Merlin Olsen Movies

In this action-drama, a crack team of transport specialists try to stop terrorists from hijacking an armored van filled with plutonium. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The two-hour pilot for the Father Murphy TV series first saw the light of a TV screen on November 3, 1981. Merlin Olsen plays John Michael Murphy, a muscle-bound frontiersman who gets in dutch with crooked town boss Burt DeBenning, who has eyes for Murphy's gold mine. When the town is destroyed, Murphy heads for the hinterlands, where he meets schoolmarm Mae Woodward (Katherine Cannon) and the orphans in her charge. To keep the orphans out of the workhouse, Murphy poses as a priest and pretends that they're his flock--and is forced to sustain his guise ever afterward. Well, not quite ever afterward, since Murphy and Mae Woodward were eventually married during the run of the Father Murphy series proper. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the first episode of a two-part story, Charles (Michael Landon) and Albert (Matthew Laborteaux) accompany the Cooper family while making a delivery. En route, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper are killed in an accident, leaving their children, James (Jason Bateman) and Cassandra (Missy Francis), orphans. Charles tries to find a suitable new home for the kids -- but when they refuse to be separated, he decides to keep them in his own home on a temporary basis (or so he thinks). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After many setbacks, Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert) finally marries Almanzo Wilder (Dean Butler) in the two-part opener of Little House on the Prairie's seventh season. Wedding bells also ring for Laura's childhood nemesis (but now good friend), Nellie Oleson (Alison Arngrim), who weds Percival Dalton (Steve Tracy) -- much to the horror of Nellie's status-climbing mother, Mrs. Oleson (Katherine MacGregor) when it is revealed that "Percival" is actually a Jewish boy named Isaac Cohen. Nellie herself resolves this problem by giving birth to twins, then announcing that one baby will be raised Christian, the other Jewish! Meanwhile, recently widowed Jonathan Garvey (Merlin Olsen) teams with Laura's dad, Charles Ingalls (Michael Landon), to set up a warehouse business headquartered in Sleepy Eye, the same town where Laura and Almanzo now live and work as teachers. Also, we are re-introduced to Laura's blind older sister, Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson), and her equally blind husband, Adam Kendall (Linwood Boomer), likewise employed as teachers. A freak accident restores Adam's sight, whereupon he decides to go to law school -- after first reassuring Mary that his ability to see will not in any way dim their love. As the season draws to a close, Laura finds that she is pregnant. And in the two-part season seven finale, "The Lost Ones," Charles Ingalls decides to adopt a brace of orphans, James and Cassandra Cooper (played respectively by Jason Bateman and Missy Francis). ~ Rovi

In the first episode of a two-part story, an accident unexpectedly restores Adam Kendall's (Linwood Boomer) eyesight. Although Adam is exultant, his still-blind wife, Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson), is worried that he will fall out of love with her. Meanwhile, Percival Dalton (Steve Tracy) proves to be more than a match for his ever-contentious mother-in-law, Harriet Oleson (Katherine MacGregor). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Veteran character actor Dub Taylor appears as old man Houston, who takes in a pair of blind youngsters who have run away from a local orphanage so that they won't be separated. Houston takes it upon himself to find a couple willing to adopt both orphans. But this proves well nigh impossible for one simple, tragic reason: One of the kids is mute as well as blind, and few potential foster parents are willing to shoulder this additional burden. "The Silent City" features an early performance by future Married...With Children co-star David Faustino. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the first episode of a two-part story, Almanzo (Dean Butler) asks Charles' permission to marry Laura (Melissa Gilbert), but Charles insists that she cannot wed until she is 18 -- two years from now. Upset that Laura concedes to her father's wishes, Almanzo leaves town. Meanwhile, Mrs. Oleson (Katherine MacGregor) hires a new restaurant worker named Percival Dalton (Steve Tracy) -- who promptly falls in love with Mrs. Oleson's daughter, Nellie (Alison Arngrim). And outside of Walnut Grove, Adam Kendall (Linwood Boomer), the husband of Laura's sister Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson), receives some discouraging news. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Newly certified as a schoolteacher, 16-year-old Laura (Melissa Gilbert) accepts a temporary teaching job in a nearby town. Almanzo (Dean Butler) offers to drive Laura to her new assignment -- a gesture made strictly out of friendship for the girl. But in the course of the journey, Almanzo suddenly realizes that he truly loves Laura. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Charles Bloom guest stars as Perley, the younger brother of Almanzo Wilder (Dean Butler). Hoping that his daughter Laura (Melissa Gilbert) will get over her infatuation with the older Almanzo, Charles (Michael Landon) encourages a romance between Laura and Perley -- but things changes dramatically when the careless Perley injures one of Almanzo's horses. Meanwhile, Laura's adoptive brother, Albert (Matthew Laborteaux), and Andy Garvey (Patrick Laborteaux) vie for the affections of pretty Penelope Parker (Stacy Sipes). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Alban Branton, a deaf child, makes his acting debut in the role of hearing-impaired Daniel Page. Taking it upon herself to teach Daniel sign language, Laura (Melissa Gilbert) never dreams that the boy will fall in love with her -- but that is precisely what happens. This dramatic situation is tempered somewhat by a comic subplot involving the mischievous Willie Oleson (Jonathan Gilbert) and his efforts to construct an elaborate doghouse for his favorite pooch, Bandit. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The first episode of Little House on the Prairie's two-part season-seven opener takes place some six months after the end of season six. Although Nellie Oleson (Alison Arngrim) has wed Percival Dalton (Steve Tracy), her childhood rival, Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert), must still wait until she is 17 before she can marry Almanzo Wilder (Dean Butler). Alas, Almanzo has been tricked into squandering all his money on a crooked land deal and must postpone the wedding even further -- and when Laura offers to help him out financially by taking a teaching job, he won't hear of it. Meanwhile, romance comes into the life of Almanzo's schoolmarm sister, Eliza Jane (Lucy Lee Flippin), in the form of hired hand Harv Miller (James Cromwell). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Hoping to contribute to the Ingalls' family coffers, young Albert (Matthew Laborteaux) becomes an apprentice to old Isaac Singerman (John Bleifer), Walnut Grove's coffin maker. Before long, Albert is subjected to the taunts of his classmates, who maliciously label him a "Jew lover." As it turns out, even the most bigoted citizens of Walnut Grove could stand to learn a lesson from the positive example set by Isaac and his brethren. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi