Surprising Things You Would Have Never Known About The Little House On The Prairie

First Kiss Under The Public Eye For Melissa

Every girl wants her first kiss to be special. But if you’re in showbiz, then it might not be the best situation. Melissa Gilbert, who was young at the time of when the TV show was shot, had her first kiss when she was only fifteen. While she would have preferred it to be with the person she wanted and not a form of entertainment for others, there was nothing she could do.

Melissa had to kiss her co-star, Dean Butler, for the on-screen romance. She was extremely nervous at this point since Butler was much older than she was. Moreover, her lack of inexperience further aided in her nervousness.

Michael Landon Came Under Duress For Leaving His Wife For A Makeup Artist On Set

There was quite some drama when it came to Michael Landon. While he was still with his wife, he was seen to be getting too close to the makeup artist working on the set. Soon, in 1982, he was under some fire when he broke up with his wife and quickly started to date the makeup artist, Cindy Clerico.

Fans were not happy with this entirely. But that’s not all. The fans were not the only ones were unhappy. Co-start, Melissa Gilbert was also taken aback by this and grew quite upset because of this. She made contact with him only when he got diagnosed with cancer.

Alison Arngrim Was A Little Too Interested In Her Co-Star

There is bound to be some romance and some drama behind the scenes of the show. This is normal. The same thing happened with Alison Arngrim. She became too fond of her co-star, Radames Pera. While she confessed her feelings to him, she was gently turned down since the actor did not have the same feelings for her.

The justification that Radames Pera, also known as John Sanderson, gave was that she was too old for him. While this may not be the best response since the two had barely two years of age difference, he made sure his wishes were known clearly.

Arngrim Auditioned For More Than One Role

You might think that one actor auditions for the role they get only. But that is not true, especially not in the case for Arngrim. The actress had gone all out and auditioned for three different roles before landing in the cast of the show. So, which ones did she go for?

Before playing the character of Nellie, the character that everyone hated, she auditioned for the role of Laura and Mary. However, she didn’t get these two roles. Instead, the role of Nellie suited her acting skills as we all came to love how great she was at making everyone hate her.

The Show Was A Stepping Stone For Jason Bateman

That name sounds very familiar! Well, yes, it is true. Jason Bateman played his first ever role here on the Little House on the Prairie. He surely has come a long way from then as he is now one of the top rated actors of all time. But what did Jason Bateman play a role of?

In the TV show, Bateman played the role of a young orphan, James Ingalls. If you ever see this show again, you will surely look at him differently and focus on him more than before. He had not done any professional gigs before this.

Landon Was Known To Be The Silly One

Does Pa Ingalls make you feel like he’s the epitome of grace and respectability? Well, you should have met the Michael Landon, the actor who played this character. Landon sure did know how to keep things exciting once the cameras were off. There were a lot of fun tricks and jokes that he always had in his pockets throughout.

More than that, he would also engage in various games with the young actors backstage. There was this one time that his practical joker side rubbed off on Alison and Melissa. They covered one of the crew’s toilet with plastic wrap as a practical joke.

Linwood Boomer Switched From On-Camera To Behind The Camera

We all know Linwood Boomer from when he played the famous Adam Kendall, Mary’s husband. He went on playing this character on the show fluently. However, later on, he realized that he wanted to do something different. Instead of continuing acting, he took the seat behind the camera as a producer.

He has gone on to create a series of popular and hit TV shows. One of the more prominent ones would be Malcolm in the Middle. His achievements are quite impressive and turning behind the camera surely did him good. He has wowed the industry with his spectacular comedies as well.

The Food You Saw Did Not Belong To That Time

You would want to believe that the food you saw being served on the table would be true to the time. With traditional food preparations and the use of specific cutlery, there is clear depiction in the show that the family would eat the typical meal like any other person at the time.

However, in reality, the cast was not given authentic food, true to the era that the TV show was shot of. Instead, you would commonly find the cast to be eating Colonel Sander’s chicken. This is kind of off-putting, but you can’t really do much about it.

Lack Of Chemistry Can Be A Major Trouble

The on-screen chemistry that couples have is everything. You would want to see them and root for them when you watch a show. But what happens when the couple on-screen does not have chemistry? That’s what happened to Mary Ingalls and John Sanderson. Initially, the characters were supposed to fall in love, but the chemistry of the actors did not seem to fall in line with the plan.

Instead of this, there was a change in the storyline. Now, instead of Mary and John falling in love, Mary developed a different love interest. After developing the scarlet fever, Mary became interested in a person she met at blind school.

The Little Girl In The TV Show Took On The Role Of Ma

As the TV shows progress, the characters get older and older. Then a time comes when the young actor is not even recognizable because of how much they have changed. When it came to Melissa Gilbert, there came a time when she took on the role of her mother. No, this wasn’t in the TV show. Instead, during the 2000s, she took on the role of Ma from the TV show in the Minneapolis production.

While this was a newer experience for here, she went on to make sure that she did her best to play Ma. The show was sold-out, and viewers had great reviews about the entire show.

Landon Was Known To Have A Girlish Laugh

From what we have heard, Michael Landon had an extremely girlish laugh. While you might see him in extremely manly depictions in the TV show, the truth is that Landon was a pretty funny and happy fellow. He was always laughing, giggling, and playing some prank on his co-stars throughout the time that they worked together.

According to Aliso Arngrim, Michael Landon’s laugh cold be heard from miles. He has a different persona when it came to playing the character and was extremely jolly and fun-loving in real. Pa Ingalls, the character Landon played could not be fit to this description.

Landon Know How To Get The Young Actors Cry

Crying on-screen is not easy. You want to make sure that as an actor you have all the power to make those tears come out when necessary. However, when there are young actors, it is difficult for them to have the experience or skill to do so. Michael Landon helped the children in this case throughout.

He would go up to the kids and ask them “Do you know how much I love you?” He would be teary-eyed himself when asking this question. This was all that was needed to for young actors to shed a few tears or start crying.

Politicians Took A Liking To The Show As Well

No doubt, this show was loved by a vast majority. But did you know that this majority also included the likes of Ronald Reagan. He has reported to say that this was one of his favorite shows of the time. That’s pretty cool, isn’t it? Well, that’s not all for this.

The surprising thing is that the leading man, Michael Landon, also had positive things to say about Ronald Reagan. He was a proud support of the Republican party and supported Ronald Reagan throughout during campaigns and elections. Basically, both of these individuals, Michael Landon and Ronald Reagan, were extremely fond of each other.

Katherine McGregor Had A Bossy Attitude On-Set

While working on set, there is no knowing how a person might be. There are different personalities at play, and you want to make sure that you avoid anyone that causes any disruptions. Well, it was quite difficult for the cast to do this because of one person, and that is Katherine McGregor.

The actress casted as Harriet Oleson was one of the bossy ladies on the set. They would try to focus more on directing than the directors themselves. This would lead to issues in the production as McGregor would always have something to add to everything. She was also almost fired because of her behavior.

The Finale Was Explosive And Based Out Of A Petty Reason

You might think that the epic explosive finale of the show must have some great reasoning. Well, sadly, most of the reason lies under the producer and Landon’s pettiness. They blew up the Walnut Grove in the finale. One reason for doing this was that the producers believed it will be easier to return the set to its original position like this.

Other than that, there was a lot of pettiness involved as well. Actors and producers did not want to see other shows using their set for productions. Demolishing the entire thing would allow them to make sure that no one gets access to it.

Michael Landon And Karen Grassle Didn’t Have The Best Relationship

You would want to believe that Pa Ingalls and Ma would have a good relationship off-set as well. But that is not true. Michael Landon who played Pa Ingalls and Karen Grassle that played Ma did not have the best relationship during the entire shooting of the TV show.

While their on-screen chemistry was great, there was a question is where they got along off-camera or not. The answer to this is no, they did not get along. Karen Grassle wasn’t much in support of Ma being extremely submissive to the father. She was insecure and jealous of all the power that the lead actor’s character got.

Melissa Gilbert Went On To Date Many Famous People

Celebrities are bound to date other celebrities. The same is the case with Melissa Gilbert. She went on to date quite a number of A-listing actors. You will be surprised to know that Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe make the cut for her list as well. There are plenty more that she has dated throughout her lifetime.

The little girl that you saw in the show has now grown up and she’s taking the dating world by storm. There are so many variations in the type of people that she has dated. At one point, she could be seen to be together with the wild rock star, Billy Idol.

Do you believe that an actor can only play one role in a show? Well, think again. Let’s take a look at the Little House on the Prairie example, E.J. Andre. He took on a whopping five roles for the show. While the each of the characters might not have had a prominent role, it is still quite a lot when you think about playing five different roles in a show.

So, what characters did he work on? The renowned and versatile actor played Jed Cooper, Matthew Simms, St. Peter, Zachariah, and Amos Thoms. Talk about commitment. He played these different characters across seven episodes.

Shannen Doherty Went On To Sleep With Melissa Gilbert’s Husband

There is one thing that every TV show has and that is extremely juicy gossip. How would the show be complete without any spectacular gossip. The Little House on the Prairie was not free from these either. According to Melissa Gilbert’s memoir, Prairie Tale, she has gone on to talk about Shannen Doherty.

While Shannen Doherty came to the show in the ninth season, she was quick to jump in bed with Melissa’s husband. At a point, Melissa confronted her to which she said that she has always wanted to be with her. This is quite a baffling and astounding piece of information.

A Couple Of Episodes Had Identical Plotlines

Have you ever thought that maybe writers get tired of it all and don’t have any more creativeness in them? Well, sometimes, this can be true. This would lead to them using repeated storylines because they weren’t able to come up with something new and exciting. The Little House on the Prairie is no exception to such a situation.

The team of the show recycled their episodes at some point. The first season’s seventeenth episode proves to be quite similar to the tenth episode of the ninth season. Both of them revolved around an older man falling in love with a younger woman.

Landon Tried To Persuade On-Screen Wife Change Her Stage Name

We have already talked about how Michael Landon and Karen Grassle haven’t had the best relationship. There was a further issue in their relationship when Landon did not approve of the stage name that Karen Grassle had. Earlier on, the actress was known as Gabriel Tree. However, according to Landon, this was a bit too much on the bohemian side.

He encouraged her to choose a different name as a stage name. This would prove to be more beneficial for her. While she had no issues getting the role of Ma Ingalls, she went ahead with changing her name to Karen Grassle.

The Dresses Were Harmful

Watching the girls move about in their perfect dresses and bonnets is such a wonderful thing. But do you really think that it is comfortable for them? Not at all. The dresses and bonnets that the women were required to wear were highly uncomfortable. They would be heavy and apply a lot of pressure on their bodies.

At a certain point, the actress playing Nellie Oleson collapsed. The underlying reason for this was that she suffered a heatstroke while wearing all the costumes. So, these might not have been all that safe for the women to wear consistently with no break.

Possibility Of Contamination On Set

As the cast of the Little House on the Prairie grew older, more and more things came to show. About five different members from the show developed cancer. Out of these, four of them passed away from this disease. One of these was Michael Landon, who played Pa Ingalls in the series.

There is a high possibility that perhaps the location they made the TV show was contaminated. This is because the area had reason to by contaminated by radioactive waste. The notorious Santa Susana nuclear meltdown happened nearby. Therefore, the possibility of this contamination is very high on the set where production took place.

Melissa Sue Anderson Didn’t Get Along With Others

Cast members are bound to form an affection towards each other because of the time they spend together. Many cast members of the show can recall their friends that they were surrounded with on set. However, there are some exceptions when it comes to this; not everyone is likable in the same proportion.

When it comes to the Little House on the Prairie, Melissa Sue Anderson might not be the person that everyone remembers fondly. Alison Arngrim has gone on to call her a “frenemy.” They have had their differences which is why she’s not only referred to her as a friend.

Mrs. Oleson And Pa Did Not Have A Great Relationship

If you have seen the show, then you must not be entirely fond of this woman. Mrs. Oleson is that woman that is known to be annoying. So, when it comes to the TV show, no one really likes her. However, this is the case for her in real life as well.

Katherine MacGregor came into arguments with co-actor that played her husband, Nels. But that is not all. She has also gone on to irritate Michael Landon as well. There is not knowing why no one is too fond of her. What can be noted is that perhaps she was the best person for the role she took on.

The Meals For The Cast Came From A Can

When you look at the food being served to the family in the prairie, your mouth is sure to water. The hot food being devoured right in front of you. It makes you think what the food will taste like. While you want to think of delicious food items, let us tell you what they actually got.

Most of the time, the cast would get canned food. This is what is served to them when they sit around waiting for food. If you want to know the specific type of can they used, then they used a Dinty Moore beef stew can.

Pa Dyed His Hair

Not everyone has luscious and dark hair. Sometimes people lose the color of their hair and it turns white quicker than others. This is what happened to Pa Ingalls as well. While he may have looked like his hair is always on point, he had to dye them to achieve the look he did.

Pa Ingalls’s hair turned grey at an early age, and he was left to get his hair dyed for him to carry out the character properly. To keep him looking young, the actor made use of a Clairol Dye in medium ash brown. He used this for years to give him his youthful look.

Laura’s Real-Life Brother Acted In The Show As Well

There are quite a few connections for you to make here. Melissa Gilbert’s real life sister played Laura Ingalls Wilder for the Little House on the Prairie. Sara Gilbert, the sister, is also known as the phenomenal Darelene. She is popular and you’d instantly know she’s Melissa’s sister. However, that is not the only sibling that was on the show.

Laura’s brother, Jonathan Gilbert, was also a part of the Little House on the Prairie. While his role was pretty small, he was still able to make it as the cast. He played Willi Oleson and sure did justice to the bratty character.

Pa Wore Platform Shoes To Achieve His Height

If you have seen the show, then you know that Pa Ingalls is tall. He appears to be the tall and sturdy figure in the show. However, you will be surprised to know that Pa made use of platform shoes to get to the height you see him in. Generally speaking, he isn’t short. But when it comes to comparing him to others in the industry, he seems to be only 5’9”, making him shorter than most.

So, to make up for his height issue, he wore platform shoes throughout the life of the show. It gave him a little more oomph as it helped him appear taller.

The Youngest Ingalls Girls Were Played By Twins

You would see Carrie Ingalls playing about on the show, enjoying her time. But little do you know, there wasn’t just one Carrie Ingalls. Instead, she was played by two different child actors. This was mostly because the authorities don’t permit child actors to be on set and act for too long. So, the twins’ roles were divided.

The names of the twins were Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush. The two went on to play the sweet role of Carrie Ingalls. By taking turns, this became much easier. You would find the twins at the set at alternative times, so no one would get confused.

 Pa Ingalls Was A Smoker

When you think of Pa Ingalls, you imagine a tough man. Michael Landon, the actor playing Pa Ingalls, was surely tough but he was also a smoker. While you wouldn’t find him smoking continuously one after another, he would be taking the occasional puff between takes. Since there were too many retakes, you would find Landon running off for a quick smoke break in between.

This was surely surprising as you wouldn’t expect Pa Ingalls to be going around smoking. Instead, you would imagine him opposing of the idea completely. So, yes, Pa Ingalls would sneak a couple of smokes during set to get through the day.

Nellie’s Hair Was Not Real

When it comes to the costumes of the characters, there is no doubt that they were not as comfortable as they made it look like. Instead of comfort, they were more painful. Let’s take a look at this example, Nellie’s hair was not the real deal. She wore a wig throughout the seasons. It was no ordinary wig, though. It was one specially designed for her character.

But the problem is that it was extremely uncomfortable for her. You would find her to scalp to bleed because of this. Imagine the torture of having to wear such a thing for prolonged hours.

 Remember Carries Tumble? It Was Real

You might think that the little Carrie’s fall in the opening sequence was all directed. But that is not true. Instead, that fall was very much real. It was way too adorable for the directors to cut it out of the opening sequence. Now, we all know that little Carrie tumbled down the field in the most adorable way ever.

One of the main reasons behind that little fall was that the twin picked for this shot was sleepy. The director had just woken one of the twins up for this shot. So, inevitably, something was to go wrong. The little girl was told to run down the hill, leading her to fall in the cutest manner.

A Mix Of Religion; Pa Was Jewish

Throughout the show, you would have come to believe that Pa Ingalls was a Christian. With many talks revolving about Christian following, issues, and moral, there was no denying that Pa Ingalls followed the same faith. What was surprising was that the actor playing him, Michael Landon, was not Christian at all.

Michael Landon was Jewish. While he played the part of a Christian, Landon was Jewish through and through. His real Jewish name was Eugene Maurice Orowitz. He had to choose a different stage name to make it in the industry. You wouldn’t expect this as everything pointed to him being Christian.

Things Were Different For Nellie And Laura In Real

While watching the show, you would assume that Nellie and Laura are long standing enemies. However, when you take a closer look at them, you will see that they are pretty great friends in real life. So, you shouldn’t always believe what you see on the show.

The pair have been known to have the most hateful relationship on-screen. And that’s what we all have come to love about their relationship. However, the reality is far from this. They considered each other best of friends. So, you can only imagine how deep their friendship really goes. There’s not hatred at all.

Can You Imagine Sean Penn On The Show?

You have probably heard the name of this phenomenal actor, screenwriter, and producer, Sean Penn at some point of your life. He has been quite in the media for gossip since he was once married to Madonna. Other than that, he has also won an Oscar for Milk. So, you can only imagine how long this man has come.

Little do you know, he started off on the Little House on the Prairie. While he didn’t have a lead role in the show since he was too young and new to the game, he surely made a remarkable fortune moving forward in his career.

There Were Some Recycled Scripts From Bonanza

Michael Landon was an actor and writer for the series, Bonanza before starting with the Little House on the Prairie. So, this meant that he was heavily influenced by his time as a writer and actor there. You would find his work to have many similarities when it come to the plotlines. How was this so?

Well, when Michael Landon started working on the Little House on the Prairie, he would suffer from a writer’s block from time to time. To overcome this issue, he would take help from the plotlines of his previous show, Bonanza. You will find quite a few of them widely similar.

 Melissa Had To Keep Things Under Wraps

Women develop their chests differently. When it came to the stars on the show, it was evident that some of the girls developed earlier than others. This meant that more pressure was on them. One of the girls was Melissa Gilbert, who happened to develop quicker that her sister, Laura Gilbert.

To make sure that there wasn’t too much of a difference when it came to the appearance, Melissa had to keep your chest wrapped up with layers of clothing. She was supposed to bind herself to make sure that nothing was too obvious for others to notice the difference.

Pa Really Liked Showing His Body

When it came to Pa Ingalls, it was evident that he had to looks and the body to be displayed on screen all the time. So, you would find the actor trying to show off his physique as much as possible. He was well aware of the fact that he was attractive and he would leave no reason to not show this off in front of others.

You would see him take his short of very commonly at the slightest of things. So, you’d get to see a lot more of his skin on set. You’ll also wonder as to whether this is the reason Pa always took of his shirt whenever he was injured in any way.

There Was A Lot Of Drinking On Set

It was clear that producing the show was not easy. It would require a lot of time to get things ready and working. This is why you would find the cast and crew of the show to be drunk most of the time on set. This would help them get away from the stress caused by the life on set.

One of the more prominent people that indulges on set was Pa Ingalls himself, played by Michael Landon. It is known that he was a heavy drinker and that he would be sipping on his whiskey well before the day even started.

 Walnut Grove Is The Real Deal

Do you think that Walnut Grove was a well developed set? Not at all. It is actually a town where the real Laura Ingalls grew up in. The novel that Laura Ingalls wrote, is based on this town. It is the inspiration of creating the show, the Little House on the Prairie. So, you might think of the Little House on the Prairie set in Walnut Grove to be a complete fantasy, this isn’t that case in reality.

There are about 900 people living in this small town and it is located in Minnesota. You can even go visit to see how it looks like now to get an idea about how Laura Ingalls life must have looked like.

The Show Only Got One Emmy For Acting

From all the rave that this show has received, you ought to believe that it will receive many awards. While this holds true, there is still a little discrepancy in the awards. The show has won about 16 Emmy nominations for the nine years that it was run. However, only one of them was for their acting.

There were other major things that it was denoted for. It was nominated at the Emmy’s for cinematography and music. It’s obvious that they show deserved these nominations. Melissa Sue Anderson was the one who was nominated for the acting award, and she truly did deserve it.

 There Was An Injury On Set With A Horse

While you watch the show, you might not be able to tell the difference between the underlying actor’s performance and the main actor’s performance. When Scottie MacGregor was shooting a scene for the show, she encountered a difficult situation. She fell off the horse she was riding and get injured severely.

With no possibility of her coming back for the scene, an understudy has to be appointed to finish off the scene. So, you will see that the understudy is completely covered with costume as they go about trying to finish the scene. She recovered soon and was back for the remaining episodes.

 Kevin Hagen Stood For Actor’s Rights

Currently, the amount of money that actors are paid, especially if they have a name in the industry, is much more than what it was in those times. The duration when the Little House on the Prairie was shot was full of troubling situations for the actors. This is why you would find Kevin Hagen supporting and fighting for the rights of actors like him.

At a particular time, Kevin Hagen went on to get BBC to start paying them more money for the episodes that they do. While he tried his best to get the words across, he plea was left unheard by the masses.

 Michael Landon Practiced Nepotism

We all know that the entertainment industry is full of nepotism. Celebrities reach their positions and pay scales because they have a backing from their family. This is a common factor that prevails in the industry. So, it’s not surprising to see this happen on the Little House on the Prairie. Pa Ingalls, known as Michael Landon, would actively practice this during the time that the show was shot.

It seemed that he did not care about following nepotism. He would try his best to incorporate his daughters in the shows as much as possible. Characters such as Pam, Eta Plum, and Marge were all performed by her.

 Surgeries In Place for Melissa Gilbert

Things aren’t always as simple as they seem to be. For instance, things were very difficult for Melissa Gilbert as she had to go under the knife more than four times. Each of the time, she had to go under a spinal fusion surgery. This was no easy task and would require a long time of healing to get better.

The first surgery happened in 2001. The years kept adding on as they had more surgeries in 2010, 2016, and 2020. We can all agree that she is a fighter and that she did not let these surgeries get in the way of her acting.

 It Somehow Predicted COVID

You might be shocked while reading this, but it is true. If you pay close attention to the details of this show, then you will understand how it clearly depicted the possibility of COVID or any other possible viral. You will be extremely surprised to find out that they have two episodes that are named the “Plague” and “Quarantine.”

We are surely baffled at this. But this might also be a look into the past since there have been life-threatening diseases that have spread around the world during the earlier times. However, there are too many similarities in the show and COVID that we can’t help but wonder whether this was a prediction.

Adding A Son To The Mix Was All Pa’s Doing

You will see that Albert, the adopted son, came into the picture in the fifth season of the show. Matthew Labyorteaux became the young man that everyone came to adore. Moreover, he was so young at the time that he quickly became everyone’s favorite on set.

To bring Albert to life, no one other than Michael Landon is to be thanked. He believed that there was a need for more males in the family. Therefore, he added Albert to the mix so that it would feel more balances for him. Albert was a great addition to the mix as there were new things happening with his presence.

 Karen Grassle Used Her Mom As Inspiration

Karen Grassle picked up the role of Caroline with ease and a lot of fluency. There was careful consideration put into figuring out how to go about her character. Rather than relying external individuals and idols, she looked within her family to find the inspiration to work for her role. She tried to base the role of Caroline on her real mother.

Caroline is shown to be extremely tough and sturdy. According to Grassle, her mother shared similar traits which allowed her to mimic those much easier than she would have thought. Apparently, her mother used to ride horses barefoot.

The Cast Had Eight Oscar Winners

While the show did rank well throughout the time it was aired, it was not appreciated with similar number of awards that it deserved. This is mainly in reference to when it comes to acting awards from the Oscars. It did, however, receive many other Oscar awards that were based mainly on other aspects, such as music.

While the cast at the time was too young, there were less Oscar winners. However, there were a range of those who went on with their careers and earned Oscars in the future. The likes of those that earned the Oscar before and after include Sean Penn, Burl Ives, and Eileen Heckart.

MacGregor Missed Out On The Finale

Finales are a major part of a show. Most of the time, you will find almost every cast member on this episode. However, when you take a closer look at the Little House on the Prairie’s cast, Mrs. Oleson seems to be missing from it. Why is that so? Well, Scottie MacGregor had some other things planned for her during the time.

Her alcoholism has exceeded its limits, so she turned to Hinduism for the answer. This led to her being on a religious retreat while the finale was being shot. While she did not want to miss the finale, she believed that she needed to cleanse her soul first.

 Victor French Went On To Try Something New

Victor French played Isaiah Edwards, the farmer, for about three seasons consecutively. However, he got tired of the same thing and tried to test the waters. So, he quit working for the show and went on to try something different. He started working for a small-town sitcom called the Carter Country.

Sadly, things did not work out so well for him as the sitcom did not come back for another season after the second one. With nowhere to go, French came back to the Little House on the Prairie stage. Thankfully, Landon and the others accepted him without causing issues.

Grassle Did Not Get Paid Well

When working for the TV show, there are bound to be issues when it comes to the payment. Producers are always looking to minimize costs, leaving the actors in a bit of a crunch. Something similar happened at the Little House on the Prairie. Karen Grassle, playing Caroline, was a bit concerned about the payment she received.

According to an interview with Closer Weekly, she suggested that Michael did not pay her well and that she would prefer to renegotiate her contracts with him. Landon, being the executive producer, held a lot of power when it came to making these decisions.

The Team Got To Film On The Wizard Of Oz Set

We have all seen The Wizard of Oz. Imagine being able to visit the set where it was all shot. Wouldn’t you be thrilled? This is exactly how the cast of Little House on the Prairie felt when they got to film on the Wizard of Oz set. The cast was seen to be extremely excited about this and could not contain their excitement.

Melissa and Nellie Oleson were dancing, singing, and playing pretend the entire time that they were there. It was surely a moment to remember for the entire cast as there was so much to see and do at the same time.

There Was More Than Just One Try At Exploding The House

The show’s finale was quite the talk since there was a major explosion planned for the viewers. The Ingalls home exploded at this point, and that made the finale even more exciting. While the explosion was made sure to go off without any problems, it sure did require a few tests before they could get the final take in.

So, the team tried to blow up different things to see how it would work for the Ingalls house. The great thing is that nothing went wrong when doing this. It was all extremely smooth and no one got injured while trying to do this.

One Actors Was Adamant On Keeps His Homestead

You would expect actors to take something or the other from set to remember their times working for the particular show. However, no one can think of anyone who would want an entire homestead. Well, Stan Ivar made sure to do this since he was so taken by the homestead.

While working on the last season, Stan Ivar, who plays John Carter, couldn’t resist demanding the homestead. He made sure to dismantle the entire thing so that he could add it to his home. This was quite fascinating as not many actors do this. He went on to assemble it in his home before he could sell it on later.

You Will Find A Book On Faith By Baby Grace

Generally, you will find actors talking about their experiences in the shows they have done through interviews. However, Wendi Turnbaugh, who played baby Grace has taken things completely differently. While she was still a baby when she experienced life on set, she was quick to grasp on to many things.

She started writing her book about her faith and how her life on set influenced her life. The book is named A Prairie Devotional and she wrote this while recovering from brain tumor. It is quite the read and will keep you interested for a long while. It offers you a fresh approach on life.

Nellie Has Become A Major Gay Icon

There is a need for actors to be on board with the LGBTQ community and help them attain their rights. Alison Arngrim made sure to put her support obvious when it came to this. Now, you will find that her character, Nellie, from the Little House on the Prairie is widely used as a gay icon.

Arngrim has made sure to support the cause by showing up at DargCon, showcasing her one-woman show at a gay resort on Orlando, and being an active member for AIDS awareness. There is a lot to learn from this actress as she goes on to help people in the best of ways.

There’s A Museum Version Of Little House On The Prairie

You will be shocked to know that you can actually visit a museum that is all about the show, Little House on the Prairie. Transport back to the 19^th century and see everything from first hand. You will be able to see how the real Ingalls lived like in this museum.

The museum is situated in the Walnut Creek. It offers viewers a mixture of the novel written by Laura Ingalls and that TV adaptation of this book. It is exciting, fun, and will keep you looking around for hours in the museum. So, don’t miss out on all of this.

Grassle Was Broke Before Starting The Show

Actors have it really difficult at the start. The same goes for Karen Grassle as she was clearly broke when she landed her role for Caroline. The opportunity came at the right time and got Grassle out of the situation she was in. While Landon did not pay her enough when it came to the contracts, she was still in a much better place than before.

According to the actress, she did not have a single cent to her name when she started out. From going to England to study and then coming back to the US, she spent all of her money, leaving her with nothing at the start.