Related Shows

TV shows related to Little House on the Prairie. Yes, it's all here – fires, plagues, crop failures, nasty men from the railroads...

Original title: Sōgen no Shōjo Rōra (草原の少女ローラ)
Executive Producer: Kōichi Motohashi
Written by Masao Maruyama, from the novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Directed by Seiji Endō and Mitsuo Ezaki
Broadcast October 7, 1975 to April 3, 1976, TBS, 26 x 30-minute episodes. Nippon Animation Co.

Main cast (voices): Kazuko Sugiyama (Laura Ingalls), Shūsei Nakamura (Charles Ingalls), Eiko Masuyama (Caroline Ingalls), Masako Sugaya (Mary Ingalls), Yoneko Matsukane (Carrie Ingalls).

Wide-eyed and bright animated Japanese series for kids. It covers episodes in the Ingalls family's life from the books Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie, though, unsurprisingly, misses out the grimmer bits. Various dubbed versions were also made for foreign markets.

The 2D cast of Sōgen no Shōjo Rōra.

Executive Producers: Ed Friendly (the two TV movies); Lee Rich, Earl Hamner (series)
Written by Blanche Hanalis (the two TV movies); various (series); based on the books The Young Pioneers by Rose Wilder Lane
Directed by Michael O'Herlihy (the two TV movies); Harry Harris, Alf Kjellin, Irving J. Moore (series)
Broadcast March 1 and December 17, 1976, ABC, 2 x 2-hour TV movies; and April 2 to April 16, 1978, ABC, 1 x 2-hour episode + 2 x 1-hour episodes. An ABC Circle Film (the two TV movies); A Lorimar Production (series).

Main cast: Linda Purl (Molly Beaton), Roger Kern (David Beaton), Robert Donner (Mr. Peters), Robert Hays (Dan Grey), Shelly Juttner / Kay Kimler / Mare Winningham (Nettie Peters).

An attempt by ABC to produce a show similar to NBC's successful Little House on the Prairie, this time taken from the The Young Pioneers books of Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. Two pilot movies were produced (the first, which includes a nicely done battle with a plague of grasshoppers, is rather good; the second, rather formulaic) before Earl Hamner and Lorimar (makers of The Waltons) stepped in to make a brief three-episode mini-series. After this, the show was never heard of again.
As with both Beyond the Prairie and the 2005 Little House on the Prairie (both below), the female lead/s is/are played with rather more gusto than the male.

Young pioneers: Roger Kern as David Beaton, and Linda Purl as Molly Beaton.

Executive Producer: Michael Landon
Written by various, including Michael Landon, Paul W. Cooper, Chris Abbott
Directed by various, including William F. Claxton, Michael Landon, Leo Penn
Broadcast November 3, 1981 to December 28, 1982 (plus two episodes believed originally unshown), NBC, 1 x 2-hour episode + 33 x 1-hour episodes. An NBC Production.

Main cast: Merlin Olsen ("Father" John Murphy), Moses Gunn (Moses Gage), Katherine Cannon (Mae Woodward), Timothy Gibbs (Will Adams).

Merlin Olsen (who played Jonathan Garvey) left Little House in 1981 for his own show, Father Murphy, specially created for him by Michael Landon. In this rather slow production, Olsen plays a 1870s freight-hauler who teams up with a prospector (Moses Gage, played by Little House semi-regular Moses Gunn) and schoolteacher (Mae Woodward, played by Katherine Cannon) to disguise himself as a priest in order to prevent a group of orphans being sent to the workhouse. Landon acted as showrunner and also wrote and directed several of the episodes. The show is fairly close to a spin-off from Little House but, contrary to what more casual viewers remember, Merlin Olsen's character, "Father" Murphy, was not supposed to actually be Jonathan Garvey. Part of the problem may have been Olsen's similar performance across both shows.
At the end of the first season, Murphy's secret was revealed (and he got married to Mae), leaving the show somewhat stuck for direction in the second (during which it was canceled mid-season).

The adult cast of Father Murphy. Left to right: Moses Gunn (Moses Gage), Katherine Cannon (Mae Woodward), and Merlin Olsen ("Father" John Murphy).

Executive Producer: Dori Weiss
Written by Stephen Harrigan
Directed by Marcus Cole
Broadcast January 2, 2000, and March 17, 2002, CBS, 2 x 2-hour TV movies. CBS Broadcasting, Inc.

Main cast: Richard Thomas (Charles Ingalls), Meredith Monroe (Laura), Walton Goggins (Almanzo), Tess Harper (Narrator / Older Laura), Lindsay Crouse (Caroline Ingalls), Skye McCole Bartusiak (Rose), Barbara Jane Reams (Mary Ingalls), Thomas Ian Griffith (Loudermilk).

Brace of television movies detailing the romance and early married years of Laura and Almanzo. It is told from the real-life perspective rather than the narrative as per the Little House books. The second movie (where the couple move to Missouri) is a bit more effective than the first (which is slightly jumpy, though quite watchable).
Watch out for Richard Thomas (John-Boy from The Waltons) as Charles.

The Ingalls family in 2000. Both pictures: Walton Goggins (Almanzo) and Meredith Monroe (Laura). Bottom picture, flanked by: Lindsay Crouse (Caroline) and Richard Thomas (Charles).

Executive Producers: Ed Friendly, Wendy Hill-Tout, Katie Ford
Teleplay by Katie Ford, based on the book by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Directed by David L. Cunningham
Broadcast March 26 to April 23, 2005, ABC, 1 x 2-hour episode + 4 x 1-hour episodes. An Ed Friendly Production in association with Voice Pictures, Inc. Touchstone Television.

Main cast: Cameron Bancroft (Charles Ingalls), Erin Cottrell (Caroline Ingalls), Kyle Chavarria (Laura Ingalls), Danielle Ryan Chuchran (Mary Ingalls).

This Disney mini-series covers exactly the same territory as Landon's 1974 Little House on the Prairie pilot film (viz. the whole of the third Laura Ingalls Wilder book, detailing the Ingalls family leaving life in the big woods of Wisconsin and settling on the prairie in Indian country near Independence, Kansas, before being forced by the government to move on).
Cameron Bancroft as Charles is a little flat, but the other members of the cast (mostly female) try harder.

The Ingalls family in 2005. Left to right: Danielle Ryan Chuchran as Mary, Erin Cottrell as Caroline, Cameron Bancroft as Charles, and Kyle Chavarria as Laura. Note the excellent 19th-century standards of dentistry.