Little House on the Prairie (TV series)

• Michael Landon as Charles Ingalls (seasons 1–8, guest in 9, two post-series movies)
• Karen Grassle as Caroline Quiner Ingalls (seasons 1–8, one post-series movie)
• Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls Wilder (seasons 1-9, three post-series movies)
• Melissa Sue Anderson as Mary Ingalls Kendall (seasons 1–7, guest in 8)
• Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush as Carrie Ingalls (seasons 1–8)
• Matthew Labyorteaux as Albert (Quinn) Ingalls (seasons 5–9, one post-series movie)
• Richard Bull as Nels Oleson (seasons 1-9, three post-series movies)
• Katherine MacGregor as Harriet Oleson (seasons 1-9)
• Alison Arngrim as Nellie Oleson Dalton (seasons 1-7, guest in 9)
• Jonathan Gilbert as Willie Oleson (seasons 1-9, two post-series movies)
• Victor French as Mr. Edwards (seasons 1–3, guest in 6, 8–9, three post-series movies)
• Bonnie Bartlett as Grace Snider Edwards (seasons 1–3, guest in 6)
• Kevin Hagen as Dr. Hiram Baker (seasons 1-9, three post-series movies)
• Dabbs Greer as Rev. Robert Alden (seasons 1-9, two post-series movies)
• Charlotte Stewart as Eva Beadle Simms (seasons 1–4)
• Karl Swenson as Lars Hanson (seasons 1–5)
• Radames Pera as John (Sanderson, Jr.) Edwards (seasons 2-4)
• Brian Part as Carl (Sanderson) Edwards (seasons 2-3)
• Kyle Richards as Alicia (Sanderson) Edwards (seasons 2–3, guest in 6, 8)
• Merlin Olsen as Jonathan Garvey (seasons 4–7)
• Hersha Parady as Alice Garvey (seasons 4–6)
• Patrick Labyorteaux as Andrew "Andy" Garvey (seasons 4–7)
• Linwood Boomer as Adam Kendall (seasons 4–7, guest in 8)
• Ketty Lester as Hester-Sue Terhune (seasons 5–9)
• Wendi and Brenda Turnbaugh as Grace Ingalls (seasons 5–8)
• Dean Butler as Almanzo Wilder (seasons 6–9, three post series movies)
• Lucy Lee Flippin as Eliza Jane Wilder (season 6, guest in 7 & 8 )
• Allison Balson as Nancy Oleson (seasons 8 & 9, three post-series movies)
• Jason Bateman as James (Cooper) Ingalls (seasons 7 & 8)
• Melissa Francis as Cassandra (Cooper) Ingalls (seasons 7 & 8)
• Shannen Doherty as Jenny Wilder (season 9, three post-series movies)
• Steve Tracy as Percival Dalton (season 6 & 7)
• Stan Ivar as John Carter (season 9)
• David Friedman as Jason Carter (season 9)
• Lindsay Kennedy as Jeb Carter (season 9)
• Pamela Roylance as Sarah Reed Carter (season 9)

Many actors, who were either well-known or went on to become famous, guest-starred on the show.

When Michael Landon decided to stop acting on the show, and stay on only as an executive producer and occasional writer and director, season nine was renamed. The focus was put on the characters of Laura and Almanzo, and more characters were added to the cast. A new family, the Carters (Stan Ivar as John, Pamela Roylance as Sarah, Lindsay Kennedy as older son Jeb, and David Friedman as younger son Jason), move into the Ingalls house. Meanwhile, Almanzo and Laura take in their niece, Jenny Wilder, when Almanzo's brother dies and raise her alongside their daughter, Rose. The Wilders appear prominently in some episodes, while in others they appear only in early scenes used to introduce the story or its characters. The explanation given for the original characters' absence was that they moved to Burr Oak, Iowa, to pursue a promising life. The show lost viewers, and this version of the series was canceled after one season. However, the show lived on for another 1.5 years in movie format.

The series finale Hello and Goodbye, in which Laura and Almanzo finish renovating the late Mrs. Flannery's home into a boardinghouse and start to take in residents, was meant as a backdoor pilot for an entirely new spinoff alongside what was supposed to have been another few seasons of the original show.

In that episode, Mr. Edwards moved in after his mute son Matthew left with his father and he realized that not only was his cabin falling down, it was situated a considerable distance from all his friends.

Willie and Rachel, wanting their own space and to be out from under Harriet's thumb in the rooming house upstairs of the hotel / restaurant elected to move in with Laura and Almanzo as well, while Willie cooked and ran the restaurant with Rachel.

Writer Sherwood Montague rounded out the ensemble and the show was supposed to have covered his attempts to bring sophistication to Walnut Grove, but low viewership led to cancellation of both the main show as well as the intended spinoff.

The three movie specials listed below were produced to tie up loose ends to storylines on both the main series, as well as those that were opened up in Hello and Goodbye.

Three made-for-television post-series movies followed during the 1983–84 television season: Little House: Look Back to Yesterday (1983), Little House: The Last Farewell (1984), and Little House: Bless All the Dear Children (1984).

In The Last Farewell, Charles and Caroline decide to visit Walnut Grove. They learn that a railroad tycoon actually holds the deed to the township, and he wants to take it over for his own financial gain. Despite their best efforts, the townspeople are unable to drive the businessman away. At a town meeting, John Carter offers a supply of explosives that he has. Each man takes a turn blowing up his own building in an emotional farewell to the town.[4]

When asked why the set was blown up, the show's producer, Kent McCray, said that when the series started, he made an agreement with the property owners that at the end of the series he would put the acreage back to its original state. When the production crew were estimating the cost of dismantling all the buildings, Michael Landon thought for a while and said, "What if we blow up the town? That would get the buildings all in pieces and you can bring in your equipment to pick up the debris and cart it away." He then said that he would write it where they blow up all the buildings, except for the little house and the church. Both McCray and Landon wept as the town blew up.[5]

Bless All the Dear Children was filmed prior to The Last Farewell, but ended up being the last of the three movies to air.[6] Given its Christmas-related content, NBC opted to air it during the following Christmas season.

Two other Little House movies were made in conjunction with the Landon series: the 1974 pilot for the program and The Little House Years (1979), a Thanksgiving special/clip show that aired in the middle of season six.

• Season 1 (1974–75): No. 13[7]
• Season 2 (1975–76): Not in top 30[8]
• Season 3 (1976–77): No. 15
• Season 4 (1977–78): No. 7[9]
• Season 5 (1978–79): No. 14[10]
• Season 6 (1979–80): No. 16[11]
• Season 7 (1980–81): No. 10[12]
• Season 8 (1981–82): No. 24 (tied with: The Facts of Life)
• Season 9 (1982–83): No. 28

• 1978: Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography in Entertainment Programming for a Series, Ted Voigtlander, episode "The Fighter"[13]
• 1979: Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Series, Ted Voigtlander, episode "The Craftsman"[13]
• 1979: Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series, David Rose, episode "The Craftsman"
• 1980: TP de Oro, Spain, Mejor Actriz Extranjera (Best Foreign Actress), Melissa Sue Anderson
• 1981: Western Writers of America Spur Award for Best TV Script, Michael Landon, episode "May We Make Them Proud"
• 1982: Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore), David Rose, episode "He Was Only Twelve" (Part 2)
• 1983: Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a Drama Series, Melissa Gilbert
• 1984: Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a Drama Series, Melissa Gilbert

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, La Casa de la Pradera (Little House on the Prairie) was one of Spanish Television's most popular series. In 1976 Karen Grassle (Caroline Quiner Ingalls) won Spanish television's prestigious TP de Oro award for best foreign actress, and the series itself won for best foreign series; Melissa Sue Anderson (Mary Ingalls) won the TP de Oro in 1980 thanks in part to the enhanced profile she received as a result of her visit to Spain and her appearance on Spanish Television's 625 Lineas program in early 1979. The continued popularity of the show led to the appearance of Katherine MacGregor (Harriet Oleson) on 625 Lineas and Ding Dong in 1980.

The show remains popular in syndicated reruns and has been on the air in the U.S. continuously since its original run. In addition to airing on local stations, it has been airing multiple times each day on INSP[14] and Hallmark Channel.[15] In the past, it has aired on TV Land and TBS. Currently, the show is airing on Cozi TV weekdays.

In the U.S., television syndication rights are currently owned by NBCUniversal Television Distribution. Originally, NBC licensed these rights to Worldvision Enterprises, since networks could not own syndication arms at the time. As a result of corporate changes, Paramount Domestic Television would inherit the rights via Spelling Entertainment, and NBCUniversal re-acquired the rights in the mid-2000s because the fin-syn rules were repealed in 1993. In Canada, reruns of the series began airing weeknights on CTS, a Christian-based network, as of September 1, 2008.

Because of its historical context and its connection to the book series, it is deemed acceptable for use by the FCC to meet federal E/I programming guidelines. The show is typically stripped (run five days a week) in syndication, which is enough to completely cover a TV station's E/I requirements and more.

NBC owns ancillary rights and thus is the worldwide licensor for DVD rights as well. Sister company NBCUniversal Television Distribution also distributes the series internationally.

The entire series has been released on standard-definition DVD, high-definition Blu-ray, and on both standard and high-definition Digital Copy. In addition, some individual episodes have been released on DVD and VHS. Starting with Season 7, the Blu-ray's are only available exclusively through Amazon.com.

There are multiple DVD sets which are noticeably different from one another. The original DVD sets sold in the U.S. and Canada were released under license from NBCUniversal by Imavision Distribution, a company based in Quebec. A majority of the episodes in the original North American DVD versions had scenes cut from the episodes—these were derived from the syndicated television versions by Worldvision Enterprises, the series' former distributor. Other episodes were time-compressed and are NTSC-converted video prints from UK PAL masters, while others were derived from 16MM syndication prints, also from Worldvision. Only a handful of episodes in the original sets were in their original uncut versions. The episodes in these original sets are also known to have relatively poor video quality, such as tracking lines, as well as audio problems, though the quality issues are not as pronounced in the first few seasons as they are in the later seasons. The first three seasons of the old sets notably are also missing closed-captioning.

These original North American DVD sets included interviews with former cast members Alison Arngrim, Dabbs Greer and Dean Butler. For the original movies & complete series sets, Imavision provided numerous additional special features including additional interviews with many of the cast members such as Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson and specials highlighting Michael Landon, the casting of the show, and more. Imavision also released a French-language version of the series. Both versions are in NTSC color and coded for all regions. Later copies of these original sets were distributed by Lionsgate Home Entertainment following their acquisition of Imavision, but these should not be confused with the Lionsgate re-releases described below. The DVD sets sold in the United Kingdom were released by Universal Playback (a Universal Studios Home Entertainment label); this version is in PAL color and coded for region 2. Unlike the original North American DVD sets, the UK version contains mostly uncut episodes.

In 2014, Lionsgate Home Entertainment began re-releasing the series in North America on DVD, and also for the first time, in high definition on Blu-ray, as well as Digital Copy through providers such as Vudu and Amazon Video. These new releases, which are stated to come direct from the original broadcast masters, contain mostly uncut episodes and are remastered to have superior picture and sound. The Blu-rays, with their high bitrate, high definition 1080p picture (as opposed to standard definition picture on the DVDs) currently provide the best viewing experience of the show that is commercially available. The first six seasons on Blu-ray notably also contain lossless audio as opposed to the compressed audio on the DVDs. Starting with Season 7, Lionsgate chose to only release the remaining Blu-ray's exclusively through Amazon.com. In the process, they made several other changes to the Blu-ray's including compressing the audio (though with a relatively high bitrate), simplifying the on-screen disc menus, and eliminating the slipcovers and included Digital Copy codes that had been present for the previous seasons.

The newer Lionsgate remastered sets all contain English, French, and Spanish audio as well as English subtitles. They do not include the special features present on the earlier non-remastered releases, but rather seasons 1 through 6 each contain a roughly 15 minute segment of a special called "The Little House Phenomenon". Season 1 also contains the original Pilot movie. Season 7 contains no special features. Seasons 8 & 9 contain the three post-series movie specials as extras, with "Look Back to Yesterday" and "The Last Farewell" appearing on Season 8, and "Bless All The Dear Children" appearing on Season 9. Some fans of the show have been perplexed as to why Lionsgate did this, both because all of the movies take place after the Season 9 timeline, and also because they included "The Last Farewell" on Season 8 when that is considered by fans to be the end to the show given its significant and memorable ending. Lionsgate's decision as to which movies to include on which season appears to have been based on broadcast order rather than production order, since "Bless All The Dear Children" was the last episode broadcast even though "The Last Farewell" was the last one produced. None of the available releases of the series contain "Little House Years", which was a three-hour Thanksgiving special aired during Season 6 that largely consisted of flashback clips.

While the re-releases are substantially better than what was previously available, there are a handful of episodes that still were released in edited form or contain other problems. The most significant of these, affecting all formats of the remastered releases, include over 3 minutes missing from the Season 7 episode, "Divorce, Walnut Grove Style," almost 4 minutes missing from Season 9's "Home Again," and extremely low volume of the townspeople's singing on the English audio of the last scene of the final movie, "The Last Farewell."[16]