(Ha ha, love, just kidding. I wanted to make sure I had your attention!)
I picked this DVD up at the library the other day on a whim, in preparation for the Great TV-Watching Marathon of 2007 (aka, me getting my tonsils removed). I am mildly familiar with the old Michael Landon version of Little House on the Prairie, but extremely familiar with the book series. In fact, I remember the day in fourth grade when I found out that those books were technically fiction. I still haven't gotten over the shock and disillusionment.
This new Disney version is nothing special. The production values are quite good and the acting is above-par. And perhaps the source material is partly at fault, but it seemed like the entire 4-hour drama went something like this:
- Cute prairie girls do cute pioneer things, until
- Something Very Bad or Scary happens, and then
- Girls get sent into the house, often "right now!"
- Pa takes care of it, unless he's in town getting supplies, in which case Ma takes care of it.
- Girls continue to play pioneerily, until
- There is something Very Bad or Scary to talk about, adults only, and then
- Girls get sent into the house to "wash up" or "get supper on" or "do chores."
I actually liked it more than it sounds like I did. But probably not as much as Jeremy.
Because through a Vicodin-induced oversight, I had my mom return the DVD to the library before he was done watching it (I didn't even know he was watching it). On Sunday morning, when I woke up, I found out that late on Saturday night, he had called Blockbuster to see if they had it in stock, gone there, spent time looking for it, swallowed his massive male pride and asked an employee for help (but I heard he said it was his mother-in-law who wanted it), and then spent $4.00 to rent it.
I hope it was worth the trouble, Jeremy. You'll have to let us all know.