Just think about it in just about every episode of this show there was a tragedy. However the good thing was that everything always worked out. I dont know how many times I watched this show and cried. I absolutely couldnt stand Mrs. Olsen or her daughter Nelly. It was a great family show, You wont find good television like that these days.

Originally posted by sami dg
Just think about it in just about every episode of this show there was a tragedy. However the good thing was that everything always worked out. I dont know how many times I watched this show and cried. I absolutely couldnt stand Mrs. Olsen or her daughter Nelly. It was a great family show, You wont find good television like that these days.

Nancy Oleson was even worse. Uhh! I hated it when Mary went blind. That was emotional for me.

Let's see aside from the ruined cops, deadly blizzards and occasional anthrax epidemic...

Caroline lost her only born son, Mary went blind, Mr Edward's wife left him becasue he was drunk, Albert Burns down the School for the blind, killing Alice Garvey and Mary's baby, James and Cassandra Coper's parents were killed in a covered wagon crash - that's right, a covered wagon crash, Albert became addicted to opium, and later contracted leukemia...

Have I left anything out?

;)

I love this show and I always thought that almost all of their episodes were good. My favorite characters are Laura, Mary, Caroline, Albert, Carrie, Grace I like too many more.

I can still watch this show over and over.

Originally posted by ThomasE
I can still watch this show over and over.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy "Little House." One of the best dramas of the 70's.

The 1970's, not the 1870's.

;)

Originally posted by TJL


Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy "Little House." One of the best dramas of the 70's.

The 1970's, not the 1870's.

;)

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Origianally posted by Thomas E
I can watch this show over and over

Me too.

The episode where the house for the blind burned down was real powerful. So was the episode where the Ingalls first born son dies and Laura runs away because she believes she was responsible for his death.

Every time the ratings went down, the producers would blind another child or something. :D

I do have to laugh at the endless string of tragedies that befell Walnut Grove. The ultimate tragedy occurred in the three-hour "Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow" episode, which I have heard affectionately referred to as the "Triple Whammy" episode. In this epic story, hail (yet again) destroys the crops; Almanzo is paralyzed after suffering a stroke; and the house is blown away by a tornado. Amazing! They should have lightened up a bit on the tragedy episodes afterward -- what could possibly have topped that?

Some other tragedies left out of this thread: Laura's baby boy dies, and the townspeople shun (that's right, shun!) Doc Baker when Laura holds him responsible; Laura's daughter Rose is kidnapped by a deranged woman at Christmastime; Albert's girlfriend Sylvia is raped by some weird guy with a mime mask; Caroline tries to amputate her own leg after it becomes infected when she's home alone; Almanzo's niece Jenny suffers brain damage after a near-drowning; the Ingalls' adopted son James is accidentally shot in a robbery and paralyzed (Charles drags him out into the woods and builds a shrine to God, which heals James after lightning strikes it!).

I loved Nellie and Harriet, BTW. Their sheer nastiness really cut through the treacle.

I'm sure I've left out some other tragedies, BTW.

Originally posted by TV Guy
...Caroline tries to amputate her own leg after it becomes infected when she's home alone....

Do you know what episode # this is and/or what season it was shown? I was never a big fan of this show, but I did happen to see some eps which drew my interest. But I do remember a Bonanza episode in which Joe Cartwright [Michael Landon] was home alone with a severely infected arm and he intended to do an amputation on himself. This sounds so similar, I would like to contrast the eps if I get the chance, as well as to see if it was written or directed by a Bonanza alumnus.

Originally posted by tdr


Do you know what episode # this is and/or what season it was shown?

Try looking up Little House at Epguides.com or TV Tome.

They have pretty good episode guides.

The episode you are referring was during the second season,it was called "A Matter Of Faith",episode 38,first premiered on February 4th,1976!!!

Caroline tries to amputate her own leg after it
becomes infected when she's home alone

she did not try to amputate her leg, she was getting the infection out.. she couldnt reach the doc so she did it herself..:)

Originally posted by sonyab
Caroline tries to amputate her own leg after it
becomes infected when she's home alone

she did not try to amputate her leg, she was getting the infection out.. she couldnt reach the doc so she did it herself..:)

Man, Caroline was tough.
I break out in tears when I can't find my keys...



;)

yah she was tough rofl.. :)

Originally posted by sonyab
Caroline tries to amputate her own leg after it
becomes infected when she's home alone

she did not try to amputate her leg, she was getting the infection out.. she couldnt reach the doc so she did it herself..:)

I've never heard that interpretation of the show. She was going to cut her leg off because she was reading the Bible and it said "cut of thine own leg." I'm trying to find the line in Biblical text searches online, but I'm not having any luck yet.

That's where the assumption of amputation comes from. Plus, she heated the knife to kill all the infection and such. Obviously, she had plans to whomp her leg right off!

Originally posted by ThomasE


Nancy Oleson was even worse. Uhh! I hated it when Mary went blind. That was emotional for me.

At least in real life Mary had gone blind although she never married or had a baby according to the books. And even the TV shows depicting Mary going blind were pretty decent.

But if you want to see a show that jumps the shark, try watching the episode "May We Make Them Proud".

Uh oh. James Bond is looking at some girls in the Brazilian Amazon as he investigates Drax's Moonraker Program. And now he's fighting a snake!

Gotta run.

Originally posted by TV Guy
Every time the ratings went down, the producers would blind another child or something. :D

I do have to laugh at the endless string of tragedies that befell Walnut Grove. The ultimate tragedy occurred in the three-hour "Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow" episode, which I have heard affectionately referred to as the "Triple Whammy" episode. In this epic story, hail (yet again) destroys the crops; Almanzo is paralyzed after suffering a stroke; and the house is blown away by a tornado. Amazing! They should have lightened up a bit on the tragedy episodes afterward -- what could possibly have topped that?




Actually these events really happened.Except that their house burned down, wasn't destroyed by a tornado. Read Laura' Ingalls Wilder's book "The First Four Years" Things went very badly for Almanzo and Laura at first. And she did have a baby son that died in infancy.
A lot of the episodes were "based" on actual events just a little over-dramatized in most cases! And, yes Mary REALLY did go blind after a case of scarlet fever.
And there was never an "Albert" in the family. Now THAT is pure fiction! And Mary never married.

Well, I wouldn't say a tragedy in every episode! What about the Halloween dream episode where Albert dreamed that he and Laura were mistaken for Indians by real Indians, as they rode to a Halloween party. Can a dream be considered tragic?
Or how about the one where Mrs. Oleson took over Kezia's home so she could use it as a summer home, and Laura, Albert, and that Garvey kid(his name escapes me right now) built a paper-mache lake monster to scare Mrs. Oleson away. That was kind of a light-hearted episode.
I could go on!
Actually, I couldn't because those are the only episodes without tragedies that I can think of right now, but I'm sure there are more.:cool:

Originally posted by Penny Lane
...And, yes Mary REALLY did go blind after a case of scarlet fever.

I've never read the books so I'm no expert, so maybe you could settle this for me once and for all. Did Mary go blind because of scarlet fever or measles? I've heard both. I personally thought the way she went blind on the show was a little weak (although the 2 parter "I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away" was done terrificly as a whole).

I thought it was a little unbelievable how she told the eye doctor that she once had scarlet fever, and immediately, it hit him that she will go blind because of scarlet fever alone. Scarlet fever alone just doesn't ruin someone's optic nerve as it was told in the show. Now, if she had complications from the scarlet fever that would cause blindness (ie, encephalitis), that would make more sense. Even then, I don't know if it would take years for her eyesight to deteriorate, but I'm not a medical expert, so I don't care about that point. But the way it played on the show with her doctor's appointment was a little odd to me. I would have liked it better if that appointment would have been more indepth to be more believable. Even in the 1800's, what doctor would really think, "oh, scarlet fever... hmm... now, blindness." I guess we should assume the doc knew the complications that can arrise from scarlet fever that can lead to blindness. I'm such a nitpicker!

Anyhow, in real life, I have been told measles or scarlet fever caused encephalitis and she lost her eye sight shortly after, unlike in the show where it took years. Anyone know the real story there? I outta just read the books, but I hear Laura really didn't get into her sister's illness, it being so tragic. (Thanks all.)

Okay, enough about scarlet fever. Tragedy in every episode... (What took me so long to respond to this post, I'll never know.)

It's funny. For a while now, I have paid attention to how many episodes I can watch without seeing someone in it crying. For weeks I could never do it! There was some trama and tears in every episode I came across! Not long ago the streak was broken though. Not being a regular watcher anymore, it took me longer than it would have if I had watched faithfully everyday. (I have to be fair here.) Still, it is hard to come across an episode where no one cries. I think the episode was "Country Girls." A very early episode, no less! Try finding a later season episode with no crying. It is hard to do. I'm curious to know how many episodes were made where not one tear is shed.

Originally posted by Cashodeen

I've never read the books so I'm no expert, so maybe you could settle this for me once and for all. Did Mary go blind because of scarlet fever or measles? I've heard both. I personally thought the way she went blind on the show was a little weak (although the 2 parter "I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away" was done terrificly as a whole).

I thought it was a little unbelievable how she told the eye doctor that she once had scarlet fever, and immediately, it hit him that she will go blind because of scarlet fever alone. Scarlet fever alone just doesn't ruin someone's optic nerve as it was told in the show. Now, if she had complications from the scarlet fever that would cause blindness (ie, encephalitis), that would make more sense. Even then, I don't know if it would take years for her eyesight to deteriorate, but I'm not a medical expert, so I don't care about that point. But the way it played on the show with her doctor's appointment was a little odd to me. I would "have liked it better if that appointment would have been more indepth to be more believable. Even in the 1800's, what doctor would really think, "oh, scarlet fever... hmm... now, blindness." I guess we should assume the doc knew the complications that can arrise from scarlet fever that can lead to blindness. I'm such a nitpicker!

Anyhow, in real life, I have been told measles or scarlet fever caused encephalitis and she lost her eye sight shortly after, unlike in the show where it took years. Anyone know the real story there? I outta just read the books, but I hear Laura really didn't get into her sister's illness, it being so tragic. (Thanks all.)



According to Laura in "By The Shores Of Silver Lake" the fever "settled "in her eyes and caused her to gradually go blind. But later speculations by other authors suggest that she may have had a stroke during her illness. That's all I know! Remember, back in those days they had a different way of explaining things. For example, in "Little House On The Prairie" She describes her entire family suffering from the "ague" which in reality was malaria.

Thanks Penny Lane! Yeah, gradually could make sense like it was done in the show. I still don't like the way the appointment went, but it's a very small infraction because I do love the whole episode.

The old LH board I used to go to talked about Mary's illness so that's where I have heard measles and enchephalitis. I forgot about a stroke, but that was discussed too. I just wondered why neither of those senerios were mentioned in the show to make it more realistic. Of course, that is just one of many "Hollywood changes" they made from the real life Ingalls.

I remember the first time I heard of the word "ague." On my old Oregon Trail game a guy says he has "a touch of the ague today." When I looked it up on my computer's thesaurus/dictionary then, all that was mentioned was chills. I had never heard it was used to refer to malaria as well. I just looked it up today, and sure enough, this dictionary mentioned malaria. Learn something new everyday! :wave:

Originally posted by Cashodeen
Thanks Penny Lane! Yeah, gradually could make sense like it was done in the show. I still don't like the way the appointment went, but it's a very small infraction because I do love the whole episode.

The old LH board I used to go to talked about Mary's illness so that's where I have heard measles and enchephalitis. I forgot about a stroke, but that was discussed too. I just wondered why neither of those senerios were mentioned in the show to make it more realistic. Of course, that is just one of many "Hollywood changes" they made from the real life Ingalls.

I remember the first time I heard of the word "ague." On my old Oregon Trail game a guy says he has "a touch of the ague today." When I looked it up on my computer's thesaurus/dictionary then, all that was mentioned was chills. I had never heard it was used to refer to malaria as well. I just looked it up today, and sure enough, this dictionary mentioned malaria. Learn something new everyday! :wave:


Yes, Hollywood does have a reputation for taking "poetic license"don't they?:eek:
I have the Oregon Trail game too! I like it but I haven't played it in a very long time! Guess I'll dust it off!:D

Some tragedy's no one mentioned (or I didn't read) The Ingall's think Laura and Jack might have rabees from a racoon, The Ingall's friend dies leaving her three children with the Edwards, the twon of Walnut Grove is infected with Typhus caused by rats with flees, Laura's friend Ellen drowns and the mother goes physco, Nellie falls of the horse and pretens to be paralyzed, Laura's horse dies and she blames it on her grandpa and so he runs away and she chases after him, Carries falls into the well, Mr. Edwards daughter Alicia gets some sort of deadly rash thing and Laura thinks she has it too, Jesse James holds Mary hostage, Mary has to save a women who is having a baby and Adam after the stage coach crashes and cathes on fire, some jail get aways come to the blind school while Laura and Mary are left alone with the children there, Nancy locks belinda in the icehouse,Nancy falls into a well, Jenny tries to commit suicide after her father dies, but Jeb saves her, this mean guy tries to kill his wife and daughter and then runs away to Laura's house, and Sarah Carter reunites with her father.

Some episodes where I don't think you would cry:

The Camp Out
The Race (When Laura and Nellie compete in a horse race)
The Creepr of Walnut Gorve
The Cheaters
The one with the bullys
Back to Shcool I and II (When Laura meets Almanzo)

Originally posted by ~Tropical Punch 19~
Some tragedy's no one mentioned (or I didn't read) The Ingall's think Laura and Jack might have rabees from a racoon, The Ingall's friend dies leaving her three children with the Edwards, the twon of Walnut Grove is infected with Typhus caused by rats with flees, Laura's friend Ellen drowns and the mother goes physco, Nellie falls of the horse and pretens to be paralyzed, Laura's horse dies and she blames it on her grandpa and so he runs away and she chases after him, Carries falls into the well, Mr. Edwards daughter Alicia gets some sort of deadly rash thing and Laura thinks she has it too, Jesse James holds Mary hostage, Mary has to save a women who is having a baby and Adam after the stage coach crashes and cathes on fire, some jail get aways come to the blind school while Laura and Mary are left alone with the children there, Nancy locks belinda in the icehouse,Nancy falls into a well, Jenny tries to commit suicide after her father dies, but Jeb saves her, this mean guy tries to kill his wife and daughter and then runs away to Laura's house, and Sarah Carter reunites with her father.

Some episodes where I don't think you would cry:

The Camp Out
The Race (When Laura and Nellie compete in a horse race)
The Creepr of Walnut Gorve
The Cheaters
The one with the bullys
Back to Shcool I and II (When Laura meets Almanzo)

Those episodes were very entertaining but purely fictional. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Penny Lane
Those episodes wre very entertaining but purely fictional. :rolleyes: Which ones, the tragedies or the ones that were more light hearted? I know the show is a little far fetched, but it is still good. The books were also particially fictional.

Originally posted by ~Tropical Punch 19~
Which ones, the tragedies or the ones that were more light hearted? I know the show is a little far fetched, but it is still good. The books were also particially fictional.

Remember that when Laura wrote the books she was in her 60's and 70's. She admitted that she didn't remember everything exactly. But according to her there was nothing fictional. She wrote as she remembered things.The scripts on LHOTP were "based "on her books. Michael Landon once stated that the stories were embellished for TV. As he said,"There's not much of a story in 'Laura sees a frog' " :lol: Of how Laura and Almanzo met is purely fictional in the series. Actually they met in De Smet, South Dakota . (Read "The Long Winter", "Little Town On The Prairie", "These Happy Golden Years".
I have also read many books about Laura's life by very reputable biographers that substantiate most of her writings. But interestingly she changed the names of some characters because they were still living at the time that she penned the stories. For example, Nellie Olsen's real name was Nellie Owens. And they really did work in a hotel but not in Winoka as the series suggests. This was in Burr Oak Iowa where they lived for 2 years. And it is a mystery who Mr. Edwards was. There is no record of him anywhere.

I could go on and on (which I have) :D but I am sure that you can find these writings in most libraries. I actually found all my books on Amazon.com.They are very interesting and enlightening to any Laura fan! Just type in Laura Ingalls Wilder and a lot of books will come up!:wave:

Originally posted by Penny Lane
But interestingly she changed the names of some characters because they were still living at the time that she penned the stories. For example, Nellie Olsen's real name was Nellie Owens. Yes, and Nel's real name was William and Harriet's real name is Margret. The real Willie Owens was blinded by a firecracker too. And like you said earlier Nellie's charcter is based on three girls. Genevive Masters, the teacher's daughter, who had curled blonde hair, Nellie Owens the store's owner's daughter, and someone else but I forgot. It is really interesting. And usually people perfer books over movies, or in this case a television series, but I watched the show before I read any of the books or biographical information on Laura. So when I found out all the "real things" that happened I was kind of disappointed and liked how the tv show portrayed things better. Usually it's the opposite, ohwell.

Originally posted by ~Tropical Punch 19~
Some tragedy's no one mentioned (or I didn't read) The Ingall's think Laura and Jack might have rabees from a racoon, The Ingall's friend dies leaving her three children with the Edwards, the twon of Walnut Grove is infected with Typhus caused by rats with flees, Laura's friend Ellen drowns and the mother goes physco, Nellie falls of the horse and pretens to be paralyzed, Laura's horse dies and she blames it on her grandpa and so he runs away and she chases after him, Carries falls into the well, Mr. Edwards daughter Alicia gets some sort of deadly rash thing and Laura thinks she has it too, Jesse James holds Mary hostage, Mary has to save a women who is having a baby and Adam after the stage coach crashes and cathes on fire, some jail get aways come to the blind school while Laura and Mary are left alone with the children there, Nancy locks belinda in the icehouse,Nancy falls into a well, Jenny tries to commit suicide after her father dies, but Jeb saves her, this mean guy tries to kill his wife and daughter and then runs away to Laura's house, and Sarah Carter reunites with her father.

Some episodes where I don't think you would cry:

The Camp Out
The Race (When Laura and Nellie compete in a horse race)
The Creepr of Walnut Gorve
The Cheaters
The one with the bullys
Back to Shcool I and II (When Laura meets Almanzo)

When The old guy who Mr. Edwards met while traveling and give him his daughter which turns out to be a organatang monkey. Same guy who charles gave a short ride to when he tried to take a short cut to Sleepy Eye, but was playing a different character.

Where they had a trial for a guy who was mean to his family and they thought he also burnt down the Garveys barn. Adam was defending him.

When the little guy Lou came to the rescue of saving Nancy that fell in a well.

When they tried to get rid of the senile old lady who used to have a burnt down house next to the school/church.

When Ma gets a letter from her parents and they bring Ma's mother back but to only find out she was dead in a coffin. When Ma was excited that her mother arrives and she is screaming with excitement ma, ma and goes back behind the wagon to find the coffin.

When Laura and Mary and Carrie are at a funeral and Laura asks why is it everyone comes to pay respects to someone when they are dead and the dead person can't enjoy it, they should do it when they are alive so they can enjoy it. So a lady asks charles and the doc to help them fake her death so her children will come back.

One you forgot when you were talking about people who came and held someone hostage, was when 2 guys came along and kidnapped Mr. Olsen and demanded money and then end up holding half the town hostage. They were held hostage in a cave.

Also you forgot the one about the Younging Brothers 3 of them 2 of them were stupid as heck trying to get money and they mistake Mr. Edwards as a Younging Brother and put him in jail.(One Younging brother was the guy who played Yancey Tucker on the Waltons).

Did anyone mention the episode where Jack the dog died?

The Episode where Pa was away and Mary wanted to study for an important test and Ma was against it and Mary snuck out to the barn and caught it on fire. Mary later does not take the test and Ma is proud of her for not taking the test.

Episode where another town where Carolines best friend lived had come down with a diease and sent Ma and Doc baker there.

Where Charles had to walk to find work only to find a guy who was good with dynamite and blew himself up and had to go home and tell the guys wife.

Don't know if this one would be considrered one but when the town fights over the church bell and Tinker Jones gets the kids to help build a new one.

Or this one where Harriett and Nels have a fight and the town tries to get them back together.

Or this one where Nels leaves Harriett to sell merchandise and finds a lady and almost has an affir until Charles shows up.

When the Circus man comes around and says he has something that will cure any dieseas and tries to sell it off.

When it is found out that a young boy, Graham, is being beaten by his alcoholic father, John, Caroline takes care of the boy while Charles stays with John to try to get him to stay sober.

When the mute guy Mr. Edwards takes care of after being forced to be displayed in a side show freak circus.

The big acrobate family Circus comes to town and the old name gets shot out of a cannon into the water and dies and Albert tries the same escape stunt.

Laura goes into a haunted house when Nellie dares her to do it. She becomes a friend of the old man that lives there, Mr. Pike. She finds out that he is waiting for his wife to return. After Laura learns that Mrs. Pike died years ago, she helps Mr. Pike cope with the death of his wife.


Mrs. Oleson doesn't want the Ingalls children to beat her children on a leaf-gathering project. Thus the Olesons go with the Ingalls on their camping trip. The Olesons manage to get into trouble out in the wild, which causes the campers to have a miserable time.


When Pa and Laura go hunting and Pa accidently gets shot.

Mary, Laura, and Mr. Edwards' adopted son, Carl, go along with Charles and Mr. Edwards to a train station. The three children wander into the caboose. The caboose then begins to move backwards. Charles is able to catch up to a train that was heading straight for the caboose just before tragedy would have struck.

The school board of Walnut Grove hires a new school teacher when Ms. Beadle is unable to control some of her students. The new teacher, Hannibal Applewood, has a bad temper. Mr. Applewood dislikes Laura from the start and punishes her unfairly. When Charles finds out how Mr. Applewood was behaving, a school board meeting was called. They decided to let Ms. Beadle teach again. The children worked together to make sure that the "Troublemaker" didn't misbehave anymore.

Where Laura finds letters in a bottle and she asks Pa to help her find the person only to find a baby and wants to keep the baby, until Pa finds the Father and helps the father find the monther who lives with her mean father that won't let her go anywhere or do anything because of the guy she loves.

Joseph Stokes is the son of a Sioux Indian who moves to Walnut Grove with his widowed mother. They stay with his grandpa, Jeremy. Jeremy doesn't like Joseph because he is embarrassed that his daughter married an Indian. At school, Joseph is being bullied. Jeremy finally accepts Joseph when he sees his grandson face the bullies

Where the Army wants to take over some indian land and charles comes and helps them them fight off the army with fake guns and then gets them out before rst of army shows up.

Mary has an accident with a horse in the barn. When Mary starts to get worse, the Ingalls take her to a specialist. There they learn that Mary needs an immediate operation. Charles must leave and take on a high risk job to pay for the operation.

Solomon Henry, an eleven year old black boy, runs away from his family because he's tired of everybody treating him different. He goes to live with the Ingalls. The Ingalls learn many important things and Laura learns an important lesson : Don't take things for granted. The Ingalls convince Solomon to be proud of his heritage. Solomon goes back to his family in the end.

After having their crops destroyed, the Ingalls leave Walnut Grove to try their luck at striking it rich. After being at the gold mines for a while, the Ingalls realize that greed has been poisoning their minds. They leave to go home instead of looking for more gold.

Charles and Caroline go away and leave Mary in charge. Laura and Andy find some baby wolves and set up a pen for them in the barn. When they were outing feeding the animals, the barn is surrounded by several wild dogs. They try very hard to get into the barn. When Laura's dog, who had been bitten by a wild dog, shows up at the Garveys, Mr. Garvey rides out to the Ingalls' home. Andy's father and a few other men are able to shoot the dogs.

When Doc Baker is unable to save a patient of his, he believes that he is unhappy being a doctor. He finds a new doctor for the town. Doc Baker stays on when he realizes that the new doctor really doesn't care about his patients

After Mr. Garvey's barn burns to the ground with the crops inside, his wife, Alice, takes a job at the post office. Mr. Garvey opposes this believing that a man should be able to support his family. He is ready to get a divorce until he realizes what his stubborn pride was doing to his family.

People in Walnut Grove are betting on a big boxing match in town. Mr. Ingalls does not know that he will be fighting an extremely sick person. That's why Charles is surprised in the ring when he is able to defeat his opponent so quickly. After his opponent collapses, he is brought to Doc Baker. Doc Baker is able to save him but warns him that he needs to stop fighting.

An Indian boy comes to Walnut Grove trying to get help for his sick father. The people of Walnut Grove become very hostile toward the Indians. Thanks to Mr. Ingalls' help the Indians are able to escape.

Charles receives a sum a money from one of his relatives. Everybody tries to tell Charles how to spend the money. Charles spends the money without realizing that it was confederate money. This almost caused him to lose his entire farm

Amelia, a new girl that Laura meets in school, is ashamed of her very overweight father. Her father works at the blind school where Mary works. All the blind students like him a lot. They claim that they can see his love. One day, Laura and some other students from school, start making fun of the overweight person, not knowing that they were making fun of Amelia's father. Amelia's father pretends to leave town since his girl is so ashamed of him. He hides out at the blind school. When he is involved in an accident, Amelia reveals to her dad how much she loves him.

Albert becomes an apprentice of an old Jew, Isaac. The people in school call Albert a Jew-lover and beat him up. Albert learns a sense of pride from Isaac. Albert and Isaac become the best of friends.

Mary is expecting a child. Mary is able to get Adam closer to his father because of the expectancy of a child. His father even suggests that Mary and Adam come live with him. After Mary has a miscarriage, Mary and Adam really find out that Adam's father only wanted to be with Adam because of the baby. They decide to remain in Walnut Grove.

Charles stays with a family while looking for some horses to buy. The children of the family asks Mr. Ingalls if he could possibly do something to keep their parents from splitting up. Thanks to Charles talking to the husband and the wife, they decide to stay together and work things out.

Two men need money to survive the winter so they sell meat they know is infected with anthrax. Several people in Walnut Grove get sick, so Charles and Mr. Garvey travel to Springfield to pick up medical supplies. On the way back, a man holds them up and takes the wagon. Charles and Jonathan follow him to his house. The crazed man's wife finally convinces her husband to let them go. Charles and Jonathan make it back. Several people die in this show but all of the main actors are OK. There is a brief period in this episode where Laura actually goes blind due to being infected with anthrax

Albert and Laura leave home to run away with their friend, Dhillon. Dhillon, who is dying from leukemia, wants to achieve his life long dream of seeing the Pacific Ocean. Mr. Ingalls catches up with the children, but when he finds out what is going on, he helps them get to the ocean.

A circus comes to Walnut Grove. Everybody is helping set up, except Nels Oleson. His long, lost sister is in the circus. Only Mrs. Oleson believes her husband's story about his sister. Nels is nominated to be the announcer at the circus. When he announces his sister, he says, "My sister, Annabelle." These words lead to Nels and Annabella becoming very close siblings.

A faith healer comes to Walnut Grove. He is able to convince people that he is better than the Reverend or Doc Baker. He is found out to be a fake when a little boy dies from a ruptured appendix

Harriet Oleson causes trouble between Alice and Jonathan Garvey when the telephone is first introduced in Walnut Grove. Mrs. Oleson listened to a conversation between Alice Garvey and her mother. They were discussing Alice's first husband. Mrs. Oleson tells Jonathan that his wife had been married before. Jonathan decides to leave for a while to cool off. While on a delivery with Charles, Jonathan meets Alice's ex-husband and finds out why Alice didn't talk about him. Jonathan returns home and asks his wife and his son to forgive him.

Todd was a boy who got beaten up by his drunk father. Now Todd is 17 and is visiting his grandparents in Walnut Grove. Todd quickly gets into trouble. Charles puts Todd in jail when his watch is stolen. Todd is forced to work on Mr. Ingalls' farm. This causes Todd to learn to become a nicer person.

A former football star moves back to Walnut Grove. He agrees to become coach of the football team. His goal is to win at all costs. This kind of thinking puts Albert in great danger. Towards the end of the show the football coach starts to realize that winning isn't everything.

Houston, an old man, takes care of two runaway orphans. The orphans were running away because the orphanage wants to separate them. Houston talks to the adopting parents and convinces them to take both of the kids.

Adams gets knocked unconscious by an explosion. He wakes up being very excited. He is able to see again. Adam begins studying to become a lawyer. Mary starts to feel that she is losing her husband. When Adam goes to Minneapolis to take his entrance exam, he is held up and beaten. When he wakes up, he realizes he has missed to exam. Mary talks to the proctor and convinces him to allow Adam to retake the exam. Adam does so well on the exam that he gets a big scholarship to go to law school.

Adam and Mary move back to Walnut Grove so that Adam can start a law practice there. Adam's first case involves a person who has been swindling people in Walnut Grove. Adam believes the person is innocent until he finds out the truth. Adam convinces the jury to have pity on this man who was just trying to help out his family before he dies.

Mr. Edwards adopted son gets killed, which causes Mr. Edwards to become very depressed. Mr. Ingalls helps Mr. Edwards through this period. They do not believe that the boy died accidently. They, along with the help of an editor from a city newspaper, help find the corrupt businessman who paid to have the boy killed.

An overweight boy comes to school at Walnut Grove. The schoolkids pick on him because he is so heavy. Nancy persuades the boy to bully the other school children. The jokes of the school children get so bad that the obese boy decides to quit school. The school children then decide that enough is enough. They go over and apologize to him.

A new kid in school, Gideon, has a speech problem. Although James has become friends with Gideon, he and the other school children make fun of Gideon. This causes Gideon to run away from home. Caroline is the one that eventually finds Gideon and takes him back home. When James sees Gideon again, he immediately apologizes.

Charles and Almanzo go away for a while, leaving Laura, who is pregnant, to take care of the farm. When a drought occurs, Laura goes out in the heat trying to water the plants. She ends up working herself so hard she suffers a heat stroke. She ends up being OK. The greatest part of this episode occurs when the school children come over to Laura's place and water the crops.

Mr. Edwards begins drinking again because he can't forget the death of his son. His wife finally asks him to leave. Mr. Edwards returns to Walnut Grove. Laura and Almanzo decide to have Mr. Edwards become the godfather of their child. Meanwhile, Albert is trying to earn enough money to buy a microscope for a school project. Charles allows Albert to go along with Mr. Edwards to Sleepy Eye to pick up some goods. In Sleepy Eye, Mr. Edwards gets drunk. Mr. Edwards speeds out of the town with the wagon causing Albert to fall off it. Albert gets seriously injured when he is run over by another horse and wagon. Charles is furious at Isaiah and never wants to see him again. Laura steps in to help Mr. Edwards get over his drinking problem. Mr. Edwards gets better until he finds out that his wife wants to divorce him. He goes into Walnut Grove to get some alcohol, but when he sees the church, he changes his mind. Mr. Edwards then goes into the church to pray for the strength to get through this rough period.

The people of Walnut Grove are at first excited when the railroad wants to build through the town. This excitement doesn't last long. The railroad tells several people that they must leave their houses. The people make a stand at the Carter's place. This delay in building convinces the railroad to find a different route.

Jason Carter starts working for an old lady. Jason becomes great friends of the lady. However, Jason's mom believes the lady is being too nice. Jason is forbidden to work for the old lady until Sarah finds out that the lady will soon die.

An old friend tells Laura that she will inherit a large house when she passes on. After the friend dies, Laura decides to turn the house into a boarding house. Willie decides to marry Rachel Brown. Mrs. Oleson is opposed to this and tries to get Rachel to leave him. When Willie finds out what his mom has done, he stands up to her. Willie and Rachel get married and move into the boarding house.

The Wilders and Mr. Edwards travel to Mankato. There, Rose is kidnapped. The Wilders and Mr. Edwards travel from town to town looking for her. They end up finding Rose on Christmas Eve.

The people of Walnut Grove learn that somebody else owns the town and this person wants
everybody to leave Walnut Grove. Everybody in the town decides that the person can have the land, but he can't have the town. The townspeople blow everything up to prevent anybody else from using their creation.


Some of theses I found off a website.

Did anyone notice that alot of episodes a circus came to Walnut Grove?

Also did it seem like alot of episodes someone died or someone was kidnapped or held hostage?

Let's see aside from the ruined cops, deadly blizzards and occasional anthrax epidemic...

Caroline lost her only born son, Mary went blind, Mr Edward's wife left him becasue he was drunk, Albert Burns down the School for the blind, killing Alice Garvey and Mary's baby, James and Cassandra Coper's parents were killed in a covered wagon crash - that's right, a covered wagon crash, Albert became addicted to opium, and later contracted leukemia...

Have I left anything out?

;)

Yes. When Willie Oleson was diagnosed with testicular cancer. That was a great, emotional episode. It had its limits, though, like the show not being able to use the word "testicles." (This was the 70s, after all). Some might say the show had too much tragedy, but it was how they handled the tragedy that made the show great.

They weren't all filled with saddned, what about the espisode called "FRED" that was funny, Laura is sucked into buying the billy goat who eats everything!! It was funny

They weren't all filled with saddned, what about the espisode called "FRED" that was funny, Laura is sucked into buying the billy goat who eats everything!! It was funny
Yeah, that's another one where there wasn't any tragedy. Some more I've thought of:
The one where Nels is kidnapped by those bungling bandits, and they just keep kidnapping more and more people from the town and keep them in that abandoned mine. That was one of those eps where you really had to suspend your disbelief.:crazy:
On that same note, there is also one episode where there are more bungling bandits, and Mr. Edwards is mistaken for one of their gang, and I think eventually John Carter and Almonzo go to try to get him out of jail, and they are jailed too because the moron sheriff thinks that they must be in the same gang too. There are some goofy episodes.:)

How abt when Mr. Garvey and Charles took that shipping job trying to win the contract. They got the contract and then they talked abt being rich, but while eating in a french restaurant, they felt homesick.

also, when charles and Mr. Garvey followed their sons on a trek of "being men" and the boys conned their way to staying at the old woman's inn; in the meantime Charles and Mr. Garvey have no money and they have to stay out in the rain.

When Laura had a crush on that boy and she put those two apples down her dress to make it look like she had boobs. AND THEN THE APPLES FELL OUT DURING CLASS!!!

How abt when Mr. Garvey and Charles took that shipping job trying to win the contract. They got the contract and then they talked abt being rich, but while eating in a french restaurant, they felt homesick.

also, when charles and Mr. Garvey followed their sons on a trek of "being men" and the boys conned their way to staying at the old woman's inn; in the meantime Charles and Mr. Garvey have no money and they have to stay out in the rain.

When Laura had a crush on that boy and she put those two apples down her dress to make it look like she had boobs. AND THEN THE APPLES FELL OUT DURING CLASS!!!

Did anybody mention the episode about the camping trip with the Olson's? Harriet is the main reason to watch this episode! I thought Katherine MacGregor was a very good comical actress, even though her character was snooty and bitchy.

Plaque-Eric,and Sylvie[who dies off-camera] in show dies of Typhus,had 1 kid,Paul, should've had another before a long time ago.
Little Lou-Lou's wife dies after giving birth to child.
My Ellen-Eloise and ? should've had another child,too before Ellen drowned.
May We Make Em Proud-Mary and Adam's baby dies, in a fire at the school for the blind with Alice Garvey.Should've tried again. I wish The Garvey's had another child,too.
The Child With No Name-Laura's Son dies-Should've tried again.
Days of Sunshine,Days of Shadow-Almanzo has a stroke and whooping cough I think.
The Faith Healer-boy dies of appendicitis,because of the faith healer:mad:
Influenza-A lot of people from the place where one of Caroline's best friend is staying,and Caroline's best friend dies in Childbirth.,the baby in which the best friend came out of is alive,she gives it to another couple,because they lost their baby. They also lost their doctor,so they had to send for Doc.Baker.
He was Only 12-James is Shot while entering a bank.
The Lost Ones-James and Cassandra Cooper are orphaned when a covered wagon accident kills their parents,and when a permanent home is found,the father beats them.
Sylvia-A 14 year old is raped,then dies of a fall.
Gambini The Great-An Aging Daredevil breaks his promise and does the burning coffin escape,but it fails.