Melissa Gilbert Movies

In this episode of the popular television series Little House on the Prairie, Johnny Cash and June Carter guest star as Caleb Hodgkiss and his wife, Mattie. Rev. Alden (Dabbs Greer) falls ill while soliciting donations in Walnut Grove, and travelers Caleb and Mattie come to his aid. But as Mattie nurses the reverend back to health, Caleb, a former convict, follows Alden's route, posing as a man of the cloth and collecting money he intends to keep for himself. However, as he gets to know Alden's parishioners and becomes aware of their kindness and concern, he begins to have a change of heart. The debut episode of the show's third season, "The Collection" first aired on September 27, 1976. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Ernest Borgnine guests stars as a mountain hermit named Jonathan in this two-hour episode. Though she is a bit jealous of her new baby brother, Laura (Melissa Gilbert) is horror-stricken when the infant dies. Feeling somehow responsible for this tragedy, Laura runs away from home and climbs a mountain, hoping to get "closer to God." As Charles (Michael Landon) conducts a frantic search for Laura, wise old Jonathan takes a compassionate hand in the matter. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When Laura (Melissa Gilbert) adopts a baby raccoon whom she names Jasper, Charles (Michael Landon) gently warns her that the animal may not ever be domesticated. Things take a perilous turn when Jacob bites both Laura and another child and escapes into the woods. With the animal nowhere to be found, there is no way of telling whether or not the children have contacted rabies. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Little Olga Nordstrom (Kim Richards) is left out of her classmates' gangs because one of her legs is shorter than the other. After twisting her own ankle, Laura (Melissa Gilbert) awakens to Olga's plight and befriends the lonely girl. Convinced that Olga would have a happier time of it if she could "keep up" with the other kids, Laura persuades Charles (Michael Landon) to build Olga an elevated shoe -- an act of kindness that is greeted with outrage by Olga's father (Jan Merlin). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Mitch Vogel, who previously co-starred with Michael Landon in Bonanza, joins the cast as Johnny Johnson, the shy new schoolmate of Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert). Developing a crush on the much-older Johnny, Laura does everything she can to capture his attention. Imagine her dismay when Johnny expresses a preference for a girl closer to his own age: Laura's sister Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Ingalls' first wheat crop is wiped out by a hailstorm, which also devastates the neighboring farms. This catastrophe forces Charles (Michael Landon) and his fellow farmers to leave town and seek out other work. While the menfolk of Walnut Grove are all laboring at a faraway quarry, it is up to the women left behind to harvest what is left of their crops -- an experience that serves to bring the Ingalls girls even closer together. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the series' first holiday episode, the Ingalls family tries to purchase Christmas gifts with what little money they have on hand. Working in secret, the individual family members rely upon their own ingenuity to put together a proper Yuletide. In the end, it is Laura (Melissa Gilbert) who best exemplifies the Christmas spirit by making a great sacrifice for the sake of her mother. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Preparing for a special scholarship exam, Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson) squirrels herself away in the family barn overnight. When she accidentally sets a fire in the barn, Mary is punished by Caroline (Karen Grassle), who tells her that she can't take the exam. But how will Mary break this news to her teacher Miss Beadle (Charlotte Stewart)? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Its premise established by a two-hour TV movie in March of 1974, Little House on the Prairie begins its first season with Wisconsin farmer Charles Ingalls (Michael Landon), his wife, Caroline (Karen Grassle), and daughters Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson), Laura (Melissa Gilbert), and Carrie (Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush) living in the town of Walnut Grove, MN, in the mid-1870s. Money is tight, so Charles must seek out other sources of income, including a job at the town mill owned by Lars Hanson (Karl Swenson). Caroline is pregnant again, but ultimately loses the baby. Mary and Laura attend school for the first time in their lives, under the tutelage of the firm but fair Miss Beadle (Charlotte Stewart). Town gossip and self-styled social arbiter Harriet Oleson (Katherine MacGregor), wife of good-natured storekeeper Nels Oleson (Richard Bull), is determined to disgrace the Ingalls so that they'll leave town, while her bratty daughter, Nellie (Alison Arngrim), endeavors to make life miserable for the Ingalls girls -- though her schemes invariably backfire (both Harriett and Nellie are more villainous and less buffoonish than they'd be in later seasons). As the Ingalls meet and make friends with the other townsfolk, Charles welcomes an old acquaintance to Walnut Grove: hard-drinking Isaiah Edwards (Victor French, not yet a series regular but merely a recurring character), whose curmudgeonly ways soften when he meets and falls in love with townswoman Grace Snider (Bonnie Bartlett). Guest stars during season one include Red Buttons as a sideshow huckster; Anne Archer as Harriet Oleson's niece Kate, who briefly falls for town medico Dr. Baker (Jonathan Gilbert), and, in the poignant two-part episode "The Lord Is My Shepherd," Ernest Borgnine as a rough-hewn mountaineer who rescues the runaway Laura. Their triumphs outweighing their tragedies at the end of the season, the Ingalls and the townsfolk close out the year with a riotous Frontier's Day celebration. ~ Rovi

At last year's annual baseball game with the Sleepy Eye Greenstockings, the Walnut Grove team lost 36 to nothing. Determined to avenge this humiliation, the men of Walnut Grove have placed their hopes in the hands of ace pitcher Jebediah Mumfort (Karl Lukas). The town goes so far as to plunk down huge wagers on the outcome of the game -- whereupon Mumfort is forbidden from playing by his wife, Margaret (June Dayton), a staunchly religious woman who despises all forms of gambling. It is up to Caroline Ingalls (Karen Grassle) to save the day. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Ingalls family cannot understand why the hard-working Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson) is falling behind in school. In turns out that Mary's eyesight is failing and she needs glasses. When she is teased as "four-eyes" by the other students, Mary contrives to lose her new spectacles, but then learns a valuable lesson from her equally myopic teacher Mrs. Beadle (Charlotte Stewart). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the conclusion of a two-part story, Charles (Michael Landon) continues seeking out good homes for the orphaned Sanderson children. Mr. Edwards (Victor French) would like to adopt all three kids, but there's one hitch: He's a bachelor. Undaunted, Edwards solves the problem by proposing to the Widow Snider (Bonnie Bartlett), thereby setting the stage for the episode's heartwarming denouement. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Laura (Melissa Gilbert) hopes that Henry Henderson (Clay O'Brien) will take her to the spring dance. Similarly, Grace Snider (Bonnie Bartlett) is waiting for Mr. Edwards (Victor French) to ask her to the big event. But when neither man extends an invitation, Laura and Grace conspire to make their respective boyfriends jealous -- little realizing that the true cause of their "wallflower" status is their own feminine stubbornness. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi