Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

[CountryGirl]

So I caught a little of the awful My Ellen episode and then it struck me that Mrs. Taylor was played by the same actress who played Grace Snider Edwards after the Edwards were written out (Corinne Camacho).

Proving once again how much ML liked to recycle everything - plots, actors, et al.

[RedbirdNelly]

I watched My Ellen a month or so ago. I was watching some episode before it and my husband and I joked how hard core these episodes were--people die etc. He left the room, My Ellen started, he walked back in and I was all "it's 10 minutes in and this girl already died from drowning." Way to prove our point.

[CountryGirl]

It's the "Mline? I'm gonna be...mline???" two-parter aka "I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away."

To which I say, how would Mline Mary know that?

[Mr. Sparkle]

27 minutes ago, CountryGirl said:

It's the "Mline? I'm gonna be...mline???" two-parter aka "I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away."

To which I say, how would Mline Mary know that?

SAVAGE!!! 😝

[jird]

Watched "The Handyman," and for the first time realized it's only a couple of episodes after dirtbag John Jr. cheated on Mary and broke her heart, and it makes me have a tiny bit more sympathy for her crazypants behavior in suspecting something might be up between Ma and hot Gil Gerard.

[debraran]

2 hours ago, jird said:

Watched "The Handyman," and for the first time realized it's only a couple of episodes after dirtbag John Jr. cheated on Mary and broke her heart, and it makes me have a tiny bit more sympathy for her crazypants behavior in suspecting something might be up between Ma and hot Gil Gerard.

I never thought about that but she was nasty and knew her Mom was St Caroline. ; ) She let Nellie get under her skin.  And I agree, Chris was hot. He could have had chores lined up in Walnut Grove for a long time. lol

[CountryGirl]

2 hours ago, debraran said:

I never thought about that but she was nasty and knew her Mom was St Caroline. ; ) She let Nellie get under her skin.  And I agree, Chris was hot. He could have had chores lined up in Walnut Grove for a long time. lol

I would have popped popcorn with him anytime. 

[debraran]

6 hours ago, CountryGirl said:

I would have popped popcorn with him anytime. 

LOL, I found this pic looking and thought "who is that?" Must have been a director but in casual clothes. ; ) Looks like Melissa G is trying to get that last piece of pie between takes!

 

Edited July 30, 2020 by debraran

[Mr. Sparkle]

I watched the anthrax one earlier today. Not a bad episode, but they apparently ran out of story because it ended with a 5 minute song from Hester Sue. 

[CountryGirl]

Hester Sue sure could sing.

The Anthrax episode reminds of the tertiary character topic - father loses a son here and same guy, different son, loses his wife and child in another plague (typhus). 

[RedbirdNelly]

watched the end of the 2 parter where they move to the city followed by the one when the livery school kids play football against the private school kids. They lost their main weapon--big Luke --to the private school. In this show, kids and adults are in no way encouraged to stop referring to Luke as dumb. Apparently, making fun of people for not being sharp is ok. Even Teacher Garvey lets out some snide remark to the entire class when he finishes reading. Watching this now was just kind of weird. 

[CountryGirl]

I'll bet Ma wouldn't have stood for that, after all, IIRC, she threatened to wash out mouths with the strongest soap she could find when hearing how kids, her own included, including Prisspot Mary, called Abel "Dumb Abel McKay."

[RedbirdNelly]

1 minute ago, CountryGirl said:

I'll bet Ma wouldn't have stood for that, after all, IIRC, she threatened to wash out mouths with the strongest soap she could find when hearing how kids, her own included, including Prisspot Mary, called Abel "Dumb Abel McKay."

in this episode, no one cared. Remarks about him being stupid in front of Ma and Pa were made with no reaction beyond laughter.

 

[CountryGirl]

7 minutes ago, RedbirdNelly said:

in this episode, no one cared. Remarks about him being stupid in front of Ma and Pa were made with no reaction beyond laughter.

 

Well there's ML keeping it consistent...not.

[jird]

2 hours ago, CountryGirl said:

The Anthrax episode reminds of the tertiary character topic - father loses a son here and same guy, different son, loses his wife and child in another plague (typhus). 

I feel like ML really missed an opportunity not having that guy also lose his son in the blizzard when Miss Beadle tried to kill all the kids.

[Yogisbooboo64]

On 7/29/2020 at 4:33 PM, CountryGirl said:

It's the "Mline? I'm gonna be...mline???" two-parter aka "I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away."

To which I say, how would Mline Mary know that?

Finally got to see this eppy yesterday.  I'm confused....did Mary pronounce blind as mline?  I never understood this joke.  I felt for her when she was screaming for Pa at it being dark.

Nevertheless, I...could...not...STAND Mary!  Dang, she always had a stick up her ass and thought her petticoats didn't stink.  Watching from the beginning, I can see why the eppies were Laura heavy...she had fun.  

[Mr. Sparkle]

30 minutes ago, Yogisbooboo64 said:

Finally got to see this eppy yesterday.  I'm confused....did Mary pronounce blind as mline?  I never understood this joke.  I felt for her when she was screaming for Pa at it being dark.

Yeah, unpopular opinion here too... I never heard it as mline. 

Thylvia did have a pronounced lisp. 

[debraran]

7 minutes ago, Superclam said:

Yeah, unpopular opinion here too... I never heard it as mline. 

Thylvia did have a pronounced lisp. 

Mary could be annoying but I thought years ago, she said and did what I might have under those circumstances. I suffer from claustrophobia, and her "I can't breathe" was pretty accurate along with the self pity. I did like when they told her about the school and she realized she was going away, it was like, "Did I push it too far?"  She seemed less annoying as when she was a little girl afraid to be bad. "I'm telling Ma, You're not supposed to do that, I'm saving my candy, the list goes on. : )

Then poor Mary does ONE thing wrong, she gets banished from taking a test and getting an award. I can only imagine if she stole a music box or stayed out late, what would have happened to her.

 

Edited July 31, 2020 by debraran

[BigBingerBro]

2 hours ago, debraran said:

ONE thing wrong,

She nearly burned down the barn and killed everyone, even though it was an accident.

[bunnyblue]

5 hours ago, Susan Easey said:

I love the nicknames for the Ingalls girls: Half-Pint, Prisspot, Pee Puddles and Glued to High Chair.

I've also seen the Yellow Puddler for Carrie. There was also Drip Lip for Albert; that may have been from the TWOP days.

4 hours ago, Yogisbooboo64 said:

Finally got to see this eppy yesterday.  I'm confused....did Mary pronounce blind as mline?  I never understood this joke.  I felt for her when she was screaming for Pa at it being dark.

Yeah, I never heard it as "mline" either, but I like to say it 'cuz it is fun to make fun of Mary. I recently watched this episode after not having seen it in years and I had completely forgotten how good it was and how good MSA was in it. I can not even imagine how horrifying it would be to wake up one morning and not be able to see. I'd scream for my Pa too. 

4 hours ago, debraran said:

her "I can't breathe" was pretty accurate along with the self pity. I did like when they told her about the school and she realized she was going away, it was like, "Did I push it too far?" 

I'd feel pretty damn sorry for myself too if I were in Mary's shoes. I like that she was angry and just sat around in her pajamas all day until Charles & Caroline made the decision to send her to the blind school. And I felt bad for her when Charles was told to leave shortly after dropping her off at the school, so he abruptly bid her adieu, leaving her all alone. Of course TV Mary adjusted quickly and had a relatively happy life, while the real Mary Ingalls seems to have had a rather long lonely life. This is one of the changes I'm glad ML made to the show.

[debraran]

7 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

She nearly burned down the barn and killed everyone, even though it was an accident.

I know and fire was always killing people on the show or almost (think Albert, Gold Country, Charle's dad) but Laura never really got into trouble. Someone once had a list of all the times she pushed curfew, visited people she shouldn't, stole, lied, etc. and many times if Nellie was involved, that was the punishment, lol  or she was told they should do something but didn't. There was the cinnamon chicken incident and it did seem she was too old to have her Ma come with her to apologize. Their kids also ran away a lot, Laura, Albert, James. Taking off to California.....I'm surprised Caroline didn't go gray earlier.

 

 

Edited July 31, 2020 by debraran

[debraran]

17 hours ago, bunnyblue said:

I've also seen the Yellow Puddler for Carrie. There was also Drip Lip for Albert; that may have been from the TWOP days.

Yeah, I never heard it as "mline" either, but I like to say it 'cuz it is fun to make fun of Mary. I recently watched this episode after not having seen it in years and I had completely forgotten how good it was and how good MSA was in it. I can not even imagine how horrifying it would be to wake up one morning and not be able to see. I'd scream for my Pa too. 

I'd feel pretty damn sorry for myself too if I were in Mary's shoes. I like that she was angry and just sat around in her pajamas all day until Charles & Caroline made the decision to send her to the blind school. And I felt bad for her when Charles was told to leave shortly after dropping her off at the school, so he abruptly bid her adieu, leaving her all alone. Of course TV Mary adjusted quickly and had a relatively happy life, while the real Mary Ingalls seems to have had a rather long lonely life. This is one of the changes I'm glad ML made to the show.

Mary did get an Emmy nod for that episode and no one else ever did. Seems odd, but I googled it and lots of music and other things but not actor's. I wonder if that irked Melissa Gilbert.  She was nominated later for Miracle Worker but didn't win.

I wish they had more interesting stories with her and Adam but I think never having her have a child might seem odd but the shows were almost over. I think after that horrible fire 2 part show, she knew her time was limited. Lost a baby, another burned in a fire, that ship sailed.

 

Edited July 31, 2020 by debraran

[CountryGirl]

10 hours ago, debraran said:

 There was the cinnamon chicken incident and it did seem she was too old to have her Ma come with her to apologize.

That reminds me. When Laura quit teaching and Mrs. Olesen took over (unnn dun twaaa!) the class for a while,, she made this cold chicken dish for Almanzo and he clearly didn't like it and she got mad and threw both their plates in the sink and stormed off.

He mumbled to himself, "I liked your cinnamon chicken better." LOL.

I always wondered if he ad-libbed that part.

[debraran]

1 hour ago, CountryGirl said:

That reminds me. When Laura quit teaching and Mrs. Olesen took over (unnn dun twaaa!) the class for a while,, she made this cold chicken dish for Almanzo and he clearly didn't like it and she got mad and threw both their plates in the sink and stormed off.

He mumbled to himself, "I liked your cinnamon chicken better." LOL.

I always wondered if he ad-libbed that part.

It sounds better than something the writers would have written. Occasionally they let them, but not often. I remember one of the female actors, forgot if it was Ms Beadle or Alice that said she asked him once if she could do a scene a different way and Michael paused, thought and said, "sure" and changed things for her. She never asked again. (probably wise) ; )

 

[Snow Apple]

Dang it. I made a point to watch Sweet Sixteen today just for the scene where Laura buys the dress at the Oleson's and they cut out the entire scene. I loved the exchange with Ma and Mrs. Oleson.

[OpalNightstream]

Autopsy: the last hours of Michael Landon is on right now on Reelz channel

 

[jason88cubs]

when Charles said "your ma's apple fritters" and winked, was he really talking baout the food or something else lol

[bunnyblue]

I'm watching "The Wedding" (famous for little Susan's "I'm Here! I'm Here! I'm Here!") and I can't get over Mary's perfectly manicured fingernails. For an 1800's blind country girl she had a hell of a talent for being able to maintain such long pretty nails. 

I've always thought Nellie looks odd when she runs, and I finally figured out why. For some weird reason instead of letting her arms swing like a normal person, she grabs the skirt of her dress with both hands, which leaves her arms awkwardly stuck to her side. This has the unfortunate effect of making her upper body look stiff while her boobs bounce from side to side. Now that I noticed it, I can't not notice it every time Nellie runs.

It drives me crazy that the show couldn't keep straight Caroline's maiden name. In "I Remember, I Remember", young Caroline's family are the Holbrooks, in a later episode Charles recalls falling in love with Caroline Quiner, in "Author Author!" her father is Frederick Holbrook, and then in "Whatever Happened to the Class of '56" she's back to being Caroline Quiner. And this constant screw up was only in the span of 2 seasons! Continuity was a foreign concept for the show.

Edited August 5, 2020 by bunnyblue

[debraran]

1 hour ago, bunnyblue said:

I'm watching "The Wedding" (famous for little Susan's "I'm Here! I'm Here! I'm Here!") and I can't get over Mary's perfectly manicured fingernails. For an 1800's blind country girl she had a hell of a talent for being able to maintain such long pretty nails. 

I've always thought Nellie looks odd when she runs, and I finally figured out why. For some weird reason instead of letting her arms swing like a normal person, she grabs the skirt of her dress with both hands, which leaves her arms awkwardly stuck to her side. This has the unfortunate effect of making her upper body look stiff while her boobs bounce from side to side. Now that I noticed it, I can't not notice it every time Nellie runs.

It drives me crazy that the show couldn't keep straight Caroline's maiden name. In "I Remember, I Remember", young Caroline's family are the Holbrooks, in a later episode Charles recalls falling in love with Caroline Quiner, in "Author Author!" her father is Frederick Holbrook, and then in "Whatever Happened to the Class of '56" she's back to being Caroline Quiner. And this constant screw up was only in the span of 2 seasons! Continuity was a foreign concept for the show.

Melissa Sue mentioned that she got in a  bit of trouble for the French manicure. He caught that but not more obvious gaffes. Lol  others had nice nails too. 

i know there are a lot of goofs but didn’t Caroline’s dad pass and mom remarried? Maybe he was Holbrook?

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, debraran said:

i know there are a lot of goofs but didn’t Caroline’s dad pass and mom remarried? Maybe he was Holbrook?

Yes, that's what happened IRL.  Her father died when she was 5. She was around 7 or 8 at the time when her mother remarried.

[CountryGirl]

All the discussion about Caroline's stepfather makes me remember one of the worst moments in LHOTP history, which is saying something for this show.

Caroline's mother and stepfather are supposed to come for a visit.

Pa goes to the train station (IIRC, in Springfield) and learns his MIL died en route. Instead of sending a telegram or something...ANYTHING back to Walnut Grove while they wagon-train it home, he says NOTHING. 

Then, to make matters worse, when they get home, he doesn't immediately take his wife aside for a moment to share the horrible news. Nope, he just lets her charge around to the back of the wagon to pull back the flap and find a coffin where her mother should be.

Nice, Pa, real nice.

[Mr. Sparkle]

56 minutes ago, CountryGirl said:

Then, to make matters worse, when they get home, he doesn't immediately take his wife aside for a moment to share the horrible news. Nope, he just lets her charge around to the back of the wagon to pull back the flap and find a coffin where her mother should be.

Yeah, if I remember, he's like "Caroline, wait!" from about 50 feet away. Makes no attempt to stop her. Made for a much more dramatic moment, of course. 

[BigBingerBro]

Having grown up in Wisconsin myself.  I always cringe when I hear Ma's pronunciation of "Oconomowoc" River.  It's not the easiset to say if you've never heard it, but she really slaughters it.

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, CountryGirl said:

All the discussion about Caroline's stepfather makes me remember one of the worst moments in LHOTP history, which is saying something for this show.

Caroline's mother and stepfather are supposed to come for a visit.

Pa goes to the train station (IIRC, in Springfield) and learns his MIL died en route. Instead of sending a telegram or something...ANYTHING back to Walnut Grove while they wagon-train it home, he says NOTHING. 

Then, to make matters worse, when they get home, he doesn't immediately take his wife aside for a moment to share the horrible news. Nope, he just lets her charge around to the back of the wagon to pull back the flap and find a coffin where her mother should be.

Nice, Pa, real nice.

I actually don't remember this epi.  I can definitely understand wanting to tell her in person.  It's not something you want to find out from a telegram.  OK, it's not something you want to find out in any fashion.  But, he definitely should have told her instead of letting her discover a coffin.

[CountryGirl]

Although I'm laughing now as I recall our TWOP nickname for this episode: "Ma's A Little Stiff from the Trip."

[jird]

1 hour ago, CountryGirl said:

Although I'm laughing now as I recall our TWOP nickname for this episode: "Ma's A Little Stiff from the Trip."

A lot of the episodes will always be in my head as the TWoP names. Just this morning I was trying to remember if "Albert Barfs Up Drugs" was a movie or part of the regular season.

[jason88cubs]

On 8/5/2020 at 7:41 AM, CountryGirl said:

All the discussion about Caroline's stepfather makes me remember one of the worst moments in LHOTP history, which is saying something for this show.

Caroline's mother and stepfather are supposed to come for a visit.

Pa goes to the train station (IIRC, in Springfield) and learns his MIL died en route. Instead of sending a telegram or something...ANYTHING back to Walnut Grove while they wagon-train it home, he says NOTHING. 

Then, to make matters worse, when they get home, he doesn't immediately take his wife aside for a moment to share the horrible news. Nope, he just lets her charge around to the back of the wagon to pull back the flap and find a coffin where her mother should be.

Nice, Pa, real nice.

not even charles said anythign just sat their

[CountryGirl]

The May We Bake Them Brown two-parter (S6, E18-19) was on again last night and I hate it even more every time I watch it.

I hate DripLip and his dumb-ass tertiary friend for snitching and smoking the pipe and leaving it in a box of essentially kindling.

I hate Hester Sue, clearly seeing smoke in the hallway by the cellar door, trotting up to the door and opening it wide and LEAVING it that way, fueling the fire with more oxygen and allowing it to spread much more quickly.

I hate Mary for not immediately grabbing her helpless infant son from his cradle the second she knew the house was on fire. I mean, he was RIGHT THERE!!!

I hate Adam for dragging her away so they could help the other kids. Yes, these children, especially blind ones, needed help but his defenseless baby should have been his first priority. 

I hate Alice for urging Mary down the stairs after all the kids were safely headed downstairs (except for the one who got stuck in the water closet). I hate Mary for letting her. Had Mary grabbed the baby in the first place, Alice wouldn't have had to go back in the room. Although I still question the staircase and downstairs being pretty much flame-free when the fire started in the cellar (we see this when Hester Sue runs back into the house right before the end) and yet the upstairs is an inferno. But the biggest point is that Mary could have grabbed the baby and still managed to help herd some kids downstairs to safety. These are not mutually-exclusive things. And I've said it so many times, no parent, blind or otherwise, would ever, EVER walk away from their child knowing a fire or some other calamity was in the house. 

I hate Alice for using Adam Jr as a baby battering ram to try to get out through the windows. But I guess it was a merciful killing as he likely died from the head trauma vs the smoke/fire.

I hate Pa for placing a charred Adam Jr in Mary's arms. 

I hate Adam and Caroline, et al, just expecting Mary to immediately accept and process that her baby is gone. Especially when both know the guilt Mary feels for not immediately grabbing him in the first place. And I'll hate Ma when just THREE episodes later (Sweet Sixteen, S6, E22), she's giggling like a loon about Laura and Almanzo finally getting together and how she's just dying to call Pa "Grandpa." And I hate Pa for guffawing back "Grandma!" Assholes, both of them.

I hate DripLip - period - but he took the cake with getting Mary a music box and then shrieking "I didn't mean it! I didn't mean it!" when it triggered her recalling the trauma. And I call BS on that being all it took for Mary to snap out of it. So hearing it out of a music box did the trick but humming (tone deafly) the tune non-stop didn't do anything to jar her memories? Really?

I hate Pa for going after an AWOL Albert and reuniting with him like he's some long lost prodigal son instead of one of the two despicable human beings responsible for burning down a blind school and killing his grandson and best friend's wife. And for dragging Jonathan, said BFF, with him. I mean, who does that? Jonathan being in shock and grief-stricken is the only explanation for him showing up to help and not immediately strangling Albert's neck. 

Feelings.

I have them. 

[RedbirdNelly]

I haven't watched the blind school burning down epi in years and just want to avoid it. As a child, that episode and the Walton's episode where their house burned down scared the crap out of me. I spent time thinking about how I would escape my bedroom in the fire that seemed to be a sure thing to happen--how would I get out the window and over the prickly holly bushes right outside my window. . . 

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, CountryGirl said:

I hate Alice for urging Mary down the stairs after all the kids were safely headed downstairs (except for the one who got stuck in the water closet). I hate Mary for letting her. Had Mary grabbed the baby in the first place, Alice wouldn't have had to go back in the room. Although I still question the staircase and downstairs being pretty much flame-free when the fire started in the cellar (we see this when Hester Sue runs back into the house right before the end) and yet the upstairs is an inferno. But the biggest point is that Mary could have grabbed the baby and still managed to help herd some kids downstairs to safety. These are not mutually-exclusive things. And I've said it so many times, no parent, blind or otherwise, would ever, EVER walk away from their child knowing a fire or some other calamity was in the house. 

And they could have had the exact same result by having Mary not home when it happened.  Or at least downstairs in a class with some children.

[CountryGirl]

And Adam could have just as easily picked up his child as he was RIGHT THERE, too. But not only does he NOT pick him up, he actually grabs Mary by the arm, pulling her AWAY from their own tiny baby, the child MOST in need, to help the other kids. 

SMH.

[jird]

8 minutes ago, CountryGirl said:

And Adam could have just as easily picked up his child as he was RIGHT THERE, too. But not only does he NOT pick him up, he actually grabs Mary by the arm, pulling her AWAY from their own tiny baby, the child MOST in need, to help the other kids. 

SMH.

YES. This plus everything you said in your other post, AND ALSO Alice was right there next to the crib and she also left the room WITHOUT THE BABY to go help James. If she'd taken the baby with her then, all three of them would have gotten out safely.

[Mr. Sparkle]

When it was on a few weeks back, I rewound it a few times to see exactly what happened. Mary really did just leave the baby there. 

Edited August 7, 2020 by Superclam

[Mr. Sparkle]

OMG (with an emphasis on the "G") part 2 of "He Was Only Twelve" is ridiculous even for this show! 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Now we have Mr. Edwards doing his best drunken oaf. Apparently with a completely different Grace, Carl and Alicia. 

[VCRTracking]

So I'm thinking Mary was the one subconsciously lusting over Buck Rogers but felt so ashamed for feeling that way over a grown-up she transferred those urges onto Caroline having those naughty thoughts.

Edited August 8, 2020 by VCRTracking

[methodwriter85]

On 8/5/2020 at 5:10 AM, debraran said:

Melissa Sue mentioned that she got in a  bit of trouble for the French manicure. He caught that but not more obvious gaffes. Lol  others had nice nails too. 

In her (terrible) book, she said that she really wanted Farrah Fawcett wings, so she "cleverly" hid the short layers with a barette so no one could tell. Oh, sweetie, we did. Then she later got a short 80's perm and they made her wear a wig. 

[VCRTracking]

I don't really blame her. The guys got to have anachronistic 70s hair while the girls had to be "authentic". Plus looking over at The Waltons who from episode 1 were like "screw it" because they probably didn't have the time to give that big cast authentic 1930s hair every week.

Edited August 9, 2020 by VCRTracking

[debraran]

I was watching the show with the infamous and seen once Dr Ledoux. I thought their first names seemed familiar and then I read this:

Fun Fact!
The first names of Dr. Ledoux and his wife are Caleb and Mattie. These are the exact same first names of the married couple that Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash play in the Season 3 opener, “The Collection.”

Two other trivia facts from that show were :

If you watch closely, at one point, you will notice that Doc Baker picks up his phone to speak, and yet the base is not wired to the wall. The only wire is between the base and the earpiece. And in this episode, before meeting Dr. and Mrs. Ledoux, Harriet Oleson ignorantly assumes that they are French. You’d think she would have learned her lesson in Season 5’s “Blind Journey” when she mistakes Hester-Sue Terhune.

That is true, they reused people, themes and biases. Harriet kept it real though.

 

[Snow Apple]

On 8/7/2020 at 8:36 AM, CountryGirl said:

KAnd I'll hate Ma when just THREE episodes later (Sweet Sixteen, S6, E22), she's giggling like a loon about Laura and Almanzo finally getting together and how she's just dying to call Pa "Grandpa." And I hate Pa for guffawing back "Grandma!" Assholes, both of them.

Also in a later episode when Laura was fretting over her newborn son and the rarity of boys in the family, she talked about her brother but not a peep about her nephew. 
I mean, yeah she was worried about health and not about accidents but still.....