Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

[debraran]

Most of these events are never in the NE where I live but if anyone is interested this page has a list of some of them. I would like to see Alison and if Karen came to CT to sell her book, I'd stop by if I could but most of them left were not on long or babies. Melissa Sue is living her life in Canada but I wouldn't mind meeting her if it wasn't too far.  Sadly, the ones I'd love to have met have long passed. Katherine and Richard (but I can't see her liking it)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/893761798323874/?hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen&multi_permalinks=947089779657742

[Mr. Sparkle]

A day late, but Ketty Lester turned 89 yesterday! 

I just looked it up, and Bonnie Bartlett appears to be the oldest surviving cast member at 94!

[Blergh]

10 hours ago, Superclam said:

A day late, but Ketty Lester turned 89 yesterday! 

I just looked it up, and Bonnie Bartlett appears to be the oldest surviving cast member at 94!

Believe it or not, until last year Katherine MacGregor (1925-2018) was the longest-lived cast member reaching the impressive age of 93 but Miss Bartlett (born 1929) has now taken the lead. I can't help but think Miss MacGregor would have had a good laugh over that thought- and, as per Miss Bartlett's own bio, they'd been friends from as far back as the 1950's when they both were regulars in the soap Love of Life and were happy to reunite on LHOTP !

[Blergh]

While Hester-Sue  never would meet Grace Edwards, I wonder if it's possible that somehow Miss Lester and Miss Bartlett may have become acquainted? It is known that Miss Lester appeared in an episode of St. Elsewhere which Miss Bartlett was a regular so I suppose it's possible!

[Mr. Sparkle]

Sad to report that Hersha Parady passed yesterday at the age of 78, apparently after a long illness. 

[jason88cubs]

98 degrees heat index 117 right now

got me thinking

"Charles wagon breaks down and has to travel 50 miles on foot with no water.....can he make it as he comes across bandits form a bank robbery, orphans left alone, 3 mountain lions looking for something to eat and worse of all, a rude father..... find out on a special episode of "LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRARIE"

[Blergh]

Never fear! Even if Charles can't make it, his coiffure will endure any odds or hardships! 

[Egg McMuffin]

I always wondered how Charles managed to blow dry his hair with no electricity in the Little House. Did he make Half Pint and Mary stand on each side of him with bellows pointed at his head?

Edited August 25, 2023 by Egg McMuffin

[Blergh]

On 8/25/2023 at 11:38 AM, Egg McMuffin said:

I always wondered how Charles managed to blow dry his hair with no electricity in the Little House. Did he make Half Pint and Mary stand on each side of him with bellows pointed at his head?

There'd have been no need for an electric hair dryer or even dual bellows- not with all the all the wind and hot air PA constantly vented!

Edited August 27, 2023 by Blergh

[debraran]

I'm off work and it's raining so sorting through clothes to give away and watching LHOP. The one where Albert runs away after helping burn down the blind school. I understand Jonathan saying he was wrong to blame God but why did he keep telling Albert it wasn't his fault, while he kept saying it was? Things happen, saying he forgave him, he didn't mean it, etc but he kept saying, "It wasn't" and he was as wrong as he was blaming God. Just odd to me. They were smoking, stole pipe and left it to smolder. It's not quite the same as when I almost (thank God realized it) put a plug in for Xmas tree and later smelled something fishy. The outlet was faulty and if it did make a fire, I didn't do it recklessly.

Just something I didn't quite catch before. A lot of unbelievable things in the episode but that seemed a bit too glossed over. Forgiveness is wonderful but accepting responsibility is too.

I found myself wondering about the other boy, he wasn't there at dedication from what I saw and his dad seemed the typical mean and gruff parent of other children in WG. He might still be alive.....

Edited August 30, 2023 by debraran

[Blergh]

13 hours ago, debraran said:

I'm off work and it's raining so sorting through clothes to give away and watching LHOP. The one where Albert runs away after helping burn down the blind school. I understand Jonathan saying he was wrong to blame God but why did he keep telling Albert it wasn't his fault, while he kept saying it was? Things happen, saying he forgave him, he didn't mean it, etc but he kept saying, "It wasn't" and he was as wrong as he was blaming God. Just odd to me. They were smoking, stole pipe and left it to smolder. It's not quite the same as when I almost (thank God realized it) put a plug in for Xmas tree and later smelled something fishy. The outlet was faulty and if it did make a fire, I didn't do it recklessly.

Just something I didn't quite catch before. A lot of unbelievable things in the episode but that seemed a bit too glossed over. Forgiveness is wonderful but accepting responsibility is too.

I found myself wondering about the other boy, he wasn't there at dedication from what I saw and his dad seemed the typical mean and gruff parent of other children in WG. He might still be alive.....

Not unless his name's Methuselah!

[debraran]

9 hours ago, Blergh said:

Not unless his name's Methuselah!

lol, yes, but I meant and didn't write it well, that the father killed him when he heard what he did. Those dads all had the etched in gruff/mean look and said "boy" instead of "son" when talking and you could feel the pent up explosive anger. I didn't blame the kid for running and I didn't think you'd see him again.

[Katy M]

23 hours ago, debraran said:

The one where Albert runs away after helping burn down the blind school. I understand Jonathan saying he was wrong to blame God but why did he keep telling Albert it wasn't his fault,

The fire was his fault, but he may have meant the deaths weren't.  There was just so much stupid in that episode.  Albert could have (I'm not saying he did, I know he didn't) have set that fire on purpose not thinking anyone would leave a baby unattended in the middle of a fire.

[jird]

RIP, Hersha.

This is a nice article about her, and even discusses the "baby battering ram." 

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/hersha-parady-little-house-prairie-162107252.html

[debraran]

Thanks, I've heard her discuss that before, not sure why Michael wanted to get rid of her and the baby, (she could have been hurt but not killed) but I always skip that episode if on. Seemed more glaring than others (except rape) to get ratings boost that week. I didn't blame Melissa Sue for wanting to leave soon after, how much more was she going to do? She wasn't allowed a child, every time they got ahead, they fell back again. She couldn't even share her blindness with Adam anymore.  Michael sometimes listened to costars but wouldn't on this one even though it made no sense at all.

Excerpt from interview with Melissa Sue on that horrible scene:

“Adam bursts through the bedroom door,” Anderson wrote in The Way I See It. “I am still sitting on the edge of the bed, cooing at the baby in the cradle. He urges, ‘Mary, come on. There’s a fire. We have to get the kids out.’ He pulls me with him.”

The Little House alum felt it was unrealistic that a mother would leave her baby’s side in the face of danger.

“I must of had some sort of discussion with Mike [Landon] about this scene because I am right in front of that cradle,” Anderson remarked. “Why don’t I grab the baby when Adam tells me about the fire?”

Despite Anderson’s opinion on the pivotal placement in the scene, Landon kept the original blocking in place.

“These are the kind of arguments you don’t win,” she said. “I must not have, because Mike did not move me to another part of the room where I wouldn’t have been so close to that baby.”

Anderson also disagreed with the scene where Alice goes in to save the infant but is distracted by cries from down the hall and “leaves the baby”.

“Again, I have a real problem with this,” Anderson wrote. “This just would not happen.”

When Alice goes back to rescue the child, she tries to break a window to escape. Some viewers thought she was trying to use the baby to shatter the glass — a scene that is still debated to this day. Both Alice and the baby boy perish in the flames.

After the devastating fire, Mary goes into a catatonic state from grief and spends much of the second part of the plot humming to herself. Anderson admitted she grew weary of the overly dramatic storylines.

“I could tell that the writers were having trouble coming up with ideas for Mary and Adam,” she explained. “You know you’re in trouble when your character is suffering more tragedies than on a soap opera. This was the problem: It was either feast or famine"

[Blergh]

13 hours ago, jird said:

RIP, Hersha.

This is a nice article about her, and even discusses the "baby battering ram." 

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/hersha-parady-little-house-prairie-162107252.html

Tragic that she'd had to have dealt with a brain tumor at the end of her life and her son seems to need monies to make up for the end of life expenses.

On a lighter note, I didn't know that she'd been born Betty Sandoff. OK, I can see why she might not have thought that her original name wouldn't have set the performing world on fire. However, I wonder why she  opted to call herself Hersha Parady and did she prefer her loved ones to call her Hersha over Betty? IMO, her full stage name didn't seem to have been much if any improvement . Yet, she always seemed far more intelligent and fun than her iconic LHOTP counterpart in post show interviews!

All the above said, RIP, Miss Parady/Sandoff.

[debraran]

Watching the sweet one with the orphans. Seemed odd to my daughter, but I told her they separate families even today when adopting 3 might not be doable. Not ideal though. The thought that they felt the boy they wanted would ever just adjust knowing his mute brother was at the orphanage alone was head-shaking sad. So adorable though.

Houston to Mr Ingall's "You don't think separating orphans is right do you? Charles "Of course not" Never met one I didn't take (we'll forget the Sanderson's though)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0633124/mediaviewer/rm1440233472/?ref_=tt_md_6

Edited September 4, 2023 by debraran

[Zella]

2 hours ago, debraran said:

Seemed odd to my daughter, but I told her they separate families even today when adopting 3 might not be doable.

Yeah back in the 70s, one of my grandmother's brothers was not in a good place. He and his wife had 4 kids. Someone needed to take them, but nobody else in the family could afford to take all 4 of them or even had space for that many extra people. The compromise that was reached so that they could still be together as much as possible is one sister who had 3 girls took the 2 girls and the other sister (my grandmother) who had 2 boys took the 2 boys. All the cousins spent a lot of time together, so the siblings all still got to see each other a lot throughout the week. It wasn't as ideal as them all being together, but it was better than the alternative. During another family crisis with that same side of the family, my grandparents had moved into a bigger house and my grandfather's business had taken off, so they took all 4 kids then for a while. 

I agree the potentially adoptive family in that episode is really insensitive and unrealistic to think the kid is going to get over that. 

[debraran]

6 hours ago, Zella said:

Yeah back in the 70s, one of my grandmother's brothers was not in a good place. He and his wife had 4 kids. Someone needed to take them, but nobody else in the family could afford to take all 4 of them or even had space for that many extra people. The compromise that was reached so that they could still be together as much as possible is one sister who had 3 girls took the 2 girls and the other sister (my grandmother) who had 2 boys took the 2 boys. All the cousins spent a lot of time together, so the siblings all still got to see each other a lot throughout the week. It wasn't as ideal as them all being together, but it was better than the alternative. During another family crisis with that same side of the family, my grandparents had moved into a bigger house and my grandfather's business had taken off, so they took all 4 kids then for a while. 

I agree the potentially adoptive family in that episode is really insensitive and unrealistic to think the kid is going to get over that. 

Yes and they weren't as mean and gruff as the usual adoptive family but I guess in LHOP, they normally don't get to keep the kids. They were I guess just clueless because they were.

The next episode had the blind painter and it wasn't horrible (although it was nice to see Ma sans kids the whole episode) Caroline was used a lot, traveled about and and no mention of Carrie or Grace. I think it was understandable what happened re the adoption but the bio mom's reluctance to tell her daughter she was blind was odd. I guess the show would have ended early but that drama to me was silly. Then everyone kept calling her the "mom" and I felt sorry for her adoptive mom. Maybe bio mom wasn't a term then but even the painting which was sweet of her and her bio mom at the end, nothing was said of the woman who raised her and they never showed her again. I'm sure she loved both but I wish they showed it.

Was nice to have no Laura, little of Charles and more Caroline.

Edited September 4, 2023 by debraran

[Egg McMuffin]

I don’t remember seeing that one all the way through. So the painter was blind and an orphan? A Landon wet dream.

[debraran]

7 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

I don’t remember seeing that one all the way through. So the painter was blind and an orphan? A Landon wet dream.

How did you know he helped write that one and The Silent Cry before it?? 😉

He must have been so excited....at least this young woman was adopted by a kind, albeit older couple who didn't mind she was going blind at 2. Usually they have to go through awful prospects first.

[Mr. Sparkle]

I can skip the Blind Painter one, the Albert has a pen-pal in a wheelchair one, and the message in a bottle one. 

I'm always down for the Nels has an Irish girlfriend one. 

[debraran]

4 hours ago, Superclam said:

I can skip the Blind Painter one, the Albert has a pen-pal in a wheelchair one, and the message in a bottle one. 

I'm always down for the Nels has an Irish girlfriend one. 

.  I liked seeing the ending with him and Harriet too taking a walk. . I liked seeing her soft underbelly with Preacher takes a Wife with her old beau and some past history   The rest of that episode was ehh though.

[Mr. Sparkle]

5 hours ago, debraran said:

The rest of that episode was ehh though.

The story is fairly mediocre, but the WAY over the top Irish stereotype of Nels' girlfriend gets me every time! 

[CountryGirl]

Just now, Superclam said:

The story is fairly mediocre, but the WAY over the top Irish stereotype of Nels' girlfriend gets me every time! 

I'm shocked Lucky Charms didn't make an appearance.

[debraran]

1 hour ago, Superclam said:

The story is fairly mediocre, but the WAY over the top Irish stereotype of Nels' girlfriend gets me every time! 

I meant the preacher one was "ehh", the Irish one was funny enough to make me smile too...her Irish sayings every other sentence. How could Nel's not be drawn in. Well maybe not THIS drawn in.

Edited September 5, 2023 by debraran

[Mr. Sparkle]

The one where Harriet is judging Rev. Oleson for having a romance and the head priest is Patty Duke's father and he used to go out with Harriet? That one's ok. I've only seen it a few times. 

As opposed to "Laura goes up the mountain with Ernest Borgnine" which is on right now, and I've seen 300 times. 

[debraran]

5 minutes ago, Superclam said:

The one where Harriet is judging Rev. Oleson for having a romance and the head priest is Patty Duke's father and he used to go out with Harriet? That one's ok. I've only seen it a few times. 

As opposed to "Laura goes up the mountain with Ernest Borgnine" which is on right now, and I've seen 300 times. 

That one doesn't hold the appeal anymore except Ernest was from my state/town and I like him. I did like seeing Harriet having a past and how it must have stung that he had a choice to marry but chose not to marry her. Nel's didn't seem to know but she did well with him too.

[Egg McMuffin]

They have that new Little House channel on Amazon Prime. I keep hoping I’ll hit the jackpot and get “Laura Pushes Nellie Down A Hill In A Wheelchair” but always end up with something like “Caroline Goes To A Depressing Camp And Swaps Babies.”

[Mr. Sparkle]

36 minutes ago, Egg McMuffin said:

“Caroline Goes To A Depressing Camp And Swaps Babies.”

This is bottom tier for me. If this one's on, I'll watch something else. I'll watch the orangutan one before this. 

[CountryGirl]

13 hours ago, Superclam said:

The one where Harriet is judging Rev. Oleson for having a romance and the head priest is Patty Duke's father and he used to go out with Harriet? That one's ok. I've only seen it a few times. 

As opposed to "Laura goes up the mountain with Ernest Borgnine" which is on right now, and I've seen 300 times. 

Harriet reuniting with lost love Russell is the only part I like from the Rev gets hitched episode. Seeing Harriet so flustered and tender with him and KM was so good in that moment where, leaving church with her family, she locks eyes with Russell. But I couldn't be invested in Rev getting married when I knew good and well the new Mrs. Alden was destined to be tertiary. And, except for a mention in the women's rights episode, she was.

I hate pretty much everything about this two-parter. Pa ignoring Laura because he has A SON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Laura refusing to pray for ailing Baby Freddie. Baby Freddie's death and Caroline choosing to wait outside during her baby's last moments. Laura wanting to die so Freddie can come back to life. Yet another creepy, old man, even if it was Ernest Borgnine, taking care of Half-Pint. The cross that just happens to float down to where Pa and Edwards are watering their horses. Yet when Pa and Laura reunite with Pa shedding the manliest of tears still gets me every time. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

50 minutes ago, CountryGirl said:

Caroline choosing to wait outside during her baby's last moments.

Pa gets so sanctimonious when he starts spouting the Lord's Prayer. Same thing in "Blizzard" where he gets all bible-y. 

50 minutes ago, CountryGirl said:

Yet another creepy, old man, even if it was Ernest Borgnine, taking care of Half-Pint.

Another thing they would not be doing today. But ML liked that "mysterious, disappearing old man" plot point. 

[Zella]

I don't think I've ever seen this episode. I intentionally skipped the ones with the brother who dies. I didn't realize there was another subplot about Harriet in it. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

16 minutes ago, Zella said:

I don't think I've ever seen this episode. I intentionally skipped the ones with the brother who dies. I didn't realize there was another subplot about Harriet in it. 

No, we're talking about 2 different episodes. I think the Laura on the Mountain one is an all-time classic, but I could see it being a bit hard to take. 

[Zella]

3 minutes ago, Superclam said:

No, we're talking about 2 different episodes. I think the Laura on the Mountain one is an all-time classic, but I could see it being a bit hard to take. 

Oh okay thank you! Yeah when I was watching the show, my family had suffered a sudden loss. Not of an infant, but I just couldn't handle watching 2 episodes that were all about grieving. I still don't remember Harriet's former beau. I do remember Nels's over-the-top Irish girlfriend. LOL 

Oh duh I just saw the note it was the same episode where Alden gets hitched. I do remember that! Harriet is one of my favorite characters, so it's hilarious I apparently slept on her subplot in that episode. LOL

[kathyk24]

6 hours ago, CountryGirl said:

Harriet reuniting with lost love Russell is the only part I like from the Rev gets hitched episode. Seeing Harriet so flustered and tender with him and KM was so good in that moment where, leaving church with her family, she locks eyes with Russell. But I couldn't be invested in Rev getting married when I knew good and well the new Mrs. Alden was destined to be tertiary. And, except for a mention in the women's rights episode, she was.

I hate pretty much everything about this two-parter. Pa ignoring Laura because he has A SON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Laura refusing to pray for ailing Baby Freddie. Baby Freddie's death and Caroline choosing to wait outside during her baby's last moments. Laura wanting to die so Freddie can come back to life. Yet another creepy, old man, even if it was Ernest Borgnine, taking care of Half-Pint. The cross that just happens to float down to where Pa and Edwards are watering their horses. Yet when Pa and Laura reunite with Pa shedding the manliest of tears still gets me every time. 

Laura was devasted by the death of her brother in real life so I hate this episode. She didn't include it in the Little House books I learned this by reading her biography;

[Blergh]

On 9/5/2023 at 3:58 PM, CountryGirl said:

I'm shocked Lucky Charms didn't make an appearance.

The pot of gold  wasn't in the budget- as per 'Doc Baker', etc.

[greekmom]

On 9/2/2023 at 9:24 AM, Blergh said:

Tragic that she'd had to have dealt with a brain tumor at the end of her life and her son seems to need monies to make up for the end of life expenses.

On a lighter note, I didn't know that she'd been born Betty Sandoff. OK, I can see why she might not have thought that her original name wouldn't have set the performing world on fire. However, I wonder why she  opted to call herself Hersha Parady and did she prefer her loved ones to call her Hersha over Betty? IMO, her full stage name didn't seem to have been much if any improvement . Yet, she always seemed far more intelligent and fun than her iconic LHOTP counterpart in post show interviews!

All the above said, RIP, Miss Parady/Sandoff.

It was the 60s/70s?  I mean look at Karen Grassle. Her previous stage name was Gabriel Tree till Michael Landon told her to change it 

[jason88cubs]

(charles walks in a bank)

Charles: Id like ot withdraw 100.00

bankeR: do you have an account

charles: no

bankeR: well sir we cant just gibve you 100.00 form any account

Charles: DONT YOU KNOW WHO I AM, IM CHARLES INGALLS, DOESNT MY NAME MEAN ANYTHING!

[Mr. Sparkle]

58 minutes ago, greekmom said:

It was the 60s/70s?  I mean look at Karen Grassle. Her previous stage name was Gabriel Tree till Michael Landon told her to change it 

I don't agree with everything ML did, but he got this one right. 

[Blergh]

9 hours ago, Superclam said:

I don't agree with everything ML did, but he got this one right. 

I agree  re Miss Grassle performing under her actual birth name instead of the other one.

I know it was her call and choice but, 60's/70's notwithstanding, I don't see why Hersha Parady would have  thought her new stage name was much if any improvement over her birth name of Betty Sandoff.  At least the name change wasn't regressive  like the late Ann Sothern (1909-2001) who'd been born Harriette Lake!

[debraran]

Yes some names are better changed.lol  Katherine and Karen both loved the stage and  that bonded them initially.

I loved her character, Harriet, and wished Michael did more where she wasn't so mean but showed her good side but she did have those. She also never hesitated to help when someone was in need and stuck up for women and was a strong force for that time. Karen had some chances to shine but she poured way too much coffee and probably felt envious at times of Katherine's meatier scripts.

My older sister rarely watches but when someone brought it up at lunch, she was like "I will never forget the "Make her a widow!!" episode. I laughed so hard. " That is one of my favs too.

[Blergh]

On 9/12/2023 at 4:56 AM, debraran said:

Yes some names are better changed.lol  Katherine and Karen both loved the stage and  that bonded them initially.

I loved her character, Harriet, and wished Michael did more where she wasn't so mean but showed her good side but she did have those. She also never hesitated to help when someone was in need and stuck up for women and was a strong force for that time. Karen had some chances to shine but she poured way too much coffee and probably felt envious at times of Katherine's meatier scripts.

My older sister rarely watches but when someone brought it up at lunch, she was like "I will never forget the "Make her a widow!!" episode. I laughed so hard. " That is one of my favs too.

I agree!

 I guess this is a good a time as any to speculate about whether Miss MacGregor would have had as long a career (much less nabbed the role of Harriet) had she kept her original name of. .Dorlee Deane McGregor!

It should be noted that, before LHOTP, she went back and forth using  her nickname of Scottie along with her acquired first name of Katherine for the billing. However, I kind of think it's worth noting that squeezing in that 'a' in the 'Mc' part of her surname not only vocalized the vowel but also implied a more Scottish background instead of a Scots-Irish (or Northern Irish) one which is the usual regional derivations for that surname.  I don't know whether she did that deliberately. However, it's interesting that even though she became a Hindu long before LHOTP, she doesn't appear to have considered changing her name to reflect her newer faith the way Barbara Hershey (born Barbara Herzstein) did for a time in the 1970's when she went by Barbara Seagull.

[debraran]

I didn't realize (or forgot) she struggled with alcohol. I'm glad she found the right thing to help her with it.

I wish others on the set did too.

https://www.syracuse.com/celebrity-news/2018/11/katherine_macgregor_dead_little_house_on_the_prairie.html

 

[Blergh]

8 hours ago, debraran said:

I didn't realize (or forgot) she struggled with alcohol. I'm glad she found the right thing to help her with it.

I wish others on the set did too.

https://www.syracuse.com/celebrity-news/2018/11/katherine_macgregor_dead_little_house_on_the_prairie.html

 

I wonder if Miss MacGregor might have been the co-star Charlotte Stewart begged to keep secret their being in recovery from alcoholism from ML due to not wanting him to attempt to make them a laughingstock  on the set for  being in said recovery?

I thought that was one of the worst examples of his offcamera shadowside (and ironic since he played CI as a zealous teetotaler ).

Edited September 16, 2023 by Blergh

[debraran]

8 hours ago, Blergh said:

I wonder if Miss MacGregor might have been the co-star Charlotte Stewart begged to keep secret their being in recovery from alcoholism from ML due to not wanting him to attempt to make them a laughingstock  on the set for  being in said recovery?

I thought that was one of the worst examples of his offcamera shadowside (and ironic since he played CI as a zealous teetotaler ).

Yes, the fact even the kids caught on the "coffee" wasn't coffee, made me wonder how bad it was on set to need that crutch. But alcoholism doesn't need stress, it's just an excuse at times. I can see one of his practical jokes being something along the lines with "fake" alcohol like the KKK with Moses Gunn. Not everyone appreciates the laugh but back then, you usually went along.

Karen bravely hit her "bottom" although not awful and gave up liquor too. The women were strong on that show in many ways. https://people.com/tv/little-house-on-the-prairie-karen-grassle-on-her-sobriety-tension-with-michael-landon

I remember Alison talking about "4 fingers of Wild Turkey" that Mike would have with room for coffee and although not funny, I laughed because Ma did need to give Pa a lot of coffee. : )

 

Edited September 16, 2023 by debraran

[Blergh]

One of the more unsung performers of the show IMO had to be Richard Bull (1924-2014) who played Harriet's tamer half Nels.  He was married to Barbara Collentine (1924-2022) but they had no children of their own. However, it seems he valued Jonathan Gilbert and, especially in the last years, appeared to relate to him as a father! Interestingly, AA and MG both have said that he was the one most like his character offstage- usually kind but with a limit to his patience!  I think it was telling that he admitted telling Miss MacGregor that she could do what she wanted but not tell HIM how to act which I respect because he'd had a very lengthy and steady career before and after LHOTP.

[greekmom]

On 9/12/2023 at 5:56 AM, debraran said:

My older sister rarely watches but when someone brought it up at lunch, she was like "I will never forget the "Make her a widow!!" episode. I laughed so hard. " That is one of my favs too.

Agreed. One of my favourite lines.  

I always liked seeing the other side of Harriet as well. The backstory with the Reverend who came because she was complaining about Reverend Alden's relationship was really interesting and wish we got more. 

22 hours ago, debraran said:

I didn't realize (or forgot) she struggled with alcohol. I'm glad she found the right thing to help her with it.

I wish others on the set did too.

https://www.syracuse.com/celebrity-news/2018/11/katherine_macgregor_dead_little_house_on_the_prairie.html

 

Booze was flowing on the set faster than water. Super shocked that none of the kids didn't drink while they were working.

[Blergh]

6 minutes ago, greekmom said:

Agreed. One of my favourite lines.  

I always liked seeing the other side of Harriet as well. The backstory with the Reverend who came because she was complaining about Reverend Alden's relationship was really interesting and wish we got more. 

Booze was flowing on the set faster than water. Super shocked that none of the kids didn't drink while they were working.

I think the kids (especially MG and AA) had had it drilled in their heads that they had to be letter-perfect re their lines from Day One and they didn't think they could pull that off if they were on the sauce. However, considering how MG would later admit a lengthy substance abuse battle, it's possible that she may have started drinking offcamera by the time the show wrapped.

[debraran]

Yes, I agree, re Richard Bull. I loved him. He was a second dad to Jon and even his only male mentor? He gave raves along with Katherine for his maturity, intelligence and fast learning. He said he was the smartest kid on the set. He also said he was ignored by his mom who rotated around Melissa and it was sad. I wish he stayed in touch with him. He might have for a while.

I loved Katherine's back story and how it effected her with her daughter although Nellie didn't need a restaurant for a beau. One semester in college in the city, she'd meet someone. But less funny. ; )

When Nels came back from his rendezvous with Mollie and selling things, I also loved how they took a walk at night and appreciated each other and I saw a glimpse of what they were like many years before. I agreed with Katherine in pushing her to be multi-faceted, hardly anyone is that mean and Nel's saw something nice years ago.