It says something about American culture that a planned remake of the beloved “Little House on the Prairie” TV show is stirring up controversy.
A report in January said Netflix has approved an adaptation of “Little House,” which aired on NBC from 1974-83 and was based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s series of children’s books.
Published between 1932 and 1943, the books told of Wilder’s growing up years in the late 19th century. But with an immaculate cast, including Melissa Gilbert as the young Laura and Michael Landon as the family patriarch, the show was a hit with TV audiences for years.
A story on the Politico website said “Little House” was President Reagan’s favorite show, and President Clinton also is a fan. As are many people who remember the show fondly: In 2024, the show had 13.3 billion minutes of streaming time on NBC’s Peacock platform, making it the country’s top-ranked legacy show online.
Anyway, when a report came out about Netflix’s plans, it was enough for conservative broadcaster Megyn Kelly to issue a warning: “if you wokeify Little House on the Prairie I will make it my singular mission to absolutely ruin your project,” she wrote online.
This drew a next-day response from Gilbert, who is a former Screen Actors Guild president and knows how to take up for herself.
“Umm … watch the original again,” Gilbert wrote. “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.”
Megyn Kelly vs. Melissa Gilbert? Game, set and match to Laura Ingalls, because Gilbert is correct. In its own way, “Little House” addressed all sorts of issues like those on her list.
The Politico story made an excellent point about the difference between the America of 1974 and today. When “Little House” first came on TV, it was at the end of one of the most difficult periods in the country’s history.
The Vietnam War, civil rights protests and the Watergate scandal planted the seeds of public distrust that continues today. “Little House” viewers got a break from all that. The show, mostly under Landon’s guidance, told stories about good people who did mostly good things and were able to resolve their disagreements.
Today, our disagreements may not be quite as severe as the 1960s and 1970s, but there’s no sign of calmer seas ahead. It appears we have a ways to go before more of us, on both sides, are willing to behave a little more civilly.
Given that, the streaming world might benefit from a 50-years-later look at the “Little House” books. By definition, any new version is going to be different. But Netflix didn’t get big and successful by being stupid — it knows why the show worked, and it would be a spectacular error in judgment to stray too far from that history.
