r/LittleHouseNetflix

I read this part of the show is completely fictional, which bums me out because I found their friendship super sweet and heartwarming.

People seem to forget that almost everything about the Little House books are works of historical fiction. Aside from the Ingalls family, the places and a few random characters, everything about Little House was written to sell books, not be a accurate retelling of history.

Also, the books were written to appeal to children and not even the 70's pilot film thought it a good idea to try and stick to the book. For example, I just watched episode 6 last night, the Christmas episode. In the book, Mr Edwards strips naked, carries his clothes and gifts on his head and crosses the river to make it to the cabin. I can only imagine the amount of complaining we'd be seeing online if something so ridiculous made it into this show.

Oh, and by the way, Mr Edwards wasn't even a real person. He was a composite of several real life neighbors the Ingalls had. Then we could talk about the fact that Laura was 2-3 years old when she lived on the Prairie and obviously had no memories of what Christmas was actually like that year.

Just sit back an enjoy the show for what it is, not what version of fiction you think it should be.

I’ll admit I went in skeptical…the original ‘70s series means a lot to me, and I half expected this reboot to pale in comparison. But I ended up enjoying it more than I anticipated, and I’m genuinely curious to see where Season 2 takes the story.

But there’s a persistent issue I can’t quite shake, and I think it comes down to dialogue and performance working against each other. The characters often speak like people from 2026, not the 1870s — not just in vocabulary, but in cadence, rhythm, and the emotional directness of how they express themselves. There’s a self-awareness to the way lines are delivered that feels more suited to a contemporary drama than a frontier story. It’s a small thing in any single scene, but it accumulates, and it kept reminding me I was watching actors on a set rather than letting me sink into the period.

The bigger issue is in the emotional scenes. When a character is supposed to be in real anguish what’s meant to be grief, fear, desperation I never quite felt it land. The moments are staged like they should hit hard, but the performances stay somewhat surface level, like the actors are hitting technical marks (the shaky voice, the tears) without fully inhabiting what the character is going through. It’s not that the cast lacks talent; it’s more that the show hasn’t quite figured out how to get out of its own way and let the emotion breathe. Or maybe it is just the acting is not up to par with Michael Landon’s Little House.

None of this ruined the show for me. I still enjoyed watching it, and I’ll be back for Season 2. But if this remake wants to earn a place next to the original rather than live in its shadow, either the writing and delivery if not BOTH have to go. I’m curious about other’s thoughts and opinions?

I was talking to co-workers who love the books and historical clothing and went on this mini tangent about my thoughts about the show and the discourse about bonnets, timeline, etc.

The main thing I think they are doing is blending/shifting the timeline to make it shorter/streamlined. With the girls older, it allows greater narrative control.

That said, knowing it's supposed to be 1869 in the show, it clearly is not.

1869 would still have a good number of hoop skirts. Even out in the Prairies, those town women would have travelled with their hoops and worn them. But we never see any.

This was the first clue that made me think they are shifting the years. Despite saying the Civil War ended three years ago. ( which still doesn't make sense, as 1869 is four years after the end.)

Caroline's dresses are much more a-line and slim-skirted. They are much more natural form than the hoops of the Civil War.

The clothing it self is more representive of the mid early to mid 1870's. Fashion itself is an interesting thing because style and silhouette always tend to follow the same look across economic classes. It's the fabric and trimmings that make the classes stand out. Time may move more slowly across the prairies, but fashion always follows.
Costumes aside.

If they are blending years, time shifting. It makes sense to make the girls older. It's harder to have a 3-year-old narrate the show. But the main thing I take away from it is that condensing, moving the years later, works because the books often have years in them.

They can spend a season on a book, exploring the themes while Laura is still youngish-looking, and by the time they get to Shoes of Silver Lake, Hard Winter, etc.

She will be the age of Laura in Little Town on the Prairie.

Mary will be the right age for college.

They won't have to recast if they want to continue the whole series.

Anyway, that is my theory about the show.

That's just not true and it seems that some people are making that claim simply so they have a reason to be outraged.

Here are some quotes from Rebecca Sonnenshine, the Showrunner.....

Every time you adapt something, you create this new thing. That's a point in time when these two places intersect. I think that's really interesting and valuable to keep doing that as we progress... We have the opportunity to tell a bigger story about the indigenous people living on the land, the Black Americans living in Kansas and beyond at that time, the shadow of the Civil War, what it meant to be a pacifist, what it meant to fight, what it meant to dream

I think one of the great things about adapting a work is that you kind of can make some of the unknowables known to people and really open up this lens on who's who. How did America become America? Who are the people who ended up settling the frontier? Who were the people who already lived on the frontier? It's an interesting question, and I think the time for it now is exciting... because we have so much information, right, and we have so much new understanding of the world

I think the scene that we worked on the most was when the Osage came into the house, actually. Because we wanted to reframe it from what it was in the books, and we had a lot of discussions about it, and what it would look like, and how we would portray it... it's a huge part of the book, and we wanted to include it, but by sort of shifting the perspective of it.

There's no point to me in just having Caroline Ingalls be afraid and not want to engage with the wider world and keep thinking about what is proper and good. I wanted her to have a real expansion of her mind.

They did not understand the politics of land ownership or these treaties that have been made or these reservations... Knowledge did not flow as freely as it does now. We wanted to make sure we were telling a story where Laura’s perspective isn't the only truth on screen.

We conducted extensive research through biographies, journals, and historical articles to depict more realistic aspects of 19th-century life... It was about taking the spirit of the books and treating them as a launching pad to examine what was actually happening on the frontier.

As for Netflix, this was their official narrative about the series.......

Part hopeful family drama, part epic survival tale, and part origin story of the American West, this fresh adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's iconic semi-autobiographical Little House books offers a kaleidoscopic view of the struggles and triumphs of those who shaped the frontier.

I'm currently watching the Netflix series of Little House on the Praire (I've never read the books or watched the older show), but does anyone else feel like the cast and lighting looks very modern? If that makes sense? Not to mention the dialogue feels very 2000s lol.

I don't know, I'm only on episode one, so I'm going to give this a chance because I saw the edits and I'm a big fan of period movies, so I'm going to watch the entire thing regardless!

If you've been a fan of the books, does it compare to this show accurately or are there differences? I'm curious! :)

I had to pause it 5 minutes into the pilot because of the animal suffering. The dog being left behind trying desperately to catch up to the wagon, the horses almost drowning ..if I keep watching, am I going to see more of this? I'm not easily shocked and I'm a big fan of true crime but animal suffering, I just can't.

EDIT: Once again I've posted to Reddit forgetting that most people will jump down my throat at an innocent question. And before anyone asks, yes I went to chat gbt first. I thought I'd get a second opinion from actual humans, clearly that was a mistake, my bad.

No I haven't read the books (not since I was 8 years old anyway) I was under the impression that this sub was about the show and therefore reading all the books wasn't a prerequisite for posting here.

No I am not "okay" with human suffering. I probably shouldn't even dignify that with an answer because I think you already knew and were just too tempted by the allure of an opportunity to be mean.

Yes I am okay with historical realism, as well as depictions of hunting and animals being used for food/pelt etc. I knew that would be in there and I was looking forward to seeing all the different aspects of life during that time. I love that people back then used every part of the animal so that they didn't die just for shits and giggles like they often do today.

You guys don't know what I've seen in my life (in REAL life) and why that makes animal suffering such a trigger of mine. Id feel the same way about child abuse. Thankfully this is a SHOW (yes I know it's based on real events!!! I'm saying I'm aware that these are actors and in this day and age they don't actually hurt the animals for the sake of the show). I wanted to know if it was worth it to watch this TELEVISION SHOW DESPITE THE UPSETTING PARTS.

IDK why I posted, given all the cruelty I see on on Reddit regularly (towards others, I rarely post or even comment for this reason, there's always at least one sarcastic smart-*** who will jump at the opportunity to troll/hurt someone). Sorry for asking a question and giving you guys bait.

Thank you to the people/person who answered my question!!! You guys are gems.

It's pretty sad that kindness and respect are such precious finds on Reddit. I really don't understand, is it fun being mean? I don't get it.

Listen, I know times were tough in the pioneer days. But even moving more than once would’ve been atypical - this man uprooted his family six times. Often this was due to him running away from debt and creditors, poor financial investments, or his own impulsivity that disrupted their home just as they were able to put down roots somewhere.

As a kid I loved the books, I read them all multiple times and related to Laura. Now as a 30-something woman I’m looking at Caroline like, “girl, this seems exhausting.”

I really loved all the music. The family was always singing. This was a big part of the books, and their real lives. Almonzo commented how Laura was always singing, and her songs always fit the situation. A song for every occasion!

Music helped them cope in hard times and express joy in good times. I really appreciate that this thread was brought into the Netflix series. It wasn't just Pa's fiddle, as was represented in the OG series, but Ma and the girls singing during chores, for comfort at night, etc.

What parts of the series did you really enjoy, or feel like they got right? (There have been lots of threads about what they got wrong, of which I have strong opinions also.)

Such a feel-good, chill and heart-warming show. It's got some drama to make it not dull but nothing heart-wrenching and evil. Recently I'm tired of watching high-stake dramas that feel like your heart is getting dragged through your chest, but then, conversely, not entirely a fan of ultra max feel-good shows that are way too boring. Scenery is a vibe too.

Really enjoyed it as someone who knows nothing about the Little House on the Prairie books/OG show.

I’m only on episode 4 but I feel like some of the shots and camera angles in this show are sooo strange and give it such an ominous vibe even when everything is fine?? Maybe I’m alone with this but the shooting of so much of this show is so strange and really puts me on edge sometimes haha.

I read the books when I was a kid, several times. I watched the 70s show. It's been a long time for both of them, so there are details I admit I don't remember.

But THIS is ridiculous: >!Ma and Pa arguing loudly, Ma threatening to leave Pa behind, and then Mary yelling at them to stop it.!<

It's not just that this *definitely* never happened in the books. It's that all of this is wildly out of character for all three of these people. It's particularly ridiculous in a show that claims to be closer to the source material.

How many miles do you think the Ingalls’ house was to Independence?

I've never watched the original series nor have I read the books but I didn’t hate Netflix's adaptation, as someone who went into this completely unbiased.

I must say that I did find them a bit too “contemporary” looking, which always throws me off when watching shows like this. Good Eagle’s mom, for example, looked and sounded very modernised.

I’m unaware of anyone’s age but I couldn’t guess Ma's at all. She looks so young to me and Mary looks at least 13 (I might be wrong here, I really don’t know!). I've seen a lot of people criticise how the actress portrayed Ma but I didn’t have an issue. She had some cool moments throughout the show, and I liked how she stood her ground several times.

Also, Ma and Pa make a very good looking couple and I liked their marriage dynamics, I just don’t find it believable that Mary and Laura are their daughters because they look nothing alike. It didn’t really bother me while watching, but it's another little thing to add to the list of “lack of attention to details”.

I think the kids were great overall. They’re all still very young and some scenes were very emotionally challenging to portray, so I don’t have much to say about them.

Dialogue also seemed very 2026, but given the fact that English isn’t my 1st language, I might not be the best judge of it.

I can’t really speak on the 70s show, or how accurate/inaccurate this one was in comparison to the books, but it was a pretty nice watch and I hope they don’t cancel the 2nd season (I’m curious now).