History YMMV / LittleHouseOnThePrairie

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Nellie Oleson may be a SpoiledBrat, but there is massive evidence to suggest the television version of Laura is actually worse, both as a child and an adult. Examples:

** During the season 9 opener, Laura finds out [[spoiler: she will be raising her niece Jenny, because Jenny's father is dying.]] Jenny responds by asking Rev. Alden about Heaven and[[spoiler: attempting to drown herself so she can go there to be with her parents.]] Laura is understandably anguished, but does not attempt to comfort Jenny at all. Instead, she yells at and lectures her, forgetting that one, [[spoiler: this child is depressed and suicidal]] and two, she probably does not understand the implications of her actions.

* ItsTheSameSoItSucks: "Someone Please Love Me" is a lazy, almost completely '''word-for-word''' Xerox of an episode of ''Series/{{Bonanza}}'', with slightly altered dialogue and the actors putting on even less convincing performances than the original. Because the acting is ripping off that story, it comes off as wooden and stilted as well as totally unoriginal. On top of that, the actress playing the daughter (Kyle Richards) is the ''exact same'' one used to play Alicia, Isaiah's adoptive daughter.
* LesYay: Laura and Nellie, whose rivalry defined much of their youth. In a later ep., when mellowed, married Nellie visits (and deals with her clone Nancy, see below), Nellie jokes with Laura about getting into a fistfight. In a musical version, Nellie sings mournfully about her life 'Without An Enemy' once Laura leaves to teach.

* NarmCharm: To many modern viewers, one of the only reasons to watch. The other being Michael Landon's perm. Or [[EnsembleDarkhorse Mr. Edwards.]]

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: In ''These Happy Golden Years'', while Mrs. Brewster[[labelnote:*]]Actually Mrs. Boucher.[[/labelnote]] comes off as an ultra bitch that unjustifiably takes her resentment out on [[MisplacedRetribution Laura Ingalls herself]], historical resources and speculation suggests that she was just very homesick and likely suffered from depression. After all, in those days, women were often expected to defer to their husbands.

* To be fair with Almanzo, the Little House books and even the historical sources described him as a dashing [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almanzo_Wilder#/media/File:Almanzo_Wilder_sepia_cropped_squared2.jpg]] , low-key, hard working gentleman farmer from a well-off family and during his time in De Smet, owned two homesteads and the best team of horses. For a frontier town of less than 100 people at that time, this would have ranked him amongst (if we also count his brother, Royal), if not the most, eligible bachelor any parent would want to set up their daughters with. Plus, he's also a friend of Pa so Pa must have known that Almanzo is a financially independent good guy. On top of that he is also the one-half of the BigDamnHeroes who saved their town from starvation during the Long Winter and he didn't even bragged nor charged a cent for it!

* Although, to be fair to Pa, if you were told by someone in the government that you can settle in a mainly undeveloped territory on the promise that the land will be given to you, you'd probably jump on the opportunity.

* WhatAnIdiot: All of Miss Wilder/Eliza Jane's actions in ''Little Town on the Prairie''.
** First is her EstablishingCharacterMoment, when she promises to let Laura, Ida, Mary Power, and Minnie keep the back seat, only for Nellie to come in after the others are settled and demand one -- and then specifically pick one girl (Minnie) whose seat she wants to take.\\
'''You'd Expect''': That Miss Wilder would tell Nellie that since Nellie came in last, she'll just have to take the seat that's available, or at least try to work out an agreement between all sides.\\
'''Instead''': She immediately asks Minnie to move for Nellie, rather than even consider asking Nellie to be the one to give in. Mary Power (understandably) ends up moving with her rather than have Nellie as a seatmate, so Nellie gets the entire desk to herself to boot.\\
'''Predictably''': This action damages Miss Wilder's relationship with not only Mary and Minnie, but also Laura, Ida, and many of the others witnessing this scene, while at the same time showing Nellie that she can get preferential treatment over the others just by asking.
** Then there's the incident where Nellie tells Miss Wilder that Laura was "bragging" about her father being on the school board.\\
'''You'd Expect''': That Miss Wilder would try to establish the whole truth of the situation before forming an opinion, since a teacher is supposed to be a ReasonableAuthorityFigure and not take sides.\\
'''Instead''': She immediately believes what Nellie tells her, not even making a single effort to seek out the other side of the story.\\
'''You'd Further Expect''': That even if she jumped to a conclusion, she'd respond in a way that would have been rational had the accusation been true, like speaking to Laura's parents or giving Laura a punishment for the supposed misdeed.\\
'''Instead''': Rather than directly address the thing she's actually mad about, she begins a campaign of childish retaliation by picking on Laura, and then by picking on ''[[MisplacedRetribution Carrie]]'' [[IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure just because she knows it upsets Laura]], even though Carrie had nothing to do with the alleged offense.\\
'''Predictably''': Most of the class turns against Miss Wilder, as they can clearly see how unfairly she's behaving towards . Making Carrie rock the chair when Carrie's too weak, and then sending both Laura and Carrie home when the latter rocks the chair so loudly that no one can concentrate (despite the fact that Eliza Jane not only started the whole thing by picking on Carrie, but also specifically ''told Laura to rock the seat in Carrie's place'' after Laura spoke up for Carrie), is TheLastStraw for the boys in Laura's class, who rebel on her behalf. As a result of these cascading actions, Eliza Jane leaves rather abruptly after the school board barges in on her class suffering disruption. It's only then that she finally brings up the actual underlying issue with Charles, by which point it's too late as the situation has spiraled out of control, and she leaves soon after.
** Eliza Jane has ''another'' instance of this in ''These Happy Golden Years'', when she learns her brother is marrying Laura, as she begins planning a wedding for them. While this one may at least be well-intentioned, she goes about the whole thing all wrong:\\
'''You'd Expect''': That she would talk with Laura and Almanzo and try to work with them to create a plan that will make everyone happy.\\
'''Instead''': She begins planning what she wants -- a big church wedding -- with no input from them at all, doesn't even listen when Almanzo tries to tell her that what she's thinking is something they didn't want and couldn't afford, and convinces her mother to side with her in order to put additional pressure on the couple. This forces Laura and Almanzo to have a rushed, small ceremony with only two witnesses in order to avoid being saddled with her plans, meaning Eliza Jane misses her brother's wedding altogether, and all of this doesn't do her any favors as far as building bridges with Laura either.
** In ''The Rose Years'', it's indicated that she had at least one more major instance of DidNotThinkThisThrough; after she got married and moved to Louisiana, she tried to convince her entire family to move down there with her and try rice farming. (Laura speculated that she was primarily lonely.) Laura and Almanzo stayed put, since they were still trying to recover from the long disaster that was their first four years of marriage, but E.J. convinced her brother Perley, sister Laura, and Mother and Father Wilder to move down there, and at her urging, Father invests his entire fortune in rice farming... only for him to end up losing everything. Neither he nor Mother truly recovered from the shock, and he died fairly shortly thereafter (E.J. also indicates that her sister Laura died not long after their father did, though it's not made clear if this was related to her moving to Louisiana).

** It's hard to watch Mary run during the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt4z16n-3eU opening credits]] considering she went blind in the Season 4 episode[[Recap/LittleHouseOnThePrairieS4E21IllBeWavingAsYouDriveAway "I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away]].

* FoeYay: Laura and Nellie, whose rivalry defined much of their youth. In a later ep., when mellowed, married Nellie visits (and deals with her clone Nancy, see below), Nellie jokes with Laura about getting into a fistfight.
** In a musical version, Nellie sings mournfully about her life 'Without An Enemy' once Laura leaves to teach.

** Almanzo blowing up the first house in ''The Last Farewell''- the one he and Laura got as a gift. Dramatic ominous music leading up to the moment he pushes down on the detonator. It's shot in slow motion and it erupts like one of those nuclear experiment houses in the 1940's. Also, Laura smashing out the windows in a fit of rage.

* ValuesDissonance: Laura's youth at the beginning of her and Almanzo's courtship wasn't at all unusual in the 1880's. (She was 15 and he 25, which would garner a visit from Chris Hansen in today's world, but back then many, many women were married before the age of 20; if you were still single at 25 odds are people called you a spinster. The blunt truth is that Laura ''was'', in fact, of marrying age in those days, regardless of modern views on the matter -- not that this helps some people.) FridgeLogic can hit that with a potential case of SurpriseCreepy, though, when you consider he first met her when she was thirteen, and wonder just how much of a conscious JailBaitWait went on there. ''Laura'' [[FailedASpotCheck failed her spot check]] when he first started courting her, but Ma definitely wasn't happy about it, precisely because Laura was only fifteen. Fortunately for Almanzo, Pa didn't seem to have any problem with it, but read from an adult 21st century perspective (especially a parental perspective), it can seem unintentionally creepy.

** It can be argued that Pa moving his family from Wisconsin to the Midwest would have been a normal move at that time because of The Homestead Act promoted by the government and many families, even the more established and well-off Wilder family, took this opportunity.

** Regarding Laura helping her parents, it is probably due to the societal norm at that time that once a child becomes old enough to work, they are expected to help their parents make ends meet (which is why in "Farmer Boy", Father Wilder mentioned to Mother that they can legally keep Royal to work in their farm until he's 21 because at age 21, Royal will be deemed as an independent adult and can legally file for a homestead of his own).

* To be fair with Almanzo, the Little House books and even the historical sources described him as a handsome [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almanzo_Wilder#/media/File:Almanzo_Wilder_sepia_cropped_squared2.jpg]] , low-key, hard working gentleman farmer from a well-off family and during his time in De Smet, owned two homesteads and the best team of horses. For a frontier town of less than 100 people at that time, this would have ranked him amongst (if we also count his brother, Royal), if not the most, eligible bachelor any parent would want to set up their daughters with. Plus, he's also a friend of Pa so Pa must have known that Almanzo is a financially stable good guy. On top of that he is also the one-half of the BigDamnHeroes who saved their town from starvation during the Long Winter and he didn't even bragged nor charged a cent for it!

*** Some recent research [[https://www.wildercompanion.com/2019/11/when-was-almanzo-wilder-born.html]] showed evidence that he may had been born in 1859 instead, which makes him only 8 years her senior, the same age gap of their characters in the TV adaption. A case of TruthinTelevision or AgeisRelative?

** It can be argued that Pa moving his family from Wisconsin to the Midwest would have been a normal move at that time because of The Homestead Act promoted by the government and many families, and even the more established Wilder family, took this opportunity.
*** Let's face it, the Big Woods in Wisconsin isn't an idyllic place to raise children anyway because of the bears and panthers abound.

** Regarding Laura helping her parents, it is probably due to the societal norm at that time that once a child becomes old enough to work, they are expected to help their parents make ends meet (which is why in "Farmer Boy", Father Wilder mentioned to Mother that they can legally keep Royal to work in their farm until he's 21 because at age 21, Royal can legally file for a homestead of his own).

** Gender-flipped in Royal's case. He's supportive of Almanzo and volunteered to accompany him to find the rumoured wheat supply in "The Long Winter" ([[spoiler:they eventually agreed that Almanzo take Cap Garland instead in case the they get caught in the blizzard and one must survive for their parents' sake]]) and years later, took care of Almanzo and Laura when they became ill with diphtheria in "The First Four Years".

** Regarding Laura helping her parents, it is probably due to the societal norm at that time that once a child becomes an adult, they are expected to help their parents make ends meet (which is why in "Farmer Boy", Father Wilder mentioned to Mother that they can legally keep Royal to work in their farm until he's 21 because at age 21, Royal can legally file for a homestead of his own).

** Eliza Jane had her Cool Big Sis moment after Almanzo threw the blacking brush at her, missed and hit a wall in the parlour wall. He was terrified that he'll be whipped for what he's done but she saved him by patching the stain over with a leftover wallpaper and their parents never found out about the stain.
** Gender-flipped in Royal's case. He's supportive of Almanzo and volunteered to accompany him to find the wheat in "The Long Winter" ([[spoiler:they eventually agreed that Almanzo take Cap Garland instead in case they get caught in a blizzard]]) and years later, took care of Almanzo and Laura when they became ill with diphtheria.

* To be fair with Almanzo, the Little House books and even the historical sources described him as a handsome [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almanzo_Wilder#/media/File:Almanzo_Wilder_sepia_cropped_squared2.jpg]] , low-key, hard working gentleman farmer from a well-off family and during his time in De Smet, owned two homesteads and the best team of horses. For a frontier town of less than 100 people at that time, this would have ranked him amongst (if we also count his brother, Royal), if not the most, eligible bachelor any parent would want to set up their daughters with. And he is also the one-half of the BigDamnHeroes who saved their town from starvation during the Long Winter and he didn't even bragged nor charged a cent for it!
- Some recent research [[https://www.wildercompanion.com/2019/11/when-was-almanzo-wilder-born.html]] showed evidence that he may had been born in 1859 instead, which makes him only 8 years her senior, the same age gap of their characters in the TV adaption. A case of TruthinTelevision or AgeisRelative?

* It may have been because he's the eldest son, his parents, particularly Father, expected that he'll continue the family farming business as what would have been the family dynamics at that time.

- Some recent research [[https://www.wildercompanion.com/2019/11/when-was-almanzo-wilder-born.html]] showed some evidence that he may be born in 1859 instead which makes him only 8 years her senior, the same age gap of their characters in the TV adaption. A case of TruthinTelevision or AgeisRelative?

* To be fair with Almanzo, the Little House books and even the historical sources described him as a handsome [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almanzo_Wilder#/media/File:Almanzo_Wilder_sepia_cropped_squared2.jpg]] , low-key, hard working gentleman farmer from a well-off family and during his time in De Smet, owned two homesteads and the best team of horses. For a frontier town of less than 100 people at that time, this would have ranked him amongst (if we also count his brother, Royal), if not the most, eligible bachelor in the area any parent would want to set up their daughters with. And he is also the one-half of the BigDamnHeroes who saved their town from starvation during the Long Winter and he didn't even bragged nor charged a cent for it!

* Although, to be fair with Almanzo, the Little House books and even the historical sources described him as a handsome [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almanzo_Wilder#/media/File:Almanzo_Wilder_sepia_cropped_squared2.jpg]] , low-key, hard working gentleman farmer from a well-off family and during his time in De Smet, owned two homesteads and the best team of horses. For a frontier town of less than 100 people at that time, this would have ranked him amongst (if we count his brother, Royal), if not the most, eligible bachelor in the area whom any parent would want to set up their daughters with. And he is also the one-half of the BigDamnHeroes who saved their town from starvation during the Long Winter and he didn't even charged a cent for it!

* Although, to be fair to Almanzo, the book and even the historical sources described him as a handsome [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almanzo_Wilder#/media/File:Almanzo_Wilder_sepia_cropped_squared2.jpg]] , low-key, hard working gentleman farmer from a well-off family and during his time in De Smet, owned two homesteads and the best team of horses. For a frontier town of less than 100 people at that time, this would have ranked him amongst (if we count his brother, Royal), if not the most, eligible bachelor in the area whom any parent would want to set up their daughters with. And he is also the one-half of the BigDamnHeroes who saved their town from starvation during the Long Winter and he didn't even charged a cent for it!

* Although, to be fair to Almanzo, the book and even the historical sources described him as a handsome, low-key, hard working gentleman farmer from a well-off family and during his time in De Smet, owned two homesteads. For a frontier town of less than 100 people at that time, this would have ranked him amongst (if we count his brother, Royal), if not the most, eligible bachelor in the area whom any parent would want to set up their daughters with. And he is also the one-half of the BigDamnHeroes who saved their town from starvation during the Long Winter and he didn't even charged a cent for it!

*** At one point in ''Little House On The Prairie'', Pa gives Mary and Laura a stern lecture for even ''thinking'' about disobeying him(though they didn't actually do so). Although, to be fair, in that case it might have gotten their dog killed. A couple of Native men had gone into the house looking for food and supplies. Pa had told them not to untie Jack, who hated strangers. If Jack had bitten one of the strange men, they would have killed Jack and caused MANY more problems.

** Albert sleeping in the same bed with Laura would raise some eyebrows nowadays. They weren't pubescent quite yet, but weren't far from it, and although the family did adopt him, he was not biologically her brother.

** Melissa Francis, if you watched Fox News or its sister network, Fox Business, starred in two seasons (7 and 8)

* TheScrappy: ''Albert''. He's not despised ''all'' the time, but he is credited with being used as the show's first use of artificial extension to force out new stories by due to his role as their first CousinOliver (Season 5 was sort of a PostScriptSeason when Michael Landon was unsure if his show would go past Season 4) in the wake of Mary becoming all grown up and on the way to being married due to the events of Season 4's finale.

** Melissa Francis, if you watch Fox News or its sister network, Fox Business, starred in two seasons (7 and 8)

* HarsherInHindsight: Laura did not pray for the good health of her newborn baby brother, [[spoiler: and he died very soon after.]] When Laura had a baby boy of her own, [[spoiler:''he'' died, too! And so fast that she didn't get to name her child!]]

* InformedWrongness: The controversy at the Grange convention in "Times of Change" hinges on whether it's better to rely on government-imposed regulations or private entrepreneurial negotiations; we're expected to passionately agree with Charles (the TV version, anyway) that the former is not just better for business, but morally superior.

** Probably best seen in part two of "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not". Almanzo has overworked himself trying to make money to help pay for renting a courthouse for Adam and Mary to start up a new location for the blind school. He gets sick and contracts pneumonia. As he passes out from sickness and refusal to go see a doctor, he falls down the stairs to the tune... of a '''''slide whistle.''''' This is ''absolutely'' inappropriate for the scene, given that Almanzo's sickness was played ''completely'' seriously, and the effect was totally cartoony.

** As an adult, Laura comes to believe Nellie is trying to steal Almanzo. Her response is to get into a knock-down, hair-pulling fight with Nellie. This is a ''grown woman'' we are talking about. Then again, this is ''[[{{Jerkass}} Nellie]]'' we're talking about, and Nellie delighted in egging Laura on up to that point just to antagonize her and make her believe that. Arguably, Laura's fight with a woman in "Divorce, Walnut Grove Style" is much, much worse because she is now sixteen and married and developed IrrationalHatred toward someone she only suspected was moving in on Almanzo.

* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: This applies towards Michael Landon's tendency to rip scripts directly from ''Bonanza'' in general, having written and directed a few himself. "Someeone Please Love Me" was remarkably JustForFun/{{Egregious}}, because it made absolutely no attempt to hide the fact it was repeating the events of the episode blow for blow.