Goodreads which mentions issues arising during the “popcorn,” scenes? 😂 

I’m laughing at the “popcorn” terminology we use here, (and from the old TWOP board), not at the seriousness of the issue being addressed.

[jason88cubs]

Chris The Handyman episode was on yesterday

Carrie-Uncle Chris

 

Caroline- Oh no she knows

[ctlady]

3 hours ago, jason88cubs said:

Chris The Handyman episode was on yesterday

This one always made me uncomfortable.  I particularly did not like Caroline chastising Mary for giving Chris the heave-ho because she misunderstood an incident at the lake.  It wouldn't have mattered if nothing happened between them.  Mary asked Chris point blank if he was in love with Caroline.  The fact that he didn't flat out deny it 'immediately' was enough of a reason to get him out of there.  It was clear he was looking for an insta-family - and he was falling for her.  I couldn't believe how ignorant Caroline was and didn't see this.  I was completely on Mary's side

[debraran]

I doubt Mary, who as a child didn't really fit doing that scenario especially back then, would have in "real life" . It didn't matter what Chris felt or didn't feel, he wanted what he saw but not breaking up a marriage and getting 3 bratty kids. ; )  He wanted a woman like her.  If Mary saw Charles flirting with the lady with the horses, telling her about her "nice hands" and having picnics with the kids, she wouldn't say a word. Not one. Even with the widow, she didn't say anything to her. It wasn't her place.

Chris was a good man to have around, he worked fast, he would have finished the room, he loved the kids, especially Carrie and gave her the only toy I think the girl ever owned.

It always bugged me about Mary because it was all Nellie. She let her get under her skin with her dad but again, never would have disrespected him or told Widow "Dishes", forgot name,  to do her own woodwork. She wouldn't have told the wife of the rancher anything either. She felt like Chris, she wanted someone like Charles.

Just another opinion, I always felt Caroline didn't get to do much but cook and clean and having someone say they appreciated it, was nice

Edited January 14, 2022 by debraran

[Blergh]

@debraran

Good points! Yes, the Books (and evidently RL) Mary NEVER once rendered ill-judgments or even questioned ANYthing that either of her parents said or did.  She just blindly went with whatever they said (no pun intended). So even had Mary caught Pa or Ma with their knickers down, she wouldn't have uttered a word but may have tried to spin it as something innocent/benign!

Moreover, a grown man insisting on minors calling him by his given name instead of Mr. [Surname] was unconventional enough in the 1970's  US suburbs so it would have been considered downright suspect in the 1870's US Midwest countryside!

OK, as to the Show Mary:  after she excoriated Caroline then Caroline defended her integrity (which, as it now appears, that she had MORE of than Miss Grassle re Mr. Gerard) I hated it when Mary  blubbered 'Oh, please LOVE me again, Ma!' and wish Caroline had hugged her tight then replied 'Mary, you're my daughter and as long as I live, I'll ALWAYS love you but, right now, I don't LIKE you!' then had broken the embrace and stormed off to  let Mary blubber on and stew in her own!

[debraran]

7 minutes ago, Blergh said:

@debraran

Good points! Yes, the Books (and evidently RL) Mary NEVER once rendered ill-judgments or even questioned ANYthing that either of her parents said or did.  She just blindly went with whatever they said (no pun intended). So even had Mary caught Pa or Ma with their knickers down, she wouldn't have uttered a word but may have tried to spin it as something innocent/benign!

Moreover, a grown man insisting on minors calling him by his given name instead of Mr. [Surname] was unconventional enough in the 1970's  US suburbs so it would have been considered downright suspect in the 1870's US Midwest countryside!

OK, as to the Show Mary:  after she excoriated Caroline then Caroline defended her integrity (which, as it now appears, that she had MORE of than Miss Grassle re Mr. Gerard) I hated it when Mary  blubbered 'Oh, please LOVE me again, Ma!' and wish Caroline had hugged her tight then replied 'Mary, you're my daughter and as long as I live, I'll ALWAYS love you but, right now, I don't LIKE you!' then had broken the embrace and stormed off to  let Mary blubber on and stew in her own!

I really love that scenario because I would have thought the same thing if Caroline. ; )

[jason88cubs]

Was there a reason why sometimes, when Charles would go to work, he wouldn't take the horses and wagon with him?

 

Would Caroline maybe use it that day?

 

I understand maybe he wanted to walk since it was nice out, but the distance to town sometimes came off much further than what it did other episodes

Edited January 17, 2022 by jason88cubs

[Katy M]

10 hours ago, jason88cubs said:

Was there a reason why sometimes, when Charles would go to work, he wouldn't take the horses and wagon with him?

He was trying to save gas:)

[Blergh]

2 hours ago, Katy M said:

He was trying to save gas:)

Wouldn't it have been easier for Charles to have just skipped the baked beans at breakfast instead? :)

[Blergh]

Some like it hot 

Some like it cold

Some like it in the pot

Nine days old

Age old song repeated by Book Laura extolling folks' appreciation for baked beans!

BTW, does anyone here have topics re LHOTP they'd like to air here even with the subthread having been dormant for nine days?

[Zella]

I'm still working my way through the Waltons but I keep making mental notes between it and LHOTP. I often think about how often LHOTP introduced someone as massively important for one episode and then they dropped off the face of the earth never to be seen again. Lol

The Waltons seems to do a better job of using people who seem like one-offs for repeat episodes and providing closure on them when they don't show up again. 

I don't really hold it against LHOTP. I know television conventions were very different then, and serialization like we think of TV plot now was not the norm. But it is very noticeable when watching a couple of episodes a night versus once a week. 

Edited January 26, 2022 by Zella

[Egg McMuffin]

Mike Landon cut his teeth on Bonanza, which used to feature the “important one-off characters who are never mentioned again” all the time. They also did single or two-part episodes that took place over a matter of months (like Caroline’s pregnancy). It’s considered lazy storytelling now and is jarring. Landon picked up some bad habits from Bonanza, particularly the melodramatic tendencies.

[Egg McMuffin]

Oh - another thing Landon brought over from Bonanza was David Rose’s often obtrusive background music. But what’s a melodrama without lots of screeching violins?

[jird]

9 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

Oh - another thing Landon brought over from Bonanza was David Rose’s often obtrusive background music. But what’s a melodrama without lots of screeching violins?

But fire had its own theme music! 

[jason88cubs]

Blizzard conditions here in Illinois..I've watched LHOP to know what to do!

[Mr. Sparkle]

1 hour ago, jason88cubs said:

Blizzard conditions here in Illinois..I've watched LHOP to know what to do!

Send the kids out unsupervised without telling anyone, of course! 

[Zella]

Run home in the blizzard, kiddos! If you're lucky, Charles will find you before you freeze to death. 

[CountryGirl]

Oh noes, what will we do without Pa Messiah to save us from today and tomorrow's forecast?

[Egg McMuffin]

2 hours ago, Zella said:

Run home in the blizzard, kiddos! If you're lucky, Charles will find you before you freeze to death. 

LOL. Only the Ingalls children. If you’re not in the Ingalls inner circle, you’re SOL.

[Snow Apple]

I'd rather Mr. Edwards save me from a blizzard. He has booze.

[jason88cubs]

I can't imagine being snowed in back then

 

I mean you really were "snowed in"

 

Ain't no plow coming through to get you out!

[jason88cubs]

I watched Ebenezer Sprague yesterday

 

The episode makes NO sense, why would Walnut grove get a bank?, but it really is a good episode

[CountryGirl]

Just now, jason88cubs said:

I watched Ebenezer Sprague yesterday

The episode makes NO sense, why would Walnut grove get a bank?, but it really is a good episode

Not unlike many episodes.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Plus a classic TV trope - a 40+ year old man completely changes his personality in one night because he got a talking to from our boy Charles. 

[BigBingerBro]

8 hours ago, jason88cubs said:

 

 

The episode makes NO sense, why would Walnut grove get a bank?, but it really is a good episode

Especially when he was so particular about making loans to farmers.  Who else was there?  The Olesons gave him some business, I'm sure.  Miss Whipple wasn't overly rich..... Widow Thurmond - for sure.   I guess there were many other well-off families we never saw....

[debraran]

9 hours ago, jason88cubs said:

I watched Ebenezer Sprague yesterday

 

The episode makes NO sense, why would Walnut grove get a bank?, but it really is a good episode

yes anyone with money could go to  bigger town but who would have that much extra? Was it insured? I guess they needed him for that episode and the gold one was a nice touch. Another decent looking well off guy who couldn't find  wife. Mr Hansen, Doc, Chris (be still my heart)  I never got that.

[Blergh]

While the logistics of Mr. Sprague being able to fiscally survive in Walnut Grove defied explanation, I liked this this was someone who was prosperous but outrightly told Harriet to her face that he had no use for her snobbery. Now, if Charles hadn't guilted him into making that donation and staying Laura's secret pal, I wonder if perhaps Harriet and Caroline might have bonded due to him having spurned both of them for very different reasons (and would Harriet have been more upset that he didn't think she had attempted 'feminine wiles' to charm him?"