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Subject: A question that's been haunting me
Recently I've been thinking quite a bit about "Little House on the Prairie." The books, the show, the Laura, Mary, and Carrie dolls. My question is, why on earth did this show rise to such phenomenal popularity? It seems like if the show were to air now, no one would watch it. Why was it so popular in the 80s? I hate to admit this, but when I watch it now on TBS, I find myself rolling my eyes at all the sentiment. My sensibility now leans toward shows like "Friends," "The Simpsons," "Frasier," "Daria," etc. I'd like to get a lot of feedback on this question.
Thanks,
Clancy
Subject: Re: A question that's been haunting me
Maybe in the 80s the only other good shows were the cartoons. See now, everyone is attracted to sex and violence on tv, and nothing is cool unless you see a dead body or a "flash" on tv. Most of the tv shows were really consevative in the 80s (this is only my perspective, if you disgree with me, good for you). People like sarcasm and bathroom humor (i.e. Simpsons, Daria) Hope that answeres your request for feedback
Subject: Re: A question that's been haunting me
> Recently I've been thinking quite a bit about "Little House on the
> Prairie." The books, the show, the Laura, Mary, and Carrie dolls. My
> question is, why on earth did this show rise to such phenomenal
> popularity? It seems like if the show were to air now, no one would watch
> it. Why was it so popular in the 80s? I hate to admit this, but when I
> watch it now on TBS, I find myself rolling my eyes at all the sentiment.
> My sensibility now leans toward shows like "Friends," "The
> Simpsons," "Frasier," "Daria," etc. I'd like to
> get a lot of feedback on this question.
> Thanks,
> Clancy
I don't know about anyone else, but my parents considered it an OK alternative to the rather racy nighttime soaps. Like all parents, my mom wanted to believe in my informational innocence. (Like there were sixteen year olds who STILL didn't know where babies came from). Also in junior high the homework assignments occasionally required that we watch the show for discussions the next day. (This was a Catholic school).
Subject: Re: A question that's been haunting me
> I don't know about anyone else, but my parents considered it an OK
> alternative to the rather racy nighttime soaps. Like all parents, my mom
> wanted to believe in my informational innocence. (Like there were sixteen
> year olds who STILL didn't know where babies came from). Also in junior
> high the homework assignments occasionally required that we watch the show
> for discussions the next day. (This was a Catholic school).
I know what you mean, Kat. Just thinking about the books brings back frightening memories of an uptight upbringing in a Lutheran elementary school in the early to mid 80s. The third and fourth grade teachers used to read us the books and us "immature" boys used to titter every time the word "gay" came up. I used to watch the TV show also. I suppose the books were interesting in their own little grade-school way and probably weren't a bad way to learn frontier history. Why was the TV show so popular? Hey, it was the Reagan era. People were into conservative nostalgia.