Guys,

I have to make a thread about the Oleson's because they were among THE BEST thing in Little House! The biting edge, humor, and wit that Nels and Harriot had along with Nellie and Willie prevented Little House from becoming too sugar-coated and sweat. Without them, this would have turned into The Waltons very quickly.

Alison Arngrim :was just BRILLIANT in her role as Nellie. Just the right amount of mean-spiritedness and manipulation with off-beat humor and charm when she wanted to manipulate. Don't get me started on adopted Nancy! She was just a little beast with no personality or substance. There will NEVER, EVER, be another Nellie!

Katherine McGregor :should have won an Emmy in her role as Harriot! It's interesting to watch her change from the early seasons as a cold insensitive person to one of great humor and distinction. She (and Nellie) carried every scene that the were in, especially when they were together in a scene.

Jonathon Gilbert: as Willie could have had more storylines as a central character. However, perhaps the producers wanted to keep Nellie as a main focus. In younger years, he was more reactionary to the things that Nellie did. It really was Harriot and she who stole the show. When Willie grew up, he seemed to become more humanized and caring like Nels, and who wouldn't? He was sick of living with Nellie and under his mother's domination for so many years and than had to endure.............NANCY! I was so happy when he married Rachel and got on with his life and out of the house!

Richard Bull as the quiet conservative Nels, was a pleasure to watch. It was great when he challenged Harriot but at times was not forceful enough. I always believed that he was intimidated by her.

Seriously, this family almost could have had there own series! Let's use this thread to reminisce about the best moments (comic or serious) about the Oleson family!

Jack

PS. Does anyone know what these arctors are doing now?

Here's something I didn't know, Alison Arngrim's Mother was the voice of Davey on Davey and Goliath & also the voice of Sweet Polly Purebred on Underdog

http://www.rankinbass.com/images/HEAD_davey_goliath.jpg

http://rebelsofmars.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/underdog.jpg

Alison's brother Stefan was also on Land of the Giants. I never knew that until a couple of years ago. :lol:

I thought this was a thread abt the Olesons? :lol: J/K

I loved them too. I mean, Harriet to me was like J.R. on Dallas. They were mean, nasty and selfish, but they made evil fun! :lol:

I have no idea what is up with the actors who played them. Guess we will have to do an internet search on them.

I was shocked when I heard that Matthew and Patrick Labourteux (sp?) were brothers, only because they didn't look alike. They are adopted. I found that out when Matthew joined the cast as Albert.

I never knew Allison's mother did voice-over work. That is interesting. I loved DAVEY AND GOLIATH.

I loved the Olesons. I thought they were all great actors and believable. Even when Willie was young with that high-pitched voice, I thought he acted well.

Nels was so kind and loveable. He put up with Harriet's crap, ran the store, cooked the meals and saw through Nellie and Willie's B.S. When it came time to rally for a cause in town, he was the first to grab a gun or donate supplies without question. I loved the episode where he had enough of his family and took the travelling salesman job. He met that Irish gal and really felt important for once. But of course, he came back to Harriet and became a dish rag again. Then came Nancy...

I loved the Olesons too.The show would have been boring without them.

Mrs.Oleson was my favorite.She was mean,selfish,nasty but,she was so funny.Nels was all the opposite,kind,generous and sweet.I wonder why this 2 completly different characters got married in the first place ?

Nelly was a horrible brat,who had everything that she wanted but,still she picked who didn't approuve her little princess's ways.But,I like her anyway,got to have someone to challenge Laura Ingalls.I enjoyed the frictions between the 2 girls who were really good friends in real life.Never liked Nancy either.She didn't have a personality,she was just nasty.

And poor Willy,his role was to stand in the corner of the class :lol:

I loved the Olesons too.The show would have been boring with them.

Mrs.Oleson was my favorite.She was mean,selfish,nasty but,she was so funny.Nels was all the opposite,kind,generous and sweet.I wonder why this 2 completly different characters got married in the first place ?

Nelly was a horrible brat,who had everything that she wanted but,still she picked who didn't approuve her little princess's ways.But,I like her anyway,got to have someone to challenge Laura Ingalls.I enjoyed the frictions between the 2 girls who were really good friends in real life.Never liked Nancy either.She didn't have a personality,she was just nasty.

And poor Willy,his role was to stand in the corner of the class :lol:
Willie standing in the corner - probably LH's longest-running running gag!!

Willie standing in the corner - probably LH's longest-running running gag!!

Yeah, and I loved the scene where Laura leaves her job as the school teacher, and a grown-up Willie asks her to say it one more time, "Willie, go stand in the corner." He does, she walks out and he turns to look at her and has a tear. :crying:

I would say that Nancy was a lot meaner than Nellie. I really liked Willie alot, after he became a nice person. You do have to feel sorry for this guy, though. I do wonder why Nels and Harriot got married in the first place, though. They really have nothing in common.

I got a kick out of the Olesons, you can really feel for Nells. Sometimes I wished he would have spoke up to Harriet a little more often.

I can't think of the name of the episode,

But there is a CLASSIC scene of Nels trying to read in bed and Harriot keeps hounding him about some crap. Nels is trying desperately to ignore her and he finally says something like,

"Harriot What now? I wanna read!"

She answers back in a pouting way,

"Nels, I wanna TALK!"

Nels: "I KNOW that dear! I've known that for 23 years!" (and than he just leaves the room) :lol:

Jack