Little House on the Prairie

As I begin this Little House on the Prairie blog, Sideshow by Blue Magic is playing in the background. This was a hit in 1974 and one of my sister Lori’s favorite songs. A whole lot has happened in the 45+ years since that song went to #1 on the R&B charts.

With the holiday season coming to an end and a new decade upon us, it has caused me to reminisce about family and life in general. All this thinking about family and memories and stuff made me think about Little House on the Prairie. This was one of my sister Lori’s favorite shows. She absolutely loved Michael Landon.

Little House on the Prairie was kind of a western family drama set in the 1870’s. It was based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books. The show starred Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert and was a hit for many years.

Episodes

I remember watching this show with my sister Lori but my memories are a bit vague. The only episode that sticks out in my mind as of this writing was when Albert (Matthew Laborteaux) was going to be adopted by someone who only wanted to use him because he was a strong boy. He was basically going to become a slave. Albert pretended like he was blind when he met his slave master and as a result, the man didn’t want him because he wouldn’t be able to do things because of his disability. I think I remember that episode because in talking with my Grandma the next day, she said “Wasn’t he smart!” Grandma liked Little House as well as The Waltons.

I also remember the sweet romance between Laura (Melissa Gilbert) and Almanzo (Dean Butler). Dean Butler went on to become somewhat of an odd teen idol. It didn’t seem like he had tons of fans but the ones he did have were really loyal and faithful.

Way back when, producer and NBC executive Ed Friendly asked Michael Landon to direct the pilot episode of Little House on the Prairie. He agreed as long as he could play Charles Ingalls. Nice move, Michael. The two-hour pilot aired on March 30, 1974 and the series then began on September 11, 1974. It ran until 1982. Pretty awesome.

Trivia

• Michael Landon knew immediately that Melissa Gilbert was the one for Laura Ingalls. Her screen test was the only one he sent to the producers at NBC. That’s how sure he was.
• Jonathan Gilbert, who played Willie Oleson, is Melissa Gilbert’s brother.
• Alison Arngrim auditioned for the role of Laura Ingalls but was too nasty. She then auditioned for the role of Mary Ingalls, but once again, didn’t have the sweetness factor required to be an Ingalls. She was hired immediately after auditioning for Nellie Oleson. I guess she got her bitch on and was quite convincing.
• Jason Bateman was on the 1981 season.
• Shannen Doherty was a regular during the 1982 season.
• The ending theme music was originally written for an episode of Bonanza.
• One of the goofs on the show was that they often had married women working as school teachers. This is incorrect as only single women were allowed to teach in the 1880’s. My grandma was a teacher in the early 1900’s and it was a big deal because she was married.
• Several of the episodes written by Michael Landon were recycled from the shows he wrote for Bonanza. Oh well. Soap operas recycle the same storylines all the time.
• Matthew and Patrick Laborteaux (Albert Ingalls and Andy Garvey) became mild teen idols after appearing on Little House on the Prairie.
• Linwood Boomer played Mary’s (Melissa Sue Anderson) blind husband on the show. He later went on to create Malcolm in the Middle.

Guest Stars

• Radames Pera (Kung Fu) was on several episodes.
• Jimmy McNichol was on three episodes during the 1974 season. Cutie pie.
• Ricky Segall, the cute kid they used to try and help save The Partridge Family, was on a few shows.
• Ike Eisenmann (Escape to Witch Mountain) was on a few shows.
• Other guest stars were Willie Aames, Todd Bridges, David Faustino, Mike Lookinland (Bobby Brady), and many others.

In Closing

Little House on the Prairie is in syndication and I see it often on the Hallmark channel. The entire series is also available on DVD.

I don’t watch the show because it brings me feelings of sadness. Not all memories are happy and Little House seems to evoke the sad ones. My sister Lori was very ill with juvenile diabetes and she told me how she feared going blind just like Mary Ingalls. Lori did go blind in the early 90’s and was a very sick girl until her death in 1995. She loved to read just like Mary Ingalls and she absolutely LOVED Michael Landon. She was a big Bonanza and Little House fan. Maybe they have reruns wherever she’s at now. Maybe she’s best friends with Michael Landon. That would be cool.