LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE

Show Type: Drama/Adventure

First Telecast: September 11, 1974

Last Telecast: March 21, 1983

Broadcast History:

September 1974 – September 1976, Wednesday 8:00-9:00 on NBC

September 1976 – March 1983, Monday 8:00-9:00 on NBC

Cast

Charles Ingalls (1974-1982)..... Michael Landon

Caroline Ingalls (1974-1982)..... Karen Grassle

Laura Ingalls Wilder..... Melissa Gilbert

Mary Ingalls Kendall (1974-1981)..... Melissa Sue Anderson

Carrie Ingalls (1974-1982)..... Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush

Lars Hanson (1974-1978)..... Karl Swenson

Nels Oleson..... Richard Bull

Harriet Oleson..... Katherine MacGregor

Nellie Oleson Dalton (1974-1981)..... Alison Arngrim

Willie Oleson (1975-1983)..... Jonathan Gilbert

Dr. Baker..... Kevin Hagen

Reverend Robert Alden..... Dabbs Greer

Eva Beadle Simms (1974-1978)..... Charlotte Stewart

Isiah Edwards (1974-1977 / 1982-1983)..... Victor French

Ebenezer Sprague (1975-1976)..... Ted Gehring

Grace Edwards (1976-1977)..... Bonnie Bartlett

Jonathan Garvey (1977-1981)..... Merlin Olsen

Andy Garvey (1977-1981)..... Patrick Laborteaux

Alice Garvey (1977-1980)..... Hersha Parady

Albert Ingalls (1978-1982)..... Matthew Laborteaux

Adam Kendall (1978-1981)..... Linwood Boomer

Grace Ingalls (1978-1982)..... Wendy and Brenda Turnbeaugh

Larrabee (1978-1979)..... Don "Red" Baker

Hester Sue Terhune (1978-1983)..... Ketty Lester

Almanzo Wilder (1979-1983)..... Dean Butler

Eliza jane Wilder (1979-1982)..... Lucy Lee Flippin

Percival Dalton (1980-1981)..... Steve Tracy

James Cooper (1981-1982)..... Jason Bateman

Cassandra Cooper (1981-1982)..... Missy Francis

Nancy Oleson (1981-1983)..... Allison Balson

Jenny Wilder (1982-1983)..... Shannen Doherty

John Carter (1982-1983)..... Stan Ivar

Sarah Carter (1982-1983)..... Pamela Roylance

Jeb Carter (1982-1983)..... Lindsay Kennedy

Jason Carter (1982-1983)..... David Friedman

Etta Plum (1982-1983)..... Leslie Landon

SYNOPSIS

The time was the late 1870's and the locale was the American West, but Little House on the Prairie was not a Western in the usual sense. There were no cowboys, Indians, or cow town saloons in this version of frontier life – it was more like The Waltons in a different setting, the story of a loving family in trying times.

Charles Ingalls was a homesteader struggling to make a living for his family on a small farm near the town of Walnut Grove, Plum Creek, Minnesota. The Ingalls had moved from the great plains of Kansas to Walnut Grove in search of a future in a young and growing community. With Charles were his wife, Caroline, and their three daughters, teenagers Mary and Laura, and little Carrie (played alternately by a pair of identical twins). Stories related the experiences of family life and growing children, the constant struggle against natural disasters and ruined crops, and the dealings with other members of the little community in which they lived. Among the Ingalls’s new friends were Mr. Hanson, the mill owner; Nels Oleson, the proprietor of the general store; and Mr. Edwards, a nearby farmer who became a good friend, despite his rather harsh exterior.

A lot happened on Little House after that simple beginning, as the program came to resemble a serial. First, Mr. Edwards left in 1977 (Victor French got his own series, Carter Country), and was replaced by Jonathan Garvey (played by former Los Angeles Rams star Merlin Olsen). Garvey had a wife named Alice and a young son, Andy. In 1978 Caroline gave birth to a fourth daughter, Grace, but oldest daughter Mary lost her sight and was sent to a school for the blind. Mary promptly fell in love with her instructor, Adam Kendall, and they moved off to the Dakotas.

No sooner were they gone than the town of Walnut Grove fell on hard times, and Charles and his family (along with some other regulars) had to pack up and move to the bustling frontier city of Winoka, where their household was enlarged again by the addition of Albert, a young orphan they adopted. City life didn't sit well with the family, however, so they all moved back to Walnut Grove, which had miraculously recovered from its problems. Mary and Adam moved back too, and had a baby boy, who unfortunately perished (along with Alice Garvey) when the school for the blind where Mary was teaching burned down.

Feeling left out amid all this travail, daughter Laura decided to become a teacher, and was courted by and eventually married Almanzo Wilder, in the fall of 1980. Even nasty Nellie Oleson got married, although problems arose when it was discovered that her husband, Percival, was really Jewish (Isaac Cohen) and a decision had to be made about how to raise their children. Since Nellie had twins, everything was resolved by deciding they raise the son as a Jew and the daughter as a Christian!

Jonathan Garvey, now a widower, moved to nearby Sleepy Eye to manage a warehouse, and convinced Charles to set up a freight business between there and Walnut Grove. Meanwhile, over in the Mary and Adam subplot, Adam regained his sight in a freak accident, and was accepted to law school.

In the fall of 1981, Adam's father offered him a job with his law firm in New York, and Adam and Mary left Walnut Grove forever. Nellie and Percival were also in New York, where he had taken over his late father's business. Jonathan and Andy Garvey were no longer seen, while Hester Sue Terhune, who had worked at the Sleepy Eye school for the blind, moved to Walnut Grove to work, along with Caroline Ingalls, at Mrs. Oleson's restaurant.

There were more adoptions in the 1981-1982 season, with Charles and Caroline adding recently orphaned James and Cassandra Cooper to their household, and lonely Mrs. Oleson taking in an orphan named Nancy – who bore a striking resemblance to her departed Nellie, in both looks and nastiness. Mr. Edwards, whose problems with drinking had cost him his marriage, returned to Walnut Grove the following spring, and Laura gave birth to a daughter, Rose.

 

Michael Landon's decision to leave Little House prompted a number of changes in the fall of 1982. The title was changed to Little House: A New Beginning, and Laura and Almanzo became the principal stars. Economic problems forced Charles to sell the “little house” and move to Burr Oak, Iowa, where he had found a job. Moving into the former Ingalls home were John and Sarah Carter, who ran the town newspaper, and their sons Jeb and Jason. Laura gave up her teaching job to raise both Rose and Jenny, who was orphaned when Almanzo's brother, Royal, died. Laura's replacement at the school, Etta Plum, was portrayed by Michael Landon's daughter Leslie.

There series’ audience had been declining for several years, and the revised version lasted only a single season.

The stories told on Little House were originally based on the "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, which contained her recollections of growing up on the American frontier. On the TV series, the actress playing Laura functioned as the narrator. Michael Landon, who starred in this series, was also its executive producer.

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