Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Little House on the Prairie: Season Six Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 13, 2015

If any of you have explored the United States west of the Mississippi, especially if you’ve gotten off the (now) beaten track to look at areas where hordes of pioneers set their sights on a brighter future by heading toward the figurative sunset, you’ve no doubt seen some of the most telling signs of that mass exodus: namely, huge, imposing and quite deep ruts where scores of wagon wheels cut a route through an at times seemingly impenetrable wilderness. There are parts of the Oregon Trail, for example, where the wagon wheel ruts are so markedly deep that I’ve personally seen an unwary tourist fall and badly sprain his ankle when his foot wandered a bit too close to the “edge” of a rut. A somewhat analogous situation confronts Little House on the Prairie in its sixth season. The show is still regularly able to tug gently (and sometimes not so gently) at the heartstrings while delivering the “moral of the week,” but more and more as this batch of episodes unfolds, even diehard fans may feel that they’ve been down this particular trail several times before. The Ingalls still provide ample opportunity for harmless but admittedly (at times at least) edifying viewing, but there’s a certain lethargy to this season that tends to suck a lot of dramatic momentum out of any given episode.

Our reviews of the previous seasons of Little House on the Prairie can be accessed by clicking on the following links:

Little House on the Prairie: Season One Blu-ray review

Little House on the Prairie: Season Two Blu-ray review

Little House on the Prairie: Season Three Blu-ray review

Little House on the Prairie: Season Four Blu-ray review

Little House on the Prairie: Season Five Blu-ray review

Little House on the Prairie could probably easily be faulted (and in fact has been—by yours truly) for offering a somewhat candy coated version of the Old West, a place where bad guys are almost always vanquished, and where in fact even the blackest of hearts typically has some kind of redemptive arc that provides the “happily ever after” of any given episode. But it’s notable that the series continues to mine events from the actual lives of the Ingalls clan, as documented in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s many books. That’s the case as the sixth season kicks off with the introduction of two new characters who were in fact “real life” historical personages. New teacher Eliza Jane Wilder (Lucy Lee Flippin) is Laura’s (Melissa Gilbert) new schoolmarm, but it’s Eliza’s brother Almanzo Wilder (Dean Butler) whom Laura really wants to study. (The new characters’ surname probably is a bit revelatory in terms of where this particular arc is going to end up.)

It probably shouldn’t come as any big surprise (at least to longtime Little House on the Prairie viewers) that Laura’s early relationship with Almanzo is threatened by that most nefarious of nemeses, Nellie Oleson (Alison Arngrim). There’s a short but still multi-episode arc that unfolds this not exactly earth shattering series of events, one that the show actually plays for a bit of good natured humor. The fact that Laura is developing romantic feelings is in and of itself proof that little “Half Pint” is growing up, and indeed even Charles’ (Michael Landon) use of that adorable nickname figures into the proceedings.

While the overall feeling of this season is rife with déjà vu, there are a number of notable episodes in this season, for both good and ill. One kind of silly arc has Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson) involved in a horrifying stagecoach accident where she is the only individual able to seek help. Of course Mary is a bit on the blind side, making this attempt a bit of a challenge (old timers may remember a somewhat similar gambit was exploited in one of the very first ABC Movie of the Week outings, a proto-disaster film called Seven in Darkness, which had a septet of blind survivors of a plane crash trying to get back to civilization). The denouement of this particular episode stretches credulity to the breaking point, but ironically reinforces the series’ traditional reliance on Providence offering miracles for those in need.

Other episodes offer sometimes slightly outré visitors to Walnut Creek, including a traveling circus whose fat lady has an unexpected connection to the village. Some episodes, like one detailing the exploits of a less than honorable preacher, might be seen as virtual carbon copies of previous outings, while little contretemps like a forgotten anniversary assume typically outsized proportions. The virtually season long arc of the developing relationship between Laura and Almanzo delivers this season's most appealing aspect, one that is mirrored by some surprising developments that prove maybe even Nellie can be lovable, too. Through it all the Ingalls family remains stalwart and loyal, albeit with occasional skirmishes. The series can’t help but feel like it’s repeating itself at this point, but truth be told, some of the lessons it attempts to impart bear repeating.

This season's episodes are:

• 1. Back to School - Part I
• 2. Back to School - Part II
• 3. The Family Tree
• 4. The Third Miracle
• 5. Annabelle
• 6. The Preacher Takes a Wife
• 7. The Haloween Dream
• 8. The Return of Mr. Edwards
• 9. The King is Dead
• 10. The Faith Healer
• 11. Author! Author!
• 12. Crossed Connections
• 13. The Angry Heart
• 14. The Werewolf of Walnut Grove
• 15. Whatever Happened to the Class of '56
• 16. Darkness is My Friend
• 17. Silent Promises
• 18. May We Make Them Proud - Part I
• 19. May We Make Them Proud - Part II
• 20. Wilder and Wilder
• 21. Second Spring
• 22. Sweet Sixteen
• 23. He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not - Part I
• 24. He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not - Part II

Little House on the Prairie: Season Six Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Little House on the Prairie: Season Six is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.36:1. As with Little House on the Prairie: Season Five, there's perhaps a very slight diminution in overall quality here, with a greater variance in color temperature throughout the season, and a couple of actually kind of surprising nanoseconds of damage like scratches which the restoration efforts couldn't completely ameliorate. Some of the palette tends to look just slightly washed out at times, though as with Season Five, this is a transitory issue that tends to come and go. Grain is completely intact and resolves naturally, though it, like some other elements of this transfer, is just slightly variable at times. Also as with some individual episodes in previous seasons, there are some minor passing issues with crush in very dimly lit or nighttime sequences. All in all, though, this is still a generally solid presentation which should please the show's many devoted fans.

Little House on the Prairie: Season Six Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Little House on the Prairie: Season Six continues the tradition of the previous volumes by offering a nice sounding and at times nicely robust lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track. Dialogue, effects and the show's often quite sweeping score are all presented cleanly and clearly, with excellent prioritization, and no issues of any major concern.

Little House on the Prairie: Season Six Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Little House Phenomenon Part Six - A Lasting Legacy (1080p; 16:20) continues this multi-part documentary which has adorned all the previous volumes. This particular "episode" focuses on what Little House on the Prairie has meant for so many people over so many years. There's some interesting information about how the show's cancellation took the cast and crew by surprise.

Little House on the Prairie: Season Six Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's hard to get too curmudgeonly with a show like Little House on the Prairie which so obviously has its heart in the right place. Over and over again despite this season seeming increasingly derivative and repetitive the series delivers nicely heartfelt episodes that offer up worthwhile morals and which create a perhaps fanciful impression of the pioneer spirit. New cast members and the usual rogues' gallery of guest stars keep this season intermittently colorful, if not always completely memorable. Technical merits continue to be very good to excellent on this release, and Little House on the Prairie: Season Six comes Recommended.