Table Of Content
The television series was directed by Michael Landon, William F. Claxton, Maury Dexter, Victor French, and Leo Penn. These were not casual fans, but those with custom shirts ("In a world of Nellies, be a Laura") and wore bonnets and calico dresses. They carried books, posters, vintage lunch boxes and aprons to get autographed. A Japanese anime television series of 26 episodes (about 24 minutes each), originally entitled Sōgen no Shōjo Laura.
Victor French, Jr., (Son of Victor French who played Mr. Edwards)
Previously, Caroline had scratched her leg on a piece of baling wire, and the minor scratch turns into a serious infection. Unable to summon help, she is about to succumb to her illness, but she is inspired by a passage in her Bible to perform a painful procedure, which later impresses even Doc Baker. The pilot film inspired a miniseries in 2005 which was also heavily inspired by the novels of the same name. The three movie specials listed below were produced to tie up loose ends to storylines on both the two main series and those opened up in Hello and Goodbye. Little House explored many different themes including frequently portrayed ones of adoption, alcoholism, faith, poverty, blindness, and prejudice of all types, including racism.
On the Banks of Plum Creek
In this three-hour special, the Ingalls family spends Thanksgiving reminiscing their past years in Walnut Grove (via clips from previous episodes). The only person she can find to help her is Sam (Burl Ives), who is almost blind, but still able to find his way in the forest. Together, they manage to get Charles to Sam's cabin and then they go out to find medical help. The majority of the episodes run approximately 50 minutes (not counting commercials, they have since been edited for syndication to accommodate more commercial time). Expanded episodes (90 minutes to 2 hours) have been indicated as such; many of these may not currently be shown in some rerun markets due to their length.
Episodes
Mrs. Oleson finds an old Walnut Grove Bearer Bond and, claiming that she is owed over $14,000 in unpaid interest, uses it to have the town renamed Olesonville. However, when she wants her compliant husband elected as mayor, she encounters unexpected opposition from some of the town's oldest inhabitants. James, wanting to open a savings account with his birthday check from Uncle Jed, walks into the bank as it is being robbed. James is shot and critically wounded, and the doctor tells Charles that the injuries are potentially fatal. Charles and Mr. Edwards, and later Albert, against Charles' orders, set out to track down the villains. Charles and a friend, Jack Prescott, deliver some tables, hand-made by Charles, to a store in Minneapolis, for which Charles makes a few "as a hobby".
Caleb Hodgekiss, an ex-convict, finds him and takes him to his house where his wife takes care of him. Hodgekiss volunteers to get the donations from Walnut Grove, but plans to take the donations for himself. However, his experiences with the people of Walnut Grove, especially Mary, bring about a change of heart. When Christmas comes around, all the Ingalls are caught up in the secrecy and excitement. Charles and Mary take jobs to obtain gifts for their loved ones, but Laura cannot think of what to give or how to raise money, until she realizes she has something of value in her horse, Bunny, which Nels Oleson (Richard Bull) wants to buy for Nellie.
Season 3 (1976–
The rest of the regular series premiered on the NBC network on September 11, 1974, and last aired on May 10, 1982. Based on the book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Ingalls family struggles to survive in 1870s after settling on a farm near a small rural town in Minnesota. To celebrate the 40th Anniversary in 2014, NBCUniversal restored and re-mastered the pilot and all nine seasons. The series is now available for the first time ever in high definition on Blu-ray and on Digital HD.
Sales dry up and Charles decides that his greatest legacy will be his children. But later, one of his tables with his 'CI' mark is bought as a prized antique at an auction approximately 100 years later in the then present day (1982). The characters Mary and Adam had taken a back seat and only appeared a handful of times in the 7th season. Melissa Sue Anderson decided to leave the show, and only appeared in 2 episodes of season 8. She appeared briefly in The Reincarnation of Nellie Part 1, and as a guest star in The Christmas They Never Forgot. Subsequently, the shots of her running down the hill with her sisters were removed from the opening theme.
'Little House On The Prairie': 8 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know - TV Insider
'Little House On The Prairie': 8 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know.
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When Laura announces that she is expecting a baby, Caroline says that she is also. Later, she finds out from Doc Baker that she is not expecting but is experiencing an early menopause and cannot have any more children. This devastates Caroline, who has tried to birth a surviving true male heir for Charles and fears she is worthless to him now because this is now impossible. Laura and Almanzo clash again over their different aspirations for their marriage, and this is aggravated when Laura comes to believe that Almanzo is having an affair with one of his former girlfriends, Brenda Sue. Laura returns to her family, saying she wants to leave Almanzo, and even picks a fight with Brenda Sue.
Pilot movie premiere (
Mary accidentally sets the barn on fire while cramming for an important school competition. Almanzo upsets Laura by asking another girl to the circus; Nels denies a circus-performer relative. William Randolph Hearst helps Charles, Laura and Albert bring a dying boy to visit the ocean. The children plot to scare Mrs. Oleson into returning an old woman's (Hermione Baddeley) home. Matthew meets the father who abandoned him; a famous author stays at the Wilder boarding house. Mrs. Oleson asks Miss Beadle to talk with the father of a boy who wants to date Nellie.
The men are all reluctant to sign, including Nels, who is in the middle of another big disagreement with Harriet. Charles and Almanzo also oppose it, even though they believe in equality and joint ownership in their own marriages. So Caroline moves out of the house and organizes other wives in a mass 'walk out' from their matrimonial duties. Eventually, the husbands, led by Charles, decide that they can support the petition, and marital peace and harmony is restored. Rev. Alden falls in love with a member of his congregation and marries her, but almost comes at a cost when Mrs. Oleson attempts to tear their relationship apart, distressing the Reverend to illness. Mrs. Oleson reports Rev. Alden to church leadership, but the tables turn when the minister representative (William Schallert) turns out to be her former fiancé, who broke their engagement when unable to commit to serving "both God and marriage".
An unusual football game convinces a father (John Ireland) his blind son deserves an education. Most people wanted to see Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura; Karen Grassle who played Ma/Caroline Ingalls; or Alison Arngrim who played Nellie Oleson. Some cast members have appeared at smaller tributes, but this was the first time most of them were together.
Mr. Edwards leads a harried but courageous effort to save the two men's lives. Mary is severely injured when a horse kicks her in the stomach while she is putting him away in the barn. When her condition deteriorates, it becomes clear she needs an expensive surgery to save her life. Charles and Mr. Edwards are forced to take dynamiting jobs for the railroad to fund the surgery. The Galender brothers settle in Walnut Grove, causing trouble for the entire community by intimidating and terrorizing the inhabitants. Laura is tricked into adopting a "unique" billy goat, named Fred, but he quickly becomes unpopular when he helps himself to the Ingalls family's crops and exhibits a particularly unpopular behaviour.
Just as Mary falls in love with newcomer Seth Barton (Robert Kenneally), her nearsightedness begins to worsen. Charles takes her to an optometrist and she initially appears to need stronger lenses, but the vision still worsens a few days later. She returns to the eye doctor, who discovers she had scarlet fever a few years back. The resulting nerve damage means Mary's vision cannot be saved, and she will soon go blind.
He keeps her secret and allows her to be an unrecognizable clown at the circus. Laura seeks revenge on Christie when she becomes a guest clown for the circus, dumping water on her and, after she runs off, kissing Almanzo. Later at the circus, Nels announces [as the ring master] to all in attendance that Annabelle is his sister and how proud he is of her. Nellie discovers that Laura has "borrowed" a music box from her room and decides to blackmail her. In order to stay quiet about Laura's crime, Nellie demands that Laura abandon her new friend Anna (Katy Kurtzman), who has a stutter, and join her new club.
After Jack dies suddenly of a heart attack on the return trip, and after which his farm is sold and his nameplate casually tossed into the kindling by the new owner, Charles decides he wants to do something to be remembered for. Soon after, a fierce blizzard snows them in, and they all have to stay the night. Caroline, Almanzo, Laura and Hester-Sue recall Christmas memories from when they were children.
Caroline nurses her and sees loathingly to her husband Horace's basic needs until he threatens her with bodily harm after which she lashes back with a fire torch. With Caroline and Hester-Sue run off their feet at the restaurant, Harriet signs up with a franchise which promises greater efficiency and more profit, and the restaurant is renamed "Mrs. Sullivan's Kitchen". Unfortunately, Harriet has not read the small print in the contract, and the onerous conditions result in everyone's life becoming even more busy. When Charles reluctantly has to take over the cooking at home, he gets together with Nels to work on a plan to release Harriet from her contract and get things back to normal.
