“Little House”: A wandering family is back on TV

Now that we’re finished with July 4 and all thise 250th-birthday stuff, it’s time to leap ahead almost a century.
Yes, the founding fathers were interesting … but so were the frontier folk. A new “Little House on the Prairie” reaches Netflix on Thursday (July 9).
That moves us to the late 1860s, with Americans recovering from the Civil War. Some were pushing to new land — especially the Ingalls family.
“They moved around a lot,” writer-producer Rebecca Sonnenshine told the Television Critics Association. “The Ingalls were always on the move.”
That was true of the real Ingalls family, including young Laura, who later wrote the “Little House” novels. She was 2 when her family moved from Wisconsin to Missouri. Coming up were Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa and, finally, South Dakota.
At the core was Charles Ingalls — played by Michael Landon in the original series and by Luke Bracey now. (A separate story here views the four main actos.) He was a hard-worker, Sonnenshine said, but also “a good-time guy.”
He was a perpetual optimist, even when there was no room for optimism. “Every day for the Ingalls family is a challenge,” Bracey said.
Caroline Wilder was hesitant, but went along. “They have hardships,” said Crosby Fitzgerald, who plays her. “They disagree. They fight. But the love is always the strongest thing.'”
Wilder’s first novel didn’t come out until she was 65, with eight more arriving in the next decade. They skipped some of the family’s moves and woes.
The TV series — with Landon as the main producer, director and writer — trimmed further. Back then (1974-83), TV wanted 22 or more new episodes every year, with supporting characters we could get used to; the Ingalls family remained somewhat rooted.
But streamers are willing to spend more for fewer episodes. After this first season (nine episodes, all arriving July 9), the family may move.
The production executives, Sonnenshine said, are “onboard with our idea of moving around a lot, which is a huge production challenge.”
Those moves reflect the novels … which Sonnenshine is fond of.
She was given her first “Little House” book at 5, by a cousin (who happened to be named Laura), just as she was learning to read. The books, she said, “became my whole personality. I was ‘”Little House on the Prairie” girl.’ I read them probably a hundred times …. When I was grounded my mom would take away my books.”
She’s strayed from the frontier with her previous scripts, including “Vampire Diaries” and “The Boys” and last year’s box-office success, “The Housemaid.” But then came a chance to adapt her favorites; “I’ve been planning this since I was 10,” she joked.
Her version may feel different from Landon’s in ways that are large (with fewer episodes, stories can unfold more quickly) and small. Viewers may feel the sisters are squabbling with each other more than in the original.
“There’s nothing more realistic than tension in family,” said Fitzgerald, who grew up with five siblings, adding:”It’s extremely human. The people you love the most are the people you hurt the most sometimes.”
Sonnenshine agreed. The sisters are “each other’s best friends and also each other’s worst enemy. That’s what it means to have a sibling you’re close to.”
But mostly, she said, this continues Landon’s view of a warm and caring world. “We’re embracing a very humanistic approach.”
In the books, Caroline Ingalls showed some early hatred of the natives. In the series, we see the Ingalls as newcomers, ready to adapt.
“They’re “getting to know people (they) haven’t known before,” Sonnenshine said. “And becoming part of a larger story of America.”
(In real life, the Ingalls family lived near a Black doctor. He shows up in the first episode of the reboot, as does an Osage family.)
Lately, people keep revisitng Landon’s worlds. “Highway to Heaven” (which he made after “Little House”) is being rebooted by Fox for 2027-28.
“He made an incredible body of work ,” Sonnenshine said. His shows had “people who have faith in their family and community. And that is universal.”