Hard pass for me..........

https://www.remindmagazine.com/article/25194/little-house-on-the-prairie-reboot-netflix/

 

 

https://deadline.com/2025/01/little-house-prairie-melissa-gilbert-megyn-kelly-wokeify-gripe-netflix-1236273929/

I still have the script somewhere for the attempted movie reboot some years ago from Sean Durkin (a bizarre choice, behind the great psychological thrillers Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Iron Claw and The Nest) and Abi Morgan (an equally bizarre choice, having written Shame). I wonder wtf that looks like. I'll have to read it.

I'm sure this reboot will be produced like most productions are these days: either too-fabulous-for-words campy (I can already see Nellie Oleson doing "Real Housewives"-esque commentaries on the action) or sad and dismal, with scenes that are plodding and have been drained of all energy in order to be "edgy."

9 minutes ago, Khan said:

I'm sure this reboot will be produced like most productions are these days: either too-fabulous-for-words campy (I can already see Nellie Oleson doing "Real Housewives"-esque commentaries on the action) or sad and dismal, with scenes that are plodding and have been drained of all energy in order to be "edgy."

I'm guessing the latter. 

Melissa Gilbert shuts down Megyn Kelly.

"Netflix, if you woke-ify ‘Little House on the Prairie’ I will make it my singular mission to absolutely ruin your project" Megyn Kelly posted on twitter while sharing the news of the Netflix reboot.

Gilbert responded on  threads . "Ummm…watch the original again.  TV doesn’t get too much more ‘woke’ than we did. We tackled: racism, addiction, nativism, antisemitism, misogyny, rape, spousal abuse and every other ‘woke ‘ topic you can think of. Thank you very much."

Edited February 1, 20251 yr by janea4old

I mean, yeah, they tackled some very topics during their run, but not in any way that I would consider "woke" or "progressive."  Of course, "Highway to Heaven," which Michael Landon also starred in and produced, suffered from the same problem.  In both cases, weightier subjects were dealt with in very shallow ways, with happy endings tacked on that were cloying and unearned.

I think the issue is that people talk around each other and no one is ever able to define what exactly "woke" is. Is "woke" being progressive? Is "woke" Satan in sheeps clothing? Or is "woke" just another word for executives meddling and not letting the creatives be creative?

Ultimately, I suspect both grievances come from the last part - in the past executives tended to meddle in trying to limit everything, which forced them to get creative with getting issues close to the heart into the shows. On the other hand, a check list of things that need to be fit into a production - even if you agree with them - isn't much better and can lead to lazy box checking. 

As for the reboot - I think those that are nostalgic for Little House On the Praire aren't going to check it out because why? You can't recreate the "vibe" it has because it was produced in a different era. Those that want a tepid safe watch will go and watch "When Calls the Heart" or some other Hallmark production. Those that want a realistic depiction will just watch one of the movies. 

So who is Netflix doing this for, besides noticing that it's been accumulating streaming numbers? Gunsmoke has by the way been racking up streaming numbers too, so maybe that's next?

22 hours ago, te. said:

Gunsmoke has by the way been racking up streaming numbers too, so maybe that's next?

Actually, @te., I think "Gunsmoke" would be PERFECT for a reboot, especially if the tone were more in keeping with the original radio series and the earliest TV seasons, which were darker than the later ones.

On 1/31/2025 at 9:40 PM, te. said:

I think the issue is that people talk around each other and no one is ever able to define what exactly "woke" is. Is "woke" being progressive? Is "woke" Satan in sheeps clothing? Or is "woke" just another word for executives meddling and not letting the creatives be creative?

"Woke" now means anything that isn't a straight, white, able-bodied man.

Today Little House would be called "DEI" and "woke" because of the focus on Laura. We would be told that the producers and writers hate men.

They would also be called "DEI" and "woke" due to having blind characters, black characters, and characters in wheelchairs. 

Edited February 2, 20251 yr by DRW50

7 hours ago, DRW50 said:

"Woke" now means anything that isn't a straight, white, able-bodied man.

Oh, I agree that it's just become the latest buzzword at this point for conservatives to point fingers at if they don't like something. With that said - of course it can be criticized as lazy box-checking, just like older shows had to go through with meddling executives. And sometimes it does have merit - the latest Dragon Age unfortunately has some of the laziest writing I've seen and thus justly flops (though people will blame it on being "diverse" instead of what it is - bad writing).  But that's another topic for another day I guess.

 

8 hours ago, Khan said:

Actually, @te., I think "Gunsmoke" would be PERFECT for a reboot, especially if the tone were more in keeping with the original radio series and the earliest TV seasons, which were darker than the later ones.

Perhaps. I'll admit I've never seen much of Gunsmoke and in my head it tends to blend into the bland westerns that were so popular during the 50s. Maybe I should give it a shot some time. 

5 hours ago, te. said:

I'll admit I've never seen much of Gunsmoke and in my head it tends to blend into the bland westerns that were so popular during the 50s. Maybe I should give it a shot some time. 

I'd definitely check out the first 10 or so (B&W) seasons, along with whatever's out there from the original radio show.  As I've said before, "Gunsmoke," in those years, was very much a western for adults (and I say that as someone who generally doesn't like watching westerns, lol).  Very character-driven, and very hard-hitting, too.

I think part of my problem with LHOTP - aside from Michael Landon's penchant for maudlin, unearned sentimentality - is that the novels they're based on had a harsher, more clear-eyed view of "prairie life."  At least, that's how the novels, and Laura Ingalls Wilder's writing, came across to me when I read them as a kid.  Reading "The Long Winter" in particular made me very glad I was growing up in the 20th century, and not the 19th, lol.

Most of the original LHOTP cast are supportive of whatever it is Netflix is making, mainly because this isn't a remake/reboot of the TV series. It's another adaptation of the books that will aim to follow the story of the books more accurately, which makes sense considering the involvement of Ed Friendly's son. Friendly and Landon clashed from the very beginning of LHOTP because Friendly's top priority was adapting the books and Landon's was to make an entertaining TV series. And considering it's been on the air nonstop for over 50 years now and still stands out in DVD sales, cable reruns, and streaming (plus all of the anniversary events last year were massive successes, even though quite a few were botched by event planners), Landon was on to something.

That's not to say that Friendly was wrong to want to stick to the books, but it's been thoroughly discussed by the cast and crew in recent times why adapting the books in the form of an episodic/mildly serialized TV drama in the 70s would not have worked. Once you had a foundation build around the Ingallses, Olesons, and others living in Walnut Grove, you couldn't just move on from that after a season or two (and then move on again after another season, and again after another two seasons, etc). Especially as it became clear early on just how strong some of the supporting cast were.

Re: it being progressive. While I do think MG likes to play it up a little more, I don't think the show gets enough credit for being generally liberal-minded. Obviously it has strong Christian themes, but you saw those expressed through love and acceptance of people of all kinds more often than you did through fundamentalist evangelism. I forget where I read it, but either Alison Arngrim or Melissa Gilbert has said that ML envisioned an LGBT-focused episode but never bothered to write it or pitch it because he knew it wouldn't happen.

I'm gonna ride hard for LHOTP every time lol It's been my #1 comfort viewing, above any and everything else, for close to a year now, and rediscovering it has gotten me through some tough times recently. If you have any interest in the show, I highly suggest checking out the extensive and informative (not to mention hilarious) episode reviews at Walnut Groovy. It looks at the show through modern eyes while still recognizing the hold it has on so many of us all these years later.

Okay, I'll shut up now.

8 hours ago, Khan said:

I think part of my problem with LHOTP - aside from Michael Landon's penchant for maudlin, unearned sentimentality - is that the novels they're based on had a harsher, more clear-eyed view of "prairie life."  At least, that's how the novels, and Laura Ingalls Wilder's writing, came across to me when I read them as a kid.  Reading "The Long Winter" in particular made me very glad I was growing up in the 20th century, and not the 19th, lol.

I read The Long Winter over and over as a kid. I still remember the passages where Laura was slowly dying on the sled, and how cold the rooming house she stayed in was, how even getting under the blankets was too much.

I have seen some claim that the books are white supremacist or fascist or what have you, or they say that is true of the background of them. I don't remember them well enough to say. 

I do think going back to them for source material isn't a bad idea. I just wish it wasn't Netflix, which is generally slop (even what I enjoy on their service is slop). I am hoping at the least they don't try to emulate that smug hack Taylor Sheridan.