Little House on the Prairie was not perfect, don’t you think!
Not without its share of blunders, this beloved classic is renowned for its timeless charm, wholesome storytelling, and spirit of adventure.
Despite the fact that everything appeared flawless, a lot of mistakes and mistakes somehow made it past the editing room.
I’m still hooked with Little House on the Prairie repeats, just like my parents were. We are immediately transported to the late nineteenth century and introduced to the resilient Ingalls family.
The show’s message—treating people with dignity, embracing honesty, and valuing family and friends—is still powerful, as can be seen by watching the episodes now.
However, those of us who are observant have discovered a plethora of errors and fools that will make you chuckle and perhaps do a double take.
Laura’s unexplained pregnancy
Laura announced her first pregnancy late in season seven, when the prairie was at its most magnificent and the flowers were in full bloom.
By the next summer, though, she was still substantially pregnant, leaving spectators to speculate about how long this unique pregnancy would go.
To be honest, there appeared to be a disconnect between the writers and the other team members, which is a clear sign of inadequate narrative management.
The wig worn by Nellie Oleson
We all remember Alison Arngrim’s portrayal of Little House on the Prairie’s resident troublemaker, Nellie Oleson. But did you know that compared to the original novels, Nellie played a much bigger role in the performance?
The character’s rise to notoriety shows how much the public hated this crafty antagonist, especially when she teamed up with her equally crafty on-screen mother, Harriet.
Undoubtedly, many people remember Nellie’s iconic blond curls, but achieving that style wasn’t easy. Alison Arngrim’s own hair was curled into those iconic ringlets using an old-fashioned curling iron that required oven heating. The process was patient and time-consuming.
The solution was to bring in a wig. To secure it, they utilized a large metal comb and dozens of long, straight metal hairpins.
Colonel Sanders’s appearance
The eighth season episode “Wave of the Future,” which is unquestionably one of the greatest bloopers on Little House on the Prairie, featured an unexpected cameo by Colonel Sanders, the well-known creator of Kentucky Fried Chicken. In this story, Nellie’s restaurant becomes a franchise.
But things don’t go as planned, and Nellie feels bad about the whole thing. In an attempt to get out of the contract, she teams up with Charles and Nels to open a rival restaurant.
Then, in an odd twist of fate, Colonel Sanders himself shows in and gives Harriet a contract to start her own chicken company.
The amusing thing is that the good Colonel wasn’t even born until 1890, and KFC didn’t exist until 1952. Little House, on the other hand, takes place in the 1870s and 1880s! Imagine an entrepreneur with time travel abilities.
Rumor has it that KFC provided the fried chicken used in any of the show’s recipes in order to add a bit more flavor. Consequently, it’s possible that Colonel Sanders’ appearance wasn’t entirely outlandish.
The lost coats
I’ve often wondered why there is such a noticeable lack of winter clothes in such cold weather. A kidnapping of Laura’s baby occurs in Minneapolis around Christmas in the episode “Bless All the Dear Children.”
Even though everyone knows that Minneapolis can get very chilly in December, as Gilbert points out, everyone is going about without a coat.
This inaccuracy might be explained by the fact that the episode was shot in the summer in Tucson, Arizona.
A chic slip
Caroline occasionally moves in a way that reveals her bra in certain episodes. Given that the series is set in the 1870s and 1880s and bras weren’t invented until 1912, this is a little outdated!
Some of the women on the set also sport curls or perms, which suit the 1970s more than the 1880s.
In stark contrast to the historical images of the era, most of the men in the series are clean-shaven. In reality, the vast majority of adult men had facial hair, and beards were fashionable. In fact, Charles Ingalls had a beard for most of his adult life. It appears that the show’s grooming choices did not reflect the rough fashion of the era.
A fake instead of an actual person
In “The Odyssey,” the fifth season episode, an unnamed assailant tries to knock Albert off a speeding train, resulting in a violent incident.
But Laura takes quick action and drives the evil out in time to save Albert. However, a comical error happens in the midst of this heated action.
Astute onlookers may witness a dummy being thrown from the train and landing clumsily in the grass. By rolling down the hill, a bold stuntman outdoes the still dummy in a comical contrast.
It was said that Melissa Sue Anderson was “cold and distant.”
From seasons one through seven of Little House on the Prairie, Melissa Sue Anderson won over fans’ hearts as the gorgeous blonde Mary, the oldest child of Charles and Caroline Ingalls.
However, her co-stars found it hard to identify with her. Melissa Sue Anderson, who was known on set as “Missy,” often came across as cold and aloof while working on the show, according to Melissa Gilbert and Alison Arngrim’s memoirs. However, when you see photos of the entire group together, it’s hard to believe that there was any division between them.
Rumor circulated among the crew that Missy’s excessively protective mother was the reason behind her propensity to keep to herself.
But in the end, Nellie and Laura became good friends.
Alison Arngrim’s character, the original cruel girl, Nellie Oleson, had an arch-enemy in Melissa Gilbert’s character, Laura Ingalls. But behind the scenes, things were different! Alison and Melissa bonded and grew close.
When the cameras stopped recording, they were like real sisters, laughing together and creating memories that went beyond the show.
Off-set, they were co-conspirators who played practical pranks on their naive co-stars and hosted sleepovers at each other’s homes. Who would have thought that the fierce rivalry on screen would give way to such a humorous and cheerful friendship off-screen?
The Aftereffects of Grief in “My Ellen”
One of the most memorable episodes of Little House on the Prairie, “My Ellen,” centers on the terrible drowning of Ellen Taylor.
When Laura and Mary go skinny bathing with their friend Ellen Taylor, they end up in a challenging situation. The girls hide beneath the water until it’s safe to do so as several boys approach.
Unfortunately, Laura and Mary are able to safely resurface, but Ellen becomes imprisoned and drowns. In the tragic aftermath, Laura is blamed by Ellen’s upset mother for the catastrophe.
“YOU did this!” says Ellen’s heartbroken mother as she blames Laura of triggering the catastrophe at her funeral. This tragic charge has a profound impact on Laura, especially since she already feels guilty about what happened. The reaction of the adults in their immediate environment, however, is significant. Instead of stepping in to shield Laura, they just exchange worried glances and let her suffer in quiet.
It’s a confusing moment. Given the large number of adults there, including Doc Baker and Reverend Alden, you would think that at least one of them would tell Laura that she is not to blame. Instead, they left her handle the hurtful remarks alone. Even while “My Ellen” has a strong emotional impact, there are a few parts that don’t appear to fit with the rest of the plot.
Michael Landon had frogs placed in his mouth.
In the filmmaking environment, pranks seemed to be commonplace, and Michael Landon often took the lead with his creative and comical stunts. One funny joke was delivered by Rachel Greenbush, who played Carrie, the youngest of the Ingalls siblings.
Greenbush would sneak down to the stream with her on-screen sister Melissa Gilbert during breaks to go frog-catching. They would bring their slimy little friends back to the set to surprise Landon.
He would take the naive frogs and put them in his mouth before jokingly approaching other cast and crew members. He would smile cheekily and open his mouth to let the frogs jump out, making everyone around him laugh and panic.
The argument between Melissa Gilbert and Michael Landon
The co-stars had a big impact on each other’s lives off-screen for many years, and the group was so close that you would think they were a real family.
But the actors’ relationship wasn’t always smooth, and one major episode caused Melissa Gilbert and Michael Landon to have a permanent falling out.
It all started when the young superstar discovered something that would permanently change the way she saw Landon. On the set, Landon began an affair with Cindy Clerico, a much younger makeup artist and Little House stand-in, when he was married to his second wife, Marjorie Lynn Noe.
Gilbert recalls seeing how close Landon and Clerico were becoming on set, but he dismissed it since he didn’t think Landon would cheat on his wife.
“It was nothing untoward; they weren’t in a closed-off room, not that I saw,” she says in her memoir. However, Mike would go about with her pet while she was dressed stylishly in tight jeans, leotards, and high-heeled boots.
Soon after learning of the affair, Gilbert and the other members of the company were appalled by the conduct of the performer they had looked up to as a father figure.
“As children, it was a real blow to us,” Melissa Sue Anderson later stated in her biography. Even while we knew he had flaws and could be difficult at times, we never thought he could inflict such agony on his true family.
In my own view, I had held him to a higher moral standard. I had been genuinely let down by him.
The traveling quilt
Astute fans with laser-like vision have noticed another humorous error: the family quilt seems to be acting on its own! This elusive quilt can be seen on the beds of Charles and Caroline, the Olsens, and even other people throughout the series.
Because it’s primarily white and features a charming design that resembles a double wedding ring quilt, it’s clear that certain props were recycled for efficiency.
Regarding locations, have you noticed the confusing travel that the Ingalls children make to and from school? Their trajectory seems to change from one episode to the next. Sometimes they cross the bridge and meander past the sawmill, and sometimes they mysteriously show up on the road behind it.
Dean Butler nearly committed suicide.
One of the cast members who appeared in subsequent seasons was Dean Butler, who portrayed Laura Ingalls’ husband Almanzo Wilder.
Several days after graduating from college, Dean went to the Little House filming location. It would be a memorable day for many reasons.
In the first scene, Butler was supposed to drag a wagon pulled by horses 200 yards down a hill. When Michael shouted, “Action,” things didn’t exactly go as planned because he had never done it before. The air lifted the reins and Butler reached for his hat. At the same time, the unruly horses jumped off the road and galloped for an oak tree.
Luckily, despite the audience’s screams, a crew member arrived before the horses hit the tree.
Dean’s first day on Little House may have gone more easily if Michael Landon had decided to play the part.
“Well, I think I have to double, you know,” Butler recalled Landon saying as Michael walked up to her, chomping a cigarette. “I can change the show’s horses, but I can double you.” It was a lot of fun even though it was my first time meeting Michael.
Was Albert no longer alive?
Albert Quinn Ingalls, a key character in the series, was portrayed by a young Matthew Labyorteaux in 1978.The little orphan is adopted by the Ingalls family, even though many TV viewers were not aware that he had left the program.
Albert gets diagnosed with leukemia in the 1983 television movie “Little House: Look Back to Yesterday.” Then again, was he dead? It remains uncertain to this day.
“He never really died in the episode and I think maybe it’s left up in the air to debate,” the former child actor said in an interview a few years ago. However, it was somewhat implicit that we knew he would pass away.
A timeless mistake
The Last Farewell, a television movie based on Little House on the Prairie, has a glaring absence in its grand finale. Given that it takes place in 1901, it seems clear that most of the characters should be in their 60s or 70s by the turn of the 20th century.
For instance, Charles Ingalls himself passed away in 1902. The younger characters, Carrie, Nancy, Cassandra, James, and Jenny, ought to have reached young adulthood by now.
Nevertheless, it appears that no one has aged much based on images from previous seasons, as if Walnut Grove had halted time. However, the Wilders had already moved to Missouri around the turn of the century.
went on a pilgrimage to India.
Did you notice that Katherine MacGregor, who portrayed Harriet Oleson for all nine seasons, was absent from The Last Farewell?
Some accounts claim that she was traveling to India due of her newly discovered Hindu faith, but there is more to her absence from the series finale. According to other reports, it was the outcome of a protracted personal conflict between her and Michael Landon about her compensation and how her skill was used.
As we wrap off our examination of Little House on the Prairie’s mistakes and blunders, we hope you have enjoyed this amusing behind-the-scenes look at Walnut Grove.
If these unforeseen events made you grin, why not share the joy? Spread the humor by sharing this video on Facebook! Let’s keep enjoying ourselves!
