In my youth, my parents would constantly be revoking my TV privledges.  It was the all-purpose punishment for just about anything that went down.  Needless to say, I usually relied upon my books to keep me entertained.  So I read… I read ALOT.  From ages 7 to 10, I read Robert Louis Stevenson, Louisa May Alcott, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jules Verne, and whomever else I could get my hands on.  I got into Shakespeare when I was about 11… was bored stiff by Hemingway at 12… and took on the challenge of tackling Homer when I was 14.  However, there are only a few books that really stuck out in my mind as being "adventures that capture the imagination".

One such adventure that I read in my youth was "Little House on the Prairie" (the 3rd volume in the 9 book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder).  Yes… Little House.  It was good when I was a kid… and I look forward to reading it with my 3 daughters in a few years.  If you feel the need to start mocking… then most likely you haven’t read the book.  [Watching the 1970s TV series doesn't count... read the book(s).]

Don’t get me wrong.  Watching the ’70s series is fine… (even if it is named after the wrong novel.)  From time to time, I put it on for my 3 daughters (who refer to it simply as "The Farm Show").  I think Michael Landon (and everyone else associated with it) did a damn fine job of telling stories which taught eternal truths and moral family values, yet still managed to be entertaining.  (Many of my long time friends are probably now realizing that I might actually be a little deeper than I typically appear to be…. heheheh.)

And speaking of TV… that brings me to the purpose of this post.  Many of you are probably already aware of this, but just in case anyone out of the loop… the Wonderful World of Disney has re-made this story into a brand new mini-series.

"The Wonderful World of Disney: Little House on the Prairie" is a 6-hour mini-series which will be airing on ABC over the next 4 weeks.  The initial 2-hour installment will air on this Saturday (March 26th) at 8pm EST.  The subsequent 4 episodes will be 1 hour in length, and will be airing on April 2nd, 9th, 16th, and 23rd.

Gillian Flynn (Entertainment Weekly) has detailed that it will stay truer to the book than the 1974-83 series.  She states that it "is unnerving, darker than its predecessor, yet sensibly sweet (but mush- and moppet-free)."  Wonderful!

Marilyn Moss (The Hollywood Reporter) asks "after Landon, do we really need another "Little House"?  To Ms. Moss… Yes, we do.  I look forward to seeing an honest portrayal of this novel.  The original series was good… and tried to stay somewhat true to the books in the beginning, but soon took a sharp turn and went off on one heck of a tangent.

I welcome this new depiction of an old classic… hardships and all.  It is my sincere hope that my children’s interest and imagination are sparked by it.

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