Today, we look at when (or if) you folks believe that Little House on the Prairie “jumped the shark.”
This is “Just Can’t Jump It,” a feature where we examine shows and whether they “jumped the shark.” Jumped the shark (coined by Jon Hein) means that the show had a specific point in time where, in retrospect, you realize that show was going downhill from there (even if, in some rare occasions, the show later course-corrected). Not every show DOES jump the shark. Some shows just remain good all the way through. And some shows are terrible all the way through. What we’re looking for are moments where a show that you otherwise enjoyed hit a point where it took a noticeable nose dive after that time and if so, what moment was that?
Little House on the Prairie was an acclaimed TV adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s stories of her experiences growing up in the Midwest in the late 19th century. The show was adapted by Michael Landon, who also starred in the series as Charles Ingalls, Laura’s father. Melissa Gilbert burst into stardom playing Laura.
So first…DID IT JUMP THE SHARK? I think so, yes.
WHEN DID IT JUMP THE SHARK This is tricky, because, perhaps more so than most other similar programs, Little House had a NUMBER of really bad episodes. It also had episodes that really jarred you out of the story, like the infamous “mime who raped Sylvia” in Season 7, but I think the show really fell off the track when it transformed into an “adult” Laura show, specifically with the over-the-top two-parter, “Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow” (which is three parts in syndication) in Season 8, which Gilbert herself feels is the time that the show jumped the shark. She noted, “In terms of ratings, it was that season’s savior. Viewers were riveted as Laura and Almanzo faced a tidal wave of disasters, maladies, and mishaps, a juggernaut of doom and gloom not seen since Noah said, ‘We’re gonna need a bigger boat.’ I contended that episode was when the show jumped the shark.”
That’s good enough for me (but I can be convinced that “Sylvia” might be the right answer, too)!
Let me know what you think in the comments or on social media!
Feel free to e-mail me at brian@popculturereferences.com for suggestions for shows for us to do in future installments!
Then there was the two-parter when Jason Bateman’s character was shot. A mysterious man called Elijah told Pa to build an altar on top of a mountain. I’m not going to spoil the ending, but it did make me, as a young boy, wonder what the heck was I watching.
There are too many to count, really. This was a series full of ridiculous episodes. The one where I recall giving up was the Halloween episode in Season 6, where it’s all Albert’s dream. Around that same time, Albert dressed up like a Werewolf to scare a bully or something. Looking back, I guess I never liked Albert. Ha!
I think it jumped with the introduction of Albert. He wasn’t a real person, nor in Laura’s books. They just added him because reasons. He was the Scrappy-Doo of LHOTP.
I am going to call it earlier. When outlaw Jesse James and his brother made a stopover in walnut grove and held Mary hostage. Major shark jumping.
Sylvia was a very disturbing episode to watch as a 10 year old (and it wasn’t that they were raped by a mime, but rather someone who wore a mask that made them look like a mime) but I think hyper-dramatic, uber gut wrenching stuff was Little House stock and trade. I kind of agree with Melissa Gilbert, but I think The Werewolf of Walnut Grove would be my pick for the worst moment in the series.
I never actually thought about this, but you’re right! “Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow” would’ve been a fine place to end it, because at that point, the show had exhausted every premise of the original book series-Laura was married with a child. And they covered every disaster of “The First Four Years” (Laura’s last book) in that one episode.