A Little House on the Prairie cast member believes that one of the show’s most controversial episodes would never be produced today—and rightfully so. The plot centers on an underage girl marrying a grown man, a storyline that would undoubtedly spark outrage today.
Alison Arngrim and Dean Butler, along with host Pamela Bob, discussed the season 4 episode titled “Here Come the Brides.” The trio hosts the Little House 50 podcast.
In the episode, Adam Simms (Joshua Bryant) and his son Luke (Bob Marsic) arrive in Walnut Grove. Adam quickly develops feelings for Miss Beadle (Charlotte Stewart), and Luke finds himself smitten with Nellie Oleson (Arngrim). Their whirlwind romance leads Nellie and Luke to impulsively run away and marry.
However, Arngrim believes that this episode would never have been made today, and for good reason. She admits, “I am 15 in this episode. I was super teenage, puberty insanity happening. And so it was so perfect [because the episode was about] the first time she rebels against her mom, the first time she falls in love.” However, Marsic was 22 when the episode was shot.
“That was another of the weird moments,” the Little House actor revealed. “His girlfriend shows up, and it was weird because it was like, there was this vague thing of her wanting to be there for the romantic scenes.”
“I was like, ‘does this woman think that I am a threat? Really? This 15 year old pimply girl? No. No. I am not a threat to your relationship. I am not stealing your man,'” the actor laughed, adding she didn’t meet Marsic prior to filming.
“I think we were like kissing on the first day or something. Maybe the second day, two? It was pretty quick, it was like, ‘Hi, introduce yourself, now you’re in love.'”
Arngrim wasn’t the only Little House actor uncomfortable with this type of situation. Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls, previously expressed her feelings about scenes where she was just 15 and kissing Butler, who was 23.
Although the series was trying to be historically accurate to Wilder’s story, Gilbert said in her memoir Prairie Tale, “I didn’t want to kiss a man. I didn’t want to kiss anyone with stubble!”
Little House on the Prairie is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and Peacock.
