Ahead of the show’s 50th anniversary, stars from the cherished 1970s series got back together on Saturday, June 15, at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival in Monaco.
The Little House on the Prairie group is reflecting on their days spent together as young performers.
Several of the show’s stars, including Karen Grassle, Alison Arngrim, Melissa Sue Anderson, Matthew Labyorteaux, Leslie Landon, and Wendi Lou Lee, got back together at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival in Monaco ahead of the cherished NBC series’ historic 50th anniversary in September.
The performers paused to consider the crazy lifestyle that so many TV sets in the 1970s shared, complete with smoking and drinking on location, during their appearance on Saturday, June 15, at the Little House on the Prairie panel. Grassle, 82, who portrayed the matriarch Caroline Ingalls in the television series, disclosed that she frequently smoked on the set with the late Michael Landon, who portrayed her character’s husband, Charles Ingalls.
Michael had a cigarette. She disclosed, “We were smoking around the kids.”
“And nobody found that odd back then, at all,” remarked 62-year-old Arngrim, who was Nellie Oleson’s character. “No, what we were doing was lighting our cigarettes in the Little House on the Prairie’s mud. Is it possible for you to imagine? Grassle continued. “Sacrilege.”
Arngrim noted that while this could seem scandalous in 2024, there was a significant difference in culture on a 1970s TV screen. Back then, it was also typical for the actors and crew to partake in alcohol during wrap parties, Christmas celebrations, and after the day’s filming was over.
In the 1970s, Arngrim clarified. “You now go to a set, and the craft services offer meals and refreshments, including gluten-free and organic options. We had large, sweet donuts and copious amounts of strong coffee. That was the situation. We smoked, drank beer, and ate junk food. People in the 1970s simply lived like that. Thus, as we grew older, that was really typical for us,” she said.
“But by today’s standards, you would definitely ask, ‘What is this, the Mad Men set?'” She went on, “How can this be Little House on the Prairie if they’re smoking and drinking beer?”
Grassle claims that a large portion of the celebratory vibe on set was derived from the culture present on sets such as the western series Bonanza. However, the fact that there were numerous young actors there was acknowledged and appreciated by all members of the cast and crew. “I have to admit that, in my opinion, there was a much looser atmosphere on the set after 4:00 when the kids went home and there was a very respectful, very… it didn’t need monitoring,” Grassle recollected.
There was no swearing; it was just courteous. The fact that we were surrounded by kids was truly respected. And I was very happy about that,” she continued.
Arngrim said that when working on the Little House on the Prairie set, she “always felt very protected.”
“I always thought our crew was very protective of us kids,” the 57-year-old actress (who portrayed a young Charles Ingalls) remarked. “I also thought the set treated kids much better than some other movies or TV shows,” he continued.
“Little House was unlike any set I’d ever been on,” he said, recalling the work he had done before, including Woman Under the Influence, directed by John Cassavetes, in 1974.
Regarding the environment of the set, he remarked, “They were nurturing, protective, and caring; they catered to young actors to give them a safe place to do their best.”
He went on, “It’s like being a young actor or athlete—you just can’t do it on call every time.” They would assist you in doing your best while remaining silent, respectful, and reverent. And that was highly peculiar.
While acknowledging that not all young players had the same happy experiences as the kids in the Little House group, Arngrim sardonically remarked that “you wouldn’t find the body” if someone had acted inappropriately on production.
“There has been a lot of coverage lately about some of the horrific events that have occurred on set,” the former child star, who supports the National Association to Protect Children, remarked.
Arngrim went on, “I always said on Little House that you wouldn’t find the body if someone had actually bothered me or the girls and the crew found out.” “That was the environment in which I was placed, one in which we felt somewhat safe.”
