Readers may remember I possess an archive of flotsam from the Walnut Groovy Awards, the annual Little House celebration held every summer during the show’s original run. (If you’re thinking of looking the Groovies up, don’t even bother. Because in this age of AI-distorted, -supplanted, -suppressed and -forgotten knowledge, who knows what to trust anymore?)Continue reading “EXTRA: The 1980 Walnut Groovy Awards”
Author Archives: willkaiser
“He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” (Part Two)
Alamanzy! Alamanzy!; or It’s a Christmas Miracle, Susan Goodspeed (a recap by Will Kaiser) Title: “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” [sic] Airdate: May 12, 1980 Written and directed by Michael Landon SUMMARY IN A NUTSHELL: Journeys end in lovers meeting, and so does Season Six as it draws to a joyous close. Editor’sContinue reading ““He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” (Part Two)”
“He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” (Part One)
New York CITY?!; or It Took a Gay Guy To Teach Nels To Be a Man (a recap by Will Kaiser) Title: “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” [sic] Airdate: May 5, 1980 Written and directed by Michael Landon SUMMARY IN A NUTSHELL: Almanzo shows his true colors when Pa insists Laura can’t marryContinue reading ““He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” (Part One)”
Sweet Sixteen
That’s Professor Pint To You; or Two Girls, One Churn? (a recap by Will Kaiser) Title: Sweet Sixteen Airdate: February 25, 1980 Written by John T. Dugan Directed by Michael Landon SUMMARY IN A NUTSHELL: Suddenly and magically, Laura becomes a grown-up woman teacher, which inexplicably makes Almanzo fall in love with her. Guest-starring theContinue reading “Sweet Sixteen”
Second Spring
Crazy Wife, Crazy Life; or Why Don’t You Just Move to Fucking Chicago, Nels (a recap by Will Kaiser) Title: Second Spring Airdate: February 18, 1980 Written by John T. Dugan Directed by William F. Claxton SUMMARY IN A NUTSHELL: Nels has an honest-to-God affair with the fake-Irish lass to end all fake-Irish lasses. (HeContinue reading “Second Spring”
Wilder and Wilder
It’s a Beef Butt Roast; or Almanzo Furioso (a recap by Will Kaiser) Title: Wilder and Wilder Airdate: February 11, 1980 Written by John T. Dugan Directed by Maury Dexter SUMMARY IN A NUTSHELL: Half the town goes sex-crazy when Almanzo’s puke of a little brother comes to visit and a new student matriculates. (ZeroContinue reading “Wilder and Wilder”
“May We Make Them Proud” (Part Two)
The Nineteenth-Century Betty Hazelden; or Nellie, You’re Letting This Place Go to the Dogs (a recap by Will Kaiser) Title: “May We Make Them Proud” [sic] Airdate: February 4, 1980 Written and directed by Michael Landon SUMMARY: Mary has lost her marbles with grief, so the show locks her in a hotel room to focusContinue reading ““May We Make Them Proud” (Part Two)”
“May We Make Them Proud” (Part One)
“She’ll Be Fine”; or Mary’s Baby Was Ugly . . . But Not Too Ugly to Live! (a recap by Will Kaiser) Title: “May We Make Them Proud” [sic] Airdate: February 4, 1980 Written and directed by Michael Landon SUMMARY IN A NUTSHELL: [screams uncontrollably] RECAP: We live in bad times, everybody. We’re down inContinue reading ““May We Make Them Proud” (Part One)”
Silent Promises
It Must Be Hard to Ghost Somebody in Walnut Grove; or The Deafisode? (a recap by Will Kaiser) Title: Silent Promises Airdate: January 28, 1980 Written by Carole and Michael Raschella Directed by Maury Dexter SUMMARY IN A NUTSHELL: Laura teaches herself ASL in about ten minutes to help socialize a deaf teenager, who thenContinue reading “Silent Promises”
“Darkness is My Friend”
A House Call From Chuck Baker; or Does Pa Sneak Some Morphine Home for Albert? (a recap by Will Kaiser) Title: “Darkness is My Friend” [sic] Airdate: January 21, 1980 Written by Vince R. Gutierrez Directed by Michael Landon SUMMARY IN A NUTSHELL: When the Blind School is invaded by murderers, Mary, Laura, and PaContinue reading ““Darkness is My Friend””
Walnut Groovy 