Little House on the Prairie

It's funny how time dates certain TV shows. "Little House on the Prairie" is certainly not one of them. This program ranks as one of the best ever.

"Little House" was one of those series which taught moral, religious lessons without preaching; stories that could happen in real life, usually leading up to the show's moral. However, some episodes were "just-for-fun" and didn't really have a lesson tied to them. It's great to see the balance between drama (the meat of the show) and comedy (an occasional but always welcome break from the drama).

The show's topics showed that today's problems certainly aren't new -- infidelity, drugs/alcohol abuse, corruption (usually fueled by money) and racism, to name a few. Unlike many family shows where the parents were always right and the children were the ones with faults, "Little House" presented adult regulars with real failings, somewhat akin to "All in the Family" and its presentation of adult regulars with shortcomings (in particular, Archie Bunker).

It was always heartwarming to see how the townspeople banded together to support the Ingalls. The pilot movie definitely set the tone for the nine-year series which followed.

I was lucky to grow up watching Little House and now with repeats I've found it still holds up against the best shows on offer.

Criticisms that the show is too sweet is a little unfair. The characters may be endearing and the children polite but this can not be seen as reason for dismissing the show. In fact not every episode had a happy ending.

The show also dealt with rascism, drugs and alcohol abuse from time to time. Mostly the show gained the impressive ratings with thought provoking story lines, good humour, a sense of love the characters displayed towards another and characters that people could identify with. The hardworking honest farmer (Charles Ingalls) and caring wife (Caroline) tomboy (Laura) studious sister (Mary) as well as the brow beaten store owner (Nells Oleson) his nagging wife (Harriet) and his terrible two-some children (Nellie and Willie) along with others.

The hardships the Ingalls faced were over come with the love they had for each other, friendships with those in the town and a solid belief in God and Christian values.

The show hit all the right places that a solid family drama series should and today it is very hard to find another show that can compare.

I was a Junior in High School when this show premiered on NBC. A number of us were discussing the new shows on TV and everyone was in agreement that this one would probably not last long even though it seemed to be very well written and done. Well how wrong we all were. Even now years after it has gone off the air the episodes are still great to watch. Some shows just never go out of style. Little House on the Prairie is one of those shows.

I confess that the first time I sat down and watched this show, I thought it would be lame. However, after watching a few episodes, I found myself to be drawn to it. Many people today wouldn't like the show because it has values. Instead they like smut like "Temptation Island" and crap like that. Shows like this with class and emotion are rare to say the least. I love this show and I think everyone who would take an hour out to watch it, would feel the same.

I'm nearly 40 years old, I love Little House on the Prairie. I didn't watch too much of it 20 years ago, but totally enjoy watching 2 hours every week-day morning. I actually set my clock to wake up during the summer months, so I don't miss any shows, even though I've seen them all several times. It is a clean show. I say by far, this is my favorite show on tv.

I would love to see a 2000 reunion with all the surviving cast members. I think the Oleson's are pretty cool people. I love the on-going "fussing" with the Ingall's & the Oleson's. I truly hope they don't take this show off the air.