Netflix’s ‘Little House on the Prairie’ Reboot Is Official—More Here!
It’s time to head back to Walnut Grove 42 years later! According to a newly released Deadline article, Netflix has ordered a reboot of the beloved 1970s family drama Little House on the Prairie. This comes after the initial reboot announcement made by Paramount TV Studios and Anonymous Content in 2020. To learn more about their reboot, including which book the first season will reportedly follow, keep scrolling!
What we know about Netflix’s ‘Little House on the Prairie’ reboot
The Netflix Little House on the Prairie reboot is reportedly going to be adapted by showrunner and executive producer Rebecca Sonnenshine, who is best known for her work on projects like The Boys and The Vampire Diaries.
“I fell deeply in love with these books when I was five years old,” Sonnenshine said. “They inspired me to become a writer and a filmmaker, and I am honored and thrilled to be adapting these stories for a new global audience with Netflix.”
Along with Sonnenshine, Susanna Fogel, Joy Gorman Wettels, Dana Fox and Trip Friendly from Friendly Family Productions are set to work as executive producers on the show.
In fact, Friendly’s father, Ed, was the first person to buy the rights to the Laura Ingalls Wilder series back in 1974. He then sold it to Paramount TV Studios and Anonymous Content in 2020, and it has since been in limbo until Netflix decided to pick it up and produce it last year.
“It has been a long-held dream of mine to carry on my father’s legacy and adapt Wilder’s classic American stories for a 21st-century audience in a way that brings together fans of both the books and the original television series,” Friendly said. “I am thrilled by our talented creative team led by Rebecca Sonnenshine, who are bringing these beloved stories about family, community, and survival to longtime fans and new generations.”
As of now, there is no set release date for the series.
What will the ‘Little House on the Prairie’ reboot be about?
Per Deadline, the show's first season is expected to follow the Ingalls family—consisting of Charles, Caroline, Laura and Mary—as they journey from Wisconsin to Independence, Kansas in the hopes of creating a better life for themselves.
The season is also reportedly going to feature various members of the Osage Native American tribe. This comes after Wilder was heavily criticized for setting the original series on land stolen from them and proceeding to portray the tribe offensively and inaccurately.
“When the book is given a critical reading, it becomes quite clear why an Indigenous child would walk away with feelings of shame, hurt and embarrassment,” scholar Waziyatawin Angela Cavender Wilson said in 2017. “There are literally dozens of derogatory, dehumanizing and damaging messages.”
As of the publication date, it remains unclear how Netflix is planning to tackle this issue, however, Jinny Howe, the VP of Drama Series at Netflix, did say in a statement that the reboot will be “a fresh take on this iconic story.”
"Rebecca's vision threads the needle with an emotional depth that will delight both new and existing fans of this beloved classic."
Will any original ‘Little House on the Prairie’ cast members return?
There have been no official announcements regarding casting for the reboot yet so it’s unclear who—if any—of the original cast will return. Melissa Gilbert, Melissa Sue Anderson and Karen Grassle are the surviving cast members, and the former has said she doesn’t think a reboot will work.
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“There have been lots of attempts to do a Little House on the Prairie again,” Grassle, 82, said in 2024. “There have been shows, there have been a musical, and I think we had a unique experience and it can't be repeated.”
She also stated that any sort of reboot wouldn't be the same without the late Michael Landon, who tragically died in 1991 from pancreatic cancer.
“Michael was a genius at casting and writing,” Grassle explained. “He understood things about how to translate that material into television for the public that was beyond what most writers understand. And he had his thumb on the pulse of the public and understood what people were longing for, and you don't find that every day.”
For more ‘Little House on the Prairie’ content, keep scrolling!
‘Little House’ Melissa Gilbert’s Last Goodbye to Michael Landon: ‘He Was Doing Everything to Fight’
Melissa Sue Anderson: A Look Back at Mary Ingalls From ‘Little House on the Prairie’
The ‘Little House on the Prairie’ Kids Are All Grown Up — And Have Children of Their Own!
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