Our little farm
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | Our little farm |
| Original title | Little House on the Prairie |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Year (s) | 1974-1984 |
| length | 45 minutes |
| Episodes | 210 in 10 seasons ( list ) |
| genre | Family series |
| First broadcast | Nov 11, 1974 (USA) on NBC |
| German-language first broadcast |
May 30, 1976 on German television |
| occupation | |
Our little farm (original title: Little House on the Prairie , from 1982 Little House: A New Beginning ) is an American television series based on the autobiographical book series of the same name by Laura Ingalls Wilder .
From autumn 1974 to the end of 1983 a total of 210 episodes of approx. 45 minutes each were produced, some of which result in double episodes for television films of 90 minutes each. The commissioning television station was NBC . The lead roles were Michael Landon as Charles Ingalls , Karen Grassle as Caroline Ingalls, Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls and Melissa Sue Anderson as Mary Ingalls .
The television series is based only freely on the events recorded by Laura Ingalls in the diaries and also deviates in some points from the published book. So numerous characters or events were invented and added.
In 2004, a new mini-series with the actors Cameron Bancroft, Erin Cottrell, Kyle Chavarria and Danielle Ryan Chuchran was released under the title Our Little Farm (Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie) .
Content and background
It describes the life of an American farming family in which Laura Ingalls grew up with her sisters Mary, Carrie and Grace in the 1880s. The father of the family Charles is a helpful and God-fearing man who heads his virtuous family with much love, but also with authority and rigor.
The pilot describes the Ingalls family moving from wooded Wisconsin to Kansas in 1878 , where they met Mr. Edwards in the middle of Indian territory. He helps them build their house and becomes a good friend of the family. He becomes particularly close friends with Laura. It is there that the family meets Indians for the first time who are friendly towards them. After the government gives the area where the Ingalls house is located to the Indians as a reservation , Mr. Edwards and the Ingalls move on separately.
The series begins with the Ingalls family settling in Minnesota , where they acquire a small, dilapidated farm in Plum Creek near the small town of Walnut Grove , the "little farm". The main character is Laura Ingalls, who also acts as the narrator. The series is about the harshness of country life and the possibility to meet it with diligence, perseverance, virtue , honesty, modesty, Christian trust in God and family cohesion.
In addition, current problems such as racism , drug abuse , alcohol abuse and intolerance are still addressed today . The Christian faith is given the highest importance in the series, which is typical of the time and place. Faith and prayer are presented as possible solutions to difficult problems.
A counter-image to the Ingalls family is the Oleson family, who own the local shop. Especially mother Harriet and her daughter Nellie are portrayed as arrogant , conceited, greedy and scheming . The good-natured father Nels fails to assert his authority as head of the family . Laura Ingalls and Nellie Oleson hate each other in childhood and adolescence, and their hostility is one of the engines of recurring entanglements. Later, when both are married, they become deeply friends. The son Willie Oleson also withdraws more and more from the influence of his domineering mother with increasing age.
The main location of the series is the village of Walnut Grove , which is still very much influenced by the American pioneering spirit and in which problematic social developments in the “big world” on a small scale are constantly occurring. It's about 1.5 miles from Plum Creek, where the kids go to school. Mankato, about 80 miles away, and Sleepy Eye , about halfway to Mankato , are often mentioned . In contrast to the fictional town of Winoka, which was set for the series in West Dakota, Walnut Grove, Sleepy Eye and Mankato really exist in Minnesota, but the series was not shot in that area. The series makes Walnut Grove 30 years older than it really is (founded in 1840 instead of 1870).
Big problems concern Walnut Grove at the end of the series, when it becomes known that it is on Indian territory and that the construction of the place took place at the time without a legal basis. The area where Walnut Grove is located is now being bought from the US government by a large company. Then the residents are supposed to pay a lot of money to keep their houses. When they refuse, the new owner lets the US Army advance to enforce his rights by force. As a result, the residents decide to blow up their houses, and in this way the television series ends with the destruction of the place by its residents, who would rather destroy their homes than bow down.
characters
Charles Phillip Ingalls
Charles Ingalls is the head of the family and initially protagonist of the series. He makes the decision to move out of Wisconsin. In his new home he works part-time as a farmer and in Walnut Grove part-time for Lars Hanson in his sawmill. Thanks to his openness and friendliness, he quickly made many friends in the town. For example, Dr. Baker, Lars Hanson, Nels Oleson and Hans Dorfler, the village blacksmith of German descent, on the release of his team of oxen, which he pledged to Mr. O'Neil for seeds and a plow.
Charles Ingalls is very well read and enjoys smoking a pipe in his spare time. He has a close relationship with his family. But his favorite child is Laura, whom he forgives a lot. Charles reads the Bible every evening and enjoys discussing all kinds of thoughts and matters with his wife. He is also very musical and plays the violin. Charles has a variety of jobs in bad economic times. He works as a carpenter or as a laborer in the local horse stable. How much he cares about the well-being of the family is shown by the fact that after a crop failure, he hikes 100 miles to work in a quarry. Another example is when daughter Mary needs an operation. To earn the money for the operation, he works as a demolition manager for the railroad and is buried in the process.
Neighborhood help is very important to Charles Ingalls. For example, he makes a special shoe for a neighbor's daughter so that she can run around with the other children. Since wheat is hard to sell, Charles persuades his neighbors to switch to corn . When a major economic crisis hit the region, Charles and his family left Walnut Grove and now lived in Winoka, where daughter Mary now worked as a teacher. After recovering financially, Charles returns to Walnut Grove with the family.
When Laura gets married, the Ingalls leave Walnut Grove and move to Bur Oak, Iowa. They sell their farm in Plum Creek to a settler family. Charles returns a few times to visit his daughter and her family.
Caroline Lake Quiner Ingalls
Caroline Ingalls is the mother of Mary, Laura, Carrie and Grace. She was a schoolteacher before heading to the Kansas prairies . So she attaches great importance to the education of her children. In Kansas she teaches her daughters Mary and Laura and teaches them the alphabet there.
When the family settles in Plum Creek, they stay on the farm and take care of the house. In order to be able to contribute to a living, she sells excess eggs to the Olesons.
When the local teacher is absent for a while, Caroline teaches at the school. She is the counterpart to Mrs. Oleson, with whom she has an antipathy . Later, however, the two women become friends loosely. She is loving to husband and children and supports them in all matters.
Caroline gave birth to a total of five children, in addition to the daughters Mary, Laura, Carrie and Grace, as well as a son named Charles Jr., who died of blood cancer in the first year of life . Later a boy and a pair of siblings are adopted.
When Grace is born, daughter Carrie is old enough to go to school. While she attends the local school, Caroline Ingalls works part-time as a cook in the Olesons' restaurant.
Mary Amelia Ingalls Kendall
Mary Ingalls is the eldest daughter of Charles and Caroline Ingalls. She is shy, reserved, and highly intelligent. She represents the counterpart to Laura, who is wild and above all open-minded, but finds it very difficult to learn.
When the family is in dire financial straits, Mary breaks school and works as a seamstress in Walnut Grove for a while. She is a very good student, but suddenly her otherwise good performance at school collapses. By chance, father Charles finds out that his eldest daughter suffers from nearsightedness . In Mankato she receives glasses and can go back to her old achievements.
Mary wants to be a teacher like her mother. She finishes second in a state maths competition and celebrates her retreat to Walnut Grove. At the age of 15 she was teaching part-time in a distant village, where she was hopelessly lost. After all, they are suspected of being in league with the devil. Charles helps his daughter when she challenges the spokeswoman at the service to read a passage from the Bible. It turns out that the adults in the place cannot read or write and that the intelligent girl is scary to them because of her youth and cleverness.
A little later , Mary goes blind due to a delayed scarlet fever disease . She has to drop out of school in Walnut Grove and now attend a school for the blind in distant Iowa . There she meets Adam Kendall, who teaches her. Both fall in love and decide to set up their own school for the blind in Winoka, Dakota . The two married there.
After the school in Winoka closes, they move to Walnut Grove. There they set up their new school for the blind in an empty villa that used to belong to Mr. Hanson. When Mary becomes pregnant, she is on the one hand overjoyed, but she is also afraid of it because she does not know whether she can take good care of a child who is sighted. However, she miscarries and falls into depression.
One day Mary notices that she can again distinguish between light and dark. Her also blind husband Adam is now afraid of losing Mary again to the seeing world . Then Mary becomes pregnant again and gives birth to a healthy son. However, he dies in a fire caused by Mary's adoptive brother Albert in the school for the blind. After an accident, Adam can see Kendall again. He begins law school and sets up a self-employed lawyer in Walnut Grove .
Mary and her husband eventually move to New York, where Adam takes over his late father's office.
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder
Laura Ingalls is the second daughter of Charles and Caroline. Her father gave her the nicknames "Spitz" and "Drei-Käse-Hoch" ("Halfpint" in the original). She is later called "Beth" by her husband Almanzo Wilder, which is an abbreviation of her middle name Elizabeth. Laura represents the contrast to her big sister, as she is a "little tomboy" and initially has great difficulties with school learning. On the other hand, she loves games like baseball and has no problems beating boys every now and then. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors and enjoys fishing.
When her brother Charles Jr. When Laura is born, Laura feels like the fifth wheel in the family: While her siblings are happy about the addition to the family, she has the feeling that "her" father no longer has time for them. After Charles Jr. however, when Laura dies unexpectedly, Laura feels responsible for his death - had she steadfastly refused to pray for her brother's recovery. So she runs away to make a deal with God: She would go to heaven if God gave the son back to her father.
Laura shares a deep hateful friendship with Nellie Oleson, the merchant's daughter. Both have hated each other since their school days. Much to the chagrin of Father Charles, Nellie is beaten several times by Laura. On a joint outing for the Ingalls and Oleson families, Laura saves Nellie's life when she falls into a raging river while trying to pick a rare plant. Laura jumps after her, knowing that Nellie can't swim. After the two girls are back on the bank, Nellie apologizes sincerely for all the mean things she has done to Laura so far. But when she arrives at the camp, Nellie is just the same again: She promptly explains that it was Laura who pushed her into the water out of envy. Nevertheless, Nellie's behavior towards Laura changes: apart from two exceptions, Nellie Laura no longer plays mean pranks, but mostly insults her. In return, Nellie starts shooting at Mary and Charles Ingalls, but her little brother Willie is also the target of her pranks.
In order to be able to give her parents an oven for Christmas, Laura exchanges her pony Bunny for an oven at Nels Olsen's and Bunny in turn gets Nellie's Christmas present. About three years later, Nellie had an accident with Bunny, just as both girls fell in love with Jason, a tech-savvy boy in the class. In order to win Jason over and to make Laura look ridiculous at school, Laura is invited to her home by Nellie, where they both have "conversations with women" in Nellie's nursery - not knowing that Willie is recording this conversation in the closet with a speaking machine: Nellie succeeds it to get Laura to admit that she loves Jason. After the accident, Laura feels responsible to Nellie, as Bunny was once hers. Because since the accident, Nellie has not felt her legs anymore and it is feared that she has suffered paraplegia. So father Nels buys his daughter a wheelchair and Laura promises Nellie to visit her every day and help her with her homework. Of course, Laura's own school performance falls by the wayside and she does not threaten to achieve the class goal. It is only by chance that Laura discovers that Nellie has long since been able to walk again and only faked the paralysis that actually existed at the beginning in order to be cared for and mothered by everyone.
As a twelve-year-old Laura accompanies her father Charles on a hunt in the woods, where he is seriously injured when a shot goes off from his rifle. Together with a blind trapper, she manages to save her father. A little later, she takes care of a baby abandoned in the woods, which she finds with her father because of several letters in a bottle. Laura suffers as a thirteen-year-old girl because, compared to Mary or Nellie, she does not yet have any visible feminine curves. To impress a boy in the class, she fakes her femininity with two apples, which she loses in front of the whole class when she is asked to solve a math problem on the school blackboard. Embarrassed by herself, Laura runs out of class after this action. But a little later she receives her first kiss from her crush.
As a teenager she lived in Winoka for a while and there she decided to become a teacher like Sister Mary or Mother Caroline. For example, at the age of sixteen she completed her teaching diploma in Walnut Grove and was teaching part-time in a neighboring town. A little later she gets engaged to her great love Almanzo Wilder. After almost a year, they get married and have a daughter with Rose. Both sons died of smallpox a few days after their birth . Laura then accuses the village doctor Dr. Baker, guilty of her son's death. After Rose falls ill with smallpox, it's Dr. Baker rescuing the girl. Laura publicly apologizes to him when he wants to leave Walnut Grove.
Shortly before the turn of the century, Laura's brother-in-law visits her family, and that's how she meets Almanzo's niece Jenny. During the visit, the brother-in-law dies of a heart attack, so that Jenny now lives with Laura and Almanzo. After Laura gave up her job as a teacher, she tried herself as a farmer and author for a while. When she inherits a large house near Walnut Groves, Laura decides to convert it into a pension and run it with her husband.
Laura Ingalls is the narrator in the TV series, and her voice usually appears at the end of an episode, where she summarizes it again. At first you heard the words: "If I had had a diary, I would have written in it that ..."
Caroline Celestia "Carrie" Ingalls
Carrie Ingalls is the third daughter of the Ingalls family. When the family comes to Plum Creek, she is a toddler. She spends the first time with mother Caroline on the farm. She later goes to Walnut Grove School with Laura and Albert. Your role in the series is basically just an extra role with little spoken text. She played a leading role three times in the series: when she fell into an old mine shaft, when she accidentally climbs up in a hot air balloon and finally when she meets her “fairytale sister”. In contrast to Mary and Laura, their development as they grow up is hardly discussed.
Grace Pearl Ingalls
Grace Ingalls is the youngest daughter of the Ingalls. Her appearances in the series are similar to those of Carrie and are mostly designed for textless extras. When the Ingalls left Walnut Grove, Grace was around four years old.
Almanzo James Wilder
Almanzo comes to Walnut Grove with his sister Eliza-Jane Wilder and runs a farm there, while his sister teaches. When Laura turns 16, they get engaged and later marry. The Wilders have a daughter named Rose. Everything seems fine, Almanzo works part-time with his father-in-law Charles in Hansons' mill and then goes about his job as a farmer. But Almanzo is ultimately paralyzed by a stroke. He loses his courage to face life because he is dependent on a wheelchair. The common house is destroyed by a tornado. His sister Eliza-Jane persuades Almanzo to move into town with her and, without Laura's knowledge, gets her brother an office job with one of her friends. Laura is beside herself and now the Wilders' young marriage threatens to break up.
With Charles' help, Almanzo now begins to practice walking doggedly because he doesn't want to lose Laura under any circumstances. After Almanzo is ready to walk again, they both start building a new house. Some time later, Laura and Almanzo take his twelve-year-old niece Jenny into their home when their father Royal dies of a heart attack while visiting. By chance, Laura inherits a large house near Walnut Grove from an old lady. So, much to the chagrin of Mrs. Oleson (the Olesons own the hotel in Walnut Grove), the Wilders decide to run a guesthouse. Willie Oleson and his wife and Mr. Edwards later move into this.
Isaiah Edwards
Isaiah Edwards is an old friend of the Ingalls. They know each other from their pioneering days in Kansas . After leaving Kansas, they parted ways. He is only called "Edwards" in Walnut Grove, while Charles sometimes calls him "Old House". His best friend is Laura Ingalls, the daughter of Charles. This reminds him very much of his late daughter Alice, who died of smallpox with his wife in Kansas. Laura alone describes him politely in every situation as “Mr. Edwards ”, which Edwards in turn really appreciates.
Charles Ingalls met him by chance in a saloon in Mankato. Edwards is drunk and threatens to beat anyone who tries to touch him. But when he recognizes his friend Charles, they both leave the saloon. Charles Ingalls invites him to Walnut Grove to live with him. So both leave Mankato. Edwards is now officially keeping a promise he made to Laura in Kansas. Meanwhile, she is sick in bed with tonsillitis. Edwards is shocked to find out in Plum Creek that Laura has a fever . He immediately remembers his family and that it was he who brought the smallpox home. So it is difficult for him to come to terms with God. Edwards promises Laura to stay in Walnut Grove until she is healthy again. Charles' wife Caroline now comes up with the idea of pairing Edwards with the widow Snider, who works at the post office. Edwards, who now works with Charles at Hanson's Mill , likes Grace Snider very much and they become friends.
When Charles Jr. is born, Edwards is his godfather. Grace Snider and Edwards later marry and take in the Sanderson children. The eldest son gets engaged to Mary Ingalls and everything seems fine. But later this engagement is broken and the Edwards family moves to town. Edwards is disabled by an accident and decides to kill himself while hunting with Charles and Laura Ingalls. Through a trick by Charles, the will to live returns to him when he believes his friend will bleed to death due to a hunting accident. Edwards became addicted to alcohol when his adopted son, John Jr., was murdered in Chicago. He becomes more and more unjust to his family and that leads to the divorce from Grace. So he returns to Walnut Grove alone. There he hides his alcohol addiction out of shame, which then almost leads to the death of Albert, Charles Ingalls' adopted son. When everyone turns away from Edwards, Laura is the only one to stick with him. He goes into rehab and becomes Rose Wilder's godfather.
Isaiah Edwards is always portrayed in the television series as grumpy and rowdy, who loves poker and chewing tobacco . To the chagrin of her mother in Kansas, he teaches Laura Ingalls to spit. But basically the following applies to him: hard shell, soft core. The Ingalls in Kansas already noticed this when they had a Christmas party together: Edwards went to the city of Independence , almost 50 miles away , to buy gifts and sweets for the children. Due to a sudden snowfall, he finally arrived at the Ingalls half frozen, and so the friendship between them began. But this hidden good-naturedness could also develop unwanted comedy: For example, he met Buffalo Bill by chance on the prairie , who made him promise to take care of his three-year-old Blanche while he was dying. Edwards gave it to him, not realizing that this was not a child but an orangutan .
Earlier, when Charles and Caroline Ingalls were on vacation together in Mankato for a few days, Edwards had nailed little Carrie with her dress to the roof of the Ingalls house so that she wouldn't run away while he was overseeing the children. Another incident was that Edwards took in a silent 13-year-old boy who came to Walnut Grove with a freak show . But when he moved away with his biological father, Edwards was afraid of becoming lonely. So he moved into the pension with Laura and her family. There Edwards befriends a writer who also lived there.
Harriet Oleson
Harriet Oleson is the mother of Nellie and Willie. Together with her husband Nels, she runs a small general store. She is the counterpart of Caroline Ingalls. Mrs. Oleson is loud, know-it-all, hysterical and racist. Plus, she represents pretty much every known prejudice. Her racism is represented, among other things, by her horror when she notices, for example, that the new doctor for Walnut Grove with the very French- sounding name is an African American . Occasionally, however, she also shows her ability to overcome such prejudices. Mrs. Oleson is an incorrigible gossip and often does not take seriously the truth. She regularly provides a comical element in the series, as she often has slapstick- like mishaps due to her impulsive and overzealous behavior . She also values being among the wealthiest residents of the area and enjoys sporting an upscale, urban lifestyle that is often artificial and ill-suited to the humble and rural Walnut Grove. Although she is generally very business-minded, she lets herself be tempted to make ill-considered decisions again and again by greed for money and excessive enthusiasm, which usually takes immediate revenge. She can also be compassionate and charitable, although she makes sure that her generosity is well known and recognized for it. She spoils her children, especially her daughters, to an unreasonable degree.
During her time in Winoka she works as a barmaid in the saloon. After her daughter Nellie got married, she brought the orphan Nancy into the house. Like Nellie before her, she is pampered to the core.
Nellie Oleson
Nellie Oleson is a comparatively wealthy and spoiled girl. She is the daughter of the merchants Nels and Harriet Oleson and the older sister of Willie. In the series, she is the complete opposite of Laura Ingalls, with whom she has an intimate love-hate relationship. Nellie always brags about her parents' wealth and always blames Mary and Laura Ingalls for their poverty.
So Nellie invites half the class to her birthday, which is celebrated in the house of the Olesons. Unfortunately, Laura breaks Nellie's new doll there, leading to an argument between the two. Laura owns a little pony named Bunny, which Nellie really wants. Since she has learned that many people do everything for money, she wants to buy the pony from Laura for 5 dollars and is terribly disappointed when she refuses. It's getting winter. The Ingalls want to buy an oven from Olesons. But at $ 7.50 it is simply too expensive for them. Laura exchanges her pony for the stove at Mr. Oleson's and Nellie gets the pony for Christmas.
The Ingalls' and Olesons go on a fishing trip together during the summer vacation. When she falls into a river, Nellie is saved by Laura. So Nellie apologizes to Laura for all the mean things she had done to her. But when she got back to the camp, Nellie accuses her rescuer Laura of deliberately pushing her into the water.
After this event, Nellie Laura usually only teases, but, with two exceptions, no longer plays any mean pranks on her. Rather, Brother Willie and Laura's older sister, Mary, become their preferred goals: When Mary gets glasses, Nellie makes them a mockery of the class. But when Laura and Nellie fall in love with Jason , a technically very talented boy in the class, Nellie's old hatred of Laura reappears: she uses a trick in her room to get Laura to admit that she loves Jason, draws this confession with a speaking machine and played it to the class the next day, embarrassing Laura to the bone.
After Bunny threw her off a little later, Nellie pretends to be paraplegic to Laura. Since Laura feels responsible for the accident, since Bunny once belonged to her, Nellie entices her to promise to grant her every wish, and she begins to take advantage of Laura: So she confesses to Laura that she loves Jason and can't take it, if he would meet other girls. Laura also feels obliged to do Nellie's homework. Her own academic achievements plummet, so that not only Laura's parents, but also Miss Beadle fear that Laura will not reach the class goal. Another time, it's Laura's parents who are the target of Nellie's ridicule. When she teases Laura about Charles Ingalls, Nellie is beaten up by the latter.
At the age of 16, Nellie Oleson left school and was given her own restaurant by her mother, Nellie's Restaurant . Now Nellie has a big problem: she can't cook. Caroline Ingalls works part-time as a cook, since her daughter Carrie is now going to school and she can also look after Grace in the restaurant.
When Laura and Nellie fall in love with Almanzo Wilder at the same time, there is a wild fight between the two. Almanzo chooses Laura and a world collapses for Nellie. That's when she meets Percival Dalton in her restaurant. This is a cook and was hired by Mrs. Oleson to teach Nellie how to cook. They both fall in love and eventually get married. Nellie becomes pregnant and Percival's parents decide to visit their son in Walnut Grove to watch the birth. Harriet Oleson and Benjamin Cohen argue bitterly about the faith in which their grandchild should grow up: For Percival's father, it is clear that “the ancestor” will grow up Jewish , while Nellie's mother insists that the child become Christian . After Nellie suffers a nervous breakdown as a result of the argument, Nels Oleson explains to his wife and Percival's father that he can accept if a potential son of Nellie is brought up Jewish. But then Benjamin Cohan must also be able to accept it if Nellie's possible daughter were brought up in a Christian way. A solution that everyone can agree to. When Nellie has twins, the son is raised Jewish and the daughter Christian.
A little later, Nellie leaves Walnut Grove in order to continue the business of the recently deceased father-in-law with her husband in New York.
Years later, Nellie visits her parents in Walnut Grove and meets her adoptive sister Nancy: She is horrified by their meanness and now worries about her own childhood. Nancy starts playing Nellie off against her mother. But she sees through Nancy's game and they both have a long conversation. During her stay at Walnut Grove, Nellie also visits Laura and her family. Both now get along very well. Laura and she review the past and, from the current point of view, can no longer understand all the arguments. When Nellie leaves Walnut Grove again, she and Laura Ingalls Wilder have a real and deep friendship. So both decide to write letters to each other regularly and stay in touch.
Willie Oleson
Willie Oleson is Nellie's little brother. He's naughty, cheeky, cheeky and greedy. Because of his behavior, he regularly stands in the corner of school. Before the Ingalls' came to Walnut Grove, he was the target of his sister's meanness. So Willie is extremely happy when Laura Ingalls, a new victim of his sister, turns up.
Willie breaks away from his domineering mother at an early age and discovers more and more things in common with the formerly so unloved father. He wants to take over the restaurant, but his mother wants him to study. He was released from school at the age of 16 and enrolled in a university by his mother . Willie has no desire to study and would much rather marry his great love Rachel Brown. So he deliberately beats the entrance exam and fails. Willie is kicked out of the house by his mother and marries Rachel against her will. The young couple moves into the pension with Laura, where Mr. Edwards joins them a little later. After being reconciled with his mother, Willie works in the restaurant during the day.
Nels Oleson
Nels Oleson is the extremely good-natured father of Nellie and Willie. He always tries to be a just father, but his domineering wife Harriet thwarts all his attempts at raising children. So he stands under his wife's slipper and tries to get through life as calmly as possible. He and Charles Ingalls have been good friends since a fishing trip together, and he has taken his daughter Mary into his heart. She is allowed to work for him in the store once, and he pays her a lot of 1.50 dollars for three weeks of work.
When he overhears his wife Harriet trying to take advantage of the wife of his friend Charles Ingalls when selling eggs, his collar bursts: he insults his wife as a domineering woman in front of Caroline's eyes and moves to the nearby hotel the next day. The Olesons' marriage appears to be over as Harriet plans to leave Walnut Grove with the children. But Charles and Caroline Ingalls use a trick to bring the two back together.
During the bad economic times, Nels and Harriet Oleson move to Winoka, where they meet the Ingalls. There he works as a cleaner in the saloon. When he wins a game of chance , he and the Ingalls move back to Walnut Grove at the same time. Above all, he stands by his son Willie when he deliberately fails an entrance exam to avoid having to go to university. He too has to suffer from the adopted daughter Nancy, which he acknowledges with his usual indifference.
Nancy Oleson
Nancy Oleson is the adopted daughter of Harriet and Nels Oleson. She comes into the house when Nellie Oleson moves to New York with her husband. Willie, the son, is also slipping away from Mrs. Oleson more and more. So she decides to look for a replacement for Nellie in an orphanage.
By chance the Oleson couple discover a 9 year old girl who looks like Nellie. And Harriet Oleson notes that it's as sneaky as she is. In the following years, Nancy becomes more and more angry. Not only is she mean, Nancy is life-threatening to other children. In order to get a leading role in a piece of school theater, Nancy is ready to walk over corpses. For example, she has her competitor locked up in the local ice house. There it is only found half frozen by pure chance.
If something doesn't happen according to her will, Nancy's standard saying is: You hate me! , and she can burst into tears on command. In everything she aspires to, Nancy is supported by Harriet Oleson. But one day she collapses in a freshly dug well and after being rescued it seems as if she wants to improve. But a little later she resumes her old life. When Nellie, her adoptive sister, comes to visit, she tries to play her off against Harriet Oleson.
Cast and dubbing
The series was set to music at Bavaria Atelier . Andreas W. Schmidt wrote the dialogue books and directed the dialogue.
The ARD broadcast only part of the episodes of the individual seasons between 1976 and 1985 in blocks on Sundays in the afternoon program. The dubbing was done by the dubbing studio Bavaria Atelier in Munich , dubbing was directed by Hans-Peter Kaufmann , who was also responsible for the dialogue books .
When Sat 1 acquired the rights to the series in 1989, the broadcaster had almost all episodes that were not broadcast up to season 8 synchronized. The German dialogues were created in Studio Hamburg based on the dialog books by Andreas W. Schmidt , Michael Grimm , directed by Werner Gieseler by Michael Grimm and Andreas W. Schmidt. Pro 7 commissioned the same studio with the same team in 1994 to synchronize the remaining episodes of the remaining seasons.
Ep. 1–9, 11, 17–19, 24
Ep. 12, 21, 26-27, 30, 32-34, 37, 40-43
Ep. 47-50, 54, 58, 62-63, 68-69, 73, 78-79
Ep. 85, 87–91, 93–96, 99–100, 108
Ep. 98, 101–102, 106, 114–115, 125–126, 128, 132–137
Ep. 138-139, 142, 144, 146-148, 153, 156, 158-162, 171, 174
Ep. 10, 13-14, 16, 20, 22-23, 25, 28-29, 31, 35-36, 38-39, 44–46, 51–53, 55, 57, 59–61, 64–66, 70–72, 74–76, 80–83, 86, 92, 97, 104–105, 107, 109–113, 116– 122, 130-131, 140-141, 143, 145, 149-152, 157, 163-166
Ep. 15, 56, 67, 77, 84, 103, 124, 127, 129, 154-155, 167-170, 172-173, 175-205
Directors
- Lewis Allen
- William F. Claxton
- Maury Dexter
- Victor French
- Alf Kjellin
- Michael Landon
- Victor Lobl
- Leo Penn
- Joseph Pevney
- Michael Ray Rhodes
Seasons
On presentation of the original broadcast - in Germany the television stations broadcast long episodes and series specials, often as two-part films, which led to a contradicting number of episodes in the relevant literature.
Season 1 (1974–1975, pilot, episodes 1–24)
- The focus of the season is on Charles Ingalls and his family
- A specialty is the two-part "Laura's Jealousy": Caroline brings Charles jr. Charles gave birth to his long-awaited son, who died after a short time.
- Also appear: The Oleson family, Eva Beadle, Doctor Baker, Mr. Edwards, Grace Snider, Reverend Alden, Lars Hanson
Season 2 (1975-1976, episodes 25-46)
- The story of the orphans Carl, John jr. and Alicia tells of finding a new home with the Edwards after their mother dies
- additionally appears: Ebenezer Sprague
Season 3 (1976–1977, episodes 47–68)
- special episodes: the two-part series "The Threat" and "Gold Prospectors on the Road"
- includes the 90-minute episode "Injured in the Wilderness": Charles and Laura are out in the wilderness, where Charles is seriously injured in an accident.
Season 4 (1977-1978, episode 69-90)
- special episodes: the two-parter "Mary": Mary goes blind, goes to school for the blind and meets Adam Kendall, her future husband, there.
- includes the 90-minute episodes "The Prize Boxer" and "Two Mothers for a Baby"
- Enter the Garvey family
Season 5 (1978–1979, episode 91–114)
- several episodes of the season are set not on the farm and in the village of Walnut Grove, but in the town of Winoka
- special episodes: the two-part series "Die Stadt", "Heimweh" and "Die Reise nach Walnut Grove"
- Mary and Adam get married, the Ingalls take Albert in.
- includes the 90-minute episode "The Fairy Tale Sister"
- additionally appears: Hester Sue Terhune
Season 6 (1979–1980, episode 115–138)
- special episodes: the two-part series: "The beginning of school", "The conflagration" and "He loves me, he doesn't love me"
- additionally appears: Almanzo Wilder, Eliza Jane Wilder
Season 7 (1980–1981, episode 139–160)
- special episodes: the two-part series: "Laura and Almanzo", "The Light of Heaven", "Sylvia" and "The Orphans"
- additionally appear: Percival Dalton, James and Cassandra Cooper
Season 8 (1981–1982, episode 161–182)
- special episodes: the two-part series "The New Nellie", "Shattered By Fate" and "Waiting for a Miracle"
- the final season in which the Ingalls family plays a central role
- also appear: Nancy Oleson, Mr. Edwards
Season 9 (1982–1983, episode 183–204)
- special episodes: the two-part series "Altered Times" and "The Wild Boy"
- this season is specially tailored to the Wilder family
- also appear: the Carter family, Jenny Wilder and Mathew Rogers
Season 10 (TV films of 90 minutes each; 1983/84)
- "Albert's Will" (Little House: Look Back to Yesterday, 1983)
- "The End of Walnut Grove" (The Last Farewell, 1984)
- "Where's Rose?" (Bless All the Dear Children, 1984)
Trivia
- Michael Landon was so convinced of Melissa Gilbert that he just passed on her application video.
- Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson) first auditioned for the roles of Mary and Laura, but was turned down.
- Our little farm was broadcast in 110 countries.
- Melissa Gilbert was paid approximately $ 75,000 per week for the role of Laura.
- Michael Landon's daughter Leslie later got a permanent role as Etta Plum, while his son Michael Landon Jr. made a guest appearance on the series.
- In 1975, a 26-part animated series based on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder was produced in Japan (草原 の 少女 ロ ー ラSōgen no Shōjo Rōra / Laura )
- Unlike the series, the historic Mary Ingalls had no children and was never married.
- Another invention of the series are the adopted Ingalls children Albert, James and Cassandra, as well as the Garveys, the Carters and Jenny Wilder.
- The exterior shots were shot primarily at the Big Sky Movie Ranch in California , the city scenes of Winoka at Old Tucson Studios and the interior shots at Paramount Studios in Hollywood.
- In the episode The Man of Heaven (season 3) Johnny Cash and his wife June Carter Cash have a guest appearance.
- Matthew Laborteaux played Charles Ingalls as a boy in two episodes before taking on the role of Albert.
- David Rose produced the soundtrack for the series. His song Do you love me? was used repeatedly in the series.
- Michael Landon was voted 4th in the “50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time” in 2004 for his role as Charles Ingalls.
- There are two episodes in the series that have been given the title "Laura's Jealousy" in German. A double episode in the first season and an episode in the 7th season.
- In Finland, the DVDs in the series are released from the age of 18, as in Finland all DVDs are initially rated from 18 and the producer has to pay for the classification in a lower age group. Universal Studios waived this for cost reasons.
- The theme tune of the series was used in 1969 and 1971 in the Bonanza episodes A Wayward Woman and The Best for the Job and in 1972 in Joe Cartwright's Stallion .
- From 1981 to 1983 Michael Landon produced the television series Father Murphy (in the original: Father Murphy ). Merlin Olsen took the title role, a character similar to Our Little Farm . Even Moses Gunn acting in Father Murphy in a leading role with, but there he also embodied a different figure than in Little House . Accordingly, Father Murphy is often incorrectly referred to as a spin-off from Our Little Farm .
- The series was repeated over and over again for decades in German-speaking countries, as in many other countries, and is still regularly broadcast on German-speaking television today, for example on Kabel eins , Puls 4 and Sat.1 Gold in 2014 .
- The western series is also discussed several times in The Big Bang Theory . It is known to be Amy Farrah Fowler's favorite childhood series and is still today.
- For the broadcast in Germany, the majority of the episodes were shortened by a few minutes. These versions were also released on DVD. From June 3, 2019, the pay-TV broadcaster TNT Serie showed the uncut versions of all episodes in HD quality for the first time. The parts that were not synchronized at the time were left in their original sound and provided with subtitles.
Awards
- 1976: TP de Oro: Mejor Actriz Extranjera (Best Foreign Actress), Karen Grassle
- 1976: TP de Oro: Mejor Serie Extranjera (Best foreign series)
- 1978: Emmy : "Best Cinematography", Ted Voightlander, Episode: The Prize Boxer
- 1979: Emmy: "Best Cinematography", Ted Voightlander, Episode: The Cabinet Maker
- 1979: Emmy: "Best Music", David Rose, Episode: The Cabinet Maker
- 1980: TP de Oro: Mejor Actriz Extranjera (Best Foreign Actress), Melissa Sue Anderson
- 1981: Western Writers of America Spur Award: "Best Television Screenplay", Michael Landon, for the episode "The Conflagration"
- 1982: Emmy: "Best Music", David Rose, Episode: Waiting for a Miracle (Part 2)
- 1983: Young Artist Award : Best Young Actress in a Series, Melissa Gilbert
- 1984: Young Artist Award: Best Young Actress in a Series, Melissa Gilbert
- 2002: Young Artist Award: “Lifetime Achievement as a Former Child Star”, Alison Arngrim
Web links
- Little House in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Our little farm at Fernsehserien.de
- Our little farm (Little House on the Prairie) USA, 1974–1983 on TV Wishlist
- German first broadcast dates at Episoden.tv ( Memento from October 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- Lukas Zimmer: The prairie is really the last thing. Late justice for Laura Ingalls. In: orf.at. August 31, 2014, accessed September 1, 2014 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Our little farm (Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie) USA, 2004 on TV Wishlist
- ↑ Our-Little-Farm-Info Walnut Grove ( Memento of the original from November 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed November 14, 2011
- ↑ Route from Walnut Grove to Mankato on distancebetweencities.net , accessed on September 12, 2011
- ↑ At the end of the episode, Homesickness can be read on a wooden sign.
- ↑ Our little farm. In: synchronkartei.de. German synchronous index , accessed on October 24, 2012 .
- ↑ Broadcast date chronicle: Our little farm. fernsehserien.de, accessed on October 23, 2016 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Little House on the Prairie> episode overview. Synchronization forum, June 27, 2011, accessed on October 23, 2016 .
- ↑ See also: Episode guide on epguides.com
- ↑ IMDb: Laura the Prairie Girl (1975–)
- ↑ Nippon animation: 草原 の 少女 ロ ー ラ ( Memento of the original from June 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071007/locations Location of the outdoor shots
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8mLmuZRWsw&feature=player_detailpage Solution to the question, why the DVD in Finland is 18 years and older.
- ↑ Father Murphy's series profile. kabel eins , accessed October 7, 2012 .
- ↑ Father Murphy. TV.com , accessed October 7, 2012 .
- ^ Easter Eggs in June - Season 7, Episode 4 | Myfanbase.de accessed on December 15, 2018
- Jump up ↑ Sheldon and the Troll (The Troll Manifestation) - Season 8, Episode 14 | serienjunkies.de. Retrieved on December 15, 2018
- ↑ The Bouncy Castle Enthusiasm (The Celebration Reverberation) - Season 11, Episode 11 | Fernsehserien.de accessed on December 15, 2018
- ↑ Amy Farrah Fowler in The Big Bang Theory: Biography and Profile | CHIP.de accessed on December 15, 2018
