Today marks the official 50th anniversary of “Little House on the Prairie” (LHOTP), which premiered on September 11, 1974. The beloved series, which aired until March 1983, continues to captivate audiences, streaming on various platforms, available on DVD, and also featured in reruns on cable channels.
Based on the “Little House” books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the show blends drama, melodrama, and comedy, weaving in stories and lessons about family values against a backdrop of historical themes. It captures the joys and hardships of pioneer life, focusing on the Ingalls family’s adventures on the prairie. Laura, played by actor Melissa Gilbert, serves as the central character, with much of the narrative unfolding through her perspective as she navigates growing up in a challenging yet heartwarming era.
As Little House approached it’s 50th year, a family reunion was planned for the Ingalls clan and their fans.
To celebrate the show’s 50th anniversary this year, many of the former cast members who are still alive have been involved in different events during the year starting off with a bang at the Simi Valley event in California in March which brought in more than 18,000 people from about three dozen countries for the cast reunion and three-day festival which was held not far from the Big Sky Ranch where most of the series was filmed.
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The actors who played Laura Ingalls, Caroline Ingalls, Almonzo Wilder and Nellie Oleson were, of course, crowd favorites. Gilbert said at the event about the crowd who was there to mingle with cast members who many considered “family” from their childhood, “There’s this continuity and sense of family. This is a giant family reunion.”
Many of the fans who went to the giant family reunion dressed up in pioneer garb, brought posters and gifts for the actors and some reportedly paid hundreds of dollars to get selfies with them. They paid dearly for tickets, air fare, hotel lodging, food and other incidentals – but to most of them, it was worth it. And although there were large crowds and long lines, the festival pretty much went off without a hitch without many complaints.
A big mess: fans fume Over 50th anniversary fiascos in Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
The same can’t be said about recent events in Lancaster, PA and Farmington, CT that were hosted by Jack Bishop of Gravel Road Markets, LLC. Across the different 50th Anniversary Little House Facebook pages, angry and disappointed fans commented on the disastrous planning of the events and they discussed having to stand out in 90 degree weather, some for as long as six hours, with little or no water and without bathrooms.
Many didn’t get to meet all of the cast members they planned to meet because they ran out of time. It also doesn’t look like any accommodations were made for the elderly with canes, walkers and wheelchairs to be given a special pass to get to the front of the line either.
What was promised to be a dream event ended up for many being an expensive nightmare. Fans who showed up to spend some special time with their favorite Little House actors were instead given a sense of betrayal, ending up on a “prairie” without any hope of rescue.
The events that were held by Gravel Road Markets, LLC, quickly gained an online reputation for logistical chaos, with fans complaining about being left high and dry in long lines, dealing with parking problems and suffering in what some called unbearable conditions.
Fans feel cheated after costly Little House experiences fall flat.
Many fans paid over $1,000 in tickets, transportation, lodging and other expenses for a VIP dinner, meet & greet, photos, and autographs at an event that only brought them sadness, disappointment and anger. Some called the trip a “bucket list” trip and a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity that they saved up for months to pay – others had planned the trip as a special birthday or anniversary trip.
The only saving grace was the wonderful cast, who the attendees said did everything they could to meet as many fans as possible and tried to “save” the event from total disaster – sometimes at their own inconvenience of not taking breaks, skipping meals and working to the point of exhaustion. Cast members were seen tired and hungry, signing autographs late into the evening, long past the event’s scheduled end.
Off the Prairie path: Future Little House events cancelled after cast cuts ties with promoter.
It’s not just those who went to the Gravel Road Markets events who are upset and angry though. Those who have been planning to attend their future events are also upset and dismayed because those events have been cancelled.
On September 6th, a joint statement from cast members including Melissa Gilbert (Laura Ingalls), Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson), Dean Butler (Almonzo Wilder) and 13 others announced that they would no longer participate in any events affiliated with the promoter, Gravel Road Markets.
The statement read, “After the disappointing events in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, effective immediately, we, the original cast of Little House on the Prairie, will no longer be affiliated with any events produced by Jack Bishop’s Gravel Road Markets, LLC. This decision was not made lightly but with compassion, concern, and great respect for the well-being of our multi-generational fans.”
A new additional statement on September 9th from the cast said that they empathized with Prairie fans who were disappointed by the “lack of organization and poor execution” event in CT and PA. and thanked their fans for supporting their decision. In the end, they said to stayed tuned for future fan events.
Prairie plans dashed with multiple cancellations.
The decision by the cast to cancel put the kibosh on upcoming events in places like Lyle, TN; Keystone, SD; Branson, MO, and Corsicana, TX, leaving many fans not just heartbroken but also out of pocket, with time off work wasted, travel plans needing to be cancelled and “Little House” costumes gathering dust in their suitcases.
While the Storytellers Hideaway Farm and Museum in Tennessee has stepped up to honor tickets for the September 14th & 15th event, fans are still fighting for refunds from Eventbrite and Gravel Road Markets, LLC – not always with success.
While the 50th anniversary of LHOTP began with the joy of a “family” reunion and hopes to share childhood memories with the cast members, it quickly soured as poorly organized events left fans frustrated with their experience.
What was meant to be a celebration turned into a cautionary tale of broken promises and dashed expectations. As fans scramble for refunds amid their canceled plans, the once-bright flame of nostalgia flickers, casting a shadow over what should have been a golden tribute to a beloved classic. Fans are left hoping the cast will partner with a new promoter soon, allowing their Little House dreams to finally come true.
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