How Do You Rate "LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE" As Teaching GOOD MORALS?

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How Would You Rate the Program “LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE” As Far As Teaching Children GOOD MORAL VALUES?
littlehouseontheprairie.com/

tvland.com/shows/littleHouse/

imdb.com/title/tt0071007/

Do Your Children Watch the Show on TV Land?

Did You Watch the Show Growing Up?

Can You Think of Any Other Program (Series) Which Has Lasted Around 10 Years and Teaches Better Moral Values than Little House on the Prairie?

What is Your Favorite Episode?

Who Are Your Favorite Characters?

Do You Watch the Show Regularly Every Night on TV Land?
 
After a year or two, the show did not stick to the books. It jumped the shark after the second year. So, simply from a film standpoint, I wouldn’t inflict it on any child who didn’t want to watch it, moral or not.

Now the books have excellent morality.
 
I do think the show teaches good moral values…all of the episodes I’ve seen, at least. There is almost always a lesson to be learned.
 
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AquinaSavio:
I do think the show teaches good moral values…all of the episodes I’ve seen, at least. There is almost always a lesson to be learned.
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:amen: I wholeheartedly agree! My grandchildren watch this every evening before going to bed…I just bought a set of the videos/DVD …I think it was Series #6…(one that my 13 year old granddaughter especially likes) and I bought the books to go along w/ them for my grandson who is 9.
 
We rented the series from Netflicks. We got all the way up season 7 I believe… after everyone was married - Adam could see again - Nellie had the twins etc.

There are a couple of episodes I hadn’t seen as a kid and IMO are not appropriate for kids… one was Mr. Olsen having an affair (Charles walked in before much could happen)… another was the rape & subsequent pregnancy of Albert’s girlfriend who later died - and lastly, the one where Mrs. Garvey & Mary’s baby burn in the housefire… that really freaked out my kids.

The stupidest episode IMO was the one where the women decided it was unfair to have to give up all of their property rights to their husband upon marriage. They all left their spouses until the husbands agreed to sign a petition trying to pass a law against that. Oh brother… it seemed so out of character for Caroline to up & leave Charles… some sort of women’s agenda type thing in the 1800’s? I doubt it.

We liked the earlier seasons the best. Once Laura married “Manly” she turned crabby all the time.
 
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PLAL:
Can You Think of Any Other Program (Series) Which Has Lasted Around 10 Years and Teaches Better Moral Values than Little House on the Prairie?
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Have you heard of “Road to Avonlea”? It’s a spin off series of Anne of Green Gables that lasted about 7 years. I believe it has run on the Disney channel before, but it was produced by and largely for Canadian audiences.

I would not say that “Road to Avonlea” is better in terms of teaching moral values, but certainly right on par. Roughly the same time period within 20 years. Wonderfully written characters and excellent moral lessons of right and wrong in each episode.
 
I rated it as pretty good morals. I thought so anyway when I was growing up. It pretty much gave me a sense of right and wrong. I read the series when I was about 10 or 11 and I loved them!!!

I will catch one on TV once in awhile but we don’t watch too much TV anymore. I hope to let my girls sit down and watch them. And in the mean time, I’ll read the series to them.
 
carol marie:
We rented the series from Netflicks. We got all the way up season 7 I believe… after everyone was married - Adam could see again - Nellie had the twins etc.

There are a couple of episodes I hadn’t seen as a kid and IMO are not appropriate for kids… one was Mr. Olsen having an affair (Charles walked in before much could happen)… another was the rape & subsequent pregnancy of Albert’s girlfriend who later died - and lastly, the one where Mrs. Garvey & Mary’s baby burn in the housefire… that really freaked out my kids.

The stupidest episode IMO was the one where the women decided it was unfair to have to give up all of their property rights to their husband upon marriage. They all left their spouses until the husbands agreed to sign a petition trying to pass a law against that. Oh brother… it seemed so out of character for Caroline to up & leave Charles… some sort of women’s agenda type thing in the 1800’s? I doubt it.

We liked the earlier seasons the best. Once Laura married “Manly” she turned crabby all the time.
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Yeah, Laura did get crabby after she and Almanzo got married. It’s like she was a completely different person. Apparently marriage did not agree with her. I agree with you on those episodes you mentioned–those were not appropriate for children. Another episode that small children should not watch is the one where Albert gets addicted to morphine in the last season. Some of the scenes where he is going through withdrawal are pretty scary, and he starts vomiting in one scene, which isn’t fun to watch if you have a weak stomach (actually it looks like he’s just puking up milk, but it’s still gross). The episode did a good job of showing how bad it is to get addicted to drugs, but the subject material was a bit too heavy for very young children. I always thought that the best episodes of Little House were the ones where the family would be short on cash or the crop would be destroyed and the family would all have to pull together and work hard to survive. It was an excellent example of how families should work together and help one another and keep the faith through it all. Overall, I would say that Little House was the best family show ever on TV, followed by the Waltons, which also had a long run on TV.
 
carol marie:
We rented the series from Netflicks. We got all the way up season 7 I believe… after everyone was married - Adam could see again - Nellie had the twins etc.

There are a couple of episodes I hadn’t seen as a kid and IMO are not appropriate for kids… one was Mr. Olsen having an affair (Charles walked in before much could happen)… another was the rape & subsequent pregnancy of Albert’s girlfriend who later died - and lastly, the one where Mrs. Garvey & Mary’s baby burn in the housefire… that really freaked out my kids.

The stupidest episode IMO was the one where the women decided it was unfair to have to give up all of their property rights to their husband upon marriage. They all left their spouses until the husbands agreed to sign a petition trying to pass a law against that. Oh brother… it seemed so out of character for Caroline to up & leave Charles… some sort of women’s agenda type thing in the 1800’s? I doubt it.

We liked the earlier seasons the best. Once Laura married “Manly” she turned crabby all the time.
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I agree with you on these shows. These shows made me sick to my stomach. But overall you have to agree 95% of the episodes were excellent.

By the way, did anyone see the episode with Col Sanders (Kentucky Fried Chicken) in it. The Olsen’s were having trouble with there restaurant and the reason was they did not have many options on their menu. So the changed the menu at its restaurant by adding many choices. The restaurant flourished.

At the end of the show, Col Sanders comes through town in a carriage. He sees Mr. and Mrs Olsen and and asks “Would they like to open a restaurant chain?”. Mr. and Mrs Olsen ask “How many items are you going to have on your menu?”. Col Sanders says “Just One – Fried Chicken”.

Then Mr. & Mrs Olsen laugh histerically at Col Sanders. Col Sanders then takes off. Then Mr. & Mrs. Olsen keep laughing histerically saying to each other – “What a goof – he thinks he is going to start a successful franchise with only one item on his menu!”. Then the episode ends. If you have not seen this one, get it. It’s a classic!
 
Like a few others have already said, I liked the first few seasons but once they got away from the books they got to be a bit on the Politically Correct bandwagon. I just couldn’t force myself to watch it after that started happening so I really couldn’t answer your poll 🙂

Brenda V.
 
Although there was some questionable material in some of the shows, I’d still rather my kids watch Little House on the Prairie than most of the shows that are on TV today, including most cartoons.
 
I used to watch the show when I was a child and liked it. I much prefer the books. I love reading them to my children because they really show what life was like on the frontier. My favorite is Little House in the Big Woods because it takes place in Wisconsin and also has many interesting details about life in a log cabin. I love the scene with the maple syrup party.

I don’t think the books talk that much about morality per se, but they do show how little this family had materially and yet how happy they were. My children and I still talk about what the Ingalls children got for Christmas and yet were so thankful and happy. We also talk about how hard Laura and Mary worked. When they complain about doing chores, I will bring up Laura and Mary. My kids loved all of the books!!
 
I was an older teen when i started watching it an ther was something about it i didn’t like. When I had children and it was playing as reruns I realized what it was. Charles views at times alys had to be the correct way even though they were the type of situations that could be others ways. Also i did not like the fact that often it was a quiet condoning of being, shall we say, mean to Nellie Olson because she was cast as the bad child. That went against my upbringing.
I did like the Waltons growing up and realized when I was older it was because the Father John and the Mother were portrayed in a manner I respected. I really liked their relationship and the way they loved each other. The children not only did not get away with anything but they were not portrayed as going against their parents often. Though Laura would get scolded she disobeyed way too much for me to feel comfortable around her. I suppose this was the format for teaching the morals. Deviated from the characters in the books.
 
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Viki59:
The Andy Griffith Show?
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Yeah. It was typically lighter and less dramatic than “Little House,” but the moral outlook was every bit as solid.

Remember the lesson Andy gave Opie when he killed the bird? The show’s view of fatherhood was right on the mark.

Peace.
John
 
We really liked the books until they got married. The discussion in them about marriage and marriage vows seemed like a late 1900’s add on and out of character for the rest of the books.

I’ve only seen the first couple of seasons of the show and liked those.
 
Good morals, but disappointed they deviated from the books so much.
 
carol_marie said:
We rented the series from Netflicks. We got all the way up season 7 I believe… after everyone was married - Adam could see again - Nellie had the twins etc.

There are a couple of episodes I hadn’t seen as a kid and IMO are not appropriate for kids… one was Mr. Olsen having an affair (Charles walked in before much could happen)… another was the rape & subsequent pregnancy of Albert’s girlfriend who later died - and lastly, the one where Mrs. Garvey & Mary’s baby burn in the housefire… that really freaked out my kids.

The stupidest episode IMO was the one where the women decided it was unfair to have to give up all of their property rights to their husband upon marriage. They all left their spouses until the husbands agreed to sign a petition trying to pass a law against that. Oh brother… it seemed so out of character for Caroline to up & leave Charles… some sort of women’s agenda type thing in the 1800’s? I doubt it.

We liked the earlier seasons the best. Once Laura married “Manly” she turned crabby all the time.
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I agree completely. Those episodes are inappropriate for children and I don’t watch them when they’re on. The one where Mrs. Garvy and Mary’s baby dies still makes me upset today.
OutinChgoburbs said:
After a year or two, the show did not stick to the books. It jumped the shark after the second year. So, simply from a film standpoint, I wouldn’t inflict it on any child who didn’t want to watch it, moral or not.

Now the books have excellent morality.
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We do watch most of the episodes of the show, but I do think the books are better.
bapcathluth said:
I used to watch the show when I was a child and liked it. I much prefer the books. I love reading them to my children because they really show what life was like on the frontier. My favorite is Little House in the Big Woods because it takes place in Wisconsin and also has many interesting details about life in a log cabin. I love the scene with the maple syrup party.

I don’t think the books talk that much about morality per se, but they do show how little this family had materially and yet how happy they were. My children and I still talk about what the Ingalls children got for Christmas and yet were so thankful and happy. We also talk about how hard Laura and Mary worked. When they complain about doing chores, I will bring up Laura and Mary. My kids loved all of the books!!
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My daughter and I also talk about the “implied morality” of the books; being happy even when times are tough. Children who help without being harrassed into it. One of our most interesting talks came from the difference of how Sundays are then and now. How you cooked enough on Saturday for Sunday as well so that there was no work done, whereas today most stores are open at least for a little while and it’s just another day to a lot of people.

They were and still are my favorite books.

God bless,

Trish
 
mommyof4 said:
Good morals, but disappointed they deviated from the books so much.
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Same here. The show was family-friendly and all that- except for the eps mentioned above, which I didn’t see- but didn’t come close to the excellence of the books. As soon as I have kids I am going to purchase a full set of the books for them (actually, maybe before, as I wouldn’t mind re-reading them).
 
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