As most of you know, I love the Little House on the Prairie series. There are two things that bother me, though. They are questions about continuity. In these two instances, the storyline is badly broken. Since the series is based upon the writings of the real Laura Ingalls Wilder, surely these must just be mistakes made by the show's writers (?)
First, the 1974 episode Mr. Edwards' Homecoming, features the Ingalls' old friend Isaiah Edwards. He is a widower whose whole family had died of anthrax years before he met the Ingalls. Now, he comes to Walnut Grove and is still like before, lovin' to drink and spit tobacco, frequenting the saloons [of which there are none in Walnut Grove]. OK. Caroline Ingalls starts match-making him with the widow Grace Snider and they eventually marry in the 1975 episode Remember Me Part 2 and adopt a dying woman's 3 children Alicia, John, and Carl. That makes sense so far. Then, later on another episode, 1979's The Return of Mr. Edwards, Mr. Edwards is injured in a tree falling accident and the Ingalls visit and help Mr. Edwards and his family. Still makes sense. BUT, in later episodes, Mr. Edwards is a single, drinkin' spittin' burly man once again. Where did Grace and the kids go? Plus, after they adopted the 3 orphans, from then on Carl is not mentioned, and the Edwards have only 2 children, Alicia and John. What about the other child, Carl? Did I miss something? THEN in the 1982 episode Love Mr. Edwards falls in love with a much younger blind girl. WHAT the hey is going on? Is Edwards single, a widower twice, or what? "Ole Dan Tucker" seems quite ambiguous, doesn't he? Please continue reading...
Second, in the 1981 episode The Nephews, Laura and Almanzo are already married, and Almanzo's brother Royal and his wife Millie trick Laura and Almanzo into keeping their 2 unruly sons Myron and Rupert for a week. One of my favorite episodes, when Rupert belches out loud in church! So funny! Yes, you're thinking what do I not understand. This is it: On a later episode, Settling In Part 2 (1982) Royal comes to visit and he is very elderly and has been a widower since young daughter Jenny was a baby. Laura and Almanzo adopt Jenny because Royal is dying. WHERE are Royal's wife Millie and their 2 sons Rupert and Myron? Any info would be appreciated.
Danice G.
4 comments:
I'm sure like most movies made from books things are left out or things that never happened are added for movie ratings and not true to the real story line.
Wow...lots of questions and I am a die-hard fan of Little House, so I will try to help.
Mr. Edwards and Grace were indeed married and adopted the children of the widow. In a much later episode, Mr. Edwards and Grace parted ways and eventually divorced. I cannot recall what prompted the separation at this moment...it was something major which created a rift between them that was unsolvable (at least in TV land). The oldest boy, Carl, grew up and went away to college, as far as I remember, leaving the two younger ones.
I do feel there was a slight problem with the part of Royal as well. He did 'age' rather quickly from the one episode with the terrible boys, to the next one with just Jenny...and most people probably didn't even notice...except us die-hard fans. As far as this part of your question, you were right about the inconsistencies.
Hope this helps Danice - lol Have a good weekend
What separated Grace and Mr.Edwards was when adopted son John was off in NY working and was murdered, I just remembered.
BTW, that was a young Shannon Doughtery playing Jenny.
All of these years later, misspelled that name. The actresses' name is spelled: Shannen Doherty. Apologies for that error.
Post a Comment