Lindsay Greenbush Movies

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). ~ All Movie Guide

Devastating financial reverses, prompted by the closing of the town mill, force several Walnut Grove citizens to pack up and move out as Little House on the Prairie enters it fifth season. Among those leaving are Charles Ingalls (Michael Landon), his wife, Caroline (Karen Grassle), and their younger daughters Laura (Melissa Gilbert), Carrie (Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush), and Grace (Wendi and Brenda Turnbaugh). Charles has decided to move his family closer to eldest daughter Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson), now attending a school for the blind in Winoka, Dakota Territory. As luck (and the scriptwriters) would have it, the Ingalls' neighbors the Garveys and the Olesons likewise relocate to Winoka. Upon their arrival, the Ingalls take in an orphan named Albert (Patrick Laborteaux), who returns with the family to Walnut Grove after an unexpected financial windfall enables the Ingalls, the Garveys, and the Olesons to go back where they feel they belong. This necessitates a few rousing episodes wherein the neighbors pitch together to rebuild Walnut Grove, which in their absence has fallen into a sad state of disrepair. At the same time, the Winoka blind school closes, whereupon Mary and her teacher-fiancé Adam Kendall (Linwood Boomer) set up a new school at Walnut Grove. To this end, they hire a teacher named Hester-Sue Terhune (Ketty Lester) who, much to the dismay of status- and race-conscious social arbiter Mrs. Oleson (Katherine MacGregor), turns out to be a black woman -- and who, to the surprise of absolutely no one except Mrs. Oleson, possesses more class, sophistication, and intelligence than all the Olesons combined! The two-part "Blind Journey," in which Hester-Sue is introduced, is followed by another superb episode touching upon racial prejudice, "The Craftsman," which finds young Albert befriending an elderly Jewish merchant. Season five ends with "The Odyssey," a poignant story in which Albert and Laura run away from home to keep company with their young friend, a boy dying of leukemia. ~ All Movie Guide

Victor French and Bonnie Bartlett, heretofore guest stars in the roles of Isaiah and Grace Edwards, graduate to regular status as Little House on the Prairie enters its third season. The opening episode, "The Collection," features country legend Johnny Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, in the story of a reprobate who is reformed by the kindness and generosity of the Walnut Grove townsfolk -- including farmer Charles Ingalls (Michael Landon), his wife, Caroline (Karen Grassle), and daughters Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson) and Laura (Melissa Gilbert). In other season-three developments, Mary falls in love with the Edwards' adopted son; bratty Nellie Oleson (Alison Arngrim) continues pulling off nasty and spiteful pranks, including pretending to be paralyzed after a fall from Laura's pony; and in the 90-minute episode "The Hunters," Charles nearly loses his life in a hunting accident. Also, the season features a brace of compelling two-part stories: "Journey in the Spring," highlighted by a flashback to Charles' childhood, and "To Live With Fear," in which Charles takes an extremely risky job to finance the operation that will save daughter Mary. The season ends with yet another two-parter, "Gold Country," in which Charles and his family try to compensate for the loss of their crops by prospecting for gold. ~ All Movie Guide

This pilot for the long-running (1972-1982) family series stars all the regulars-to-be and spends half its length setting up character, setting, and mood. As with the series, the story is told from the viewpoint of Laura Ingalls Wilder (played by Melissa Gilbert), upon whose novels the film was based. In addition to delineating the usual travails facing 19th century Minnesota farmer Charles Ingalls (Michael Landon), his wife, Caroline (Karen Grassle), and the rest of the Ingalls brood, the Little House on the Prairie pilot throws in surly Indians and a prairie fire as extra added attractions. Virtually thrown away by NBC, which scheduled the film opposite CBS' powerhouse Saturday night lineup (Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, et al.), Little House on the Prairie created a respectable enough dent in the ratings to encourage pursuing the project as a fall series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After a young mother is diagnosed with terminal bone cancer, she begins writing a journal containing her most heartfelt thoughts. It is to be her legacy to her beloved husband and daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide