I'm just starting watching the complete series, but I watched much of it before so can name a few inconsistencies. I won't get heavily into historical inaccuracies or contradictions with the books or I might never get done. One of the biggest contradictions to the books is there is WAAAAAYYY more crying in the series, in situations in which the real people cried very little if at all. Laura was taught it was babyish to cry and may have even got in trouble for it. (Gotta read the books again.)

At the beginning of Season 1, it is made clear that Laura can't read or write. Her narration states, "If I had a memory book, I'd write (such and such)." A later episode is based around her keeping a memory book when they first arrived in Walnut Grove.

Season 1 makes several references to what was known as Custer's Last Stand, now politically correctly termed the Battle of the Little Bighorn. This took place June 25 and 26, 1876. So fine, Season 1 takes place after that. Only it doesn't, because in 1976 they did a big show celebrating America's Centennial in 1876, so these Season 1 references were to something that hadn't happened yet.

In Season 1, Doc Baker operates on Mrs. Oleson to remove her appendix. Later in the series, in the faith healer episode, the doctor insists a young boy get to a surgeon to have his appendix removed. Why can't Doc Baker perform the operation since he has already successfully done it at least once?

Of course the most famous one was that Albert returned 20 years later as a doctor, but a TV movie implied he died. I haven't seen this movie but understand it doesn't actually show him dying so there's hope.

I know married women were not allowed to teach, and I'm not sure even married men were. Teaching salaries were not enough to support a family, so married people were barred from teaching. There were also rules about being seen while pregnant, though those may have been more strict out east. These rules were broken by Mrs. Simms and Mrs. Garvey teaching and Mrs. Simms leaving class to give birth to a baby.

Two more episodes, two more inconsistencies. In "Survival," Charles says it's been 16 years since the 1862 uprising, implying it is 1878. About a year and a half later it was 1876. Time ran backwards...amazing. In "To See the World," Johnny Johnson ditches school. Later in the episode, he mentions it's July. There isn't school in July. The reason was both that kids were needed on the farm, and that school buildings became intolerably hot in summer. A three month vacation has been a tradition ever since.

As far as research being harder as back then there wasn't Google and all, as a child I was able to grab a World Book without getting out of my chair. I learned things such as: they played baseball, which was invented, but were using gloves, which weren't yet. Albert's pen pal claimed to captain the basketball team. Basketball wasn't invented until 1891 and I'm sure girls' teams started later. Football was also very new then and probably wasn't played on the prairie in the 1870s/1880s in the manner depicted on the show. I often wondered why the makers of a national TV show couldn't afford a set of World Book. These could go on all day and are probably found in every show, though some are more careful than others. (I understand Dr. Quinn was really pretty careful.) I just finished watching Daniel Boone, which was one of the worst offenders. It begins in 1775 and then bounces around in time so much between 1775 and 1807 (in only six years) that you'd think you were watching Quantum Leap. The main thing I kept track of was the music, and hope to list which pieces Daniel Boone could, and could not, have heard in his lifetime. I'm not doing this with Little House because although I recognized most of the fiddle tunes on Daniel Boone, I have recognized very few on Little House. I know Little House does use for instrumental background vintage tunes which weren't written yet back then.

In Season 2, episode 2, the eye doctor tells Mary she must wear her glasses at all times at first, and then only for schoolwork. In episode 3 she is at school without her glasses.

Season 2, episode 13 involves a phonograph or "talking machine." Whether it was invented yet depends on your point of view. The man selling it says that Thomas Edison invented it the previous year. Edison invented the phonograph in 1877, implying this is 1878, which was also implied in the Season 1 episode "Survival," so yes it was invented. But in a later episode it is only 1876, so no it wasn't.

The term "airplane" is used when it should have been "flying machine."

Pa is hammering in round nails, which weren't in use in the United States until the 1890s.

In Season 2, Episode 16, "The Runaway Caboose," Mr. Edwards worries about his son Carl missing school. In the very next episode, the Edwards children are not in school. They are also absent from school and church in a number of other episodes.

In Season 2, Episode 21, "Soldier's Return," Mr. Whipple is a veteran of the Battle of Shiloh, which it is mentioned several times took place 12 years earlier. The previous episode took place in early July 1876, so the Battle of Shiloh, which took place in April of 1862, should have been 14 years earlier. Also (SPOILERS) Mr. Whipple ran away from the battle on two good legs and hid until it was over. He received a medal for having a severely wounded leg, bad enough to have been treated by a surgeon, have a limp years later, and result in a morphine addiction. It was never explained how he got the bad leg.

EDIT: I think I figured out what happened. He would have been executed for cowardice if it was known he ran, so after the battle he found some dead soldier in an out of the way place, took his gun (remember he didn't have one but only a bugle) and shot himself in the leg, then waited for help (if he couldn't walk) or went to the nearest field hospital (if he could). This was just both too gruesome and too long to be shown.

In Season 3, episode 2, "Bunny," Bunny was male in "Christmas at Plum Creek" up until Mr. Oleson said, "Atta Girl," at which time she became female. She is female in this episode.

When people collect in Nellie's room to see if she is all right, a shadow moves in the lower right corner of the screen as if someone suddenly moved out of the shot.

When Nellie breaks the glass on a sampler of a doll, the sampler seems to read "Porcelain 1920," though the doll looks older style than 1920, but the date sure looks like that.

In Season 3, episode 3, "The Race," Bunny the horse is still female, although Charles refers to the horse not being able to pull "his" weight around the farm.

Mrs. Oleson buys Nellie a horse against Nels's wishes and points out that the money came from her own bank account. Married women in America were not allowed to have bank accounts until the 1960s and many still had to have a signature from their husbands until 1974, which was only two years before this episode was made.

In Season 3, Episode 4, "Little Girl Lost," Willie ran into the church/school building to ring the bell when the rope was clearly on the outside of the building.

In Season 3, episode 7, "Journey in the Spring, Part 2," Bunny the horse is still a girl although Grandpa Ingalls says of Bunny, "She loves him," showing Bunny to be gender fluid to the last.

Charles uses the term "living room," which didn't come into use until at least the 1890s. The older term was parlor which became too associated with death, hence "living room."

Not so much an inconsistency, but a difference. The students of Walnut Grove School must have learned a lesson. In "Injun Kid," they practically killed the Native American boy, where in "The Wisdom of Solomon" their response to the black student was merely an unenthusiastic greeting.

Also in "The Wisdom of Solomon," when Solomon gets out of the bath it is visible that he is wearing shorts.

In Season 3 episode 22, towards the end in the scene in church, a child is seen wearing a very modern-looking sweatshirt.

In Season 4 episode 1, when Bandit jumps on the wagon there is a big space between the boxes for him to jump into. In the next shot the boxes are stacked close together completely filling the wagon and looking too tight to shift. In the next shot they have shifted to a different position. Also it is unclear how Kezia knew Bandit's name when all Laura said was that he was a stray.

Season 4, episode 7: when a patient is talking to Doc Baker in his office, a shadow which looks like a microphone swings over his head and back.

Also not exactly an error but for some reason Laura is neither seen nor mentioned.

Season 4, episode 8: Mary accidentally calls one of her employers "Mr. Dobbs" instead of "Hobbs." She was supposed to have been working for them for some time and should have known their names by then.

The year is twice identified as 1876, to coincide with the great Northfield, Minnesota, James brothers raid, though the episode is from 1977 and they did an 1876 episode in 1976 meaning they stayed in 1876 a long time, which I guess is allowed.

Season 4, episode 9: The scene where Charles takes his corn for sale was odd. I have never seen corn for sale already shucked. It always has the husks on and these did not. I guess it depends on the kind of corn.

Season 4, episode 10: In episode 8, the year is most definitely given as 1876. In episode 10, the year is given as 14 years after 1865, in other words 1879. In two episodes they have somehow skipped three years of time, and without the kids significantly aging.

The would-be hanging was rigged up to an awfully flimsy light fixture. It would never have worked.

In the scene where Charles and Joe Kagan talk in the moving wagon, it's obvious the wagon is just being shaken rather than traveling as the same cloud stays in the same position behind them during the entire conversation.

Season 4, episode 11: A dunk tank is featured, a carnival attraction which appeared no earlier than 1899 and is thought to have been more like 1910.
When the balloon is released, a man can be seen at the lower right side of the screen holding a long rope as if guiding it.

Season 4, episode 12: When Nellie is holding the yarn for Harriet to wind into a ball, the yarn Nellie is holding increases instead of decreases at least once, and when Harriet finishes the ball, Nellie is holding as much or more yarn than when she started.
Not an expert on this, but could a Justice of the Peace really annul a marriage by tearing up the certificate, or would more paperwork be involved?

Not an expert on this, but could a Justice of the Peace really annul a marriage by tearing up the certificate, or would more paperwork be involved?

If nothing was filed, then yes, tearing up the paperwork would be enough. No harm, no foul.
I have no idea what was involved in a state marriage at that time. Where there age limits for marriage? Did you have to go to a courthouse and fill out paperwork? Would an entry into the family bible have been enough?

According to the following info I found online, it looks as though the Minnesota Territory had its act together going way back regarding marriages:

"The Laws of Minnesota of 1849 included an "act regulating marriages" in Minnesota. Requirements included that the certificate be sent to the clerk of the county district court in which the marriage was solemnized and be recorded by the clerk. Records begin in counties formed in the 1850s and a few (Ramsey and Washington) counties have records including 1849.

These records may consist of an application for license to marry, a license issued by the clerk of district court, court administrator or other county official giving permission for an authorized officiant (usually member of the clergy, justice of the peace or judge) to solemnize the marriage, and a return of certificate from the officiant noting that a marriage had been solemnized.

Records generally include the names and residence (by county) of the bride and groom, occasionally their respective ages, the date of the application and license, the date the marriage occurred, the place of marriage and name of officiant."

I also saw that in 1906 (statehood era), a law set the bride's min. age requirement at 15 and the groom at 18. The mention of "occasionally" on earlier paperwork seems to suggest there hadn't been much (if any) control previously regarding ages.

Thanks for the information which was really interesting. The episode didn't mention the bride and groom's exact ages but they were in their teens, the bride probably early teens. I know when my dad (as a minister starting in the 1940s) performed marriages a license was required before the ceremony could occur. One of his (probably true) stories involved the license being bought in the neighboring county so they had to drive to the neighboring county, he married them by the side of the road, then they drove back to the church. One case I saw on TV involved a couple who was all ready for their ceremony but didn't have a license. The judge said she couldn't be involved in even a mock ceremony and some of the family members detained and even slightly assaulted the judge. (Dad laughed when I told him that one.) In Minnesota in the 1870s perhaps things were more informal in some particulars, also the TV series sometimes makes up its own rules.

and a return of certificate from the officiant noting that a marriage had been solemnized.[/B][/I]

Ripping everything up (even if we had not seen them file for a certificate) would keep it from being solemnized.

Season 4, episode 13: When Charles and Doc Baker are riding in the wagon, a crew member's hand and wrist wearing a watch can be seen shaking the wagon.

Season 4, episode 14: A frog Laura is trying to catch is tied to a log with black fishline.
A closeup of the china shepherdess reveals it has been broken and mended. This doesn't happen in the books and wasn't shown on the series. Obviously an accident on the set and apparently they couldn't get a replacement.
The year is at least 1878 because a '78 bottle of wine is offered at the restaurant.

Yes, "18"78 ;) I'm talking about the wine, just to clarify my snark!

Also not exactly an error but for some reason Laura is neither seen nor mentioned.

CL laws means minors can't appear in every episode or, at the very least, scenes with their character in some episodes would be sparse (even more so today) but given Mellie G. was the protagonist, it's odd, yes.

CL laws means minors can't appear in every episode or, at the very least, scenes with their character in some episodes would be sparse (even more so today) but given Mellie G. was the protagonist, it's odd, yes.

Apparently Melissa Gilbert stated at the Simi Valley 50th Anniversary Celebration that she was only ever not in one episode but the real number is more like 14.

Season 4, episode 16: Caroline's family name is given as Holbrook. The actual name was Quiner. This error was repeated in a later episode featuring Caroline's father.

EDIT: It seems Holbrook was Caroline's stepfather's actual name.

Season 4, episode 17: the photograph looks too modern. 19th Century photographs were generally stiff, printed or pasted on thick card or on metal if a tintype. This one is on thin curled up paper. Also the color is too good. In the 19th Century color would have been only tinting, and this looks like a full color photograph with natural color, not painted.

Season 4, episode 20: Caroline looks at her son's grave marker and says he has been gone four years. The date on the marker is 1876. Date the episode aired 1978. Episode in which the son died aired 1974, so four years is correct, but four years from 1876 is 1880. The centennial episode set in 1876 aired in 1976 so only two years should have passed since then. Son's death date should have been 1874 as far as the series timeline was concerned, not 1876, but the grave marker on the series did use the son's actual dates of birth and death although in the series he apparently didn't live as long as he did in real life, that is, unless 18 months were meant to have passed in "The Lord is My Shepherd," nine months for the baby to arrive and then nine more for his life, and he didn't appear to be that old. Also, if the Centennial episode was meant to take place on July 4, 1876, and the real Charles Frederick died on August 27, 1876, he should have been still alive during the Centennial episode where on the series he had died over a year prior.

Same actor or same kid actor as different characters sticks out more now that you can binge than it would have then. For a start looks like Anna doesn't miss her stutter :)

Right, young Charles became Albert and Anna became young Caroline.

Season 5, episode 3 definitely states the year is 1880, although it aired in 1978, only a little over two years after the one aired in 1976 set in 1876.

" (I understand Dr. Quinn was really pretty careful.)"

Well, apart from the Helen Reddy-ist Doctor Mike and her daughter anachronism.

Despite what feminist-minded people today think of Jane Austen, most girls and women back then were more like Caroline Bingley not Lizzie Bennet.

Never mind that -- for example -- germ theory was not postulated until the 1870s, so calling the mass deaths of native Americans from European diseases "genocide" is an abuse of both language and history (as is calling modern non-First Nations north Americans "settlers" as very few are now descended from the early British settlers).

Also, those who praise "Little Women" as "feminist" have obviously NOT read the book where "Father" is treated as some sort of secular saint.

As with criticising Edward Colson but defending Mohandas Gandhi's ****** views, it seems POS are OK if they are POS one likes.

I don't quite get everything you're saying. There were women doctors, even in the 1870s, though they were still rare in the 1970s. Little Women was quite progressive for its time. Non-native people who settled in traditionally native areas were settlers. And when was Gandhi mentioned by Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Laura Ingalls Wilder, or in Dr. Quinn?

I agree that deaths of natives from European diseases was not genocide. Despite all the talk of "smallpox blankets," there is no hard documentation of a case of this happening and working. The only well-documented case of someone attempting such a thing was Jeffrey Amherst in 1763-1764. It is true smallpox could be and was carried in bottles but it was for purposes of inoculation.

My point is that calling *modern* non-native residents of the USA/Canada is BS as very few are now descended from pre-Revolutionary War British colonists as well as being personally irritating and angering propaganda.

Again, Little Women is not a feminist book as modern women activists pretend it is, particularly in the way the daughters' father is viewed and treated.

My point about Gandhi is that leftists/progressives are happy to do the "product of their time" defence for a POS who they like but not for Europeans who were just as ******. I'm glad that the native cultures of the Americas that practiced human sacrifices etc. are gone and, just like the ****** European empires such as Austria-Hungary, i only wish to view them from a distance.

Doctor Mike and her daughter have post-second wave attitudes and are far less religious and pious and well, reactionary than a "real" Doctor Mike and daughter would have been.

Season 5, episode 1: It's hard to tell at such a distance, but that looks like Jack trotting after the wagon. Jack has died and been replaced by Bandit by this time.

Season 5, episode 3: Laura states the date as November 29, 1880. Season 5, episode 5 states the date as July 4, which must be 1881 unless they have gone backwards in time (again).

Season 5, episode 5: Mary says, "Look at me" to Charles and then says it again. How did she know he was not looking at her, particularly the second time when she'd already said it?

The mean boss complains about losing Saturday business due to a July 4 fireworks display. July 4 in 1881 was a Monday.

Plus, the fact that Saturday is the Sabbath would have been a LOT more important in the Ingalls era. Madalyn Murray O'Hair did not exist yet.

Blasphemous metaphors are also freely used in various episodes without kids especially facing being stood in a corner... or worse.

In the TV series as in the books, Sunday was the Sabbath. Some people started observing it at dusk or sundown on Saturday night. Little House in the Big Woods describes people walking to church as harnessing horses would be considered work, where in Farmer Boy the family hitched up the horses and rode to church. They weren't allowed to be frivolous on Sunday, that is laugh, smile, talk too loudly, or fidget in church. As for blasphemous metaphors you'd have to give examples.

I thought that Saturday is important - Jewish people here in Australia don't have to vote on Election Day which is always a Saturday.

I may have conflated a general lack of the intense religiosity of the real time period in the NBC series with specific incidents - certainly some aspects that are considered too reactionary or bigoted by the 1970s are downplayed or omitted.

I thought that Saturday is important - Jewish people here in Australia don't have to vote on Election Day which is always a Saturday.

I may have conflated a general lack of the intense religiosity of the real time period in the NBC series with specific incidents - certainly some aspects that are considered too reactionary or bigoted by the 1970s are downplayed or omitted.

Little House on the Prairie portrayed a lot of churchgoing and the occasional bigoted attitude. They did downplay Ma Ingalls's intense fear of Indians although that was implied, particularly in the pilot.

Season 5, episode 7: some of the cattle wear metal ear tags, first used in the United States for pigs as early as 1895. It is still supposed to be around 1881.

Season 5, episode 14: Carrie meets an imaginary friend who tells her her name is Alyssa. Carrie says, "I never heard a name like that before." Carrie previously knew a girl named Alicia. Carrie isn't too bright.

Otherwise, she'd know that the name Alyssa was invented in the 1960s. Then again, maybe Carrie is like Jack Deth out of Trancers and has been replaced mentally by her descendent ;)

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/Trancers

Otherwise, she'd know that the name Alyssa was invented in the 1960s. Then again, maybe Carrie is like Jack Deth out of Trancers and has been replaced mentally by her descendent ;)

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/Trancers

Wow, not one famous Alyssa born before 1962! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alyssa I wouldn't have guessed that!

Grey's Anatomy had an adult woman Addison -- writers almost never use period appropriate names.

Season 5, episode 17: Laura gives a boy a peanut butter sandwich. This is one of a number of references to peanut butter, which was not sold until 1904.

Gwen Stefani played Jean Harlow when she was an age that the real person never lived to reach. Some of LHOTP's anachronisms and outright inventions are respectful in comparison!

Something similar occurred in the original Cheaper by the Dozen (as opposed to the remake which simply stole the title). The book always insisted on there being twelve children, although in real life the second child died of diphtheria before some of the younger children were born--they never did have twelve at once. She was included in the movie and, being the second child, was portrayed as at least twelve years old although the real child only lived to be six. This girl had no individual lines in the movie.

The first time I saw "The Lord is My Shepherd," since the Ingalls baby brother was not in the books I thought the series had the audacity to make up a whole extra kid just to kill it to be dramatic. I thought it was obnoxious. Of course, later they actually did that, as Mary lost an infant. Two, if you count the miscarriage of her first child. The real Mary was never married and had no children.

The real Mary was also homely. Unlike well, MSA.


https://picshack.net/ib/DoMFAqmTWi.jpg


https://picshack.net/ib/PbIgftVgLr.jpg


1999 Carrie ("Beyond the Prairie") is also far more accurate to what Real Carrie looked like than those two sprint-running to the outhouse NBC twins.


https://picshack.net/ib/TaW8mkSmNA.jpg


https://picshack.net/ib/DulpytxwzL.jpg

Season 5, episode 20 nitpicks: Andy left the lantern by the side of the barn, presumably starting the fire, but when the family discovers it, the middle of the barn is blazing and the side where the lantern was appears to have little or no flames or damage.

The ice in the icehouse wouldn't be uncovered, but packed tightly in sawdust. Of course they left it uncovered to show it was an icehouse.

Season 5, episode 23: Doctor Baker says anthrax isn't contagious in the same way as smallpox so people can help their sick relatives. Then he tells Charles and Jonathan not to touch the sick sheep barehanded because they could pick it up that way. Why could people get anthrax by touching the sick sheep barehanded and not by touching the sick people barehanded?

Season 6, episode 1: Laura calls Albert "Little Lord Fauntleroy." Little Lord Fauntleroy was not published until 1886. They can't be up to 1886 here unless they have done another three-year forward skip.

Season 6, episode 2: Charles claims he was out of school at age 12 working to support his family as "man of the family." This makes no sense as he has a father and older brother still living when he is an adult. There could be an explanation but it is not given.

I think both Nellie and Laura had their teeth straightened (with braces and retainers) during the series. That has long been a complaint when this board was more active 20 years ago.

I think both Nellie and Laura had their teeth straightened (with braces and retainers) during the series. That has long been a complaint when this board was more active 20 years ago.

Alison Arngrim (Nellie) has stated that they singlehandedly paid for orthodontists' trips to Europe. I don't know how they managed it. I watched this detail very closely and despite stories of wax being used to cover up dental appliances I saw no evidence of braces or retainers, yet their teeth did unquestionably straighten.

Season 6, episode 4: Caroline stops the wagon, puts on the brake, picks up a letter, and then starts the wagon with the brake still on.

Season 6, episode 7: in the chase scene where Albert has fainted while holding the reins, the fake reins he is holding can be seen along with a second set of reins which is actually controlling the horses.

Season 6, episode 8: the type of box springs on Mr. Edwards's bed wouldn't have been available on the frontier in the 1880s. The electric chair was conceived of in 1881 but not used until 1889.

Season 6, episode 10: Doc Baker is uncertain of an appendicitis diagnosis and insists a young boy seek help from a surgeon, while in Season 1 he made a definite diagnosis on Mrs. Oleson and performed the operation himself. It's possible every case is different. This has happened to me and my sister. We both went to the ER different times presenting some, but not all, symptoms of appendicitis. After being there half the night, I was told to get out or be charged with trespassing. My clothes had already been removed before being put into the ambulance and it was very uncomfortable. I was 30 miles from home, with no car and wearing only a hospital gown in the early hours of the morning. My sister was also turned away. It turned out she really did have appendicitis, which I also may have had but had to recover on my own, so the appendix doesn't burst in every case. Or in this case it could have been Mrs. Oleson so who cares?

Season 6, episode 15: In Season 6, episode 2, Charles claims he was out of school at age 12 to support his family as "man of the family." He must not have been out long, because in Season 6, episode 15 he attends a reunion for the Class of 1856 in which he seems to have graduated. Since this is a 25-year reunion, the year here is identified as 1881.

Season 6, episode 22: The Ingalls seem to have forgotten the death of their first and only grandchild just a few episodes earlier. In fact, they seem to have forgotten his very existence. When Laura tells Ma that the teacher she is subbing for smokes a pipe, Ma laughs. One would think a pipe would be a sore subject as one caused the death of little Adam Jr. but maybe not as Pa still smokes a pipe (he is seen picking up tobacco in the previous episode). More troubling is that in discussing Laura and Almanzo potentially getting together they laugh about possibly becoming grandparents--apparently heartlessly forgetting that they were in fact grandparents until a tragedy took little Adam.

Previously Pa allowed Mary to get engaged at 13 with a promise of marrying at 15. Now he is just allowing Laura to date at 16 and saying she can't marry until 18.

Season 6, episode 24: Is Nellie's and Percival's marriage legal? Marriages can be performed by ordained clergy, a justice of the peace, or the captain of a ship, but is a doctor qualified if he is not also one of these other things?

Season 7, episodes 1 and 2: flat disc-shaped records were not invented until 1890. Previously recordings were on cylinders. The term Victrola was first marketed in 1906. As for when it would have been socially acceptable for Nellie to discuss her pregnancy symptoms in mixed company (to a man and his unmarried date) and for the young couple to be kissing on the stagecoach, who knows, but certainly not in the early 1880s even with the laxer rules on the frontier.

Since Laura gets married in the second of these episodes, they must now be up to 1885.

Season 7, episode 6: This is the first episode which didn't just have a few inaccuracies but was so unbelievable it was painful to watch in places. The idea that a person who went almost totally blind at a very young age could paint such realistic landscapes beggars belief. All of the actors did the best possible job they could with this material (written by Michael Landon himself).

Although not mentioned by name, Vincent Van Gogh cutting off his ear is referenced. How many other artists cut off their ears? That didn't happen until December 23, 1888. Since Laura was married on August 25, 1885 and this is only a couple of episodes later it should still be 1885.

Season 7, episode 7: the picture window Charles was putting in was broken and he closed the shutters until he could replace it, yet an outside shot shows the shutters open and the old window in place.

Season 7, episode 8: Albert's pen pal claims she was the captain of the basketball team. Basketball was invented in 1891 and girls' teams doubtless came later. It should still be around the fall of 1885 here. She also claims to have danced in "Swan Lake." Although "Swan Lake" was first performed in Russia in 1877, it was not performed in America until 1940.

That happens a lot. Likely a lot of "feminist heroes" such as Alcott or Austen or Bronte had the same horrible poopy views on multiple things that their feminist activist admirers criticize men of their time for. As with a Mahatma Gandhi statue being defended compared to Edward Colston or the broader African political and culture elite still praising Mugabe after his death just because he led Zimbabwe to independence, it seems "good for thou but not for thee".

Season 7, episode 9: the schoolchildren are calling Laura "Miss Wilder" rather than the correct "Mrs. Wilder." Also in the credits, Nellie is still Oleson rather than her married name of Dalton.

Season 7, episodes 9 and 10: Nellie eats ice cream in a cone. Ice cream cones were not invented until 1896 and patented in 1903.

She wouldn't be Mrs. Laura Wilder, either, unless she was a divorced woman.

She was legally --- and would have been referred to as this in most situations -- Mrs. Almanzo Wilder (this was true as late as the 1930s -- i was doing research on the Morro Castle disaster and this formality makes it very hard to follow up on the girl and women survivors' lives).

[ignore: double post]

Season 7, episodes 11 and 12: The large sign on the Restaurant and Hotel says Nellie's, and everyone refers to it as Nellie's, but the windows still say Caroline's.

Season 7, episode 12: There must have been a reuse of titles, as Hersha Parady is credited as Alice Garvey, who was killed quite awhile earlier. Also Jonathan and Andy Garvey are credited when none of the Garveys appeared in this episode.

Yeah. Would this have been in the middle of the early 1980s recession -- hence cutting corners like the end credit sequence?

Yeah. Would this have been in the middle of the early 1980s recession -- hence cutting corners like the end credit sequence?

It was the beginning credits and I assumed it was a mistake but perhaps it was done deliberately.

Season 7, episode 13: A night shot shows the windows of the Restaurant and Hotel reading "Nellie's." The next day, they again read "Caroline's."

As far as I can tell, this is the first episode in which Michael Landon did not appear at all.

Season 7, episode 15: Hester Sue leaves a lantern burning in the basement of the new blind school. She should know better as a fire in the basement destroyed the old blind school.

Season 7, episode 16: Laura tells her class of the five boroughs forming New York City. These were not consolidated until 1898. She also speaks of the Brooklyn Bridge being incomplete. She is way behind the times as it was completed in 1883 and since Laura is already married it should be at least 1885 here.

I try to avoid the "comedy" episodes by the way -- as given what really happened at various RL points (especially to Real Carrie) -- it's a bit like the Carry On team doing Schindler's List.

Season 8, Episode 1: Caroline is seen walking on her way to work with the older children as they go to school. There is no sign of Baby Grace or explanation as to where she is. This is one of a number of unexplained absences of Grace.

Laura promises to write Mary in Braille so Adam can't read it. Adam can read Braille and is the one who taught it to Mary.

It is strange that Belinda Stevens is found at the bottom of the ice house near the blocks of ice. She should be near the door desperate to get out.

Season 8, Episode 2: A teddy bear is seen at the bazaar. Teddy bears were not invented until 1903.

Season 8, episode 3: Charles tells Almanzo, "I've got a bridge to sell ya." This can't have been an expression in the mid-1880s, at which time the famous Brooklyn Bridge selling scheme was barely started. The con artist responsible, George C. Parker, was not arrested until the 20th Century.

Season 8, episode 9: This is only the second episode I have noticed in which Michael Landon does not appear.

Season 8, episode 10: At the end an unnamed man clearly based on Colonel Sanders appears. At this time Laura is expecting Rose, who was born on December 5, 1886. Laura is clearly showing, so this is well along in 1886. Colonel Harland David Sanders wasn't even born until September 9, 1890. He started his restaurants in 1952. His appearance was clearly an inside joke because whenever fried chicken appeared on the show, KFC was used.

William Randolph Hearst appears when the real person was a mere boy -- an equally silly in-joke about "Citizen Kane", in that case. I'm really starting to tire of Landon and his plot and character ideas and dialogue choices the more I watch -- I sense that he seems to think he's something of a wit -- he often proves that he is half-correct.

(I.e. "twit")

Season 8, episode 11: In a flashback set during the Civil War, Santa Claus is depicted as wearing a red suit. This image was popularized by cartoonist Thomas Nast, and the red suit wasn't really standard until 1881. Santa is also spoken of as living at the North Pole, a brand new idea at the time, also promoted by Thomas Nast.

It is Christmas and Laura is still expecting baby Rose. Rose's real birthday is December 5. Unless Laura was planning to carry her for another whole year, the series didn't intend to use Rose's actual birthday.

Season 8, episode 12: Confusing weather. In the previous episode, they were snowed in up to the level of the house's second story. In the very next episode, there is no snow whatsoever. Some of the trees appear as in summer while others look like in fall. It is cold enough for Caroline to wear a coat and scarf, but warm enough for James to go swimming. Laura is still expecting baby Rose.

Season 8, episode 14: The year is given as 1885 and Laura is already five months pregnant with Rose, showing that the show isn't sticking to the timeline of Laura's life. Laura was married in August of 1885 and didn't give birth to Rose till December 5, 1886. She should have been five months pregnant in August 1886.

The factory is shown with electric lights, which Minneapolis did have as early as 1882.

Season 8, episode 15: In a relatively rare instance of an actual consistency, the distance between Walnut Grove and the Ingalls place is given as three miles, exactly the distance in the book On the Banks of Plum Creek.

Personally I was very uncomfortable with Uncle Jed hugging and kissing Cassandra after Doc Baker told him he had consumption. Doc Baker was the only one who knew so the others would have no notion of protecting themselves. Consumption is contagious and deadly.

Consumption = TB?

Consumption = TB?

Yes, we call it tuberculosis and back then they didn't have the modern drugs to treat it. Many people died from it, including some famous people.

Yes, we call it tuberculosis and back then they didn't have the modern drugs to treat it. Many people died from it, including some famous people.

Cassandra getting infected with TB would have made an interesting plotline -- sort of like Little Eva in Uncle Tom's Cabin?

Season 8, Episode 18: Pa and Almanzo open a box of period correct square nails, and are then shown using incorrect round nails.

Eliza Jane rips opens a letter with some news she wants to share. When she goes to tell the family about it, she is holding an unopened envelope.

Season 8, episode 19: As with an earlier episode, a night shot shows the restaurant windows reading "Nellie's" while the next day they read "Caroline's."

What the casual viewers think Carrie feels about Cassandra coming into the series:



https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/i/mullauna/carrie_and_cassandra_ingalls_from_little_house_television_series.jpg



What Carrie-ites know Carrie feels about Cassandra coming into the series:


https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/i/mullauna/carrie_white_--_or_ingalls.jpg?width=100%&height=100%&fit=stretch

Season 8, episode 21: The bandits who rob the bank all have bandanas but not one pulls his over his face. This doesn't seem like something outlaws would do. The script called for it for Albert to recognize which man shot James.

Again, not exactly an error, and the script called for it, but I was really bothered when the bank clerk fired down a crowded street at the robbers. It was as bad as Bert the cop firing down the crowded street in It's a Wonderful Life. Even though it was an alternate bad reality, it's a bad idea in any reality to indiscriminately shoot down a crowded street.

Season 8, episode 21: The bandits who rob the bank all have bandanas but not one pulls his over his face. This doesn't seem like something outlaws would do. The script called for it for Albert to recognize which man shot James.

Again, not exactly an error, and the script called for it, but I was really bothered when the bank clerk fired down a crowded street at the robbers. It was as bad as Bert the cop firing down the crowded street in It's a Wonderful Life. Even though it was an alternate bad reality, it's a bad idea in any reality to indiscriminately shoot down a crowded street.


Another pet peeve related to this broad sort of trope is that one can't just fire on an unarmed man simply because he refuses an order to stop, which happened to the villain Lupton in the Jon Pertwee Doctor Who story Planet of the Spiders and indeed, had Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart actually hit the fleeing Lupton he would have quickly found himself being court-martialed for murder.

Another pet peeve related to this broad sort of trope is that one can't just fire on an unarmed man simply because he refuses an order to stop, which happened to the villain Lupton in the Jon Pertwee Doctor Who story Planet of the Spiders and indeed, had Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart actually hit the fleeing Lupton he would have quickly found himself being court-martialed for murder.

That happens too many times in real life when someone yells "Freeze" and the other person doesn't, if they even bother to warn them to stop by yelling. Too many trigger-happy yahoos out there.

Season 9, episode 1: This season of Little House on the Prairie is called Little House: A New Beginning. Well, for Almanzo's brother Royal and family, it is a REALLY new beginning, in fact, it is a leap to an alternate reality. Almanzo starts out by saying he hasn't seen Royal in ten years. This is BLATANTLY untrue! The current year is stated as 1887. Almanzo and Laura were only married in 1885, around which time Royal and his wife and two hooligans of sons visited them in Season 7, episode 14, by which time Almanzo and Laura were married. These boys can't have been grown and on their own by Season 9 as they weren't that old only two years earlier. They also can't have died as the narration states they both became successful adults. Their existence also is not mentioned in the Season 9 episode at all. Instead Royal has a daughter, Jenny, around ten years old, who is by all indications an only child. Royal's wife stated she was expecting at the end of the episode with the boys, but if so that child would be under two years old, so where did Jenny come from and where did the boys go? Jenny is Royal's wife's biological child as he states she is so much like her. This is the biggest unanswered and unreconcilable question in the series. The boys were not Chuck Cunninghamed but they were sure retconned.

Season 9, episode 2: Before Jenny goes in to see Royal, she is holding a crucifix. When she enters the room she doesn't have it. When she hugs Royal, suddenly she has it again. This makes no sense unless she concealed it in a pocket or something.

This episode features boys and girls swimming together. The 1880s were still Victorian times, and mixed swimming probably wasn't a thing.

Some self-identified feminist women on fanfiction dot net said they'd rather have women in ahistorical glamorous positions than the reality of "a nurse rather than in the trenches on the front lines". Such disrespect to those nurses and ambulance drivers etc.

coriscapnskip

Season 9, episode 5: When she meets Lou Bates, Mrs. Oleson claims she has never seen a little person before. Seems like she was so busy laughing at the fat lady when the circus came to town in Season 6, episode 5 that she missed the little people entirely.

Season 9, episode 10: Walnut Grove is a place of sudden and inexplicable disappearances. Probably among others, there was Reverend Alden's wife, who was mentioned maybe once after the episode in which they were married and never seen or heard of afterwards. In this one, it is Matthew Rogers, the former "wild boy." In Season 9, episode 7, Isaiah Edwards was given charge of Matthew for an indefinite time. In Season 9, episode 10, Edwards is shown at home. There is no sign Matthew ever was there, and Edwards states he lives alone. Now, it's possible either Edwards or someone else considered a 45ish bachelor unsuitable for raising a young boy, and Matthew was placed with a family with children his own age, but it would be nice if whatever happened were explained and not just treated as if the entire episode never occurred. Matthew seems to have been Chuck Cunninghamed for sure.

Season 9, episode 11: Some serious retconning going on here. The episode involves getting Reverend Alden, and ONLY Reverend Alden, a house. In Season 6, Episode 6, Reverend Alden was married to Anna Craig, a kindly but lonely widow living in affluent circumstances since the death of her husband Parker. That is, she had a nice house where he would have moved. Even had she died, he would have stayed in the house. The only way he wouldn't get that house is if Anna Craig left him and took the house, or the house was destroyed in some way either resulting in Anna's death, or she died at a separate time. None of these events is ever mentioned or hinted at. Somehow in Season 9, episode 11, Reverend Alden is not married, perhaps never has been married, and must be living in a single room somewhere (of which not that many are available in Walnut Grove) and it's decided to obtain a house for him.

Season 9, episode 13: Two different night shots show the restaurant windows reading "Nellie's" after the name has been changed to "Caroline's."

Season 9, episode 15: Naturally the depiction of how Little House in the Big Woods was written is almost entirely fictional except that it does use real incidents from the book and does present the book as a collaborative effort. The statement at the end that no one made any changes to the Little House books as Laura finally wrote them is quite wrong. Laura's daughter Rose Wilder Lane was a huge influence in shaping the final versions of the books.

Season 9, episode 16: Matthew inexplicably reappears just as he inexplicably disappeared. He is at least working with Isaiah Edwards, if not living with him. There is another night shot of the restaurant windows reading "Nellie's."

I think Out of Order episode shuffling happened, at least in part:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OutOfOrder

I wonder about the order shuffling thing.

Season 9, episode 17: Charles and Albert borrow Isaiah Edwards's house. Again, there is no sign of Matthew or indication that he has ever been there. Edwards goes alone to stay elsewhere.

Season 9, episode 18: The year of birth for Almanzo and Laura's son, Baby Boy Wilder, is given correctly as 1889, but the dates are incorrect. The dates on his marker read August 12-August 24, 1889. The correct dates should be July 11-August 7, 1889. It's odd that the show got this wrong while it got Laura's brother's dates right. Neither baby has a marker with dates in real life.

Season 9, episode 17: Charles and Albert borrow Isaiah Edwards's house. Again, there is no sign of Matthew or indication that he has ever been there. Edwards goes alone to stay elsewhere.

Season 9, episode 18: The year of birth for Almanzo and Laura's son, Baby Boy Wilder, is given correctly as 1889, but the dates are incorrect. The dates on his marker read August 12-August 24, 1889. The correct dates should be July 11-August 7, 1889. It's odd that the show got this wrong while it got Laura's brother's dates right. Neither baby has a marker with dates in real life.
And -- reported by the cemetary staff -- the real Baby Boy Wilder's grave in De Smet regulary gets flowers and toys left by TV viewers who seem to believe that the grave is for erm Alice Garvey's makeshift window breaking tool.

And -- reported by the cemetary staff -- the real Baby Boy Wilder's grave in De Smet regulary gets flowers and toys left by TV viewers who seem to believe that the grave is for erm Alice Garvey's makeshift window breaking tool.

In fairness to Alice Garvey and the actress who played her, Hersha Parady, she used her arm and shoulder to break the window, but countless viewers were left with the impression that she used the helpless infant as a battering ram.

As for TV viewers with the impression that the infant in DeSmet is the one who perished in the fire, that is wrong on so many levels:

1. Mary's baby was fictional.
2. The stone says "Baby Son of A. J. Wilder." Mary's (fictional) husband was Adam Kendall. If she'd been fooling around with Almanzo the family would not have advertised it on the headstone.
3. On the TV show, both infants died in Walnut Grove. Why would either one of them be buried in DeSmet? (Granted, people sometimes move the grave of a loved one when they move. I knew a family who moved their little boy from Texas to New York.)

Bottom line, I guess perishing screaming in flames makes more impression on viewers than crib death.

In fairness to Alice Garvey and the actress who played her, Hersha Parady, she used her arm and shoulder to break the window, but countless viewers were left with the impression that she used the helpless infant as a battering ram.

As for TV viewers with the impression that the infant in DeSmet is the one who perished in the fire, that is wrong on so many levels:

1. Mary's baby was fictional.
2. The stone says "Baby Son of A. J. Wilder." Mary's (fictional) husband was Adam Kendall. If she'd been fooling around with Almanzo the family would not have advertised it on the headstone.
3. On the TV show, both infants died in Walnut Grove. Why would either one of them be buried in DeSmet? (Granted, people sometimes move the grave of a loved one when they move. I knew a family who moved their little boy from Texas to New York.)

Bottom line, I guess perishing screaming in flames makes more impression on viewers than crib death.

I know how disconnected from reality average viewers can be -- I wasnt making that up about the Ingalls baby -- it was talked about on Lennon's Prairie Talk site a few years back - and there's a whole page on TV Tropes about this pooh -- including how poor William Shatner was pressured by the passengers of a cruise ship he was on to jump in after a lady that had fallen overboard (needless to say, both Bill and the woman had to be rescued by the professionals).

Season 9, episode 20: Isaiah Edwards speaks of Matthew as living in his home, and the house contains a second bed, undoubtedly Matthew's. There is no explanation of where Matthew was in previous episodes after meeting Edwards but when Edwards was living alone.

Baby Rose setting fire to the house is based on a real life incident, at least if you take Rose's word for it. She was three years old on August 23, 1889 when the house caught fire, shortly before the time portrayed in the show. In the show, the baby boy died on August 24, at which time the fire had not occurred yet, and in episode 20 the children are in school, so it is probably already September. The baby playing Rose appears to be about a year old so about two years younger than Rose in real life. In real life, Rose claimed to have accidentally set fire to the house while helpfully trying to put more wood in the stove. How the fire actually started has never been proven. In real life, Laura, not Blanche, saved Rose, and there was no Jenny to douse the flames. Laura and Rose escaped and the house burned to the ground.

Things which don't make sense in Little House: Look Back to Yesterday:

Laura calling Albert "big brother." Laura was the older child and at this age they are almost the same height--it's not like he towers over her. Albert also calls Laura "big sister" so perhaps they are some sort of pet nicknames.

Albert is diagnosed with an unspecified and untreatable blood disease and given a short time to live. This makes no sense as closing narration in Season 9, episode 17 states that twenty years later Albert returned to Walnut Grove as "Doctor Albert Ingalls." I maintain that he was misdiagnosed. He later recovered and returned as a doctor. That's my story, I'm sticking to it, I will die on this hill.

Albert never fit a largely female driven book franchise (My mother was a feminist activist with the https://www.wel.org.au in New South Wales in the Gough Whitlam government era and raised me well).

As for other stuff I've seen elsewhere online like “men refuse to listen to women” which isn’t true, even if it *wasn’t* far too big a stroke by a paint brush made completely of straw -- was that boys and men's attitudes would have made much more progress over the last five decades since the second wave then they have if that claim was not an untruth.

Belligerent self-righteousness -- and being patronising and condescending and calling the average voter and person "bogan" etc. -- changes very few people's minds and they also seem to fail to comprehend that that most people think from emotion and not intellect (https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2023-10-06/women-less-likely-to-receive-bystander-cpr-than-men/102937012), meaning if activists frighten boys and men with a day in court or a cell.... As mentioned in this BBC Radio Four documentary -- https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001ypz3 -- many cis and hetero teenage boys in 2024 are now frightened to try and romance girls at all.

I don't think the women's liberation activists of the 1970s wanted any of this to happen.

Things which don't make sense in Little House: Bless All the Dear Children:

In the opening narration, Pa Ingalls states that these events took place over the winter of '96. That is not only plain wrong, it is absolutely insane. In Little House on the Prairie, Season 9, episode 20, the house fire took place in 1889, around September, at which time Baby Rose appeared to be about a year old. (She should in fact have been nearly three, but that's another matter.) In Bless All the Dear Children, Rose appears about two years old. No one else has aged more than a year either. If Rose was, say, a year old in 1889, she should have been eight years old in 1896! Everyone else should have been correspondingly older as well. This is almost criminally WRONG! This movie should have been set around Christmas 1890!

It is almost Christmas in Minnesota, yet there is no snow, everyone is wearing light summer clothing, and no one even puts on a coat except in the night scenes. The night scenes have loud noises made by crickets or similar insects which would not be active in winter.

Laura's recitation from the book of Luke is nice, but Linus did it better in A Charlie Brown Christmas. There are probably other things but there are some major points. Sorry I can't say better about this movie.

Thoughts on Little House: The Last Farewell:

No date is given, but according to the age of Baby Rose and the other kids, it should be Easter of 1891. The date of Christmas 1896 in the previous movie was a horrendous error.

Albert wasn't mentioned, dead or alive. There was no, "Albert loved Walnut Grove, thank God he didn't live to see this." He could be dead, he could be alive and in medical school. I maintain the second.

The tears at the end were doubtless quite genuine. The final scene, with the ruined town, undefeated townsfolk, and the singing of "Onward, Christian Soldiers" is so reminiscent of the last scene of Mrs. Miniver (1942) it is almost a copy, of course minus the airplanes flying over. Doubtless they'd have had them too if they'd been invented yet. It was just as well Harriet Oleson was in the hospital, as all this would have undoubtedly sent her there anyway.

Of course with the question of Albert lies the ultimate Little House contradiction. The closing narration of "Home Again" in Season 9 states that twenty years later Albert returned to Walnut Grove as "Dr. Albert Ingalls." In Little House: The Last Farewell Walnut Grove is destroyed. Of course there is the possibility that at some point Walnut Grove was resurrected from literally smithereens. Something needs to account for the existence of the real world Walnut Grove (which was actually founded in 1874 and incorporated in 1879, not founded in 1840 by Lars Hanson). Even discounting this, the implied death of Albert in Little House: Look Back to Yesterday has created a troubling paradox in which there is both an existing Walnut Grove in which Albert Ingalls was once a doctor, and no Walnut Grove and an Albert Ingalls who died without entering medical school. This can only be reconciled through the Parallel Universe Theory.

Backstories and such change in all old shows for the sake of a joke or the plot and Anna from The Music Box wasn't Young Caroline so close when first run -- bingeing episodes distort those kind of things.

While the ending of Last Farewell makes for good drama -- how will they sustain themseves until they can set themselves up in a new place?

While the ending of Last Farewell makes for good drama -- how will they sustain themseves until they can set themselves up in a new place?

That worried me, too.

And now a word on THE HIGHLY FLEXIBLE TIMELINE OF LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE:

It would have been simple if they had just decided to stick to the episodes taking place 100 years before the airdate, but no. (The Waltons also screwed this up. They started out with 1972 is 1932 but celebrated 1940 twice, and in the reunion movies committed much worse outrages.)

On Little House, for one thing, "Show Laura" (actress born 1964) will always be "older" than "Book Laura" (born 1867). There will always be a three-year age difference, so some things had to be changed. For instance, in "The Lord Is My Shepherd" when baby brother died. Air date was December 18, 1974. Death of baby brother was August 27, 1876. By 1976 Laura would have been too old to behave as she did in "The Lord Is My Shepherd," so baby brother had to die earlier (the use of his actual death date messed up the timeline later).

Here are the years given or implied in the "three steps forward and two steps back" Little House timeline, with air dates:

Season 1, episode 22: 1878 (16 years after 1862). Air date February 26, 1975.
Season 2, episode 13: 1878 (a year after Edison invented the talking machine in 1877). Air date January 14, 1976.
Season 2, episode 20: Unquestionably on and around July 4, 1876. (Move back two years.) Air date March 17, 1976.
Season 2, episode 21: 1874 (12 years after the Battle of Shiloh). (Move back another two years.) Air date March 24, 1976.
Season 4, episode 8: Still 1876. (Stay put in 1876 a long time.) Air date November 7, 1977.
Season 4, episode 10: 1879 (14 years after 1865). (Skip forward three years.) Air date November 21, 1977.
Season 4, episode 14: 1878 or later. An 1878 wine is served. Air date January 9, 1978.
Season 4, episode 20: 1880. (Move forward one year.) Charles Frederick Ingalls's real 1876 death date is given as having been four years earlier. Air date February 27, 1978.
Season 5, episode 3: November 29, 1880. Air date September 25, 1978.
Season 6, episode 15: 1881 (25 years after 1856.) Air date January 14, 1980.
Season 7, episode 2: At least 1881 but before 1885. "Show Laura" marries earlier than "Book Laura." Air date September 29, 1980.
Season 8, episode 14: 1885. (Move forward about four years.) Air date January 25, 1982.
Season 9, episode 1: 1887. (Move forward two years.) Air date September 27, 1982.
Season 9, episode 18: 1889. While "Show Laura" is about three years older than "Book Laura," "Show Rose" is about two years younger than "Book Rose." (Move forward two years.) Air date February 14, 1983.
Despite the numerous forward skips, the show has only got about six years ahead of itself by this time if you accept the 1876/1976 dates as absolute.
Then comes Little House: Bless All the Dear Children, aired December 17, 1984, so less than two years later, yet it makes the outlandish and outrageous claim of being set in 1896! If Rose was about a year old in 1889, she should be eight by Christmas of 1896 even if her birthday is in December (which "Book Rose's" birthday was) and well beyond the shenanigans in this movie! This date should be thrown right out the window! Discounting this, though, The Waltons are worse offenders in the reunion movies, and Daniel Boone takes the prize for skipping like a yo-yo over a 32-year time span in six seasons and not even keeping in sequence! In an earlier episode, the American Revolution is "long over" while in a later one it is still going on. Strange Universe.

And now a word on THE HIGHLY FLEXIBLE TIMELINE OF LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE:

It would have been simple if they had just decided to stick to the episodes taking place 100 years before the airdate, but no. (The Waltons also screwed this up. They started out with 1972 is 1932 but celebrated 1940 twice, and in the reunion movies committed much worse outrages.)

On Little House, for one thing, "Show Laura" (actress born 1964) will always be "older" than "Book Laura" (born 1867). There will always be a three-year age difference, so some things had to be changed. For instance, in "The Lord Is My Shepherd" when baby brother died. Air date was December 18, 1974. Death of baby brother was August 27, 1876. By 1976 Laura would have been too old to behave as she did in "The Lord Is My Shepherd," so baby brother had to die earlier (the use of his actual death date messed up the timeline later).

Here are the years given or implied in the "three steps forward and two steps back" Little House timeline, with air dates:

Season 1, episode 22: 1878 (16 years after 1862). Air date February 26, 1975.
Season 2, episode 13: 1878 (a year after Edison invented the talking machine in 1877). Air date January 14, 1976.
Season 2, episode 20: Unquestionably on and around July 4, 1876. (Move back two years.) Air date March 17, 1976.
Season 2, episode 21: 1874 (12 years after the Battle of Shiloh). (Move back another two years.) Air date March 24, 1976.
Season 4, episode 8: Still 1876. (Stay put in 1876 a long time.) Air date November 7, 1977.
Season 4, episode 10: 1879 (14 years after 1865). (Skip forward three years.) Air date November 21, 1977.
Season 4, episode 14: 1878 or later. An 1878 wine is served. Air date January 9, 1978.
Season 4, episode 20: 1880. (Move forward one year.) Charles Frederick Ingalls's real 1876 death date is given as having been four years earlier. Air date February 27, 1978.
Season 5, episode 3: November 29, 1880. Air date September 25, 1978.
Season 6, episode 15: 1881 (25 years after 1856.) Air date January 14, 1980.
Season 7, episode 2: At least 1881 but before 1885. "Show Laura" marries earlier than "Book Laura." Air date September 29, 1980.
Season 8, episode 14: 1885. (Move forward about four years.) Air date January 25, 1982.
Season 9, episode 1: 1887. (Move forward two years.) Air date September 27, 1982.
Season 9, episode 18: 1889. While "Show Laura" is about three years older than "Book Laura," "Show Rose" is about two years younger than "Book Rose." (Move forward two years.) Air date February 14, 1983.
Despite the numerous forward skips, the show has only got about six years ahead of itself by this time if you accept the 1876/1976 dates as absolute.
Then comes Little House: Bless All the Dear Children, aired December 17, 1984, so less than two years later, yet it makes the outlandish and outrageous claim of being set in 1896! If Rose was about a year old in 1889, she should be eight by Christmas of 1896 even if her birthday is in December (which "Book Rose's" birthday was) and well beyond the shenanigans in this movie! This date should be thrown right out the window! Discounting this, though, The Waltons are worse offenders in the reunion movies, and Daniel Boone takes the prize for skipping like a yo-yo over a 32-year time span in six seasons and not even keeping in sequence! In an earlier episode, the American Revolution is "long over" while in a later one it is still going on. Strange Universe.

It's hard to explain to the "kids" why it is devasting Gloria and Meathead moving away is to Archie and Edith Bumker -- now that is nearly 50 years later and instant communications.

As we are both worried -- destroying WG in Last Farewell -- well, on another show, Mary Richards/Ted Baxter//Murray Slaughter/Lou Grant will certainly in 1977 have non-compete clauses which means they will have to leave the Twin Cities for a year or 6 months -- and which never get mentioned in their fun of singing that silly song and Mary being all sentimental in the last shot.

I happened to see the episode with Burl Ives. I tuned in tad late but story was Pa and laura out ? going fishing hunting? and Pa is shot. Laura said his gun went off and he was injured in the chest. I tuned in when Pa is seen wounded on the ground. Pa says get help so Laura runs to Burl Ives place. Burl is blind and Laura begs Burl to get Pa to Burl's House. I can under stand Robert Reed of the Brady Bunch saying try to make scenes make sense. . You see Burl and Laura walking through the woods to get a doctor. I just find the episode so unbelievable. Burl would be falling and tripping and the 2 would be so lost.