Comments on: A call for “Little House on the Prairie” fans

By: Hugo Schwyzer

Hugo Schwyzer — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 23:25:22 +0000

Yes, Dean, you were my hero indeed. Still are, buddy, still are.

I’ve corrected the line about LHOTP DVDs.

By: SingOut

SingOut — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 23:20:21 +0000

*gasp!*

My comment is right after Dean Butler’s comment! We’re practically dating. :)

By: SingOut

SingOut — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 23:17:48 +0000

I loved Little House as a girl — the books, the show, the ‘very special’ episodes. And I had the hugest crush EVER on Almanzo. I’m a Minnesota girl, and I always thought that if we just moved out of the Twin Cities and into a small town like Walnut Grove, (or even a small city like Mankato), that I’d find my very own ‘Manly’.

*swoon*

By: Dean

Dean — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:19:06 +0000

Hugo:

Thank you for your very thoughtful LITTLE HOUSE call out to your blog community. As always you are wonderfully articulate and personal. Its nice to be read that I was one of the heros of your youth. I hope I was worthy of that special distinction.

Just a quick correction. Little House has been available on DVD for many years. My involvement with LHOP DVD bonus content started four years ago when I was interviewed about my memories of the series for Seasons 6, 7, 8, and 9. After seeing the interviews I had some ideas for packages and proposed more than a dozen different ideas to Imavision and NBC Universal. Our content has appeared in DVD collections of seasons 8, 9, and 10.

At present I am making a documentary about the life of Almanzo Wilder that will be available exclusively on DVD in March of 2008.

I’m very curious about Sally’s comment above in which she stated that she was “obsessed to an unhealthy degree” with the Little House books. There are a good number of book lovers who haven’t watched the series for reasons similar to hers. Fortunately there are many more people who love both the books and the series, appreciating each as special in their own way. While its true that Michael Landon didn’t limit the series to the events which took place in the Laura Ingalls Wilder books he did hit the major character plot points to the great satisfaction of all factions in the Little House nation.

One thing remains clear…Little House holds a special place in the hearts in minds of readers and viewers from around the world. I will always be grateful for the opportunity to participate in this classic interpretation of American pioneer life.

Thanks for bringing the show and our familial relationship to the attention of your great readers.

Dean

By: Charlotte

Charlotte — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:23:57 +0000

Oh yes! LHITP was my childhood companion–they showed it on our German TV station, dubbed into German. The show pulled my entire “family” (Grandma, Grandpa, and me) together and had us fantasize about what America must be like. So, when I came to South Dakota in the late 80s, I half expected finding little Laura Ingalls and gorgeous Michael Landon everywhere. Instead, I found mulleted, muscle-shirted Def-Leppard fans and Madonna wannabes. There went that dream …

By: catswym

catswym — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:42:13 +0000

oh my god. you are related to almanzo wilder!!!! :)

i loved, loved, loved the TV show when i was little, altho i mostly watched reruns (being born in 1980). actually i still love it and have been watching it thru netflix. altho it is sort of funny now as they seem to have crop failures every year—how did those people survive?!

i adored laura and wanted to be her (until she grew up and became more feminine than i was comfortable with at the time). and i definitely did have a little girl crash on almanzo, once upon a time.

By: angryyoungwoman

angryyoungwoman — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 08:46:01 +0000

I was watching Little House on the Prairie when my mom came in the room and told me my grandma died. I’m sure it’s a good show, though. I loved the books when I was a tot.

By: Sally

Sally — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:56:13 +0000

I was obsessed, to a totally unhealthy degree, with the Little House books. Sadly, I was so obsessed with the books that I refused to watch the series, because they changed things and therefore blasphemed against all that was true and good. I was probably a pathetically rigid child, but that’s a story for another day. At any rate, I’ve literally never seen the show, which surprises people. My sense is that a lot of people my age have watched the series but never read the books.

By: Teresa

Teresa — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:32:25 +0000

FWIW, this great show has fans worldwide. I just returned from a vacation in France a couple of weeks ago. When my friend and I checked in to our hotel in Nice, the front desk clerk asked us where in the United States we were from. After we told him that we were from Wisconsin, he said that he knew all about Minnesota because he was a HUGE Little House on the Prairie fan.

By: Mermade

Mermade — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:42:04 +0000

Wow! What a small world. I am too young to be a genuine fan of the TV series (born in 1987), but I had a huge book-crush on Almanzo Wilder from “Farmer Boy.” I read all the books over and over again when I was a kid. Heck, I even wrote my biography paper for your class on Laura Ingalls Wilder. :-)