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I've been watching old tv shows to try to relax. I figured I'd watch the shows I grew up with. The tv shows I grew up with were not nearly as happy as I remember.
For example, I turn on the Golden Girls. This episode is "brother can you spare a dime" about homelessness. The girls end up in a homeless shelter and meet an old woman (Sophia's friend from Shady Pines) who ends up, penniless, there, an alcoholic who is also a PHd, etc. I mean, I thought this show was a comedy? So depressing.
Then I turn on Little House on the Prairie. I loved Little House when I was a little girl. Apparently, my parents didn't let me watch all of the episodes. There's one about a 15 year old girl named Sylvia who develops breasts early, is spied upon by wretched little boys, is raped, ends up pregnant, is going to marry Albert (who had been adopted by the Ingalls) and, instead, ends being attacked by her rapist and dying (partially because of stupid Albert). WTH.
I didn't want to resort to SpongeBob, but it might happen.
Which one of the original books was that story found in? I wanted to read more about it.
"Little House on the Prairie" could literally have some of the most somber episodes of that television era. I had relatives- grandparents, aunts, etc... who didn't like me or my sibling watching that show as kids.
Which one of the original books was that story found in? I wanted to read more about it.
That isn't in any of the books.
Almost starving to death is in "The Long Winter" but most of these other episodes people are discussing are not in the books. I always preferred the LHOTP episodes where the girls are young (before Albert comes in).
The books have plenty of hardship. The whole Ingalls family came down with Scarlet Fever. They did indeed almost all starve to death. In "The First Four Years", Laura and her husband lose a child and Almanzo has a stroke.
Interestingly, Mary's blindness may not actually have been caused by the scarlet fever:
It's something of a paradox that Laura Ingalls Wilder, in authoring her books, glossed over a lot of the true, shocking events they encountered as they sought to survive, since the books were geared toward children. But in producing LHOP, a show supposedly geared to children, Michael Landon often sensationalized and outright fictionalized most of the Ingalls's lives to make the situations more dire/dangerous/dramatic/shocking than they actually were.
Back to Little House on the Prairie, another real dark and upsetting episode, was when the blind school building caught on fire and Johnathan Garvey's wife Alice and Mary and Adam infant boy which she was carrying and trying to escape out the house with, were caught in the room with the fire blazing and they were burned to death. The whole 2 part episode of this was really upsetting to me when I first saw it as a young teen in the 80s and still now when I see it, it gets to me.
That was so sad, it was Mary's baby who died in the fire, I remember watching her mourning afterwards omg...
Mary had it so bad on that show! That poor girl could not catch a break...
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I really dig that about the show: the lesson. They deal with some real life stuff, it's gritty, it's painful, it's in your face, but it happens, and it really shows their strength of character, and their weaknesses, how they deal with these issues through constant trials & tests of their faith, & ultimately prevail. A traditional, Godly family. I mean, you see very clearly Charles's love for God expressed through his love for his family. And we, too, see the 'mysterious ways' in which God works through each episode. It truly is wholesome.
Loved LHOTP, both the tv show and the novels. Of course, things viewed as innocent chidren will differ when later viewed as more worldly, jaded adults. Which in a way is good for children, and will always provide us jaded adults with wonderful memories, along with the good feelings they evoke, as we navigate a darker, more complex world. May there always be something like that for kids to hold on to.
I think many children and adults connected with LHOTP (show and novels) timeless themes of hardship, resiliance, hope, the warm security offered by a loving, supportive family, the good and bad traits of all humans in society, the complex ties of a small community - banded together both out of necessity and fellowship.
It transcended cultures and time, as evidenced by its global popularity many years after both appeared. 40 years later, I still vividly recall the passage in one of her novels I read as an elementary school kid describing in detail how they made candy by sprinkling sap across the snow and waited until it froze solid before eating the tasty treat. Simple pleasures, enjoyed with relish and gratitude.
But every show has a shelf life, as they run out of materials and the society changes. The early years were more innocent in themes, truer to the spirit of the book, and reflective of society and culture of the time. Look at popular shows on tv shows during that time (all 4 channels). The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, The Waltons, The Brady Bunch, Mutual of Omaha Nature Shows, Lawrence Welk, etc.
The 70s- the early 80s were a more innocent, less materialistic time, and tv shows like LHOTP reflected that. Its prime years spanned President Carter's time in office, and it ended just as we entered the era of Alex P. Keaton, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and the Reagan years. As society changed so its viewership tastes. I suspect what you seek would be more likely to be found in its earlier episodes.
Almost starving to death is in "The Long Winter" but most of these other episodes people are discussing are not in the books. I always preferred the LHOTP episodes where the girls are young (before Albert comes in).
The books have plenty of hardship. The whole Ingalls family came down with Scarlet Fever. They did indeed almost all starve to death. In "The First Four Years", Laura and her husband lose a child and Almanzo has a stroke.
Interestingly, Mary's blindness may not actually have been caused by the scarlet fever:
Anyway, OP, if you want laughs try "I Love Lucy" (on Hulu) or "The Carol Burnett Show" (on YT).
It's a shame her more autobiographical accounts of her early years with Almonzo is not as well known as her more fictionalised, children books. It offers great insight into the human ability to overcome hardship and provides a good historical account of the formation of the US as a nation (good and bad), with its attendent character trait of fierce individuality - Live and Let Live, pulling oneself up by ones bootstrap.
Interesting background about the influence of her daughter Rose in publishing something similar. Her life also traced the evolution of the US from pioneer days through second half of the 19th century.
Well, the story has to be interesting. And fact is always strange than fiction. Dark stuff happens under the scenes in real life all the time so a good story should represent all sides of life imo.
Almost starving to death is in "The Long Winter" but most of these other episodes people are discussing are not in the books. I always preferred the LHOTP episodes where the girls are young (before Albert comes in).
The books have plenty of hardship. The whole Ingalls family came down with Scarlet Fever. They did indeed almost all starve to death. In "The First Four Years", Laura and her husband lose a child and Almanzo has a stroke.
Interestingly, Mary's blindness may not actually have been caused by the scarlet fever:
Anyway, OP, if you want laughs try "I Love Lucy" (on Hulu) or "The Carol Burnett Show" (on YT).
Interesting.
By the way I was only kidding about that. I knew those kind of stories were not in the original children's novels. I didn't read them but I always figured things never got more exciting that raising barns and chasing pigs.
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