A Brand-New Trailer for Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie Series Just Dropped—And We Are Feeling Totally Nostalgic
Raise your hand if you raced home from school in the 1980s to watch Little House on the Prairie reruns. Or plopped on the living room rug before bed to watch the original series, which ran on NBC from 1974 to 1983. If you’re like me, you did both, but the real draw of the Ingalls family, for me anyway, came from the books.
I still reread them every few years, and when I moved to Minnesota 25 years ago, one of the first things I did was sign up for a 10-mile race through the Big Woods near Pepin, Wisconsin. As fans know, that’s where Laura and her family lived before the sounds of too many ax swings prompted them to push off in search of a new life.
Well, Half-Pint fans, the long-awaited Netflix reboot of the celebrated classic is finally here, and the trailer just dropped. I admit I felt a twinge of sadness that sweet Michael Landon is no longer with us, and Melissa Gilbert’s feisty little Laura exists only in my memory, but you guys, this reboot looks good!
Read on to learn what we know about the new show, what changes are in store and what people are saying about it.
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What did the trailer reveal?
The trailer sets the scene for the series, which covers the third book (appropriately titled Little House on the Prairie) in the Ingalls-Wilder family saga. It opens with a shot of Ma, Pa, Mary and Laura in a covered wagon (accompanied by Jack, their beloved dog that walked alongside the entire way) and a voiceover that paints a picture of their new life in Kansas: no church, no school, no post office. “It’s so small,” Ma says.
We see scenes of the family settling in to a bustling frontier life: Pa chopping down trees and playing his fiddle, Laura daydreaming among the tall grass and plenty of clashes (and community) among the townspeople. There are also glimpses of storylines to come, including one that hints at a deeper dive into conflicts with Native American tribes—something that the books and original show have been criticized for glossing over.
What do we know about the series so far?
The first season will follow the Ingalls as they set up outside of Independence, Kansas. “It’s about people deciding who they want to be, and it’s about people looking for a better life,” showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine told Netflix. “It leans into the idea that it’s never too late to do that.” The series stars Crosby Fitzgerald as Caroline (Ma), Luke Bracey as Charles (Pa), Skywalker Hughes as Mary, and Alice Halsey as Laura.
But Sonnenshine said the series will go deeper than the original books and show, bringing in perspectives beyond Laura’s and getting to know the people who already inhabit the “free” land the Ingalls family is homesteading. The show partnered with Osage scholar and University of Kansas professor Robert Warrior to make sure their stories are told accurately and realistically.
We will be “seeing them as husbands and wives and mothers and cousins and sisters,” not just as background characters. “They had one foot, some of them, in this world of America that sprung up around them and a foot in their own culture,” Sonnenshine said. “I feel like that is very relatable for lots of people.”
How closely will it stick to the original series?
It sounds like it will be thematically similar but with key changes. We will see the Ingalls’s family life, just like in the original series, as well as the perils of life on the prairie, including fires, fevers and wild animals. But the focus will expand beyond the homestead. “It was very important that we have a family to mirror our Ingalls family,” Sonnenshine said. “A family that was also trying to figure out what the best future for them was and what that future looks like.”
That mirror will be an Osage family, consisting of father Mitchell (Meegwun Fairbrother), mother White Sun (Alyssa Wapanatâhk) and daughter Good Eagle (Wren Zhawenim Gotts). “If you’re going to tell the story, then you need to tell both sides,” she told Netflix. Season 1 will tackle issues like predatory land deals, Indian removal treaties and the railroads that will soon cut through Osage lands.
But Sonnenshine is quick to point out that it’s not all heavy political issues and emotional drama. “All those things were interesting to portray with these characters who are so funny,” Sonnenshine said. “That marriage is very loving, and their daughter is also a little bit of a disruptor, like Laura.”
And for people looking for Laura’s frenemy Nellie Oleson and her mother, Margaret, well, you’ll have to wait until Season 2 for that. Yep, the series has already been renewed, and Nellie, originally (and delightfully) played by Alison Arngrim, will be played by Willa Dunn.
What are fans saying?
Reactions to the trailer, and the overall concept of a reboot, are cautiously optimistic. Over on Reddit, some fans are ecstatic, others are wary—but most are on board. And some are just downright funny.
- “I am looking forward to it. I just hope it is not Netflixy—overly slick and constantly restating the plot,” said one commenter on Reddit. “Netflix is good at melodrama so that gives me hope!”
- “I normally am a snob about remakes, and I LOVE the original, so I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I am looking forward to this one,” said another.
- “I hope they explain the fancy bonnets,” said a third.
Overall, it seems that many fans are looking forward to a dose of good, old-fashioned nostalgia. “I love the Landon series overall, and look forward to this new version,” said a fan of the original NBC show. “The original series is childhood nostalgia for me, and maybe this will be it for a new generation of families.”
When is the series coming out?
Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie premieres July 9, and will drop all eight episodes at once.
Little House on the Prairie
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Sources:
- Netflix: “The Little House on the Prairie Trailer Expands Laura Ingalls’s World”
- Deadline: “Rachelle Lefevre & Charlotte Sullivan Join ‘Little House on the Prairie’ Season 2 at Netflix”
- Reddit: “First official trailer for Netflix’s ‘Little House on the Prairie'”
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