Post 55:
“The Wisdom of Solomon”

Post 55:  “The Wisdom of Solomon”

From 13-Year-Old Anne’s Journal — January 25 – EXCELLENT     “A black kid named Solomon wants to work in exchange for an education. Pa lets him. But soon his brother comes to find him. On this last day of school, he gives a plaque that says “Bless this school.” I cried on that part.” From Anne — On the whole, Little House on the Prairie was about as white as a marshmallow blizzard. Except for Hester Sue. And a handful of earlier shows. Like this one. In which the N-word is used, multiple times. This episode, penned by a white dude, aired the same year as the miniseries Roots. I don’t know about you, but I remember the cultural force Roots exerted, with all the adults glued to the TV, and 7-year-old me totally freaked out by the whipping scenes....

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Post 54:
“The Music Box”

Post 54:  “The Music Box”

From 13-Year-Old Anne’s Journal — January 26 – EXCELLENT   “At Nellie’s party, Laura steals a music box. She has bad dreams. She breaks it and Nellie catches her with it. Nellie won’t tell if Laura does anything she says. Laura is friends with a girl named Anna who stutters. Laura and (won’t let) Anna be in the club because Nellie said. They make fun of Anna. Later Laura tells she stole and she doesn’t get in trouble.” ____________________________________________________ From Tracy — It’s only once in a lifetime I get to state the following: This episode of LHOP is practically psychedelic! It’s filled with dreams and long hair and strange sights! It has an awesome intro with more dolls and dollhouse miniatures you could ever want...

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Post 53:
The 40th Anniversary Interview!

This is from several years ago but still worth a watch. So sweet and funny!   And this video of Hersha Parady, the actress who played the doomed Alice Garvey holding a prop baby is too whacky to be believed. Unfortunately, she doesn’t pound it against anything in this clip:

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Post 52:
“May We Make Them Proud”

Post 52:   “May We Make Them Proud”

From 13-Year-Old Anne’s Journal — April 18 – GOOD Part One: “Albert and Clay want to smoke. The pipe starts a fire in the basement. Everyone in the blindschool is saved except Mrs. Garvey and Adam Jr. (baby). Mary is in a “trace” from shock and Mr. Garvey is drinking.” (continued) April 19 – FAIR Part Two: “Albert buys this music box and it breaks Mary out of it. Then they all figure it out and Albert is on the run. They catch him and he’s forgiven. They donate the new school to Alice & Adam Jr.” ____________________________________________________ From Anne — Crispy baby! You’d expect no less from our beloved Little House. Yep, Albert and friends hit the corncob crack pipe, toss it off in the basement, and next thing you know,...

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Post 51:
“Handyman”

Post 51: “Handyman”

From 13-Year-Old Anne’s Journal — February 14 — EXCELLENT “A handyman named Chris comes along. He’s a good man and Mary suspects something between him & Ma. (Charles is gone.) Mary yells at him and tells him to leave. Then they catch him and apologize. He says “Maybe I’ll go & find “a woman like your Ma.” ____________________________________________________ From Tracy — Every now and then I get an episode totally wrong. In this case I actually remember Ma slapping Mary for being a bitch. But that never happened — in any episode of Little House ever. Maybe I wanted to slap Mary. Because she is definitely not her best self in this episode and it’s shocking to see. The episode starts off in the usual way. Pa promises Ma a new kitchen, cuts a...

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Post 50:
Mini Little House Documentary

Post 50:  Mini Little House Documentary

From Tracy — Hooray! It’s our 50th post!!     In celebration here’s a nice little documentary about the...

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Post 49:
“Sylvia, Part One and Two”

Post 49:  “Sylvia, Part One and Two”

From 13-Year-Old Anne’s Journal — May 16 & 17 – GOOD “Sylvia & Albert like each other & she gets raped. They want to get married & she falls trying to get away from the raper. The raper gets shot but later Sylvia dies.” ____________________________________________________ From Anne — It’s Sunday. I can do whatever I want. I could watch the NFL playoffs, or a 1960s French film on Hulu, or make these crystallized ginger cookies I’ve been meaning to make. But out of duty to anyone who was ever traumatized by the most unsavory LHOP episode ever, I force myself to re-watch (it’s been 30+ years) parts 1 and 2 of “Sylvia.” I subject myself to this twisted combo of Stephen King’s It, The Blue Lagoon, and some after-school special. How else to...

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