July 27, 2023

8. Little Landon on the Prairie

1 hour 4 minutes

This week, Little House goes to Hollywood. In the 1970s, the TV show Little House on the Prairie gave Laura’s books a whole new life. Tens of millions of people tuned in every week to spend time with the Ingalls family. And then, a decade later, every Gen X latchkey kid came home to Laura and Nellie and Ma and Pa. Thanks to endless reruns and streaming platforms, Little House is still airing somewhere right now. Perhaps you, yourself are watching it while you read this. There are a lot of reasons Little House doesn’t quit, but one of the main ones is Michael Landon, the show’s producer, writer, director, and most importantly, Laura’s Pa, Charles Ingalls. As Pa, Landon’s charm and charisma (and hair, and abs, and bare, glowing chest) often eclipsed Laura as the star of the show. And also turned hardcore book fans off. To say the TV show deviated from Laura’s books is an understatement. This was Landon’s prairie. And yet, he still managed to tap into some essential Little House truths, and replicate some of its many problems. But how did this affect Laura Ingalls Wilder’s legacy? What did it mean to put these characters in the hands of a man who would craft their stories into something dramatic and compelling enough to keep people tuning in a half century later? Come home to a simpler time. Come home to Michael Landon crying.

Go deeper:
Alison Arngrim’s Confessions of a Prairie Bitch
Melissa Gilbert’s Prairie Tale and Back to the Prairie
Karen Grassle’s Bright Lights and Prairie Dust
Charlotte Stewart’s Little House in the Hollywood Hills
Michael Landon on the Tonight Show promoting Little House’s first season
Michael Landon on the Tonight Show addressing cancer diagnosis

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