If I had a remembrance book, I would mark down how it was when we left our little house in the big woods to go west to Indian Territory. We had to go, Pa said, because so many people had come to live in the big woods, there wasn't enough game anymore for him to hunt and he feared we might go hungry. Ma said we might never again see Grandma and Grandpa, or Aunt Docia and Aunt Ruby and Uncle George. Though it made me sad, I still thought it a fine thing to go where there had never been a road before. We'd go where the land was more bountiful, he said, and he sold our house and land and cow, and packed whatever would fit in the wagon. I was glad Pa took his fiddle, for it makes a joysome sound. Mary was afraid to go, but I knew nothing bad could happen as long as we had Pa and Jack. Jack is my best and truest friend and Pa says there has never been a better watchdog. I knew there would be rivers to cross and hills to climb, and I was glad, for this is a fair land and I rejoiced that I would see it.

—Laura Ingalls, Little House on the Prairie, "Pilot"

50 Years of the Ingalls Family ❤️

Melissa Sue Anderson on the set of "Little House on the Prairie" (1974)

Little House on the Prairie (1974)

Mary Ingalls (Melissa Sue Anderson).

i don't think we, as a society, talk enough about the scene at the piano in season 4, episode 22 (i'll be waving as you drive away part 2) of little house on the prairie, which is, in my opinion, one of the most romantic scenes in television history for so many reasons. it reminds me so much of the phone scene in it's a wonderful life, with its quiet intimacy, with the way you can really feel the longing between mary and adam, how they're sitting so close, but they can't quite touch. they're sort of hovering, being very careful with one another, until it becomes too much, and i just love the hesitation, the slow burn, the pining!!! but also it's the first time they really allow themselves to realize what they mean to one another.

it starts like any other lesson, with her doubting her ability to learn how to play piano because she's blind and his reassurance that she can do anything she wants to do; he offers to teach her, and his sitting so close to her isn't that unusual in this context (he sat right next to her and touched her hands when teaching her Braille earlier), but then the context changes when she admits that it isn't just her being blind that's dissuading her from learning how to play. there also isn't the time. and you can see his face fall, you can see the sadness on his face when she reminds him that her family is coming to take her home. because before this, they spent so much time together, and they always had so much more time to come. but for the first time, they're faced with the idea that they won't be together anymore. and we, the viewers, can see how her leaving is affecting him, but obviously she can't, so she tells him that she's scared. and she's scared explicitly because he won't be there to help her.

and for a moment, he's back in teacher mode and tells her she can't depend on him forever (which we, the viewers, obviously know isn't true), but this only lasts a moment, because he knows this isn't Mary's usual self-pity and self-deprecation. this isn't her usual way of trying to get out of something she finds too difficult, that she's too afraid to try, and she doesn't need tough love; this is a moment of real vulnerability, and, as if in effort to make her feel better, he reveals he'll be leaving too (which i genuinely believe that he would not have gone to winoka had she stayed at the burton school but i digress).

to which she responds that she's glad she's leaving, if he won't be there anymore.

and then we get The Moment, where, faced with both of their impending departures, they can't hold their feelings in anymore. and she laments, so quietly and gingerly, the fact she's never seen him. and he takes her hands and tells her to look at him. and he brings her hands to his face!!!! the way he closes his eyes and leans into her touch! her little smile! the way her voice cracks when she asks what color his hair is!!

the music swells and then it ebbs and we hear adam, his voice barely above a whisper, ask what she looks like. because, he tells her, he's never seen her, either. and she takes his hand and brings it to her face, and there are tears in her eyes! and she's holding his hands even as he caresses her face! and his fingers linger over her lips! and he laughs in disbelief at this revelation, that his feelings are requited!

but it's more than that for mary! because this is the first time she realizes that adam is also blind! that he actually does understand her!! and not only does he understand her, but all of his preaching, all of his lectures on how blind people are just as good as anyone else, how they can do anything they set their mind to, how important it is for her not to make excuses for herself, were not the condescensions of a sighted man, but lessons he wanted to share with her from his own years of struggling with himself and his blindness!! and that offers her hope, that she will also overcome her current struggles, and that she can achieve self-actualization just as he has! i don't think it's just love of adam that allows her to reconsider her dream of becoming a teacher, though obviously his support is helpful! but she moves to winoka without being engaged!

and it's also just so tender! the way they caress each other! how happy they are! and the new understanding they gain of one another through this scene!

it's the first time they're "seeing" each other, and it's also the first time they're seeing each other. and i wish so badly that tumblr was around when lhotp was airing because i want so many gifsets of this scene

Melissa Sue Anderson

Happy Birthday Melissa Sue Anderson 🎂

Happy Birthday to Me will be released on Blu-ray on October 18 via Kino Lorber. The 1981 slasher is directed by J. Lee Thompson (Cape Fear, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes).

John C.W. Saxton (Class of 1984), Peter Jobin, and Timothy Bond (Friday the 13th: The Series) wrote the script. Melissa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Lawrence Dane, Sharon Acker, Frances Hyland, Tracey E. Bregman, and Lisa Langlois star.

Happy Birthday to Me is presented in high definition with 5.1 Surround & 2.0 Lossless audio. Special features are listed below.

Special features:

Audio commentary by co-writer Timothy Bond, moderated by film historian Daniel Kremer (new)

Interview with actress Tracey E. Bregman (new)

Theatrical trailer

4 TV spots

2 radio spots

Welcome to upscale Crawford Academy, where everyone—especially new student Ginny (Melissa Sue Anderson)—wants to be part of the school’s most popular clique. But now somebody has begun butchering the group’s members. Could a deadly accident from Ginny’s past be connected to the brutal killings? And as her 18th birthday approaches, will Ginny be the guest of honor at the most horrific party of all?

Pre-order Happy Birthday to Me.

Prairie Man: My Little House Life & Beyond by Dean Butler #BookReview #NetGalley #Citadel #Memoir #LHOTP #Television #50thAnniversary #LauraIngallsWilder

If you're a fan of 1970s television show #LHOTP, you'll want to check out Dean Butler's memoir, #PrairieMan. It's heartfelt and honest, and just the thing I needed to read during this #50thanniversary year. #ARC #NetGalley #BookReview #CitadelBooks

Cast just before his twenty-third birthday, Dean Butler joined Little House on the Prairie halfway through its run, gaining instant celebrity and fans’ enduring affection. Ironically, when the late, great Michael Landon remarked that Little House would outlive everyone involved in making it, Butler deemed it unlikely. Yet for four decades and counting, Butler has been defined in the public eye as…

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Now showing on DuranDuranTulsa's Disaster Theater...10.5: Apocalypse (2006) on classic DVD 📀! #movie #movies #scifi #actionadventure #disaster #disastermovie #10point5apocalypse #10_5apocalypse #kimdelaney #BeauBridges #DeanCain #FrankLangella #MelissaSueAnderson #2000s #dvd #durandurantulsa #durandurantulsasdisastertheater