If you're listening right now to the Little House fiftieth Anniversary Podcast, we know something about you.

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For more than half a century, Little House on the Prairie, the series, and the books have been bright lights for people all over the world who seek out goodness, decency, and human connection.

Here on the Little House fiftieth Anniversary Podcast, we celebrate everything that made Little House so special.

The stories, the characters, the actors, and the messages that have made Little House iconic family television and.

A perfect counterpoint to a world that feels like it's going off the rails every day.

Where is Michael Landon when we need him most.

I'm your host, Pamela Bob and I'm your Prairie bitch Alice.

At Aringrem and I'm Dean Butler, our hashtag imaginary boyfriend.

Join us for our loving, quirky, and often irreverent conversations about the finest family drama in the history of television.

And the imperfect people.

Who made it that way, presented by our devoted patrons and visit seem Valley dot com.

Hi bot it heads, I'm coming to you from New York.

City with my friends here.

Hi, I'm Pamela Bob your host careerb living on a prairie and yes we're in New York City, although we are not in the same room.

It's just a social work here with our prairie bitch.

That's right, Alison Ardrum and also my hashtag imaginary boy brend Dean Butler.

Hi, guys, welcome to ner Ye.

Thank you.

I am looking out over so Allison, you have this most one of the most amazing views.

Yeah, I'm looking out at I think the major bus station as the buses roll in and out.

But you know, yeah, but it's definitely New York.

You know it's New York that you're looking out.

Well, you're you're both right in like the crazy town, like in the heart of Times Square.

Whenever people visit New York, I say, don't stay in the heart of Times Square because it's insane us We're like yeah.

As I walked to our luncheon today, also met a broadcaster podcaster John Controtti for lunch, and on the way I had flashbacks of walking to the Martin Beck Theater on forty fifth Street, which is no longer the Martin Beck Theater.

Do you know what it's called.

Phil It's not the Saint James, is it.

No, that's because that's that was there.

But anyway, that was the other one, Yes, between eighth and ninth that what was the Martin Beck Theater, the home of Into the Woods and that was just the coolest thing.

It's the Al Hirschfeld Theater now very good there, also deemed the great Artist.

And I will say that theater during Into the Woods had that giant giant's leg and foot coming over the side of the building, which was frickin' iconic, like that is Broadway history, that boot and I remember going to the theater to see that show and it's like a real memory in my brain of seeing this giant's foot coming over the building and being gobsmacked, totally gobsmacked.

It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.

Well, speaking of iconic, This Saturday at the green Room forty two, Pamela, you know this space so well, what are we doing.

We are doing our very first live broadcast from green Room forty at green Room forty two, New York City, Like Dean said, one PM, there's still a few tickets left if you want to be there in person.

If you can't be there in person.

Live stream us baby.

The link works for up to thirty days after the show, So if you can't catch us live live, catch us whenever you can.

And I don't know, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna.

Say exactly what we're doing, but we are going to have there's a lot of fun.

No, no, I have the bullet points.

I know what the deal is.

We're going to have.

We have so much there's let's just put it this way.

There's going to be audience participation.

Our wonderful guest Charles Bloom is going to be there, who played Pearly Day Wilder, who's just fabulous, and you know he's a writer, composer, and he is giving us some wonderful musical interludes during the show.

That is going to be great and I'm really excited.

It's going to be so much fun.

We have We have contest winners, I believe, Uh check your Patreon, check check your email if that's if you're a winner.

Fun join Christina about that.

Because we wandered so all we all just arrived together at the at Yodel last night was hotel.

I guess is where you here on tenth Avenue and we palel led us through the bowels of the kitchen to be able to look into the back the back of the theater.

What a cool space.

Yeah, the space is incredible.

See why I wanted to do it there.

Yeah, it's a very great space.

It's so cool.

And again we posted a video.

Questions that you guys had about the event, we've answered, Yes, you will get to meet everyone after the show, whether you're.

VI I P or not VIP VIP.

People do get a bit more, but that's okay that no one's gonna not meet Allison or for you yes or me yes.

Uh.

And then so really excited about that.

And then of course for those.

I know it's here, we've been talking about it for so long.

It's finally honest.

Yeah.

So and then and then of course coming up in December the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth our Little House in the Frarie Cast Reunion Holiday Cast Reunion, our first ever Christmas themed event.

Christmas was such a special part of the whole Little House experience, so we are so delighted to be focusing on that for this for this cast reunion in December.

I know, and so many people are going to be there, cast is going to be there.

It's awesome, and I'll be there asking the question.

Yes, you are the logical one to do this because you are the plugged in super fan, so you're the ones.

Yeah, I guess I do have the questions I ask are not questions that you guys would ask each other, right right, No, it's from a totally different point of view.

You've comed down all the rabbit holes, all the rabbit holes of the show.

You know everything again.

Yes, absolutely, what are.

We doing today?

Today?

Okay, okay, okay, today coming up today?

Listen, Thanksgiving is coming up.

We are taking Thanksgiving off you guys, so we'll have I don't know what we're going to have drop next week.

It might be a repeat episode, it might be a Patreon special.

I don't know, but stay tuned for it.

But this week we wanted to do something around the themes of family and thanks and so the family is at the center of this episode in our thoughts, and this episode, the angle struggle with the sadness of possibly losing their not yet adopted son, Albert.

We're giving you an Albert episode today.

I don't know if we've done an Albert centric episode.

Yet this is all right?

But so first from from ubn go and Prairie Partners and visit Sey Valley dot com.

And what, Dean, were you going to say.

I'm I think you in our part our patrons, Yeah.

Are in our patres?

Patriots?

Yes?

Yes, thank you.

Always our patrons, Thank you patrons.

This is the Little House on the Prairie fiftieth Anniversary podcast.

Thanks for being here.

All right, Dean, what episode are we talking about today today?

And this is this is really a good one and I know you both have a lot of thoughts about this.

Today we're talking about the third episode of season six, This is The Family Tree, which debuted on October first, nineteen seventy nine.

The Family Tree was written by Vince Gutierres and directed by William F.

Claxton.

Obviously a just an incredibly steady hand.

Yeah, the classes in the Little House.

World, Allison, what is this episode about?

There's so much going on in this orphan's family lying, a lot of lying, a lot of people lying in this in a nutshell.

So miss Wilder assigned a family tree project which was actually a thing that Albert is growing into turmoil over his unknownass member Albert the family thing, okay as memories of his difficult childhood service.

Oh this is also if you like your Little House in the Prairie, creepy dream sequences.

This is a huge.

Class battery, but the whole terrifying dark nightmares.

He begs Arla Caroline to adopt him, raising the question of.

What do you mean you have an adopted yet there is The Inkles begin the legal adoption proceedings, but the court requires them to contact his father's father's alive Oh no, a.

Man who only wants in his arm labor, and Albert pretends he didn't be blind, because of course he does, and his father immediately no kidding, loses interest and gives up his claim, clearing the way for Albert to be legally adopted the Ingles family.

But it's it's horrifying, yet it is so true.

This is stuff that happened.

To people back in those days.

What you know, kids were for the orphans, orphans.

It was not a good time to be an orphanage just was not.

It's an amazing episode and just you know, and Matt Laberteau was so good and there's so much going on in this episode.

And I will say this is the episode I think my father, author arm hated the most of any episode of the show because my father was in an orphanage and adopted by a farm family.

He was Albert Hinkles, and he.

Was like, so because it gets a little too close to home.

I'm just saying, so you have a bad experience with his adopted fam I mean, were they a nice adopted family.

But they happened to use him as his farm hand or he's scoring.

No, he scored with the adopted family, the bird family mother that would have gone very badly and the orphanage.

Yeah, Charles Appairy wrote, I write it out of Dickens.

Yeah, so yeah, he got the ingles.

Basically he got the ingles.

They were well he was like, I god like it, but yeah, the whole orphan thing flashback and like.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I want to mention before we get too to the episode about Vince Scutierras, Vince Scutierra's Yeah, who's Vince wrote seven?

So Vince wrote seven different episodes of Little Laus.

The cool thing about Vince's story and this is really this was a Michael mentoring moment.

Vince Scootierras was on our sound He was on the audio team that put together all the sound effects and the remixes of the show to put it together.

Vince had an interest in writing, and so he went to Michael, and Michael gave him an assignment.

He gave him.

He gave him seven assignments during the life of the series.

He wrote the last movie, We Looked Back to Yesterday, which was Albert's moment, that was his.

He wrote Vomiting over Himself was Vince's.

Episode, n'say Yeah, So he did that.

He wrote two episodes of Father Murphy.

He wrote seven episodes of Highway to Heaven.

Michael really liked him.

That's quite a little filmography that came out of working with Michael, and he continued to work on sounds.

So Vince Vince had really a nice career.

He passed in twenty and ten.

He played him.

He was very effective in a lot of our bonus content, particularly those bonus packages, talking about Michael and what how he worked and why he worked the way he worked.

We did a package called The Genius of Michael Landon in which Vince was a major contributor to the to that backstory about Michael.

So Vince was a really special contributor and a really really nice guy.

So thank you for this episode.

Wow, wow, wow, it's so good.

So he's he's the Albert writers.

Who's that guy?

Like his niche like if there's a great Albert episode.

Well, yes, him all but vomiting all over himself, iconic.

Episode, iconic don't do drugs?

Kins, don't do drugs?

Would you do that?

Would you do that?

As an actor?

If they said, okay, now you have like always like chopped apples or something.

No, it was right and funny, it was gross, it was and you would have.

Some kind of food but baking, vomiting and then spinning of it.

Would you do that?

It?

Would you do on Hazard pay?

It would be a bet.

You go, Okay, I guess I gotta do it, but it would be terrible.

It would be hard pressed to do that, would you not?

I mean, listen, I think the word is commitments, right, I think the word is commit mint and Matthew Leverteau.

If nothing else committed hard and it was effective, I mean, kids don't do drugs.

If that, if that was not an anti drug you know, the more you know message, I don't know what else could be it was brutal.

That would be hard if you got a gig and they're like and now the bar would.

Be like, oh, I don't know.

And he just went he went there, he went there.

He worked like no one has ever walked on television.

It was.

To another movie.

Let's come down.

This this was this was Vince's first episode.

Okay, a mile of the seven.

Oh, it's such a good one.

This is this is his first one, and it really shows off I think, Uh, Matt's wonderful subtlety.

Oh my gosh, he had I mean, Matt was just so present in all of these kinds of moments that just his You can see his life playing in his eyes.

And what is you watch?

I mean, I know watched We have both watched, Alison and I both watched Matt a lot.

But as you watch Matt Pamba, what do you see?

Oh, he just has that You can't teach what he does right, Like you could go and take acting class and you can technically learn things.

But the thing that he has.

Is that untapped, unexplainable gift right of just being able to access all of it easily and truthfully.

And and the fact that also what's so incredible at him about him and Michael Landon.

But Matthew who was a boy, right, He was a boy who wasn't afraid to access his vulnerability and that is.

Rare, Like that's for a little boy to be able to expose himself in that way is insanely amazing.

He he has, He's tapped in from somewhere else.

That is an you just can't explain it.

It's just a gift.

Yeah, and turn on a dime and do comedy right, turn on a dime would be freaking hilarious.

I mean, yeah, yeah, he was very and when you meet, if you spend time with Matt today, I mean he is a very bright, very verbal, funny storyteller.

As Alison is suggesting all of that.

But you're right, he has this ability to get to this really intense level of truth and honesty.

And vulnerability that is that breaksa well.

It made him extraordinary, and I think Michael saw that right up front when he hired him to play him, yes as a little boy in an earlier episode and then he I'm not sure if it was matt that inspired the creation of this character.

It very well could have been, and of course it just was just offered to him.

I don't think there was ever any auditioning for this.

It was just offered.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, and.

Right anyway, one of the funny things in this you know, we always are seeing these Allison, I think you saw it too, when Eliza Jane in the so we find out about this Fanley tree project.

Yeah, there's also we're in Miss Eliza j and Wilder era.

We're in albert era this season six.

Baby and geology was a thing because I was like, eighteen seventies was this thing?

Yes, it was the thing now.

The reason why it was the thing in the seventies and probably why this episode was like, yes, let's do this, is because in the seventies when Roots the big mini series was on the interest in genealogy and family tree Skyrocket and that's like we hadn't didn't have ancestry Dark Commune, right, but people went berserk and genealogy and finding your roots really did become a thing in the late seventies.

And we are in seventy nine.

Well, yes, indeed, folks in the eighteen hundreds, around eighteen forty absolutely, there was a guy, a mister Farmer, John Farmer in eighteen twenties and he got and they called it an antiquarian tract.

Being an antiquarian was what they called tracy to respect them, and it was the rage and the Antiquarian Society New England Historical Genealogical Society.

Was found out in nineteen forty five.

Solute, Yes, in the eighteen seventies they would have absolutely said, oh yeah, we got to do our antiquarian got to do our family tree.

It would totally been a thing then.

So this is historically accurate, even though it was a popular trend.

I remember my sister doing a family tree when she was in middle school or something.

She got really really into it.

The thing when you were when you were watching this and Eliza Jane pulls out she's made her family tree.

Who noticed the misspelling of a name of one of the one of the family members on the family tree?

Who noticed that?

Jay strikes again?

It sounds like party.

It would be pronounced parly day if it's a p a r l e y instead of p e r l e wy.

What is wrong with her?

She was Lucy was not the one that wrote these words.

The pro person.

Wilson's department that did this, and they just dispelled it and no one saw that then.

But of course parly Day hadn't appeared yet.

On this no one wouldn't have known.

No one would have known.

They didn't know, but she should have known, so they should have gotten that.

Right.

It is what it is.

It is, poor Lucy.

That's what happened to because it did well, Okay, Lucy, throw Lucy under the bus.

I get it, I get it.

She's good for it.

Yes always.

Here's here's the part that gets me.

In the scenes that she's like, we're doing the family tree and immediately you're thinking, oh, Albert right, like any normal human being, and Laura, what's wrong.

With Laura in this episode?

And she's like, oh, this is so fun.

We're gonna have so much fun.

We're gonna have the best time.

And I'm like, Laura read the room, girlfriend read the room.

Olim ever optimistic childlike in this and she goes, no, he's my brother.

Her family hasn't adopted him.

But she's like, what what paperwork?

The day he showed up, she went and here's my brother.

What speak issue?

And he's like, hello, hello, remember awareness?

Zero awareness again?

I chocked that.

I know, Pamela, you always pick up on these things.

But I think, but this is the service of the story to this is to make Albert's dilemma worse.

It makes it worse.

Everyone assume it's okay, and he knows it's.

Not right except Nellie.

Nelly knows it's not this idea.

They're totally on board this family.

Okay, here's I guess, here's my beef with the whole thing of like, what is wrong with Laura?

Why is she so oblivious?

Is that?

Okay?

Here it is, here's my theory.

Okay, and I bet and Melissa Gilbert talks in her books and stuff about this particular age that I think she was like what like fifteen, fourteen, fifteen around.

This, so like.

We have just gone back to school, okay, previously.

She's fifteen, So fifteen is an age where you're not a little girl, you are not a woman, just like the Britney Spears song says, right, you're in this weird sort of in between place.

But they still have her in the braids, like it's almost like they still and it's almost like they still well, they still want to keep her like a little little little girl.

But she's not.

So when she does things like this in the episode, like how an eight year old would act as opposed to a fifteen year old would act.

It's off putting to me, like they didn't have to write her so.

Young, right, Like they.

Could have kept the hair, could have kept the hair down and just gone.

She could have like there could have been more of a slight transition into growing up.

And I understand that they listen, it's it's half pint right, Like, I'm sure they wanted to keep her as youthful as possible until she gets married the next year, but there was no episode.

So she needs to be the sister.

Sure, and and their buddies, and she's still mischievous and she I get it.

I get it.

But the thing of her being like, oh, this is gonna be so much.

Fun and oblivious to maybe how he would feel about doing pometry is to me, it's it's like she'd be old enough to kind of read the room.

I think maybe.

There's the real Thing's a thing that happens.

You have to talk to this, gotta talk to this.

This is why my father finally said okay, it's time and had my mother go on the search.

And we'll tell her that.

But for you know, it was relatives, my mother's family, because they were big fancy Canadian family Scottish people when going back to the fifteen hundreds, so Thanksgiving and Christmas and whatnot.

The stories would start you because my auntie Mary would be there, my cousin Helen, and they would go, oh, yes, well cousins.

So that was the Molini side, you know, from Wales, and they should go with the MOENNI come the south and they're rattling off all of these cousins and if you talked to someone, so he was someone's uncle, and the day until you were just like your heads and my father would just sit there quietly yeah, and not say anything.

And then we realized he was quietly seething because there was oblivious and talking about their freaking relevant genealogy.

And he's like, yeah, I got nothing, I'll be over here.

And even he would really big life about it.

But eventually, when you know, guys, I gotta tell you, it's kind of starting.

Yeah, And that's when.

He said, I think I'm getting to the age I need to go try to figure out who my birth pair is.

Sure.

So that's a real thing that happens with a family.

Yeah, and and not that people are doing it to be insensitive but not clue.

But I don't know.

That's my beef with Laura in the scene, and.

That's just and she talks about in her book she talks about how she was too old to be still in braids, yet also didn't have life experience to play older.

So it's this weird wonky time.

It kind of goes back and forth.

And as being a kid, she's old, she's young, she's old.

Yeah, yeah, there's a reason that she wasn't in the scene.

Well, there are multiple reasons why she wasn't in the scene.

With Albert and his friend when they go fishing and the friend offers up, well, this will be easy for you because you're a bastard.

It's going to be an easy assignment.

And Albert goes off, and so the audience is absolutely crystal clear that this is a devastating thing for him.

We know now, this is a horrible thing.

None of the families around nobody sees this, so they are oblivious.

He's alone in his pain, no question.

Well, no, seems like a nice little boy, just hauls right people.

But also, can we talk about he calls him a bastard obviously doesn't realize what a bad term that actually is.

And then his father comes and beats the ship out of him, like.

That was the beating that was.

I mean, that was a beating.

He was beating.

It was shocking to watch that.

And he kept going, it's not like one, two, three, I'm done.

It was like he's still super served.

The story that was to make the flashback happen, but yeah, it was.

We never have on camera beating to little House.

We had a few things.

People said, well, I'm going to the.

Woods, or I'm going to get a licking, or mister Olson taking down the belt, seen people getting hit.

Holy yeah, and the boy going it was horrifying.

He clearly didn't know what it meant, because he's later so you see that he didn't.

But the thing is like he.

Doesn't know if Albert's a bastard or not illegitimate.

For all he knows, his parents could have been married and died in a plague against the Aten.

So when you see the father and how the father talks, you sort of know that language like this is going to be sort of bandied around, and yeah, he may not understand the implication of the father was the father was pretty coarse, as is the father of Albert's father, who will meet later.

Stame kind of guys exactly the same kind of guys' father, the.

Bad dad's the bad dads.

Vin's got some history to talk about, That's all I gotta say.

Yeah, they have.

Then we just something that we jump forward.

So Albert's home, he's taking a bath, and then there's this wonderful heart to heart talk with Albert and Pap which really sets the plot in motion.

And for the record, behind the scenes, he's totally wearing shorts to the bathtub.

People don't have everybody was in those everybody who was in that washed up was the shortest, let alone bathing.

People were dressed.

That he was naked in his little housepper.

Well, you know what else I thought during this episode, I was like Albert, no one talks about the drama Albert has been through ever and no wonder he became addicted to drugs when he was a teenager, like of course he did, the poor.

Child, which goes back to the age old question who had it worse Albert to marry, which we might discuss at the live podcast, but anyway that may because.

They wrote that correct, but this wonderful moment.

Adopted, we have an adopted.

Yeah, I mean, it's it's so interesting that that, you know, that little piece of information comes out that Michael said, you know, I just we wanted you, We loved you, We wanted you to be part of our family.

There was no thought about the legality of this.

This was just a decision and it's all about love and embracing and taking somebody in and having them be part of something.

And when they go to see the judge, it's determined, particularly when it's learned that there is an orphanage involved, that now this has to go deeper, which was at least initially felt like perfunctory, sort of a formality that you just have to do, but it goes to a different love.

Can we take it back for a second, though, because before this all happens, we get some comedic relief with nel.

Oh, yes, Harriet, by toilet, ye.

Little toilet on the prairie.

Everybody, it's a first toilet, although the bycle.

Was an indoor toilet.

Impressive.

Also, I torment Albert, I'm I'm guarantine and on a hotel, I am a girl.

And a restaurant and these.

Little children, little children, and I have nothing better to do.

C literally not making.

To come out and harass these children and has over and literally take a stick.

And here's the twigs of the family tree.

You know, Albert knows what, just what.

But no reason, no reason whatsoever.

It's just it's what you do.

It's like, that's why you're there for those moments.

So Nellie equates to like the loser guy who took five years to graduate high school but can't ever really move on, so he still hangs out at like the high school after school to like hang with and like, the guy is twenty seven and he's still hanging out with the sixteen year old and thinking, right, that's what Nelly has turned into.

She is.

She is totally Matthew McConaughey from Days and confused, right, like.

The guys the guy that's ten years older than everyone that's still hanging out with on the high school because he cannot move on.

With their own mind.

And there's I think there's a Michael Landon joke here, because there's a Joe here, and I'm great, that is such a Michael Landon joke.

Maybe it was Benson.

Maybe they were on the same page there were that well had heads of state, oh like narrow and even the terrible which like the likelihood that more would know who and.

The terrible one.

But it's a great bit.

It's a great I look, it's a great joke, and it's very Michael.

That is such a Michael life.

Yes, that is a Michael joke.

I agree.

You know, we know that, we know that.

I'm sure that Vince sat with Michael.

Yeah, submitted pages.

They went and talked about this.

Michael was leading Vince through this process.

I'm sure that thinks there were a lot of those kinds of conversations where Michael injects something that's a very unique part of his sound.

I mean, you know, there are so many lines, lines of dialogue in the program that were not his scripts.

But you know it's Michael.

You just know it's him.

That's one of them.

Yeah, yeah, all right, So we have toilet humor.

Great classics can't go wrong, so good toilets can't lose.

Nelly be in the Matthew McConaughey from Days and Confused loser.

She's such a loser.

That's what I read in my notes.

Loser.

Okay, now, let's go back.

Now.

We're back at the house.

We are, it's nighttime, the kids are sleeping.

We look at Albert in his bed by the way, never noticed how bright of a spotlight is on his face, Like, where is this light source coming from?

There's no skylight in the roof, is there?

I don't know.

Anyway, he's beautiful, beautiful.

It is a perfect spotlight boop right on his head.

Anyway, we see it.

Yet another flashback, Another horrifying orphanage flashback.

So what's interesting about this is that this is really the first time the audience is seeing Albert's any of Albert's backstory, Like, we didn't know this information.

Right, And was this orphanage run by some horrible cult or something.

It's really bad.

It's so bad.

I mean there's beatings.

And it's bad.

I said, not only is there Yeah, because not only is their physical abuse, there's spiritual abuse too, there's religious abuse.

He's like saying these things to him while he's beating him.

That's just awful, awful.

No wonder, he went, no wonder he was living under the stairs.

I'd live under the stairs in the city any day.

This is some This is some version of Oliver and a hybrid with his hand again from Annie, and that was a funny version of this, right as the Oliver was a darker version.

So it's like, it's right in there again, going right at it, going right at it to make it as horrible as possible, right.

But again he screams out in his sleep, yes, and everyone's.

Very cash about it.

It's right, like, is it just me thinking?

If Mike were screaming like non stop stop, you'd I would be running into that room like, oh my god, what happened?

Are you okay?

And Laura is like you again, oblivious, Laura oblivious like dou to be had a bad dream, I'll say, like, And then Paul comes in like five minutes later, like, hey, what's going on up here?

I'm like, people, where's where's the urgency?

And this boy is in trauma?

No one's talking about the trauma.

All right now.

I just say here, Bill Claxton, yes, a very very capable director, Yes, is watching all of this happen.

So he was okay with I know you're making a comment.

I know, but he will.

Don't get me wrong.

I love the episode at the time.

Of what was happening here.

But it's so, is it from Albert's perspective that, oh my god, they're all ignoring me?

Is it like we're seeing this through his eyes?

He's having these slashbacks, he's screaming, it's terribly he's suffering and everyone's like to have it, and that everyone's ignoring his suffering, which is how people who are this kind of thing that's feet Yeah.

That's an interesting interesting Alison, if it's all like, yeah.

It's all changing, because like, yeah, wouldn't they have actually gone?

I'm like, oh you are right.

Oh my god, your poor child.

It's like, why is no one doing it?

Because this is what this is.

We're all in his head in.

This fascinating Alison giving.

New Yeah, no, really good.

That's a really good observation.

Really very very good.

Okay, yeah, So and he's sweating.

He is sweating.

No one seems to notice the sweat.

I'm like, he's dripping with sweat.

People, something is very wrong.

In some trivia thing on this, someone made the comment that he's sweating as he wakes up, but when Pas steps in, the sweat's gone.

Oh no, I thought that.

I thought the sweat was still there, and that's why I was like, Okay, doesn't he want to wipe away any of his sweat because it was still very obviously there.

These are the things that I think of that.

This is the glycerin that's spread exactly.

Yeah, yeah, it's yeah, no, it is absolutely Okay, So they don't talk about anything.

It's just sort of like, oh, you had a nightmare, go back to bed, yay, bye, okay, so then we.

Can they're off to We're off to the We're off to what was it, Redwood Falls to see the judge.

Yeah, the judge.

Right, that's more Sonora action for a lot.

Of well, and let's talk about the scene that leads up to them going to this judge, which is Albert then does really finally talk to Pa about what's going on, and they have the most tender, beautiful scene the two of those boys where Albert finally says like.

I'm not I'm not adopted, I'm not officially one of you.

And and Michael landon pod just his how he this scene is so beautiful and also what he says.

He says at the end of it, he says, that's my fault for not thinking that's my fault, and how many how many kids have needed to hear a parent say that in their lives at some point, right, like y and it was so tender and so you know, and the fact that Albert didn't know if he wanted to be if they.

Wanted to adopt him.

He literally didn't know.

So this very affirming scene and pau taking responsibility for going I didn't even think about it, and I'm so sorry, and yes, I'm so happy, i can't even speak.

I'm so happy to adopt you.

Ugh, it's heartbreaking, And that a lot where parents admitted they were wrong for Mo and Pogbo.

You know, yeah, you're right, we should have known better about that.

We're so sorry.

Oh right, well this is this is this is so Michael modeling behavior for people to give them permission to be to be candid, to be honest, to let their guard down and not have to.

Be the perfect parent they can.

In fact, anyways, they are revealing what good parents they are if they can admit they've made a mistake.

Yeah, but I think that was such a huge part of what Michael always did with characters who had made this kind of mistake, where it's just very heartfelt.

It's like, oh my god, how could I have been so obtuseed to not know that, you know?

And here we go, and I think we should take a break right here and come back.

And now we're going to find out how bad this could get.

From stay tuned to see how bad this can get.

We'll be right back.

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Hi, We're back, all right.

What happens next, y'all?

What happens next?

So times the horrible had so yeah, so here we so they you know, they've had the meeting with the judge.

They know that there needs to be there needs to be some closure on this.

Paul gets a letter and he goes to Redwood Falls to meet Albert's real father, who has presented himself and what he needs is sort of your worst nightmare.

Well it's a.

Double blow because they think, great, we're going to adopt you.

Fantastic, and then they get a letter saying, oh wait, his father's act.

His biological father is actually alive and also wants him, which.

Is which Charles tries to hide what mail.

Initially, yeah, yeah, initially he tried.

Well, he doesn't want to admit it until Ma comes out to the barn and they read it.

Very nice moment with two of them, by the way, very nice where he gives Caroline the letter.

You know, they they did these kinds of scenes so beautifully together with all the stuff that was in the in the world for them working together.

But boy, when it was time to role, they delivered the goods, and they always delivered the goods.

He is devastating in that scene where he you know, he's he's he's sort of you know, letting it all out, letting it all out.

But then when it gets to him saying they're going to take him away, and he breaks.

I mean that it's a full breakdown he has, And my god, and.

How terrible do you feel?

If we'd gone with the illegal at official.

Adoption, we'd have been fine.

And we went to make an official We tried to do the right thing and now we're being.

Punished, right, So of course, so proceeding I'm sorry, I keep jumping ahead because I'm just this father, this father that we that we that we meet, that the paw meets with the judge is a piece of work.

Horrible.

He's the words knuckle dragging came to mount.

You strong?

Is strong?

Is he strong?

Just wanted him to be a farm man?

Allison talked to us about what you were telling us, where we started rolling about your dad's experience with that.

Well, I think, you know, we just may be a big Patreon thing.

But yeah, I mean he got adopted by a farm family, but they they loved, but yeah, they were sort of trotted out to other homes and there were people.

Is the title depression?

Absolutely, that's so it was like please please but this guy and instantly this character actor who was so scary.

Ra played the character of George Liquor on The Ren and Stimpy cartoon show.

He's a great character actor.

Look up his stuff.

He's been in everything and he's played some insane character.

So yes, yes, he's perfect for this.

I was not expecting that fun fact whatsoever.

Friends, because that's the kind of guy he plays the awful.

Also good casting because he does look like he could be.

Albert is a similarity there.

Just you saw, Okay, all right, I did.

Maybe I was willing it to be.

That way, but I no, no, I mean, if it works, it works, it's great, and you're.

Gonna lose the kid and this guy and it's like.

Who's going to treat him horribly?

Right?

So back home, pau is explaining this has his breakdown to Ma and Albert over here, so he knows what's going on now that the biology that alive.

He only wants him to be a farmhand to work.

That's it.

Period.

Yeah, So what happens next to y'all?

Well, okay, now I'm gonna judt So what happened before they go back to meet the father.

There's a wonderful scene with with Albert and Laura upstairs in the in the loft.

It's a very very sweet scene where I'm always amazed in these scenes the amount of time that everybody took to allow these moments to play.

Yes, was really wonderful.

And real tears.

No, No, I think absolutely absolutely, Yeah, I know, I absolutely believe.

That, Alison.

Do you know what it was like?

I mean, you didn't have to do a lot of those heavy emotional scenes as children with other other children.

So do you know sort of what it was like, Let's say a scene like that, like what was the prep for them?

Like?

What did they?

It was so many of you again natural these people who are natural.

It was natural who could like turn on and people like Matt Labertone and go, oh did you which, well the old joke about we needed to cry?

Okay, which I would.

You like to take?

It's you know, bang bang.

But then you had the Michael I method.

It was basically creating a highly sensitive emotional state because the things are written.

And that's what I always said that the scripts.

For me, the way things were written, you then wanted to suddenly have that emotion and do that because you read the script's terrible about like said Nelly Fay cried until it was first of all, then she real cried, which was like shocking.

But these they would be in the Sitan state.

And as I teased you, mercilelessly with when we were doing Living on a Prairie, Michael Landon would love you.

It's he he Melissa talked about it.

He would hug her and say, I love you so much right now?

Do you know how much I love you?

And that was the thing.

He would both.

He would take them side.

But it was never like okay in this scene.

Your characters didn't know.

It was you're so wonderful and I love you, and this is such a beautiful scene and you're just so so your emotional vulnerability, just as it is just a generic emotional rawness came to the surface.

And then as soon as you said those words the way they're written, done, boom, everybody's just done.

I mean, because both of them were so there.

Like yeah, well they and they have been a wonderful rapport with each other, had a wonderful rapport with each other.

They really did both they were great together.

It's just very interesting that Michael used you know, because we've all had our acting coaches and blah blah blah blah blah.

But it's fascinating to me that he used love as the trigger.

Love.

It was always love.

And also when you look at I mean, these two kids to listen, that they'd already become great friends.

But so the idea we're going to take him away're gonna take your baby brother away?

Well, how hung and how are you?

Yeah, you're gonna go there really quickly playing that.

See, and they did and they didn't win all the way.

Yeah, they're brilliant.

Yeah it was good.

Okay, I said, this is what I have written in my notes.

Stop it with the Laura Alberts.

Stop it devastating.

Literally when I wrote, this is.

A correction, This is a stapyon the heart episodes.

Okay, So then we go back because we have to oh and a.

Then then Michael Landon.

Then Pa has the talk with with Albert, pretending like everything's fine, everything's good, being.

Like hey you.

Yeah, your dad's alive and we're gonna drop you off first thing in the morning, like uh.

And so then they go back and Albert asked if he could meet privately with his biological first.

I love that because you know, you know that shop's got a plan because it's Albert and you know he's thought of something.

Then what is he gonna do?

But you know he's oh, i'll see him alone.

Oh, he's gonna see him alone.

So you I'll come with you.

No, no, I'll see him.

I'm so brave.

I'm going to go face this myself.

And you're like, he's thought of something like that, the sort of.

Stuff, and what has he thought of?

Pray tell this kid's a genius.

Yeah, he intends to be blind, blind and.

Blind people like the blind school and his sister he knows, he knows.

So yeah, so that for the one thing he's going to wreck the thing, the one thing that this man really wants from him, his ability to be.

Yeah.

So he's very it's it's a very resourceful thing.

And we've seen this with Albert throughout his time that he is very street wise.

Yes, you find it.

He finds a way.

Now you're telling me here he is lying.

He's lying, but he's lying with an intent a knowing what he's known about, what he heard mob Pat talking about.

He he lies with, He lies within tend to save this situation and.

It works to get back to his family, his real family who loves him, and he did.

What I love is when he just for kicks rubs it in where he does the I'm blind and then just kind of stands there and the guy freaks out, and then you kind of feel that the guys like mister knuckle Dragger, George Linker from Ren and Stimpy Horrible Man goes oh, yeah, it's okay, and then you see his face.

One he's like, oh, well he's no farm hand, but he doesn't play that.

He also kind of goes, oh, this is horrible.

This child is blind and what have I gotten myself?

Yeah?

What if I this is this is bad.

Look I'm getting out of here.

And he's horrified and he's like, oh this is yea not a farmer boss, so you I'm so awful, And he said I gotta get out of here.

I got to get out of here as my son's.

And no, Albert can't says, oh, bauck, I have a kiss.

Well what do you think that there?

To that part of me was like, he knows this is the first and the last time he's ever gonna know his dad, So get that.

I think there's something right.

Even when when Michael when Pa keep calling Hi, Michael, even when Pa says like, hey, your father is alive and he wants he wants to and Albert says, what's his name?

He doesn't even know his father, he doesn't know his last name.

It's the first time he's ever heard it before.

So I thought that was interesting that he yes.

He probably was sort of rubbing it in, being like, hey, I about a kiss, but also it's the only kiss he's ever going to get ever.

From his purpose.

Yeah, I think there's something like, Okay, this guy's seeing the ear of his waist and cracking.

Let's let's just get yes, yeah, yes, well, and you know, he yes, and he says good.

But it's a very it's a lovely moment.

The judge confirms it afterwards when he says, even bad people do good things something.

Although no one knows that he faked going, they just think.

No, no one knows, no one knows what he did.

That's a very important point.

No one knows what he did.

And the crazy father he goes, he doesn't tell them he does.

The child is flying to blow the country.

Well, he because he's trying to make it sound like he's a really cool guy.

Well he talked to me and he clearly wi yeah, so wow what.

The kids say.

But you see him like, I can't get out of here fast enough and sign this thing.

But it's marvelous because as a character actor, he's you want to punch him before it, and then you do kind of go, oh, the poor god, you actually go, okay, he does feel.

Bad, and it's it's brilliant.

It's brilliant, incredible performance.

Yeah.

So and there we go, I mean we go and and and pops up and there's this wonderful moment between the two of them, and.

And then that final shot, that beautiful final shot that.

You're talking about.

Driving into the yard.

It's that wide shot and you just see the do you see the house in the barn and beautiful white shot and then the pulling up and you see the family sort of coming out of the house and from a distance though where this is not close up seas or not, but from a distance and you know exactly what's going on.

They're going Albert's here, Albert's here, Albert.

Here, and you see sort of the kerfuffle of the family coming out of the house and coming out of the barn and Ma coming over to the wagon and what a beautiful, picture perfect way.

To get end that.

I mean, it's so it's like an illustration.

It's beautiful.

This is the kind that shot, that kind of shot.

I really think that this is Michael's trust in the audience.

This is Bill Claxton, who has a very cinematic way of looking at things.

And this is the fact that Michael always had final cut on everything he did.

So he was never going to get a note from the network about any of this because they had long since learned that they didn't give notes on this kind of I mean, they might have questioned a larger theme, but they never would have questioned his selection as to how he was going to shoot something.

And so he trusted the audience to get and of course he adds the Laura voiceover, and you've got David Rose with a beautiful theme that in everyone rushing out.

Now, this is this is the cinematic quality of Little House that you would not see you I don't think you really see this on ninety nine percent of the other dramas of that era.

You see it now, but you would never have seen it then.

And he does it a lot.

There was some episode where Charles has to tell Caroline something and you're like, well, this is going to be heavy, and you just see him run up to her where she's with the cow by the barn, and you see him from a huge distance and they embrace and you go, oh, no, it's not a word, not a word you hearing them.

I think it was the I think it was the Handyman.

I think it's I think it was the Handyman.

Where we see it, Yeah, we know.

What happened tweet.

So it's really smart.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's smart.

It's visually beautiful, it's very satisfying, and it gives you this wonderful button that the world is the world is okay, and you have everything is working to give you that wonderful ending.

Yeah.

Well, in the show the Whole Farm, it's home.

Oh that's right, right exactly.

This was a good one, you guys.

It's very good one.

Vince Vince brought it, baby, Yeah.

Vince brought It's brought it in episode one of his time writing on the and.

It's amazing that this was his first episode.

It's a really good one and an important one for the storylines and the I mean, it wasn't like a one that sort of doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, like this is an important one.

Yes it is.

Well, yeah, I mean it absolutely cements Albert into that family in a way that now there's no question you know where Albert.

I don't.

I don't think the audience, until this happened ever, would have thought twice about it.

But now it's really cemented in there, and I think it cements some very powerful themes belonging the meaning of family, that's right, fear of abandonment, parental love and protection.

You know, love and protection is not about blood.

It's a it's an emotional state.

He had that and he brought all that.

I think this was You're right.

I agree with both of you.

This is a very important Little House episode, and I think it relates a lot of people can relate to this episode We meet them the.

Effect of our House on my father because talk about Patron.

I'm just saying this was nineteen seventy nine, and it was nineteen eighty when he had my mother go hunt down his birth family.

Wow, Okay, we're going to talk about on this episode that second off interesting.

All right, Well, we're going to talk more about this.

I think you need to say goodbye Pamela, but but really nice.

Guys, girls, good gels girl.

All right, well that's our outside for today.

Listen, we have our New York event in this is Thursday.

When this drops three days Saturday, November.

If you're in New York.

City, come on bye, get some tickets, meet us, and if you're not.

If you're not in New York City, get a live stream ticket.

It's super easy watch it anytime up to thirty days after the event.

So, uh, we're excited.

I'm excited.

I'm excited and scared.

As they say into the world, I'm excited and scared, scared.

Yeah, a little rede Yeah yeah, yeah.

Anyway, Yeah, it's brilliant.

I can't believe we haven't done it now.

I can't believe we haven't talked about your Broadway stuff.

And we will at some point we will talk about your Bay.

Anyway, join us on our socials, Little House fifty Podcast, our website, Little housefiftypodcast dot com.

All of our stuff is in our show notes if you need info, and on our socials.

Guys, it's all there.

It's all there for you.

That's it.

Ready, Bob, get the wig let's lie everybody down.

I don't know