In January, Nielsen announced thatLHOPwasthe most-streamed classic series on 2024, with over 13 billion (!)
“It was so heartbreaking.”
Nielsen recently gaveLittle House on the Prairiethe Legacy Award for being the most-streamed classic series in 2024.
Melissa Gilbert and Dean Butler in ‘Little House: The Last Farewell’.Credit:NBC/Peacock
What was your reaction when you heard that?
And I see it on social media.
It for sure helped a lot of people at that time.
Karen Grassle and Michael Landon in ‘Little House: The Last Farewell’.NBC/Peacock
I think people rediscovered that we were talking about such important issues and issues that are still unresolved today.
It’s a reminder that we can get back to being civil again somehow.
If we did that then, we can do it again.
Oleson’s Mercantile stands amid the rubble of Walnut Grove in ‘Little House: The Last Farewell’.NBC/Peacock
How did you first learn that Michael Landon planned to end the movie by blowing up Walnut Grove?
We just weren’t on the fall schedule after not just 10 years ofLittle House, but years ofBonanza.
It was just such a disrespectful thing to do to him.
The townsfolk of Walnut Grove walk through the rubble in ‘Little House: The Last Farewell’.NBC/Peacock
I do remember reading the script and going, “Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho,okay.
It was so heartbreaking.
Every day it was somebody else’s last day.
Every day we had to say goodbye to someone else.
What did he say to you at the time about his motivations?
That place was sacred to us in a big way.
In the movie, Laura has this amazing scene where she yells, “I’m just so angry!
Manly, I’mreallyangry!”
And she starts smashing plates and breaking the windows with a broom.
What do you remember about shooting that scene?
Listen, as an actor, any opportunity I have to break things on camera is a joy.
It was just painful.
Those scenes where the men are detonating the explosives and people are crying were those real tears?
And it wasn’t just us on camera, it was the crew behind the camera, too.
But that was our last day together.
Do you have any sense of why the house was spared?
I think that it was a very wise decision not to blow that up.
I’m not sure why.
Though we are leaving, we can always rebuild, which is what the Ingalls family always did.
I kept a couple of things.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Little House: The Last Farewellis streaming now on Peacock.
