Audiences through the decades have had great interest in Little House on the Prairie—since its prime in the 1970s and through to today, with the series being the most-streamed classic TV show in America for 2024.
But the cloud of nostalgia that shrouds it is getting a little bit gray now that Netflix is promoting the much-anticipated reboot series.
Fans are more divided with some wanting to embrace this take on the beloved show and others warning of tarnishment to a legacy set in place by the original. But regardless of anything related to their opinion on the reboot, one certain thing is that the show has continued to be really, really important in pop culture even after decades past the latest episode.
The Last Farewell: The Sad Goodbye
The series’ last episode is something that no viewer would ever forget; Little House on the Prairie ended with a tear-jerker TV movie, Little House:
The Last Farewell, aired on February 6, 1984. It was in the TV movie that the Ingalls civilians bid adieu—the property was destroyed; Walnut Grove went off the air with a literal bang, leading many to suffer nearly an emotional scar, not the least of who was Melissa Gilbert (Laura Ingalls).
Gilbert, reflecting on the event, recounted just how the dust winds will blow in the last days of filming: “It was the longest funeral I’d ever attended.”
Those last liquid scenes weren’t “actioned”; they were expressions of grief from the cast when they really looked at and said goodbye to the legacy created over nearly a decade in the beloved-not just in talent, but for personal relationships. This parting heavy carried Gilbert around after the cameras quit their work.
Michael Landon’s “F–k You” to NBC: The True Reason behind the Explosive Finale
One of the most shocking parts of the last episodes was the mass physical detonations that happened in-and then evaporated from-Walnut Grove. Really. Gilbert expressed in an interview that Landon was pissed at NBC for failing to announce formally that the network was pulling the plug on the series:
“He was so angry that NBC never called him to tell him the show was officially canceled.” It was against this backdrop that they blew up the set: a shriek of frustration by Landon, whose years had been committed to the network and felt terribly disrespected when its communication went kaput.
And deep down, there was no small matter of affections: they could not be disregarded for the set. Gilbert discerned the following from Landon: after the show’s finish, he talked about having the sets torn down.
absolutely nobody was going to use these sets for anything again, and he went as far as to say what he didn’t want was film clips to show up in Little House pornographic movies. The shoots were almost a reframing of their shared experiences and growth.
Losing Walnut Grove: The Final Farewell
It wasn’t just a symbolic explosion; it was emotional, too. As final filming wound to a close, the actors weren’t present when the explosives were set up; when they registered, they walked onto a set utterly destroyed. The action was comparable to seeing a home torn asunder because of natural disasters. The emptiness took deep root in their spirits for this sentimental moment in time, one of the times that refuse to let go of Gilbert even when the cameras aren’t rolling.
It could be read between the lines in the scene that such a kind of affected the people making the show, not just the actors: Gilbert cried that we are really witnessing during the movie. In a few watches of the last castings and crew standing amidst the devastation, each of them, cast to crew, melted down to tears.
Last Exploshun: Symbolism in the Explosions of the Church and Ingalls House
In the end, apart from most of Walnut Grove, which was destroyed, some of the most iconic structures were left standing. Gilbert said that the church was conserved not by chance: that church stood for congregation and belief, so it was important that the church remained as a sign of endurance of the Walnut Grove people both within the show and into real life. Another conservation, she guessed, was the Ingalls’ house left as a symbol of hope and survival. It was not far from what one would have done to an Ingalls family–famous for rising to the occasion after facing vicissitudes–in disassembling part by part: the pieces stored away. There was even an attempt to donate it to museums just like the Smithsonian Museum-that Cottage emblemized the travel of the Ingalls family to claim a home.
Little House‘s Dominance: A Still-Resonating TV Show
That legacy of Little House on the Prairie, in fact, stands solidly among only a few like it: while Nielsen has it alive and kicking as the most-streamed classic of 2024, the show was then revived. According to Nielsen, Peacock scored an astounding 13-odd billion minutes spent over the phenomenon of Little House.
Gilbert’s enthusiastic approval of Little House‘s new resurgence doesn’t surprise her: much of it comes as a result of the 50th anniversary’s and the present relevance of its themes. How she sees Little House as a sanctuary for civility and compassion in this climate of vitriol and bitterness echo only what most people are, word by word. Little House is also needed in today’s society, especially in its divided state.