Karen Grassle Movies

Among the students at the school for the blind where Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson) works is Tom Carlin (Brad Wilkin), whose taciturn (and sighted) farmer father, Frank (John Ireland), has given Tom up as a total loss. Hoping to build Tom's self-confidence, Mary arranges for Tom to play with the football team at the less affluent of Winoka's two schools. Ultimately, Tom triumphs during a crucial game between his school and the "rich" one across town -- while the Ingalls' foster son, Albert (Matthew Laborteaux), briefly pulls duty as a "human football." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this first episode of Little House on the Prairie's two-part season four finale, Mary Ingalls (Melissa Sue Anderson) is diverted from her blossoming romance with Seth (Robert Kenneally) by her rapidly failing eyesight. What Mary doesn't yet know, but her father Charles does, is that she will soon go completely and irreversibly blind. Once the tragic news is broken to her, Mary despairs: What other disasters does the future hold in store for her? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As a rite of passage, youngsters Albert Ingalls (Matthew Laborteaux) and Andy Garvey (Patrick Laborteaux) embark upon a camping trip to Sleepy Eye all by themselves. Though they don't wish to embarrass their sons, Charles Ingalls (Michael Landon) and Jonathan Garvey (Merlin Olsen) secretly tag along with Albert and Andy -- at a distance -- to make sure that the boys don't get into any trouble. Inevitably, it is Charles and Jonathan who find themselves in a mess, and Albert and Andy who end up the rescuers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Battered concentrates upon three female victims of spousal abuse. Chip Fields is the new wife of struggling young Levar Burton. Joan Blondell is the alcoholic middle-aged spouse of the equally bibilous Howard Duff. And Karen Grassle (who cowrote the screenplay) is married to Ivy leaguer Mike Farrell. While a bit too cut-and-dried, Battered handles the issues at hand with intelligence and an avoidance of sensationalism. Made for television, the film debuted September 26, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, 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

When the blind school at Winoka is sold by the bank, the people of Walnut Grove decide to establish a new school at the former home of Rev. Alden. Meanwhile, pompous Mrs. Oleson (Katherine MacGregor) is doing her best to keep Joe Kagan (Moses Gunn), a black man, from joining the town's church. As so often happens, Mrs. Oleson is due for an immensely satisfying comeuppance -- and it all hinges on her eagerness to meet the blind school's celebrated new teacher, Hester-Sue Terhune. This is the first episode of a two-part story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With Charles (Michael Landon) out of town on a job and her siblings elsewhere occupied, little Carrie Ingalls feels lonely and neglected. Her solution: to create an imaginary lookalike friend named Alyssa, and to embark on a series of thrilling adventures. In this special 90-minute episode, the role of Carrie, normally shared by twins Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush, is played by Lindsay alone, while Sidney is portrayed by Sidney -- the first time that both sisters ever appeared together onscreen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Young Joseph Stokes (Caesar Ramirez), the son of a Sioux Indian father and a white mother, arrives in Walnut Grove to live with his maternal grandfather, Jeremy (George Murdock). Unfortunately, Jeremy is still bitter over the fact that his daughter married an Indian, and treats his grandson with contempt. Things get worse for Joseph when he is subjected to the bigoted taunts of his schoolmates -- but the boy's integrity and inner strength prevails and wins the day. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After helping Doc Baker (Kevin Hagen) tend to a mountain fever epidemic in another town, Mr. Edwards (Victor French) returns to Walnut Grove, which has already been quarantined. Unwittingly, Edwards has brought the fever virus into town, and as a result, his adopted daughter falls seriously ill. The only person willing to help Edwards care for his daughter is the only person unaware of the quarantine: Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Laura (Melissa Gilbert) befriends a new schoolmate named Anna (Katy Kurtzman), who has a pronounced stutter. Hoping to humiliate Anna, bratty Nellie Oleson (Alison Arngrim) agrees not to snitch on Laura when the latter "borrows" and breaks one of the Olesons' precious music boxes -- but in return, Laura must agree to be mean to Anna. This is only the beginning of Nellie's nastiness in this particular episode -- but be assured that a delicious comeuppance awaits the little monster in the final scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While skinny-dipping with Laura (Melissa Gilbert) and Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson), little Ellen Taylor (Mia Bendixsen) accidentally drowns. Arriving at the Taylor home after the funeral to offer her condolences, Laura is kidnapped by Ellen's grieving mother, Eloise (Corinne Michaels), who is convinced that Laura is her own daughter, returned to life. As Laura languishes in the delusional woman's root cellar, her father, Charles (Michael Landon), conducts a frenzied search for the girl -- but is there any real hope for her rescue, so long as Mrs. Taylor refuses to face reality? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the opening episode of Little House on the Prairie's fourth season, Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert), grieving over the death of her beloved dog Jack, rejects the efforts by her father, Charles (Michael Landon), to replace her pet with a scruffy cast-off pooch named Bandit. Ultimately, however, Laura is made to realize the value of the "unwanted" in the world when she meets Kezia (Hermione Baddeley), an elderly eccentric who has moved into a burned-out shack and lives in a world of her own imagination. Merlin Olsen makes his first series appearance as farmer Jonathan Garvey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two worldly "land speculators" calling themselves Dankworth (Dennis Rucker) and Hobbs (John Bennett Perry) arrive in Walnut Grove. There is something decidedly strange about these two newcomers, especially since Hobbs is apparently suffering from a recent wound. By the time "Dankworth" and "Hobbs" are revealed to be the notorious outlaws Jesse and Frank James, the community is in the thrall of a tense hostage situation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide