Little House on the Prairie, Season 1
(Produced/Directed) by Michael Landon and William F. Claxton
Reviewed by Rachel - Grade 9
Rating: 3.5/5
I read the “Little House” series by Laura Ingalls Wilder countless times when I was younger. So when I found the “Little House on the Prairie” TV series at the library, I was thrilled to see some of my most treasured childhood characters come to life. The series begins with a pilot movie, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It follows the storyline of the “Little House on the Prairie” book, and I was pleased to find that the movie version was reasonably accurate. The actual series, however, wasn’t everything I’d hoped it to be.
Each episode starts with a new problem, which is always resolved by the end of the forty-minute episode. After the pilot movie, the series doesn’t follow the storyline of any of the books, nor is it set in a town that actually existed, which is slightly disappointing.
I did enjoy seeing the characters that I know and love come to life on the screen, and most of them looked almost exactly as I had pictured in my head. Nellie and Willie Olsen are just as funny (and annoying!) on the screen as they were in the books, and I was quite amused by their upturned noses and posh living quarters. I was also excited to see Mr. Edwards in nearly every episode- he was a jolly character that I was sad to see only occasionally in the books.
There were some new faces too, like Mr. Hanson, the founder of the small town in which the series is set, and Dr. Baker, the town's go-to doctor when someone is ill. These were a good addition to the television series and were well-constructed characters that added interest to each episode.
I would recommend this TV series only to people who have read and enjoyed the “Little House” books, as I can’t see anyone who is not familiar with the characters enjoying more than a few of the episodes of this series. Don't get me wrong, the producers did an incredible job with the adaptation of the "Little House" books, it just didn't cut it for me. These are my thoughts on “Little House on the Prairie, Season 1.”