When do you think Little House on the Prairie jumped the shark?

Some say it was when Albert joined the cast; others say Nancy, Jenny, James and Cassandra.

Albert doesn't bother me that much. He's basically a naughty protagonist for Laura to have her adventures with the way she did with Carl and Andrew.

I didn't watch all the way to Nancy, Jenny, James and Cassandra because the show started to lose my interest in Season 7. After Laura and Almanzo got married, there didn't seem to be much left to do. There were a few interesting episodes after that like "The Silent Cry" "Dearest Albert, I'll Miss You" "Goodbye Mrs. Wilder" and of course the oh-so-controversial "Sylvia" but they could easily have put those in Season 6 and maybe had another older teenage actor play Sylvia's love interest instead of Albert so the whole "is he the father?" conflict with Harriet's gossip would be more believable.

I'd say the beginning of the end would be the way Landon cut the Edwards family out in Season 4. "Times of Change." I understand they had to go because of cast and management conflicts but they still could have done a better job having them leave than the way they did. We're supposed to believe John Jr. who seemed so strong and serious in his affections towards Mary would forsake her for a snotty rich girl like Nellie? And that one-liner in the script about the whole family moving to California? Why not do a whole episode showing them leave for California and the Ingalls family helping them pack and bidding them farewell or maybe they could have left in I'll be Waving as You Drive Away? And perhaps John could have died of an illness in Chicago and sent a letter swearing his undying love to Mary so he would still be in character. I think Landon was taking his frustrations out on French, Pera, etc. when he did "Time of Change" instead of finding a more graceful well-written way for them to leave.

For me, the "jump the shark" moment would be "To See the Light" when Adam gets his vision back from getting hit in the head. I understand they were trying to develop his relationship with Mary but the event that the whole plot hinges on was so laughable. I mean who in the world loses their vision from getting hit in the head and then gets it back the same way???

Nellie and Percival did not work for me either. If they were going to have Nellie become a reformed bad girl they should have showed it slowly and gradually over Seasons 5 and 6 not all of sudden just because some effeminate nerd shows up.


Maybe they should have wrapped it up after Laura and Almanzo got married by having them get in a covered wagon and leave Walnut Grove to start a new life, just as Charles and Caroline did in the very beginning.

puke:Probably one of my all-time least favorite episodes is when Albert becomes a morphine addict. That episode literally made me sick with all the vomit.puke:

When Nellie left.

https://popculturereferences.com/when-did-little-house-on-the-prairie-jump-the-shark/

WHEN DID IT JUMP THE SHARK This is tricky, because, perhaps more so than most other similar programs, Little House had a NUMBER of really bad episodes. It also had episodes that really jarred you out of the story, like the infamous “mime who raped Sylvia” in Season 7, but I think the show really fell off the track when it transformed into an “adult” Laura show, specifically with the over-the-top two-parter, “Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow” (which is three parts in syndication) in Season 8, which Gilbert herself feels is the time that the show jumped the shark. She noted, “In terms of ratings, it was that season’s savior. Viewers were riveted as Laura and Almanzo faced a tidal wave of disasters, maladies, and mishaps, a juggernaut of doom and gloom not seen since Noah said, ‘We’re gonna need a bigger boat.’ I contended that episode was when the show jumped the shark (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125326/http://www.jumptheshark.com/l/littlehouseontheprairie.htm).”

That’s good enough for me (but I can be convinced that “Sylvia” might be the right answer, too)!

I think LHOTP jumped the shark when Laura started to teach at the school and she still looked like she belonged in the fifth grade.

Also, Albert lost his stage presence when he got a haircut, making him look just like the duplicitous Richard Rickover, Beaver Cleaver’s so-called friend.

Grade 5 is eleven years old here in Oz. Primary school: Prep to Grade 6 and High School: Year 7 to Year 12.

I say when Mary went blind. I know there were still some great episodes to come. But when Mary went blind and her role greatly diminished changed the dynamic. I loved Albert. However the girls were older, Mary moves out and the original formula was gone. I always view the show as the best years before Mary went blind.

Not using Carrie and Grace. Real Grace Ingalls was also a brunette.

I say when Mary went blind. I know there were still some great episodes to come. But when Mary went blind and her role greatly diminished changed the dynamic. I loved Albert. However the girls were older, Mary moves out and the original formula was gone. I always view the show as the best years before Mary went blind.

That's where I would mark it too.

I really find it entertaining watching Mary struggle with her new disability.

I think the show bit the dust when they decided to end it by blowing up the town :(

I saw that episode and it made me cry........

Oddly, I can only think of only one on-screen version of Carrie that looks close facially to the real person. The Beyond the Prairie miniseries with Haley McCormick as Carrie. Although looking at her forehead in this screen cap, the overly smooth and shiny forehead indicate the makeup team went a bit overboard (I saw that happen a lot in the 1990s stuff showed in Media class).

https://i.postimg.cc/zvHdKCHV/382589095_10230259483729533_5067339578878994557_n.jpg

I'm going to say definitely Season 8, Episode 1 fits the definition of a true shark jump. A true shark jump is not one bad or below average episode, but an episode after which the entire series is never as good. The departure of Adam, Mary, Percival, and Nellie all at once was too much for Mrs. Oleson and it was too much for the viewer. Then you have the introduction of the evil Nancy, who is Nellie all over again and worse. Still an above average show, but I'm going to say after this episode never as good.

I think it JTS at the this point in the title sequence when the show aired for the first time:

https://picshack.net/ib/vnvh7ayRKw.jpg (https://picshack.net/ib/vnvh7ayRKw)

May We Make Them Proud was when the show jumped the shark. Right after that two-parter, the show stopped being wholesome and relied more and more on shock values and trashy themes to get by, but disguised as very special episodes.

The show also did a 180 on a lot of its inspirational messages and characters. If anyone remembers, the show made a huge point of having Mary struggle with the idea of becoming a mother, ending with the inspirational message that just because she and Adam were blind, it didn't mean they couldn't be capable. So what did the show do? It had her do the dumbest thing a person could do during a fire--blind or not--then made Adam see again. Imagine how that must have made disabled fans of the show feel.


The characters were changed for the worse. In the special about Albert's drug addiction, Charles actually sneers that he wishes he'd never laid his eyes on him and that he couldn't care less if he lived or died. Really???

You make some good points, dee2364.