Too many fans seem to be blown away

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Maybe the most wholesome show I've ever watched on TV. Sometimes I imagine Fred Flintstone a man of Gd, like Charles Ingalls. Archie Bunker a man of Gd? He's more like Fred Flintstone than Charles Ingalls.

It all began on the last day of my sixth grade. My father gave me the 1st season of Little House on the Prairie, and after I watched the 1st episode "A Crop of Friends", I just couldn't stop...Afterwards more seasons came along...a year after that I owned all the Little House Books, next Christmas I owned Highway to Heaven, which is also a good Michael Landon production, though not as good as THIS! I grew up from a sulky teenager to a happy girl! Along its nine seasons, Little house aborded several themes, like slavery, family issues, friendship, gold fever, risky jobs, deadly diseases..on the whole, after watching this you find yourself an altogether different person, also a better one who tries to make the world a better place. Trough the Ingalls and their little house in Walnut Grove, you'll fall in love with their beautiful family, learn to hate the Oleoson womenfolk, and meet a whole bunch of real, funny, witty, sarcastic, aggravating people. Once you see this,you can never Forget it. This Christmas I'll finish these series, and I know I'll die and cry at the same time.To me this is still a wonderful series after many years. Good for any age,too. I read that Michael Landon had wanted this to be a series to watch in family...To me that was right. From all these compliments,I think that by now, you know I LOVE THIS!!!

If you decide to watch this excellent series from the 70's and 80's, I suggest you get the Director's Cut Lost Episode DVD set which includes both the episodes not aired but best liked by Michael Landon as well as the regularly broadcast ones. The lost episodes includes those which adhere most closely to the actual books which the series was supposed to be based on but wasn't. The only agreement with the books is that some of the characters have the same names but often different personalities. Some of the lost episodes are as follows:"The Curse" - a special Halloween two hour special where Laura decides to put a curse on Mary by 'casting her eyes' to the demon Asmodeous. The purpose was to win the romantic attention of Nellie's brother. Because Laura doesn't spell Asmodeous correctly when making the curse, Mary doesn't go blind until the following week's episode and Willie escapes her clutches. "Feeding the Blind" - Nellie blackmails Willie into killing all the cats in town. Willie is then forced to thread them onto a spear like shish-kabobs and roast them over the fire at the local blacksmith's. The two playful sibs then feed the cats to the children at the blind school. This results in the usual hilarity when the ruse if found out. "High Times in Walnut Grove" - the kids band up after school and attack the doctor rendering him unconscious. They steal his supply of morphine and dose each other heavily. They, high as second avenue crack whores, wander the streets of Walnut Grove performing a drunken dance some critics have likened to 'the Bolshoi done right'. "A Picture is Worth A Thousand" - George Eastman comes to town on a trip designed to test his new film camera. He stops to water his horse at the Inghall's farm where he sees Mrs. Inghalls and Mary bathing in the creek. He snaps a few shots of them naked. To retrieve the photos before they appear in 'Farm and Nude' magazine, Pa has to travel to Rochester, NY and ransoms them from Eastman. Pa agrees to Eastman's demands which do not include money. "Where's the Field?" - Pa decides to do some farming but discovers he lacks any seed, does not own a plow, rake or harrow and comes to the self realization that he has no idea what it means to be a farmer. He explains this to his wife who laughs at him saying what difference does it make since your so called farm is only a half acre mostly taken up by a house and barn!

I'm amazed this show actually lasted nine years. But then again, it was that unreal era when NBC mastered in the art of shows that sucked. For example, CHiPs, C.P.O. Sharkey, Different Strokes… and the even more unbearable spin-off The Facts of Life.But without fail, every week my mother and brother would watch it. Every once in a while I'd hang out with them and try to suffer through an episode. To be honest, it was only because Melissa Sue Anderson was my age and for lack of a better word, "doable".The first thing that bothered me was the hair styles of all the male characters in the show. They either had a curly perm or a 70's shag cut, neither were available or known in the 1800's. It really destroyed the authenticity and believability of the show. Apparently there was such a stigma against short hair back then, that they even made war movies where the actors (supposedly in the military) had haircuts that were no where near regulation.Second thing, was the incredibly bad acting of the twins (Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush) that played Carrie. A bad casting choice that became painfully obvious as time passed. Thankfully, they eventually eliminated her (them) having any lines.But after seeing a few episodes, it got to the point I could predict the outcome - the guest star would always die a horribly tragic death. Unfortunately, like a bad case of chlamydia, the show went on for years and years and grew worse and worse.The show's descent into the black hole of all that sucks started with the introduction of the character "Albert" (Pa's new drooling adopted son). Then, when they ran out of guest stars to kill off, they throw Mary's character under the bus. "Hey, lets take the only semi-attractive cast member, have her go blind, marry an annoying douche and leave her newborn in a house fire." Great wholesome family show right?But it gets worse. Suddenly Laura becomes a teacher, meets a pedophile the same age as her dad and marries him. And I'm only guessing, but in order to make sure viewers around the world would need a barf bag, she call's him "Manly".In the end, after killing off 9 years worth of guest stars in every way imaginable, blinding the only attractive character, making her a baby murderer and having the main character hook up with a perverted pedophile, all that was left for the final episode was blowing up the entire town.This show is 9 years of proof the Landon was the master of sentimental, sappy, soap opera drama overkill and the all time king of suck.