Little House on the Prairie (TV Series) Once Upon a Time (1983) User Reviews

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[mitchrmp · 6/10 · 29 November 2013]

Laura had always wanted to be an author, right? At least that's what I always figured. So when Almanzo tells her about a writing contest, she jumps at the chance. Only things don't go the way she planned them...

This episode is pretty boring. Laura and Jenny leave Almanzo and Rose behind to go to Mancato and work on her first book. The men there make some empty promises about the way it's going to be. Before she knows it, they are completely changing the book until it's something she doesn't even recognize.

She did the right thing in the end. I like how Michael Landon comes on at the end and talk about the real Laura Ingalls Wilder and that a series of books were published forty years later...

Does Laura Ingalls Wilder Have What it Takes to be a Writer?

[ExplorerDS6789 · 6/10 · 23 December 2010]

Ever since Laura came out of retirement to teach at the school while Etta Plum was out, she started to get the urge. The urge to return to teaching, or to seek some similar kind of profession. She was growing restless staying home and doing all the work. That's when Almanzo stepped in and shed some light on the subject. He told her of a writing contest and that the tidbits in her remembrance books could be turned into a proper story. After all, she's got 9 seasons worth of stuff in there, so why not? At Almanzo and Jenny's behest, Laura decided to give it a go. After 4 long weeks, Laura finished her novel and read it to her audience/family. They were ecstatic, loving every word. She had it in the bag! Well, after turning in her novel, Laura heard from the folks at the contest requesting she meet with them, so she and Jenny boarded a train to Minneapolis. At the Jensen Professional Building, they met with Amos L. Broxton, who expressed great interest in having Laura's novel be published. He felt the middle of the story was a tad weak, needing more meat on the bones, so to speak, so he commissioned Laura to write at least three more chapters. With a $50 advance, a grand prize of $250 should she win, and a suite at the Carlton, how could she refuse? All this great stuff coming her way, surely there must be a catch. Well, guess what? There was.

Apparently Laura's contract included a clause stipulating that the publishers could change any parts of the story they wanted without the discretion of the author. Just a formality, assured Broxton and his chief editor, Russell Matthews, but to ease Laura's worries, Broxton had the clause crossed out; After spoiling Jenny with a new hat and herself with earrings, Laura wrote out her last three chapters and took them to Mr. Broxton, who was out, so she saw a drunken Matthews who invites her out to dinner. Despite his odd behavior, Laura foolishly accepted. So they go to Hugo's Cafe and Matthews spends the evening talking about his flair for editing and hitting the bottle. Next day, Broxton dictates certain changes he wants done to Laura's story, just make it more "exciting". He may seem nice on the outside, but inside, Amos Broxton is an evil mastermind who wants money and will do whatever it takes to get it, even if it means destroying an artist's vision. He's convinced Laura's novel simply would not sell the way it was now. So, reluctantly, Laura took to rewriting the book with Matthews, and on the night of the award ceremony, Laura was so frustrated at all the changes and the political hogwash that she backed out of her contract. The idea of putting her name on something that was no longer hers just didn't sit well. Broxton was foiled, and he was not happy about that. He was even more displeased about Matthews taking Laura's example and going off to write a novel of his own. He'd been avoiding it for so long, he figured now was as good a time as ever....and now we flash-forward to the future. The year is 1983 in Tucson, Arizona. A little girl raced inside the library with a very skillful stedicam operator right behind her. From the plentiful shelves of books, the little girl selected "Little House on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and now, you all know the story behind her story. And who knows? Some day they might even make a television series based on her books. Michael Landon could play her father.

I found this episode underwhelming, to say the least. The characters, with the exceptions of Laura and Jenny, were uninteresting and very one-sided. The actors did try, but I just wasn't feeling it. Maybe it should have been made more exciting, as Broxton said; The subject matter is something I can relate to because I myself have a passion for writing so I can understand how Laura feels about these guys wanting to make changes and all that. Sometimes you just don't have a choice in that matter, and it's frustrating as hell. Now in real life, it was actually Laura's daughter Rose who encouraged her to publish her writing, and this was when Laura was in her fifties. Yet another element of change. So, if you want to know the tale behind Laura Ingalls Wilder's writing passion, this episode will give you a bit of an insight on what all possibly happened.

Fine, just fine.

[sarahmaesewell · 6/10 · 5 May 2023]

This episode was fine. Just fine. Not great, but certainly not terrible.

It tugs at your heartstrings watching our little Laura begin to realize her dreams of becoming an author !!

Michael Landon's narration at the ending describing the "little house on the prairie's" legacy was enough to make a grown man cry (and the writer of this review did !! )

The character of Russell was a bit odd. I could not tell if he was supposed to be helpful to Laura or a sleezeball. Perhaps both ?? !!

Also where is Rose- The wilders daughter ?? They keep talking about her but we don't see her any more. Sad :(

Not the best of the show, but certainly not the worst. Melissa Gilbert gives a stellar performance as always !!

One of the Most Ironic Little House Episodes Ever!

[dhainline1 · 5/10 · 6 April 2016]

Laura Ingalls Wilder is now a school teacher/journal keeper in her 20s and she wants to publish her stories for young people. The fact Laura published her stories as a woman in her 60s with her daughter Rose's encouragement is not addressed! Laura sends her stories to a woman's magazine in this episode and Minneapolis publisher Amos Broxton (William Prince) and writer Russell Matthews (John Bennett Perry) want to publish the stories. However, they want Laura to change her stories to allow for more exciting reading! This doesn't bode well with Laura or Jenny because the changes make the characters seem unfamiliar. In the end, Laura refuses to do that.

In 1983, a young girl (Shawna Landon) enters the library and pulls a copy of "Little House on the Prairie" off the shelf to read it. Michael Landon, her father, says the stories Laura wrote were published without the changes the two men in the episode wanted.

I find that rather ironic! I mean, Michael Landon had characters in this series that never existed like Albert, Cassandra, and James. He had story lines about girl raping mimes and illegitimate children and Ma almost losing her leg to gangrene and many other stories that would make the real Laura say, "What?" This is where I see the irony.

Strange on a few levels

[muratmihcioglu · 17 October 2023]

This should have been one of the most celebrated and important episodes of the series. Little House on the Prairie is based on the literature of Laura Ingalls-Wilder, and it is only now, so far into the experience, very close to the end that we get to see how her diaries made their way to getting published.

Even if the depiction of her entanglement in the world of publication back then is fictional, this particular story is what could bring an "Inception" level to the series.

Also interesting that, here we witness Laura being corner by her editor to "make changes for the sake of stronger dramatic effect". But... Come to think of it... Regardless of how her first drafts might have been developed, haven't Blanche Hanalis and Michael Landon done the exact same thing for this TV adaptation?

Especially further into the series, we see quite a lot of exaggeration, exploitation and add-ons to the original concept. Where does that place Laura's potential blessing for the show? If she was really not okay with pumping emotions up at the expense of detaching from reality, would she have loved the TV series?

Are the discussions depicted in this episode a form of confession from the showrunners? While making us side with Laura and her niece, are they identifying with the commercially-driven editors?