Little House on the Prairie

1974 - 1983 TV-PG 1h 00m 7.5

The life and adventures of the Ingalls family in the nineteenth century American Midwest.

A long-running drama based upon the "Little House" series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, "Little House on the Prairie" follows the lives of the simple, farming Ingalls family: Charles, Caroline, Mary, Laura, Carrie and then Grace and the later adopted Albert, James and Cassandra, who settle into a quaint little house on the banks of Plum Creek near the small town of Walnut Grove during the late 1800s. Often narrated by Laura, the series follows her simple farm upbringing from her childhood until her adulthood with Almanzo Wilder with whom she starts a family of her own. While the series is based upon the Little House books (and thus the real life of author Laura Ingalls Wilder), it is a very loose adaptation, with mostly only key events and elements of fact surviving the transition from book to TV series, the most important being Mary's eventual blindness, and Laura's future. Several other fictitious (some factual) characters make up the friendly community of Walnut Grove, including teacher Miss Beadle (succeeded by two other teachers, then Laura, then Etta Plum), Dr. Hiram Baker, Rev. Robert Alden, Mr. Hanson (of the Hanson lumber mill), and the well-to-do Olesons, owners of the local mercantile, and also the primary rivals of the Ingalls family (except the Oleson patriarch). Family friends include the Edwards family, the Garvey family and the Carters, who, in the final season, move into the Ingalls' little house.

Little House on the Prairie background

Episodes:

Episode 1 A Harvest of Friends

1. A Harvest of Friends

Aired: Sep 11, 1974

Charles and his family settle on farmland by Plum Creek just outside the town...

Episode 2 Country Girls

2. Country Girls

Aired: Sep 18, 1974

Mean Nellie Oleson snubs Laura and Mary for wearing homespun dresses on their...

Episode 3 100 Mile Walk

3. 100 Mile Walk

Aired: Sep 25, 1974

When their wheat crop is ravaged by a hailstorm, the discouraged Walnut Grove...

Episode 8 Ma's Holiday

8. Ma's Holiday

Aired: Nov 5, 1974

While on a second honeymoon trip with Charles in Mankato, Caroline can't help...

Episode 9 School Mom

9. School Mom

Aired: Nov 12, 1974

Caroline's special efforts to teach a shy, older boy to read while she is sub...

Episode 10 The Racoon

10. The Racoon

Aired: Nov 19, 1974

Blaming herself when Laura's doll breaks during a game of catch, Mary is deli...

Episode 12 The Award

12. The Award

Aired: Dec 10, 1974

A frightened, angry Caroline impulsively forbids Mary from taking a scholarsh...

Episode 16 Family Quarrel

16. Family Quarrel

Aired: Jan 14, 1975

Divorce looms when Nels and his dog storm away from Harriet and the mercantil...

Episode 17 Doctor's Lady

17. Doctor's Lady

Aired: Jan 21, 1975

It's love at first sight between Doc Baker and a beautiful, though much young...

Episode 18 Plague

18. Plague

Aired: Jan 28, 1975

With the sudden intensity of a prairie storm, typhus is unleashed on an unsus...

Episode 19 Circus Man

19. Circus Man

Aired: Feb 4, 1975

Jovial Willie O'Hara, a traveling, patent-medicine salesman, comes to Walnut ...

Episode 20 Child of Pain

20. Child of Pain

Aired: Feb 11, 1975

The Walnut Grove community intervenes after a badly-beaten Graham Stewart is ...

Episode 21 Money Crop

21. Money Crop

Aired: Feb 18, 1975

Fearing a swindle, angry Walnut Grove farmers vent their frustration on the a...

Episode 22 Survival

22. Survival

Aired: Feb 26, 1975

While on their way home to Walnut Grove after a trip to Mankato, the Ingalls ...

Episode 23 To See the World

23. To See the World

Aired: Mar 5, 1975

Taking full responsibility for filling Johnny Johnson's head with exaggerated...

Episode 24 Founder's Day

24. Founder's Day

Aired: May 7, 1975

Walnut Groves' Founder's Day festivities promise fun and friendly competition...

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Info about Little House on the Prairie

Current Status: Ended

Network: NBC

Genres: Drama, Family, Romance, Western