Greatest episodes of "Little House on the Prairie"
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- DirectorWilliam F. ClaxtonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertMeddling Mrs. Oleson starts tongues wagging when a handsome itinerant handyman stays in the Ingalls' soddie (storeroom) while helping Caroline with a kitchen addition after Charles is called out of town to work on Mr. Hanson's railroad lumber contract.
- DirectorMichael LandonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertOn Rev. Alden's recommendation, Mary is hired as a teacher in a small backwoods community called Willow Run. There, she is met with pure hatred from its town leader, Miss Peel, an elderly woman who is fiercely opposed to the school. Miss Peel's determination to drive Mary from town proves to be a severe test to the Ingalls girl's resolve and character.
- DirectorMichael LandonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertLaura is playing with Anna when Nellie walks by and says she is starting a club and they are going to play in her room and she invites Laura but Laura wants to play with Anna so Nellie says she can come too. Laura is enjoying a music box, but Nellie is being bossy and tells everyone to pay attention to her so when Harriet directs everyone downstairs a few minutes later for refreshments, Laura steals the music box. She takes it home to play with in the loft of the barn, but when she thinks someone is coming, she gets startled and drops it and messes up the part that plays the music. Laura tries to fix the music box, but Nellie catches her. Laura says that she will be in Nellie's club and do anything she wants if she won't tell her parents. Nellie makes Laura be mean to Anna. Laura has several nightmares about how she would be punished if her parents and Nellie's parents found out that she stole the music box.
- 1974–198350mTV-PG8.1 (355)TV EpisodeDirectorVictor FrenchStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertA new-fangled talking machine that has the ability to record voices is just what treacherous Nellie Oleson needs to embarrass rival Laura Ingalls when both girls vie for the same boy's affections.
- DirectorVictor FrenchStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertWhen teacher, Miss Beadle, is deemed unable to control some of the rowdy, older boys in her class, Mrs. Oleson convinces the Walnut Grove school board to replace her with a firmer, male hand. But the new schoolmaster tries to bully his students into submission and singles little Laura out as a troublemaker, blaming and punishing her for the slightest infraction even when she isn't the one responsible.
- 1974–198350mTV-PG7.9 (307)TV EpisodeDirectorWilliam F. ClaxtonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertSterling Murdoch arrives in Walnut Grove planning to found a newspaper. The fledgling newspaper is The Pen and the Plow, and its star reporter is none other than one Harriet Olesen. At first, everyone including the Ingalls welcome the newspaper, but the completely inaccurate content of the "Harriet's Happenings" column soon has some people losing their enthusiasm. Nels reminds his wife that a reporter's job is to be accurate, but Mrs. Olesen suggests she's merely "reporting the fact that they are rumors"; he is even more frustrated when she suggests holding an unethical sale at the store. Later, Nellie loses a spot in the county's spelling bee to Erich Schiller, the son of German immigrants and outstanding student in his class. Mrs. Olesen is outraged and in her next column, writes a story suggesting that Erich's parents are illiterate. Erich is deeply upset by the story and it causes him to perform badly at the county spelling bee; he even drops out of school. With some help from Charles, Mr. Schiller tells Erich that he is proud of his son and has a great future ahead of him; this is enough to get him to come back to school. Charles is unable to make headway with Murdoch about his newspaper, since Murdoch reasons that people like reading their names in print and it means more advertising and money. Laura and Albert get some revenge when they switch the printing plates and publish some unflattering stories about Nellie and Mrs. Olesen, and an ad that suggests a 100 percent-off sale at the Mercantile. When Caroline refuses to punish Laura and Albert over their trick, Mrs. Olesen responds by publishing a story stating that Charles fathered Albert outside his marriage (along with another item that suggests that the Garveys are heavily in debt). An angry Charles has enough and, at church on Sunday, exposes "The Pen and the Plow" as yellow journalism, and that everyone else shares in the blame for reading the paper even though they knew the stories were clearly untrue. It isn't long before the newspaper is forced to stop publishing and Murdoch is driven from town. In the close, Laura tells how she hoped that someday, Walnut Grove would get a legitimate newspaper.
- DirectorMaury DexterStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertCaroline travels to an influenza-ridden mining camp with Dr. Baker after she receives a plea for help from an old friend who is pregnant and desperately ill. After realizing that her friend will die and that the baby's father never wanted children at all, Caroline agrees to uphold her friend's deathbed request to give her child a good home.
- DirectorMichael LandonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertWhen Nellie Oleson is seriously injured after falling from Bunny, a horse that used to belong to Laura Ingalls, Nellie's mother blames Laura for the accident and orders the animal destroyed. But Laura secretly steals her still-beloved Bunny away from Mrs. Oleson's vengeance and resigns herself to the penance of waiting hand and foot on a demanding, bedridden Nellie.
- DirectorWilliam F. ClaxtonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertConniving Mrs. Oleson is so certain that her scheming and daughter Nellie's new thoroughbred racehorse will beat Laura Ingall's speedy mount, Bunny, in the Hero Township horse race that she puts up a valuable family heirloom as first prize.
- 1974–198350mTV-PG8.5 (485)TV EpisodeDirectorAlf KjellinStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertLaura befriends Olga, a girl crippled from birth with one leg shorter than the other and who, as a result, is teased by Nellie and often left out of the other children's games. But when Charles comes up with a way to help Olga walk more normally, he meets unexpected resistance...from Olga's over-protective father.
- DirectorWilliam F. ClaxtonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertA frightened, angry Caroline impulsively forbids Mary from taking a scholarship exam as punishment for accidentally starting a late-night fire in the barn where she had gone to study to keep from waking her sleeping little sister, Laura. But more than anything, Mary wants the exam winner's prize, a beautiful, new Webster's Dictionary, and when she delays telling her teacher that she won't be taking the test, Laura worries that her big sister is planning to defy their mother.
- DirectorVictor FrenchStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertLaura Ingalls is stunned to learn that her amiable fishing friend is none other than Walnut Grove's new banker, miserly Ebenezer Sprague, and heartbroken when he accuses her of becoming his friend to secure a loan for her family.
- DirectorWilliam F. ClaxtonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertIn spite of a rocky start and over Charles' strong objections, the Olesons accompany the Ingalls on a family camping trip and, surprisingly, the oft-feuding families begin to enjoy each other's company. But will the warming relationship between them survive a cold plunge into a rushing river and Willie's rash decision to add a special leaf to his collection...the one that Mary won't touch?
- 1974–198350mTV-PG7.6 (327)TV EpisodeDirectorWilliam F. ClaxtonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertWhile on a trip to Springfield, Carl Edwards accidentally releases the brake on a caboose that he, Mary and Laura are exploring, sending the lone car and the terrified trio hurtling down the tracks towards an oncoming express train.
- DirectorWilliam F. ClaxtonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertAs Walnut Grove school begins to study the Civil War, Mary Ingalls unexpectedly learns firsthand information when she starts running errands for two mysterious newcomers who sided with the South. But Mr. Hobbs and Mr. Dankworth are hiding more than just their war affiliation and the whole town comes under siege when an overzealous posse rides in, prepared to capture them at any cost.
- 1974–198350mTV-PG7.9 (335)TV EpisodeDirectorWilliam F. ClaxtonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertTraveling Charles Ingalls struggles with a broken wagon wheel and bad weather trying to get home in time to celebrate his wedding anniversary while, back in Plum Creek, waiting wife Caroline tries to keep worry at bay by entertaining their daughters with the tale of another time she was kept waiting and how she and their father first met.
- DirectorWilliam F. ClaxtonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertIn this episode, Charles receives word of an inheritance from an eccentric uncle. Soon, the whole town is abuzz, eagerly helping the initially reluctant Ingalls family spend the promised money. As the debt rises, so does Charles' discomfiture...until the consequences of the blessing make it feel more like a curse.
- DirectorWilliam F. ClaxtonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertAndy is doing poorly in school to the embarrassment of his mother who is the current teacher. Mrs. Garvey hires Nellie Olesen to tutor Andy. Nellie shows Andy how she has been cheating and threatens him to do the same and not tell.
- 1974–198350mTV-PG7.5 (315)TV EpisodeDirectorMichael LandonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertKezia doesn't believe in paying property taxes, and it isn't long before Mrs. Oleson decides to foreclose on the property and purchase it for herself as the family's vacation home. Nels objects to the purchase, knowing she had acquired it unfairly and that Kezia would have no place to go, but Mrs. Oleson responds by moving herself and Nellie and Willie to the lakeside property. Mrs. Oleson, in a show of pity, hires Kezia to be their servant and forces her to live in the shack. Laura, Albert and Andy watch from afar and are disgusted at how cruelly the three Olesons are treating their friend Kezia, and also aware that Mrs. Oleson used underhanded means to buy the property. One night, after hearing Caroline read a story about monsters, Albert comes up with an idea to concoct a monster to drive the Olesons off the property. Working with Kezia, the children set their plans in motion, but Mrs. Oleson, Nellie and Willie are too smart for any tricks and harden their resolve to stay on "their" property. Eventually, Laura, Andy and Albert bring out the heavy artillery: creating a Loch Ness monster out of paper maché. When they hatch their plans, Mrs. Oleson and her children are convinced that the (non-existant) monster poses a real threat to their safety and they beat it. Nels celebrates the success of Laura's plan with Kezia and the others, and it isn't long before Kezia's ownership in her property is restored ... with the promise she will pay her property taxes, no matter what she thinks.
- 1974–198350mTV-PG8.4 (323)TV EpisodeDirectorMichael LandonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertLaura and Nellie butt heads when they engage in a series of dirty tricks over romantic interest, the handsome Almanzo Wilder.
- DirectorWilliam F. ClaxtonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertNels becomes apprehensive when he learns that a traveling circus--in which his estranged sister, an obese woman named Annabelle, is one of the stars--is coming to Walnut Grove. When he is asked to be ringmaster of the circus, he realizes that he must deal with his insecurities and make amends with his sister.
- 1974–198350mTV-PG8.1 (297)TV EpisodeDirectorMichael LandonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertWhen the telephone comes to Walnut Grove, Mrs. Olesen is hired as the switchboard operator. The telephone company is unaware that Mrs. Olesen loves to gossip, and her new job will simply be another means to spread rumors about Walnut Grove's residents. One of the subscribers to the new Walnut Grove exchange is the Garveys. Alice places a call to her mother, in which she learns that her first husband (a hard-drinking, gambling outlaw named Harold) has just been released from prison for robbery. Alice - who has kept this fact from Jonathan - thinks this is a private conversation, but is unaware that Mrs. Olesen is listening in. Word quickly gets back to Jonathan Garvey, who demands an apology from Mrs. Olesen (she refuses, but an embarrassed Nels does before he reprimands his wife). Jonathan then goes home and gets an explanation from Alice; she didn't tell him about her first marriage because it was a mistake and thought it didn't matter, but Jonathan is angered even more because of this revelation. In the aftermath, Jonathan and Alice stop speaking to each other and Andrew becomes very upset. Jonathan decides to go on a delivery run with Charles to sort things out. After teaching Nellie a separate lesson about eavesdropping, Laura and Albert decide to teach Mrs. Olesen a real lesson about her behavior by working with town banker Bill Anderson to set up a phony stock tip. Mrs. Olesen acts on the tip and loses her share of the family's savings as a result; Nels refuses to sympathize with his wife, effectively telling her she has learned her lesson. Meanwhile, Charles and Jonathan stay with Alice's mother in Minneapolis and learn the whole story about Harold. They later meet up with Harold, who is working in a tavern and very disheveled after his (18) years in prison. Jonathan (who never tells Harold who he is) learns from Harold that Alice was the best thing he ever had but let her slip through his fingers through his wild, foolish living, and that the man who married Alice should consider himself very lucky. Jonathan realizes he needs to go home and make up with Alice ... and get rid of that darned ol' telephone.
- DirectorWilliam F. ClaxtonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertRoyal Wilder thinks of a perfect solution when he needs a break from dastardly duo Myron and Rupert, his spoiled, undisciplined sons...send the terrible two to Walnut Grove for a visit with unsuspecting Uncle Almanzo and Aunt Laura!
- 1974–198350mTV-PG7.8 (253)TV EpisodeDirectorMichael LandonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertAfter their parents are killed in an accident, Charles finds himself in charge of two young children.
- 1974–198350mTV-PG7.9 (249)TV EpisodeDirectorMichael LandonStarsMichael LandonKaren GrassleMelissa GilbertCharles finds a new home for Cassandra and James, but no one is happy about the arrangement.