Little House on the Prairie (1974)

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In the movie, Little House: The Last Farewell (1984) (TV), they really did blow up the town. Producer and leading star, Michael Landon didn't want the bulldozers to crush the buildings. So he wrote a story which gave the inhabitants the chance to destroy their town themselves. They did not however destroy the home that the Ingalls had lived in. That was destroyed by the fires in California in late 2003.
Out of the many young girls who auditioned for the role of Laura Ingalls, Michael Landon was convinced immediately that Melissa Gilbert was the perfect candidate. In fact, he was so certain that Gilbert's was the only screen test that he sent to the producers at NBC
Alison Arngrim originally auditioned for the role of Laura Ingalls, but was not successful. She then tried out for the role of Laura's sister Mary, to the same avail. However, when auditioning for the role of "Nasty" Nellie Oleson, she was hired on the spot for playing mean so convincingly.
In the episode, "Little House on the Prairie" (1974) {Here Come the Brides (#4.12)}, Scottie MacGregor was actually injured in the scene where Mrs. Olson falls off the horse. Because MacGregor was unable to do the next sequence, Ruth Foster (who plays Mrs. Foster in the show) dressed in Mrs. Olson's costume and filmed the scene for her instead.
The character Charles Ingalls was ranked #4 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" (20 June 2004 issue).
The character Nellie Oleson was ranked #3 in TV Guide's list of "TV's 10 Biggest Brats" (27 March 2005 issue).
Dean Butler remarked that the first kiss between him and Melissa Gilbert (Laura) was so nerve-racking for everyone, that there were chaperones on the set to make sure nothing unseemly was going on. From the sidelines, Melissa's mother Barbara was wailing "My baby!" so much that she had to be consoled.
In the movie, Little House: The Last Farewell (1984) (TV), where the town of Walnut Grove is blown up, one buildings left clearly standing is the church and schoolhouse building.
Mary's husband, Adam Kendall (who didn't exist in real-life) went blind from a head injury, then regained his eyesight from another head injury. He then studied law, passed the bar in the top 1%, then later practiced law in Walnut Grove.
Michael Landon had a unique way of inspiring child actors to cry when required for a scene. Melissa Gilbert described how he would work himself up emotionally, face her with his eyes full of tears and ask her, "Do you know how much I love you?" to which she would get all teary and emotional in response.
The theme song was penned by David Rose, who wrote many theme songs. However, he is best known for the 1962 Burlesque classic, The Stripper.
Since Walnut Grove did not have a jail of its own, Nels Olson's ice house served as such for anyone awaiting trial.
Although loosely based on the real stories penned by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the show took many liberties with different characters. The biggest example of this is the characters of Albert Ingalls and Adam Kendall, neither of whom ever existed: Charles and Caroline Ingalls were the parents of four daughters, Mary, Laura, Carrie, and Grace; and Mary Ingalls remained single all her life. They also had a son, Charles Frederick, who died as a baby.
The first dog the Ingalls owned was Jack. After he died, they adopted a stray black and white dog named Bandit.
Laura's favorite perfume was lemon verbena. Mr. Edwards gave it to her in two episodes. Once when she was a little girl, and again after she was grown up.
CASTLE THUNDER: Heard every time it storms.
The only prime-time non-reality series to stay in production during the 1980 actors' strike and the 1981 writers' strike, which delayed both fall seasons. Michael Landon, representing NBC rather than a studio, negotiated deals with SAG and WGA to allow the show to continue filming under a separate contract, while the actors and writers continued to boycott the studios. (He did the same with the Writers Guild of America, purchasing scripts from the new members of the union, on the final season of Highway to Heaven, which he owned. NBC didn't use his new episodes during the fall of 1988, though.)
Actor E.J. André appeared on the series 7 times, in 5 different roles. The characters he portrayed were Zachariah, Jed Cooper, St. Peter, Matthew Simms and Amos Thoms.
Eight Oscar winning actors appeared as guest stars on various episodes during the show's run. They were Ernest Borgnine (who won an Oscar for Marty), Patricia Neal (Hud), Burl Ives (The Big Country), Red Buttons (Sayonara), Eileen Heckart (Butterflies Are Free), Louis Gossett Jr. (An Officer And A Gentleman), Ralph Bellamy (1987 Honorary Academy Award) and double winner Sean Penn (Mystic River and Milk).
Melissa Gilbert was impressed by Michael Landon's habit of putting out cigarettes on his gloves.
The show was a hit in its first season. In the second season the ratings dropped and the show was in danger of cancellation. NBC decided to move the series from Wednesday to Monday nights to attract a wider audience and the ratings recovered in its third season. NBC again intended to end the show after its fourth season but the ratings stayed high enough to renew the show for a fifth season. It remained in the top 30 until its cancellation in 1983.
The real Mary Ingalls never married.
For the Ingalls family tree - Mary never married and had no children. Carrie married, had no children, but raised two stepchildren. Grace married and had no children. So the only Ingalls girl to have children was Laura - Rose and Baby Boy wilder who died at 9 months old, not within weeks as depicted on the show.
Melissa Gilbert (Laura Ingalls Wilder) appeared in 191 of the series' 205 episodes, more than anyone else. In second place is Karen Grassle (Caroline Ingalls), who appeared in 172 episodes.
In one scene, while the girls are running down the hill. This time, Carrie's bloomers fell to her knees and tripped, the crew continued filming.
In an episode in the final season, Charles and Caroline are coming home to visit Laura and Almonzo and Charles reminds character of the tree he fell out of.
In 1969-1972 Don Knight made 3 appearances in Michael Landon former hit series "Bonanza".
In 1985 Melissa Gilbert stared with Lance Kerwin in "Faerie Tale Theatre": The Snow Queen as Gerda and Kay.
The "Sweetheart" Tree is seen again in "Back To School" when Laura carves Almonzo's initials on it. But the tree has moved to another more private location.
First TV project for Sean Penn.