September 4, 2025 • 55 mins
We recorded this episode back in late July—when Pamela was still in New Hampshire and Alison was halfway across the world. A lot has changed since then, but one thing hasn’t: this episode is still an absolute gem.
We’re diving into “Meet Me at the Fair”—a wild ride through carnival chaos featuring questionable parenting, a gang of literal jackasses, unsettling Renaissance Fair/Hannibal Lecter cosplay vibes, and of course, the real star of the show: a hot air balloon. All we ask is one thing: Make. It. Make. Sense. Join us for a hilarious conversation as we do our best not to laugh our way through the absurdity of “Meet Me at the Fair.” (And yes—you’ll actually find yourself rooting for Carrie in this one.)
Then, join us on Patreon, where Alison and Dean share behind-the-scenes stories with Pamela about filming and other goings-on in Old Tucson. And remember: what happens in Old Tucson stays in Old Tucson.
Links and Resources:
Haven’t signed up for Patreon yet? Link is below! PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/LittleHousePodcast
www.LittleHouse50Podcast.com to connect with our hosts and link to their websites.
www.LivinOnaPrairieTV.com Check out the award-winning series created by Pamela Bob, with special guest stars Alison Arngrim and Charlotte Stewart.
Prairie Legacy Productions - the place to go for info about all new Little House events!
To learn more about Little House on the Prairie, Visit www.littlehouseontheprairie.com
Little House 50th Anniversary Bus Tours - www.SimiValleyChamber.org select Little House 50th Anniversary and then Bus Tickets
Facebook/Instagram/TikTok:
Dean Butler @officialdeanbutler
Alison Arngrim @alisonarngrim
Pamela Bob @thepamelabob, @prairietv
Social Media Team: Joy Correa and Christine Nunez
https://www.paclanticcreative.com/
Producer: Tony Sweet
www.ubngo.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/little-house-fifty-for-50-podcast--6055242/support.
We’re diving into “Meet Me at the Fair”—a wild ride through carnival chaos featuring questionable parenting, a gang of literal jackasses, unsettling Renaissance Fair/Hannibal Lecter cosplay vibes, and of course, the real star of the show: a hot air balloon. All we ask is one thing: Make. It. Make. Sense. Join us for a hilarious conversation as we do our best not to laugh our way through the absurdity of “Meet Me at the Fair.” (And yes—you’ll actually find yourself rooting for Carrie in this one.)
Then, join us on Patreon, where Alison and Dean share behind-the-scenes stories with Pamela about filming and other goings-on in Old Tucson. And remember: what happens in Old Tucson stays in Old Tucson.
Links and Resources:
Haven’t signed up for Patreon yet? Link is below! PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/LittleHousePodcast
www.LittleHouse50Podcast.com to connect with our hosts and link to their websites.
www.LivinOnaPrairieTV.com Check out the award-winning series created by Pamela Bob, with special guest stars Alison Arngrim and Charlotte Stewart.
Prairie Legacy Productions - the place to go for info about all new Little House events!
To learn more about Little House on the Prairie, Visit www.littlehouseontheprairie.com
Little House 50th Anniversary Bus Tours - www.SimiValleyChamber.org select Little House 50th Anniversary and then Bus Tickets
Facebook/Instagram/TikTok:
Dean Butler @officialdeanbutler
Alison Arngrim @alisonarngrim
Pamela Bob @thepamelabob, @prairietv
Social Media Team: Joy Correa and Christine Nunez
https://www.paclanticcreative.com/
Producer: Tony Sweet
www.ubngo.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/little-house-fifty-for-50-podcast--6055242/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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Speaker 4 (01:38):
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Speaker 5 (01:51):
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(02:15):
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Speaker 6 (02:28):
Well.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Hello, Hello, Hello bonnet heads, thank you so much for
being here. I'm Pamela Bob, your host. The star and
creator of Living on a Prairie. That's right, live in
on a prairie? Should I repeat it again?
Speaker 5 (02:41):
Live?
Speaker 3 (02:44):
And I'm here with our beloved prairie bit Alison Aringram
and as always, our beloved hashtag imaginary boyfriend Nick Dean Butler.
Speaker 5 (02:55):
Am I beloved?
Speaker 7 (02:56):
Pamela?
Speaker 5 (02:59):
You are you?
Speaker 6 (02:59):
Kids?
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Is that a legitimate question?
Speaker 7 (03:04):
I just throw that in there just because you know,
because that's because beloved.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
I mean, that's that's that's an important word, Sean.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
I can say with absolute certainty, can't you Allison that
you are absolutely one thousand percent beloved? You still make
the ladies blush?
Speaker 6 (03:18):
Butler?
Speaker 5 (03:20):
That's that's great, boy, talk about groveling for it. So sorry, no,
I didn't need to do.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Wait am I beloved? What am I going to say?
Speaker 5 (03:31):
No?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Actually I lied?
Speaker 5 (03:32):
Yeah, no, yeah, you're just you're Yeah, you're a lowlife.
Why do we deal with you? Yeah? Well, so you're
You're in New Hampshire.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
So I'm in my final week in New Hampshire, which
is really sad because it's been so so wonderful we're doing.
I'm up at Peterborough, New Hampshire. Uh, the Peterborough player
is a very beloved historic is No, it really is, though,
it really really is. You know this This is a
(04:05):
little theater out in the country, but it has it's
almost one hundred years old. It has so much history.
Huge stars have performed here and gone on to fame,
and it's just a real honor to be back here.
And I've worked off and on here for like the
past twenty twenty five years since like nineteen ninety eight.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
That's true.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
And I got married here actually even so, yeah, it's
a really it's a very very special place. I'm so
happy to be back here this summer and we are
finishing up our run of the twenty fifth Annual Putnam
County Spelling Bee. I'm having the time of my life.
It's the most amazing cast. We're having so much fun.
And it's too short of a run. It's very very sad.
(04:47):
But yeah, so I'm I'm here in nature and loving it.
So that's where we've been. I've been recording from you guys, Alison,
you're back from Peta. Do you get a break now?
Speaker 5 (04:58):
What?
Speaker 6 (04:59):
Li? I barely back. I had just like playing and
I had to turn around. I did, and I didn't
even tell you guys. Have I told you that I'm
involved in like weird old tiny radio shows. Oh no,
I love that these things and Alison does like yet
another insane thing. Some time ago, I got entangled up
with Spurred Back and my Camera Society for the for
(05:22):
the Preservation of the BA the radio drama and uh,
the guys from Spurred Back, they do a lot of stuff.
And there's this guy. Greg Oppenheimer is the son of
Jess Oppenheimer, who wrote I Love Lucy. It's starting in
the radio. And he wrote a book about his dad
and Bah and he produces a lot of these things
where we have get together. I did a thing San
Diego Coast I own, remember hell we were a few
(05:43):
years ago, and we all a bunch of some very
famous people got together and we recreated Burns and Allen.
Speaker 8 (05:50):
And and they found out I could do a absolute
kick ass Gracie Allen and I have been their little
friend ever since.
Speaker 6 (06:02):
So Greg said, Hey, I'm doing a whole thing called
Laughter on the Air, which is the story of how
his dad met Lucille Ball, how he started in radio
in like the thirties and forties and then wound up
meeting Lucille Ball when she was doing My Favorite Husband
and wrote an episode and she went, this is different,
this is a completely different character, and funny, why aren't
(06:23):
we doing this? And it eventually became Bila Lucy Wow.
Christy's history. It's a great dress, but in it his
whole story of working with all the race so complete
with and then when Gracie Allen and George Bernshut and
all the sketches, so the other day I was it
was we had fake microphones. We didn't have the realises
because we're still a little theater space with the group.
I was Gracie Allen, I was Portland Hoffe. I was
(06:44):
Baby Snooks, yes, the Fennybury's character, the guy's mother, Katie
the maid somebody named make sure everybody was like six people.
But I did Gracie Allen and Baby and I killed
it with Baby Snacks of sis, saying we had all
these people, we had Bob Nigel and Phil Proctor. You
guys know Fire Signed Theater from the seventies, do you
remember way back the.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
Name of that. Guess?
Speaker 6 (07:06):
Of course, Fire Shign Theater and they've been continued for many, many,
many many years, performing live and they put on album
A couple of years ago. But these four guys were gigantic,
and I turned on to them. As a kid, I
was obsessed with Fireside Theater and I got to become
friends with Phil Proctor. I met him on like a
game show and then I had him on my show
and he He's been a fan of mine for years.
(07:27):
It's the mutual fan club Admiration Society. Phil Proct is
one of the funniest people living. And he was there.
And I always am excited when Phil's there, and he was.
He was Chico Marx and Harry Ackerman and a bunch
of it. It was insane, But yeah, I got to
I got to work with and uh oh the guy
from whose line is it anyway? Mesman, jim Meskamon and
(07:50):
a whole bunch of other people. And but I got
to work Hill Park and I got to go up
to the mic and goes as jeaed I didn't like,
I said, but I really like Baby Baden snect the
baby Snook singing my country Tizzivy to be annoying, can't baking. Yeah,
I was just like, I did.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
You did you ever try? Did you ever actively like
try to do voiceover? Like how your mom used to do.
Speaker 6 (08:16):
Yes, I had a voiceover agent for a while. I
had a tape and everything voice over. And even in
my mother's timing, as they say, how to get to
what happens, there's often nine pete. The story I was
told when I took a very very posh voiceover class
from one of the most famous voice o people. He said,
there's usually like nine people in voiceover all the cartoons
(08:37):
and all stuff, and we kind of wait till one
of them dies to retire, and.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
I say, it's no hard to break into.
Speaker 6 (08:45):
And then the celebrity thing were huge, huge, huge movie
stars do many of the car commercials, and the voice
over so well.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Even the movies. Now they used to want the voices
to be anonymous.
Speaker 6 (08:57):
For all the Disney films.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
And all the animated because they want them recognizable. They
want them to be that character. And now it's the
polar up.
Speaker 6 (09:04):
And then my mother's day was my mother was in
radio much like these people. She was in radio, and
then she when she got the First Family gig, the
famous First Family Kennedy. My mother was Caroline and John
Jawn and that's her in the picture and from the
way to say, and after that she could be anybody
(09:25):
she wanted. They're like to please do all our cartoons.
So she was when they say there were nine, she
was one of the nine people. For several years she
was one of those.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Probably one of the two women in right.
Speaker 6 (09:36):
Right, you had like June Foray and and then I.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Think those are the two I've ever heard of. Your
mother in June Foray.
Speaker 6 (09:43):
And then there was Billy Wood also read INA's Reindeer.
Billy somebody. She was delightful and she did everybody. And
my mom was really my mom wast friends with all
these people. And that was when I was a kid.
Mother showed me this Christmas Christmas cards and she'd hold
up the Christmas card. Goo, this Christmas card. It's from Rudolph.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
That's so cool.
Speaker 6 (10:05):
God, like seven half.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Now, when you were when you were growing up, Dean,
was this even on your radar of knowing hey, voiceover.
Speaker 6 (10:19):
Work or oh.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
I've always loved the idea of being, you know, doing this.
Speaker 7 (10:24):
I think my first time in front of a microphone
was announcing varsity basketball games my school, and I absolutely
loved that.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
No, it's great, great fun.
Speaker 7 (10:37):
So as I produced through the years, whenever I have
the chance to hire myself as the voiceover I do, well, you're.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
So good at it.
Speaker 6 (10:45):
Well, you're so good at it.
Speaker 7 (10:46):
Well, it's funny because it hasn't been it hasn't been
an easy path. It is a very challenging space to
get into. But I think once you you know, if
you if you get the chance to do it, and
you do it and you have fun, you want to
keep doing it by any means you can.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
So I've just I've just taken that path.
Speaker 7 (11:07):
This last weekend while I was home, I was actually
going stepping away from that part of my life and
it was more the gardener farmer thing. We're planting trees
and transplanting pots of stuff.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
And doing all that. It was a weekend with shovels
and clippers.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
And your house or your family property at our house.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
Doing that just to sort of spruce things up. It's
you know, it's it's so satisfying to do that. I mean,
if there really is.
Speaker 7 (11:40):
If anybody who does any gardening, it's so fun to
do that work and go out the next morning and
see if it's grown.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Yeah, you know, not only that, but just you know,
grounding yourself in the earth. They say it's so important
to you and your socks, get your feet in the grass,
in the dirt.
Speaker 7 (11:58):
I know to shoot off when I'm working in the
dirt because I'm working.
Speaker 5 (12:02):
With shovels and picks and stuff. I don't want to
poke myself, but I do. I do get dirt under
the fingernails.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Yeah, that counts. That's it's really important for physically, just
for your mental and physical health.
Speaker 8 (12:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
So what are we doing? What are we doing today?
We're doing?
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Okay today Today is the silliest of the silly. I
don't think it's the the silliest episode A Little House
and the Pair has ever done, but I'd say it's
in the top ten. I think it's in the top ten.
I actually had watching it, but it is seriously silly.
(12:39):
But first from the studios of ubn GO in Bourbon, California.
This is a Little House of the fifty Nope, Little
House on the Prairie fiftieth anniversary podcast. Okay, we're back.
(13:05):
We're gonna talk silly, silly, silly silly episode Dean hit It.
What's the title?
Speaker 7 (13:10):
So?
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Episode?
Speaker 7 (13:11):
Season four, Episode eleven, Meet Me at the Fair, Meet
Me at the Fair premiered on November twenty eighth, nineteen
seventy seven, written by Arthur Heineman from a story by
Bradley and Ray Berwick, and Arthur Hineman directed, as so
many episodes were by William F.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
Claxton.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Okay, this is interesting because these are This is a
writer that I'm not as familiar with, and likewise, this
episode is not a normal episode for a little house
of the prairie, and I wonder what was this a
short story? What was the story? Was it a short story?
Speaker 6 (13:47):
Was it a a Where did this come from?
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Did it what from?
Speaker 7 (13:52):
Okay Bradley, now Ray Berwick is the name I'm familiar with.
Speaker 5 (13:58):
Arthur Heineman is written.
Speaker 7 (13:59):
We talked about other episodes that Arthur Heinemann has written,
but but this is meet Me at the Fair is
a very unusual.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
It's a one off episode in.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
Your little House, Cannon.
Speaker 6 (14:16):
I believe someone got a deal on a hot air
balloon and needed to use it and they wrote this episode.
I had to not be surprised completely silly. There's so
many plot holes and dopey things and characters doing things
that are not in character and just acting like idiots
for a whole hour that I was like somebody gave
(14:38):
him a free hot air balloon and they had to.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Use its hot air balloon for everything We've got is
the first shot we see in the episode hot air balloon.
Speaker 6 (14:52):
Yeah, the ingles, and they also just go to the
fair because for some reason, everyone has to go. Okay,
what the kind of is apparently with she's not totally
explained until you get there. Everyone had entered a pickle
contest or by contest. Mary had an entry in the
fat and missed. Both missus Olsen and Karen had entered
a pickling contest, So I guess that's why they had
(15:12):
to drive all the way up to this place, which
they say is called Redwood City, which we've never really
heard of except in the centennial episode. Who's wrong with
Redwood City? Okay, so they go to the fair, everyone
has a busy day. Mary finds her friend Patrick, who
just happens.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Never seen the never seen again in the vortext he's in.
Speaker 6 (15:40):
She She's like, oh, yeah, we're going to meet at
the fair because apparently what they were texting, how does
she know they arranged him? No sense whatsoever? All right,
A hi, gambling, they're gambling, and they've abandoned the children.
To wander the carnies and pickpocket filled area. And so
(16:00):
Laura is now playing a shell game, which is like
a legal cha de miner. Okay, and use it a permission.
Laura is gambling on a con artist shell game. Nobody
thinks this is bad. Okay, there's a.
Speaker 5 (16:11):
Running gaming with a pick pocket. There's a pit pocket
that's working.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
And does eleanor Roosevelt look alike who's trailing him?
Speaker 6 (16:19):
That we don't because this dude with the box where
snatches people's things and sticks to the But there's this
cute little old lady. But we all know where that's going,
don't wait. So, oh, so Laura has to make money,
so she so takes a job at the carnival. But
her family is a tending notes. You go back to
her parents and go, I was gambling on the shell game,
(16:40):
which I know. I'm not supposed to be a lost man. No,
she takes a job in the dugging booth without.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
An hour about that.
Speaker 6 (16:48):
I do it too, which is like an insane amount
of money. Isn't that what makes it the middle of
a week? Why is it all? Okay? Nelly of course
comes along to taunt her and Laura tells her that
the game is rigged and nothing will happen. Well, actually,
Nelly gets it's rigged. It can't be any to get
to death because Nelly can't hit the side of a bar,
so she says, oh yeah, it's totally safe, and of
course Nelly gets done. This was the only good thing
in this episode. We were shooting this. It was a
(17:10):
billion degrees and I thank god got dunked in ok
water of the day. I was so happy. Also, now
regarding Nelly in the fair, it does have one of
my favorite lines. Laura says, Nellie Olsen says she's going
up in the balloon, and Caroline says Neillielsen says a
lot of things. Caroline's trying to get her entries registered
(17:33):
in the canned vegetables, so Carrie has to wait with her, yes,
because Gry is a child and cannot be alone. But
of course they forget about that. Charles Mille rope and
ride a wild mule. Excuse me, wild asses, as they
refer to them. That was happening in the quote.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Turnout the jackasses that a.
Speaker 6 (17:55):
Ring tone on my phone. I turn up the backasses
to be a ring tone on my phone. They win
money again. Everyone is gambling and becoming employed by the fair.
What is going on? Her parents asked Laura to take
Carrie to the merry ground. That's her first reasonable request
is And so while they're line, of course, the balloon
starts to lift off. Laura goes to watch it.
Speaker 5 (18:16):
Leaving Carrie.
Speaker 6 (18:18):
She repeatedly abandons carry and allows her to get lost.
He's already lost the dog. We don't know where the
dog is at this point.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
The dogs run off somewhere away.
Speaker 6 (18:27):
Yeah, because nobody's watching the dog. Charles get tanged Carrie
and then if you, if you find band it, tether
the wagon what the dog is and of course the
dog is gone. Laura sees banded and again leaving Carrie.
Carrie of course wanders off, sees the balloon desk and
gets in and we all know where that goes. Now again,
do you remember in Oh Gosh something bloom Boy there
(18:48):
was that various weird kind of crack Boddy family and
the little boy supposed to leave was up in the
milar balloon. It turned out he wasn't. It was a hoax.
It was all weird, but balloon boy Carrie did it first,
and we all know Carrie, tell well, or down that
pipe that mine shaft. Years before, poor baby Jess got
stuck in a pipe in her yard and had to
be rescued. Carrie does it first, Maybe just got balloon boy,
(19:10):
Carrie did.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Well ahead of her time.
Speaker 6 (19:13):
Yes, But they go to the pier and it's an
old tuoson and I guess because they need to use
this balloon, and everything is just wrong. I mean, okay
in real life. We know for reading the books in history,
the Ingles were very strict. Ma was by the shores
of Silver Lake. When there's the railroad men. We know
that Ma said, don't go near the railroad men. The
girls stick together, don't talk to strangers. They arrive at
(19:36):
the fair, they say, the girls are fighting. Why don't
you two spend as little time together as possible today we're.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
A great idea.
Speaker 6 (19:44):
We're in a crowded area, including carnies and pickpockets, and don't.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
I ever, don't stick together? I know it's wild from
the beginning. Then we see cute little cutie Patuity Patrick,
sixteen year old on boy Patrick. We never see him again.
He enters the vortex as soon as the show is over.
The Vortex of people we've never ever seen ever again.
He and Mary have a little date going to the fair. Great,
(20:11):
and then the balloon guy enters the picre.
Speaker 6 (20:15):
Now this is the prey Okay, now was.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
I think Yeah? Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
This balloon guy. There's so much wrong about what's happening
with this balloon guy. First of all, he's super creepy.
I am positive he has dead bodies chopped up in
his barn somewhere. He's literally like Silence of the Lamb's weird,
shady icky hitting on Mary so so hard in the weirdest,
(20:56):
weirdest way.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
Intuition.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Oh my god, where's Mary's intuition? Like zero zero intuition? Whatsoever?
Speaker 6 (21:07):
Mary was goody goodie, she had a date and dump
shit just like who what's your name? Again? Walked away
from her date who she agreed to go to the
fair with, to Joe this much older the boyish age
appropriate Patrick, She is a minor. There's much older guy
with the weird irish action. Oh yes, she's my pretty
made al right. Yeah? Is what the hell by prescious?
She's like the creepiest And to leave with this adult
(21:29):
ma'am and go hang out. Who's treating her date, like crap,
who and.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
She's a dressed like a like a like a cosplay
Carnie person. It's like, here reminds me. Here reminds me
of those guys that you see that work at the
Renaissance bears who like believe that they're actually the Green
Knight and like who get all the ladies because like
the fantasy is hardcore, But the second they leave the fair,
(21:54):
they're just like some idiot in a in a night outfit.
It's this guy. This guy is like the worst kind
of Carnie like Renaissance fair dude you will ever see. Ever,
he's so creepy.
Speaker 6 (22:10):
For the record, mister creepy incredibly creepy Cats was played
by an actor named Dick de dECOi or quait Coit
d Koit, who apparently is alive and well in living
in Burbank. Don't now trying to track him down.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Did he do anything else?
Speaker 6 (22:25):
Yes, he was in a bunch of stuff and he
seems to have been married to the same woman for
thouses and it's a really nice guy, go figure. And
poor little Patrick, just for the record, was played by
a marvelous actor, mister Michael Morgan, who is the was
the son of stuntman Bob Morgan and Yvonne de Carlo. Yes,
missus Lilly Munster, that's just Moon de Carlo, Lily Munster
(22:47):
and movie star and her husband Bob Morgan, famous stuntman
who was in many westerns. They had this boy, Michael Morgan.
He tragically died at age thirty nine at a stroke
of a freak, leaving his brother and his mother and
Yvonne de Carlow never recovered and died of a stroker's
shelf less than a year later. So, poor little Michael
(23:09):
morren Patrick's a horrible, horrible, tragic story. He died very young.
And but but the horrible guy is still alive and
is apparently a nice kinydal life.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
So horrible guy is still alive.
Speaker 6 (23:20):
Damn it.
Speaker 9 (23:22):
Uh, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Okay, let's take it. Let's take it back for a second. So,
so we're at this random carnival fair. We don't know
how why where they're just there, everyone's there. Also, imagine
at that time going to something like that. I'm sure
it was like the event of the decade for them.
How happen did they get to see any.
Speaker 7 (23:45):
Of the the bands are playing the clown is barching
and all games, Yeah, all of it.
Speaker 6 (23:53):
You've ever been? Oh never, I've never been. They've never
seen hornor.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Never seen No, of course they haven't. Uh So then right,
so Ma has the brilliant idea of let's separate the girls.
That'll be a good idea. So the girls under way.
Then we see the balloon guy, total creepy, creepoid, weird
carny guy. So Mary is already I mean, I'm just
kind of like, Mary, what are you doing?
Speaker 6 (24:19):
What are you doing?
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Then we go to the Jackasses where where I mean,
there is so much going on at this carnival. They're
the jack let out the Jackasses.
Speaker 6 (24:33):
Nels what I want to know?
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Nells ends up winning. I mean it is It is
funny seeing Nels try to get and Charles and the
delight that Charles has being like, you won, you won.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
Did Charles and Nells split that fifty dollars because Charles
had a lot to do with him winning. They were together, right,
Charles needs the twenty five five bucks, Nells does not.
I would hope that Charles left that fair with some money.
That is never discussed ever ever.
Speaker 6 (25:08):
Richard Bull always brilliant comedy, and when they let Richard,
he was so comedy that with the tug Awar thing
and the fair that when we had to and writing
it Jack genius genius because he was always so proper
in state. And so when he goes nuts and is
writing a donkey backwards, it's like he's and you want
him turn out these that.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Merch that's a T shirt. Okay, here's the here's the
next thing. I want to know. So Laura goes to
play the game at the carnival and she's cutting down
dime cam dime after dime, and I am thinking, this
family doesn't have a penny to their name. Where is
(25:52):
she getting five dimes from where?
Speaker 7 (25:56):
But didn't didn't but didn't give the both fifty cents
before they.
Speaker 5 (26:02):
Took off on this adventure.
Speaker 7 (26:03):
Where did he get I think they were in the
wagon and I gave them Yeah, for the whole day.
Speaker 5 (26:08):
He gave them each fifty cents, which is a lot
of money for that. Yeah, so much money the mill.
Speaker 6 (26:14):
Look, I made a dollar fifties like a week and
he's given them because the prices are all off. The
prices are all off because a slate pencils two cents.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Why was the game ten cents each for a game.
I thought that was exorbitant, and.
Speaker 6 (26:30):
Yund fifty cents, fifty cents, I'm sorry.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
The balloon was a dollar.
Speaker 6 (26:36):
It made no sense. It made no sense because they
talk about needing being needing a dollar to let pay
a huge thing.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
I be I don't think that.
Speaker 7 (26:47):
And Michael, who re wrote all these things, I found
we fell found throughout the series that these kinds of
details about pricing and that kind of thing specifically, it's
all relative.
Speaker 5 (27:04):
And Michael sees these shows is each in.
Speaker 7 (27:07):
A box and they are their own independent little world
and they have to Obviously there are threads that get
pulled through the series, but this is one of those things.
There's no thread being pulled other than the obnoxious relationship
with Nelly and Laura, and you know, the jealousy of
Harriet and Caroline and all the friendship of Nels and Charles,
(27:30):
the you know, that's the vulnerability of Carrie that we
see all that.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
But it's but I think that Michael just his reasoning
was no, no, no.
Speaker 7 (27:40):
This has to work in its own logic, in its
own context, and we never have We don't have to
own any of this.
Speaker 10 (27:48):
It's comedic relief and that it's a little TV movie
with these characters completely divorced from everything, because otherwise you'd go,
why people are doing things that are not in character?
Speaker 6 (27:59):
People are behaving very badly.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Yes, so now we're back with Renaissance Man, balloon guys,
fair guy, God's blay guy who says, and I quote Mary,
would you say yes to something if I asked you?
Speaker 5 (28:18):
What the actual what?
Speaker 7 (28:21):
What would you say yes to something if I asked you?
Speaker 5 (28:29):
I wonder, I wonder how.
Speaker 7 (28:32):
This story came together. You know, it's episode episode eleven
of season four. I'm just sure of wondering what the
state of things was at that moment in timing Nelson,
you were there.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
I mean, you know, I don't right, well, that exactly
what I was thinking? What is what was the actual
awareness at this time?
Speaker 6 (28:56):
Because it's sometimes there are episodes, you know, no criticism.
This is how TV works, where an episode was a
Bonanza episode and Michael took it and recycled it. Now
you way, he recycled it very well and would write
the b plot line, the subplot totally about something happening
in Little House world. So you went even people went
I think I saw this in Bonanza, but then there'd
(29:17):
be a whole section that you did to write it.
This really, when I watch it feels like something somebody
wrote for a different show that got repurposed for us
because we had a deal on a hot air blink.
That's what it feels like now. Bob asked a question
when I started telling about this episode, he goes, oh, Arizona,
(29:39):
because Bob remembers that, indeed, there was an incident early
in the show. As we know, there were several divorces,
you know, Michael and crew members who then married the
women that they were gading, and that that happens and
with multiple people, and that it had to do. There
was a lot of people going a location Okay, I
(30:03):
don't know, it's it's the coldl like concert thing with
the guy, and there was like an intan people got
caught in Arisota, I remember, and I talked about it
in my book. There was an episode in Arizona that
I wasn't actually in, but at the last minute was
called to come be in and just kind of be
in a scene and do very very little because unfortunately,
(30:26):
it's just so happy that the person who was my
friend and who was needed to be able to work
that week, to be in Arizona for other reasons, and
I was. I got paid basically weeks, paid to not
do much so somebody could have somebody there. Hollywood, Hollywood.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
These things happened, the scandal on the Prairie.
Speaker 6 (30:45):
When I started telling Bob about this episode, he looked
at me, because remember he didn't grow up on the show.
He's seen a few episodes. He looked at me and
was like, this sounds weird. Did they shoot this because
they all had to go to Arizona and be with
their girlfriends or something. But I don't know, And like
I said, I got to discard the ball I don't
know what the hell's going on. I don't know. I
(31:07):
know we had a contract, I believe, to shoot so
many episodes at Old Tucson. We've made some kind of deal,
and we did shoot so many episodes at Old Tucson
and so many in Sonora. And it's like, oh, when
we have a balloon and there's this episode about a
hot air balloon that was really great when they did it.
I don't know, because there's so many out of character
(31:28):
things and it's a standalone. It doesn't relate to anything else,
and it's kind of all about how can we use
this balloon that there is something kinky about the whole thing.
I was to let me get in the water.
Speaker 8 (31:40):
Let me get in the.
Speaker 6 (31:41):
Water after all that.
Speaker 5 (31:42):
Yeah, right, No, it is.
Speaker 7 (31:44):
It is odd because we spend a lot of time
on the podcast talking about episodes that have deeper meaning.
Speaker 6 (31:55):
That have right, don't go in Redwood City.
Speaker 5 (32:02):
I don't know, it's.
Speaker 6 (32:05):
Talk to strangers.
Speaker 5 (32:07):
Let's let's let's take it. Let's take a quick break.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
Okay, come try edwards from wrapping my brain around this one.
All right, we will be right back. Let's all breathe. Yes.
Speaker 11 (32:20):
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(32:42):
House fiftieth Anniversary Tour at Big Sky Movie Ranch. Less
than fifteen minutes from Los Angeles and thirty minutes from
Universal Studios, Seem Valley has small town charm with big
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more information. We are so grateful to visit seemi Valley
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(33:05):
fiftieth anniversary podcast.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
Okay, we are back. Where are we now? So? So
now we're in the dunking booth where Laura has swindled
Allison to persuade her to cheat her and tell her
that no, the thing is rigged. Do you go and
you can make fifty sentence if you get on the thing.
And then of course the boys come and dunk her
in the water.
Speaker 6 (33:29):
Because the only needs to dunk and it was a
million degrees and I was so happy. I was so
happy because I was miserable at hot and they said,
and now we will fling you in a tank of water.
I said, yes, please, and please, okay, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
Poor Carrie is just stuck online with mo while everyone
else is having fun. I do feel bad for her
this episode. With all the slack I give Carrie, I
will give her this one. Dean, what were you going
to say?
Speaker 7 (33:53):
Well, no, I was just going to say, there's all
this we're at that. You know, we're at the at
the food area, and you know, Ma wins and Harriet doesn't,
and then we have these other names of other people
who win who we don't know, which.
Speaker 5 (34:08):
Is sort of, you know, like why are we doing that?
And it's just sort of it's just sort of odd.
Speaker 7 (34:16):
Mary's upset because she doesn't win, but then you've got
the cast. McCrae is telling her that it doesn't matter, and.
Speaker 5 (34:23):
Blah blah blah blah.
Speaker 7 (34:24):
I think I think the moment we need to get to,
which is really where I mean, this is a cast
of thousands. I gotta believe this episode was massively expensive
to shoot. Just look, just look at the bodies that
are there. It was Look, Little House was shot probably
(34:44):
average budget, around seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars an
episode in those days, which today would be nothing. You
can't shoot the commercial and promo for seven fifty, but
episodes were shot for seven to fifty and they were
so efficient with budget. I gotta believe this was one
of those things you said, Okay, we're going to do
(35:05):
this show. We're going to spend a little more than
seven point fifty now, because we've got all these bodies.
Everywhere you look, there are one hundred people. Yeah, yeah,
I mean it's it's really incredible and for so little story,
there's so much production.
Speaker 6 (35:24):
It's all right.
Speaker 12 (35:27):
So let's get to because I think the beautiful the
visual thing that that that sort of that moment that
Michael works for, that Bill worked for, Bill Klaxton worked for,
is that carry in the balloon moment.
Speaker 5 (35:41):
But maybe there's something that precedes that. Okay, there are.
Speaker 3 (35:44):
Two things that perceive that. First, yes, Mary does lose
the what is it needle competition? Okay, and Carney crazy
renaissance there guy Creeper Hannibal Lecter says her, I'll make
it up to you, and this is something else, and
he goes, now, come on, let's have some lunch. And
(36:05):
I thought, yeah, with fava beans and a nice cante,
because you are about to chop her up into pieces
and like wear her flesh as your skin, and you don't.
Speaker 5 (36:19):
They walk out of that scene.
Speaker 7 (36:21):
He's got his arm around her sort of like it's like, wow,
this is not the Little House world.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
And he he also then makes her go onto the balloon. Right,
I mean this is like, oh that's right, okay. Narcissistic
abuse one one. Right, this guy is a total sart
psychopath where he forces her onto the balloon she does
not want to go, he does not give her a choice.
She gets on the balloon, and then when she gets
(36:52):
off the balloon and her parents are like, you didn't
ask us? How dare you?
Speaker 6 (36:54):
Like?
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Why didn't you say no? And he manipulates it so
that she feels that it was her choice as opposed
to him forcing her on, And then that's how narcissistic
abuse her he is. That then Pa ends up apologizing
to him about her going up in the ball Like
(37:15):
the whole thing is so twisted and awful. This guy
is a malignant narcissist serial killer. I'm convinced want like
a stupid sword collection at his cabin, like he thinks
he's cool. Meanwhile in the basement there are dead bodies everywhere.
(37:38):
I'm convinced of it.
Speaker 7 (37:42):
Yeah, I mean, as you watch this, she just sort
of feel like, what jumping the shark moment app is next?
Speaker 5 (37:49):
Because it does, and that's so unusual. That's so unusual.
Speaker 7 (37:53):
I think this episode may be more bizarre than For
the Love of Blanche.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Of a plan, but it is definitely in the top
I'd say top five to ten.
Speaker 6 (38:04):
Yes, when Mary loses, she gets really met, When did
Mary become a sore loser? Mary? What would her mother
said that way before? Why are you so they would
have a fould all of a sudden, then wants her
alone in the balloon, So yeah, and then her parents
(38:28):
this is again and she's like, why didn't you ask us?
Because you know where to be found because you left
and abandoned your children and the dog.
Speaker 3 (38:33):
And that's correct.
Speaker 6 (38:34):
It's so bad. And then of course it all leads
up to Carrie. Now now we have to remember though, Okay,
Patrick who does the thing of holding a rope to
save her. But it's his fault because in the fifty
jealous peak he goes nuts and goes there the hell
with this say, and shops off the rope and says,
screw it, I'll screw up his balloon. Yeah, except he
(38:56):
doesn't realize that carries in and the second see her
realizes this.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
Let me also add that the precursor to the balloon
is also No one wants to freaking take care of Carrie,
so they make Laura do it, who also doesn't want
to freaking take care of carry and leaves her alone.
Speaker 13 (39:18):
She leaves like the five year old alone in the
middle of a carnival with hundreds of people are a
sketchy character.
Speaker 6 (39:28):
Yeah, it's very it's just walks away like twice like yeah.
And the guy Patrick, to his credit, goes, oh what
have I done? The baby's in the thing, grabs the road,
drags himself across the ground truck practically kills himself trying
to save her. So okay, redeem and then everybody shows
up and flips out, mind you serial killer cass is
(39:52):
like my balloon because he could care less. And then
the ingles and the fire fire department because we're quite
rightly the because the fire keeps the blue up. Now,
the fire department work there in the city. They are
the fire department at this fair no doubt. All the
time they have seen a hot air balloon before. They
(40:13):
are quite aware that hot air makes it rise, and
that there is a fire in the blue. The fire
department knows that the fire department probably approved the balloon
or helped issue the permit for it, or whatever they
did back then if.
Speaker 9 (40:23):
They do permit, yes, Pauw, who's the episode, he's never
seen a fire balloon? Bit up one that morning from
the farm to the fire.
Speaker 6 (40:34):
Chief and says, you should spray water on the fly
in the pollup so it will come down. Because why
is he having because he thinks he knows more about
blows it. The freaking fire chief who works there. He
the guy who just showed up there goes now, just
tells direct the fire department, who had to have turned
around and gone, yeah, no shit, sure lock, what did you?
(40:56):
Who is this guy? He's ordering the fire department to
put out the fire, to bring the balloon down. Yet no, really,
thank you guy, you just showed up this morning. He's
never seen a hot air balloon before.
Speaker 7 (41:07):
Again, again, it was written that way, it was written,
and they need to get the balloon down.
Speaker 5 (41:14):
I mean again, these are these are things that are
expedient in the moment.
Speaker 7 (41:18):
So did this come to you as you're watching this
or was this something you processed later.
Speaker 6 (41:24):
I was falling off the couch now I realized what
they were doing was it's voice of the audience because
we're watching the fires. Oh no, how will they do that?
And so he's doing.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
Mister narrator that to Charles, right, Yeah, they.
Speaker 6 (41:39):
Could have said we're gonna put water on that fire
because that's how you get a balloon down. But it
was the moment they go, don't worry, I see you
wait to put water on the fire in the balloon.
That's what that was. I was like to But then
they get there and when it all comes down and
carry's fine and thinks they're all hysterical and nobody's yelling
at the parents, why did you leave your child alone?
Speaker 5 (41:58):
They did?
Speaker 6 (41:59):
Yeah, Cat is totally heartless. He's like, ask my balloon,
I'd never mind the kid. So he reveals himself to
be rotten, and Mary finally kind of goes and then
she got obvious from the beginning. But okay, Patrick's the
one who cut the rope and sent her baby sister
off into space now and then tried to save her.
But it is his fault that it happened. He tried
(42:22):
to save it. He tried to fix the problem he lost. Yeah,
what wrong is the episode is wrong?
Speaker 3 (42:29):
No, it's super bizarre. I also wanted to know that.
So shouldn't shouldn't someone have gotten sued for that store,
for that bullet? I was like, do they have litigation
on the prairie? Litigation on the on the prairie.
Speaker 6 (42:42):
Adam Adam Kendall hasn't shown up to become a lawyer yet.
Speaker 5 (42:48):
Off it's uh, it is interesting.
Speaker 7 (42:54):
So what so this was forty eight minutes of television
on a Monday night.
Speaker 3 (43:02):
Yeah, but I will say I did laugh at this.
I mean I did laugh. It was so bizarrely silly.
And I also cringed because Renaissance Fair Annipocter was.
Speaker 7 (43:13):
Yeah, as always with all Little House episodes, wonderfully produced
to me, and all the you know, the the photography
is beautiful, the you.
Speaker 5 (43:23):
Know, David Rose's music.
Speaker 7 (43:25):
Is appropriately carny, creepy in moments, fun and silly in
other moments. It all, you know what, It all comes together,
but you don't want it's moving so fast you don't
want to stop and think about it too much.
Speaker 6 (43:40):
No, nothing to think about it. At the end, Catherine
Gregor and I swear to god, this had to be
an ad lib because nothing's really happening. She yells with
Nelly and Will you aren't actually doing anything in the wagon.
It was just what she could do that She probably
just did it to do it, to have something to
do in the wagon.
Speaker 3 (43:59):
You giggle because I'm looking at our notes, Dean, and
you just wrote the end no earth shattering themes, when.
Speaker 6 (44:10):
The dog finally shows up, the dog and we're going
to leave the dog dog, and I wrote dog well boo,
and the dog is also stupid boo. That was my note.
Speaker 3 (44:26):
Now again, I do not think this episode was as
bad as a few others, Blanche taking the top. I
think the one, uh what what's the title of it
where Jason Bateman almost dies and Paul grows a beard
and makes it he was only twelve, He was only twelve?
(44:47):
That one is rough. There are a couple of really
rough ones later on. I don't think this is as
rough as those were, but it certainly was bananas.
Speaker 5 (45:00):
Yeah, it doesn't make a lot of sense.
Speaker 9 (45:02):
I mean it.
Speaker 7 (45:03):
It's asking us to believe that these people who we've
come to know in a particular way, we're all capable
of making bad decisions, just like everybody made bad decisions
throughout the episodes, everyone.
Speaker 3 (45:18):
Over and over and over again.
Speaker 5 (45:20):
And then they leave happily and drive home before it
gets start.
Speaker 3 (45:25):
It's a miracle that they all ended up back together
in one piece together.
Speaker 6 (45:31):
Yeah, and so one in a moment. Yeah, they didn't say, wow,
you know, next time we go to the fair, let's
all be more careful.
Speaker 3 (45:39):
Yeah, but oh okay, So two questions, Alison, What this
must have been for kids? It must have been really
fun filming this, I mean.
Speaker 6 (45:51):
So hot, aggressively nightmarishly huks like I said, it's like, please,
can I be in the dunk tech? Now? I really
got it.
Speaker 3 (46:02):
Oh and those poor extras and the clown outfits all that.
Speaker 5 (46:06):
No, it's it's hot time.
Speaker 7 (46:07):
I had gallons of water and there must have been
cases of sea breeze on the set.
Speaker 3 (46:13):
And what about the animals? How did they How did
they make sure the animals are okay?
Speaker 5 (46:17):
I think.
Speaker 6 (46:20):
Are pretty good. We did get ice cream? What WILLI
and I had ice Yeah?
Speaker 3 (46:27):
Yeah, that was That was Literally as I was watching it,
I was like, oh, they're so happy they're eating ice
cream right now.
Speaker 6 (46:32):
Yeah, it was. It was hard to do. Now it
was fun. I mean the craw crowd cheans are hard
to shoot, and you know that things had to be
done over and over and over again with the people,
especially with the pickpocket chase. And yes, the little old
lady sits down and I take all of your money.
Speaker 3 (46:46):
Still that that was odd too, of like the Bad
the pickpockets actually don't get in trouble. She just steals
his fine like she steals more Like yeah, where's the morality.
Speaker 7 (47:00):
Yeah, there's there's there are no No one learns anything
good in this episode.
Speaker 3 (47:05):
No one.
Speaker 6 (47:07):
Yeah, but yeah, you had to You had to do
stuff over and over against you have a million crunch.
You'd have to say, everybody, okay, no, wait, you have
to let the pickpocket through. No way. Everybody stopped because
the wagon. No, everybody stopped because because you had the
lead people doing things with crowd milling. So how many
retakes did that all take? So it was a pain
to fill things over and over in the blistering heat
(47:28):
and the stuff, and so takes hard.
Speaker 3 (47:31):
Seven days of it would have.
Speaker 5 (47:33):
Been, well, it would have been six or seven days,
I would think. I mean there was a lot going on.
Speaker 6 (47:39):
Were four out there, maybe three or four maybe because
we were trying to be efficient, but it was just
hot and miserable and crowded. Now there were fun things
because you know, there were candy apples and things, and
you know if there was pie or candy apples or
ice cream, you know, damn well.
Speaker 5 (47:54):
Like dogs stole a candy apple band. It stole a
candy apple.
Speaker 3 (48:00):
Okay, So then my other question is because because again
it's we're in we're watching this in twenty twenty five
eyes right now, right, which we we know a lot
more now about sexual predators now, we say, or the
treatment of ladies or like if a guy is coming
on start like, we're much more but part of me
(48:23):
things in nineteen seventy seven we weren't idiots, were we?
Speaker 5 (48:26):
I mean?
Speaker 3 (48:27):
Or was it so not a part of the cultural
conversation yet of creepy guy hitting on young girl?
Speaker 6 (48:36):
Like what?
Speaker 3 (48:36):
What was this just generally accepted? Like what was that?
Speaker 6 (48:41):
No? People? I mean people let stuffs for TV. I
think this is fair because English in eighteen hundreds she
would have said, why are you talking to a strange man?
Speaker 5 (48:53):
Right? I mean?
Speaker 6 (48:54):
None of that was a lot. All the episodes of
Laura goes fishing with middle aged bankers and doesn't tell
her parents, who are there? No of course, stories in
the books and the story from Loui's life where her
mother said, oh my god, get in the house, why
are you talking to it? Never that was not a lot.
Speaker 3 (49:12):
Was there something about but was there something about the
nineteen seventies or it was more like it was. It
just not a thing. I mean, because it just strikes me.
Speaker 5 (49:25):
Some strange people talk a lot.
Speaker 6 (49:27):
From sixties year it'll be fine.
Speaker 5 (49:30):
Yeah, well I think there's some of that.
Speaker 7 (49:32):
I think there, you know, nineteen seventy second wave feminism. Yeah,
maybe you know, young girls need to be able to
be a little.
Speaker 5 (49:42):
Bit, you know, girls just want to have fun pre
Cindy lauper Se.
Speaker 3 (49:46):
But I just wanted to yell to Mary, like Mary,
you're allowed to say no. You're allowed to say no
to someone.
Speaker 6 (49:52):
There was also a terrible denial in TV because other
TV shows did it too, with the children went prancing
off into the ether. And you're like what because in
the seventies, okay, the seventies seven, we're talking about the
Hillside strange, right, Yeah, because and I know because we
had a seven eleven that was super close to our
apartment in Hollywood, and I remember walking down there alone
(50:14):
or with a girlfriend to get fudgicles. And then we
kind of stopped doing that because there was a woman
who was almost taken down the street from Yeah. Yeah,
and there were several serial killers that were on the news.
I mean, yeah, that that happened where people were being
serial killers, right. That was the height of serial killer land,
was the seventies where women were snatched off corner. So
(50:37):
people knew that, and so it wasn't so, but there
was a fantasy denial of everyone wanted the seventies and
the eighteen seventies. And you know Opie and Andy Griffiff,
who have been another time where nothing bad happened, even
though they bloody well knew better, and they tried to
tell them, says, oh, look see there they're on the prairie,
at the fair, at the balloon. There's no hillside strangler. Yeah,
(51:00):
there's there's none of that is happening where we can
It's fine. And of course it wasn't really.
Speaker 3 (51:09):
No, I was gonna say. And of course, watching this
as a girl, you're not thinking any of those things.
You're thinking, oh, look they get to be on a balloon,
like this is a fun. But now as an adult watching,
I'm like, he's forcing her on this hot air balloon
alone with him. He could do anything to her up there.
Speaker 5 (51:27):
And as the mother of a young daughter, you know
that you are.
Speaker 7 (51:34):
Throughout our time we're doing this, you know you are
very sensitive to those kinds of issues. Good for you,
But I wasn't a girl, no, no, of course not
mon Paul were not being helicopter parents.
Speaker 3 (51:50):
No, you know, there's a part of me that's like,
damn it, I wish i'd I wish you know. And
and Allison, you're a big part of this of like
being consciously aware of bad guys out there right of
and having and needing to be aware of it. And
(52:12):
and I do miss watching this show with that sense
of pure innocence because I watch it now and I
am Jay did right, Like I still love the show,
and I still get the lessons that they you know,
the purity of the.
Speaker 5 (52:29):
Lessons that are the best.
Speaker 3 (52:31):
Learning, the best lessons. But it is hard for me
to watch us now and go, oh, that guy could
do anything to her in that moment, Like what what
was she doing with this guy? Like he's he's a
serial killer, clearly right, And I.
Speaker 6 (52:43):
Have to think that there were grown ups, like grown
up for older people who watch it then and while
the kids were going look at the cute boy, look
at the balloon, went yeah, right now, I'm not on
your life kid who were watching it, Yeah, she's going
with the strange man that she doesn't know in a balloon. Yeah,
that's not happening. People have watched it.
Speaker 5 (53:03):
No, I think we have. I think we have covered
this ground. I think we have. I think we need
to prop.
Speaker 7 (53:11):
Or fully stated our concerns about meet me at the
fair where we're not going to Redwood City again anytime soon.
Speaker 5 (53:21):
But everyone survived.
Speaker 6 (53:24):
The carnival. Do not leave your children unattended at a
carnival and tell them to split up. Don't just don't don't,
don't leave.
Speaker 3 (53:30):
That's you know what. That's the takeaway from this episode.
Speaker 5 (53:33):
There you go, there you go. They got lucky and
nothing happened.
Speaker 3 (53:37):
Yeah, this is a horror story and they gone out alive.
That's it. That was the true story.
Speaker 7 (53:50):
And if there are any like look, I think if
there are any uh if if people watch this and say, oh,
you guys have got this completely wrong, there's a whole
other side of hear what it is we.
Speaker 3 (54:02):
Want to hear from me.
Speaker 5 (54:05):
If we're missing all right, Yeah, so anyway, Pamela.
Speaker 6 (54:17):
Now.
Speaker 3 (54:21):
All right, everybody, this is a very silly, silly episode.
Thank you for joining us. Join us on socials, Little
House Swifty podcast, or on our website, Little House fifty
podcast dot com. All of our stuff is on there.
All of our recent goings ons and future goings ons
will be in shown the show notes as well. Thank
you for joining us. We do want to hear from
(54:41):
you if you have another takeaway from this episode that
we seem to be missing somehow, the horror story of
take Me, Meet Me at the Fair. Anyway, Thanks guys
so much, we'll see you next time. Bob, get the
way clips fly, not in, not hair balloon.
Speaker 5 (55:05):
Not a bound hair bullet.
Speaker 6 (55:14):
M hm
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Speaker 6 (02:28):
Well.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Hello, Hello, Hello bonnet heads, thank you so much for
being here. I'm Pamela Bob, your host. The star and
creator of Living on a Prairie. That's right, live in
on a prairie? Should I repeat it again?
Speaker 5 (02:41):
Live?
Speaker 3 (02:44):
And I'm here with our beloved prairie bit Alison Aringram
and as always, our beloved hashtag imaginary boyfriend Nick Dean Butler.
Speaker 5 (02:55):
Am I beloved?
Speaker 7 (02:56):
Pamela?
Speaker 5 (02:59):
You are you?
Speaker 6 (02:59):
Kids?
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Is that a legitimate question?
Speaker 7 (03:04):
I just throw that in there just because you know,
because that's because beloved.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
I mean, that's that's that's an important word, Sean.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
I can say with absolute certainty, can't you Allison that
you are absolutely one thousand percent beloved? You still make
the ladies blush?
Speaker 6 (03:18):
Butler?
Speaker 5 (03:20):
That's that's great, boy, talk about groveling for it. So sorry, no,
I didn't need to do.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Wait am I beloved? What am I going to say?
Speaker 5 (03:31):
No?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Actually I lied?
Speaker 5 (03:32):
Yeah, no, yeah, you're just you're Yeah, you're a lowlife.
Why do we deal with you? Yeah? Well, so you're
You're in New Hampshire.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
So I'm in my final week in New Hampshire, which
is really sad because it's been so so wonderful we're doing.
I'm up at Peterborough, New Hampshire. Uh, the Peterborough player
is a very beloved historic is No, it really is, though,
it really really is. You know this This is a
(04:05):
little theater out in the country, but it has it's
almost one hundred years old. It has so much history.
Huge stars have performed here and gone on to fame,
and it's just a real honor to be back here.
And I've worked off and on here for like the
past twenty twenty five years since like nineteen ninety eight.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
That's true.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
And I got married here actually even so, yeah, it's
a really it's a very very special place. I'm so
happy to be back here this summer and we are
finishing up our run of the twenty fifth Annual Putnam
County Spelling Bee. I'm having the time of my life.
It's the most amazing cast. We're having so much fun.
And it's too short of a run. It's very very sad.
(04:47):
But yeah, so I'm I'm here in nature and loving it.
So that's where we've been. I've been recording from you guys, Alison,
you're back from Peta. Do you get a break now?
Speaker 5 (04:58):
What?
Speaker 6 (04:59):
Li? I barely back. I had just like playing and
I had to turn around. I did, and I didn't
even tell you guys. Have I told you that I'm
involved in like weird old tiny radio shows. Oh no,
I love that these things and Alison does like yet
another insane thing. Some time ago, I got entangled up
with Spurred Back and my Camera Society for the for
(05:22):
the Preservation of the BA the radio drama and uh,
the guys from Spurred Back, they do a lot of stuff.
And there's this guy. Greg Oppenheimer is the son of
Jess Oppenheimer, who wrote I Love Lucy. It's starting in
the radio. And he wrote a book about his dad
and Bah and he produces a lot of these things
where we have get together. I did a thing San
Diego Coast I own, remember hell we were a few
(05:43):
years ago, and we all a bunch of some very
famous people got together and we recreated Burns and Allen.
Speaker 8 (05:50):
And and they found out I could do a absolute
kick ass Gracie Allen and I have been their little
friend ever since.
Speaker 6 (06:02):
So Greg said, Hey, I'm doing a whole thing called
Laughter on the Air, which is the story of how
his dad met Lucille Ball, how he started in radio
in like the thirties and forties and then wound up
meeting Lucille Ball when she was doing My Favorite Husband
and wrote an episode and she went, this is different,
this is a completely different character, and funny, why aren't
(06:23):
we doing this? And it eventually became Bila Lucy Wow.
Christy's history. It's a great dress, but in it his
whole story of working with all the race so complete
with and then when Gracie Allen and George Bernshut and
all the sketches, so the other day I was it
was we had fake microphones. We didn't have the realises
because we're still a little theater space with the group.
I was Gracie Allen, I was Portland Hoffe. I was
(06:44):
Baby Snooks, yes, the Fennybury's character, the guy's mother, Katie
the maid somebody named make sure everybody was like six people.
But I did Gracie Allen and Baby and I killed
it with Baby Snacks of sis, saying we had all
these people, we had Bob Nigel and Phil Proctor. You
guys know Fire Signed Theater from the seventies, do you
remember way back the.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
Name of that. Guess?
Speaker 6 (07:06):
Of course, Fire Shign Theater and they've been continued for many, many,
many many years, performing live and they put on album
A couple of years ago. But these four guys were gigantic,
and I turned on to them. As a kid, I
was obsessed with Fireside Theater and I got to become
friends with Phil Proctor. I met him on like a
game show and then I had him on my show
and he He's been a fan of mine for years.
(07:27):
It's the mutual fan club Admiration Society. Phil Proct is
one of the funniest people living. And he was there.
And I always am excited when Phil's there, and he was.
He was Chico Marx and Harry Ackerman and a bunch
of it. It was insane, But yeah, I got to
I got to work with and uh oh the guy
from whose line is it anyway? Mesman, jim Meskamon and
(07:50):
a whole bunch of other people. And but I got
to work Hill Park and I got to go up
to the mic and goes as jeaed I didn't like,
I said, but I really like Baby Baden snect the
baby Snook singing my country Tizzivy to be annoying, can't baking. Yeah,
I was just like, I did.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
You did you ever try? Did you ever actively like
try to do voiceover? Like how your mom used to do.
Speaker 6 (08:16):
Yes, I had a voiceover agent for a while. I
had a tape and everything voice over. And even in
my mother's timing, as they say, how to get to
what happens, there's often nine pete. The story I was
told when I took a very very posh voiceover class
from one of the most famous voice o people. He said,
there's usually like nine people in voiceover all the cartoons
(08:37):
and all stuff, and we kind of wait till one
of them dies to retire, and.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
I say, it's no hard to break into.
Speaker 6 (08:45):
And then the celebrity thing were huge, huge, huge movie
stars do many of the car commercials, and the voice
over so well.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Even the movies. Now they used to want the voices
to be anonymous.
Speaker 6 (08:57):
For all the Disney films.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
And all the animated because they want them recognizable. They
want them to be that character. And now it's the
polar up.
Speaker 6 (09:04):
And then my mother's day was my mother was in
radio much like these people. She was in radio, and
then she when she got the First Family gig, the
famous First Family Kennedy. My mother was Caroline and John
Jawn and that's her in the picture and from the
way to say, and after that she could be anybody
(09:25):
she wanted. They're like to please do all our cartoons.
So she was when they say there were nine, she
was one of the nine people. For several years she
was one of those.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Probably one of the two women in right.
Speaker 6 (09:36):
Right, you had like June Foray and and then I.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Think those are the two I've ever heard of. Your
mother in June Foray.
Speaker 6 (09:43):
And then there was Billy Wood also read INA's Reindeer.
Billy somebody. She was delightful and she did everybody. And
my mom was really my mom wast friends with all
these people. And that was when I was a kid.
Mother showed me this Christmas Christmas cards and she'd hold
up the Christmas card. Goo, this Christmas card. It's from Rudolph.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
That's so cool.
Speaker 6 (10:05):
God, like seven half.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Now, when you were when you were growing up, Dean,
was this even on your radar of knowing hey, voiceover.
Speaker 6 (10:19):
Work or oh.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
I've always loved the idea of being, you know, doing this.
Speaker 7 (10:24):
I think my first time in front of a microphone
was announcing varsity basketball games my school, and I absolutely
loved that.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
No, it's great, great fun.
Speaker 7 (10:37):
So as I produced through the years, whenever I have
the chance to hire myself as the voiceover I do, well, you're.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
So good at it.
Speaker 6 (10:45):
Well, you're so good at it.
Speaker 7 (10:46):
Well, it's funny because it hasn't been it hasn't been
an easy path. It is a very challenging space to
get into. But I think once you you know, if
you if you get the chance to do it, and
you do it and you have fun, you want to
keep doing it by any means you can.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
So I've just I've just taken that path.
Speaker 7 (11:07):
This last weekend while I was home, I was actually
going stepping away from that part of my life and
it was more the gardener farmer thing. We're planting trees
and transplanting pots of stuff.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
And doing all that. It was a weekend with shovels
and clippers.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
And your house or your family property at our house.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
Doing that just to sort of spruce things up. It's
you know, it's it's so satisfying to do that. I mean,
if there really is.
Speaker 7 (11:40):
If anybody who does any gardening, it's so fun to
do that work and go out the next morning and
see if it's grown.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Yeah, you know, not only that, but just you know,
grounding yourself in the earth. They say it's so important
to you and your socks, get your feet in the grass,
in the dirt.
Speaker 7 (11:58):
I know to shoot off when I'm working in the
dirt because I'm working.
Speaker 5 (12:02):
With shovels and picks and stuff. I don't want to
poke myself, but I do. I do get dirt under
the fingernails.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Yeah, that counts. That's it's really important for physically, just
for your mental and physical health.
Speaker 8 (12:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
So what are we doing? What are we doing today?
We're doing?
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Okay today Today is the silliest of the silly. I
don't think it's the the silliest episode A Little House
and the Pair has ever done, but I'd say it's
in the top ten. I think it's in the top ten.
I actually had watching it, but it is seriously silly.
(12:39):
But first from the studios of ubn GO in Bourbon, California.
This is a Little House of the fifty Nope, Little
House on the Prairie fiftieth anniversary podcast. Okay, we're back.
(13:05):
We're gonna talk silly, silly, silly silly episode Dean hit It.
What's the title?
Speaker 7 (13:10):
So?
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Episode?
Speaker 7 (13:11):
Season four, Episode eleven, Meet Me at the Fair, Meet
Me at the Fair premiered on November twenty eighth, nineteen
seventy seven, written by Arthur Heineman from a story by
Bradley and Ray Berwick, and Arthur Hineman directed, as so
many episodes were by William F.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
Claxton.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Okay, this is interesting because these are This is a
writer that I'm not as familiar with, and likewise, this
episode is not a normal episode for a little house
of the prairie, and I wonder what was this a
short story? What was the story? Was it a short story?
Speaker 6 (13:47):
Was it a a Where did this come from?
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Did it what from?
Speaker 7 (13:52):
Okay Bradley, now Ray Berwick is the name I'm familiar with.
Speaker 5 (13:58):
Arthur Heineman is written.
Speaker 7 (13:59):
We talked about other episodes that Arthur Heinemann has written,
but but this is meet Me at the Fair is
a very unusual.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
It's a one off episode in.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
Your little House, Cannon.
Speaker 6 (14:16):
I believe someone got a deal on a hot air
balloon and needed to use it and they wrote this episode.
I had to not be surprised completely silly. There's so
many plot holes and dopey things and characters doing things
that are not in character and just acting like idiots
for a whole hour that I was like somebody gave
(14:38):
him a free hot air balloon and they had to.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Use its hot air balloon for everything We've got is
the first shot we see in the episode hot air balloon.
Speaker 6 (14:52):
Yeah, the ingles, and they also just go to the
fair because for some reason, everyone has to go. Okay,
what the kind of is apparently with she's not totally
explained until you get there. Everyone had entered a pickle
contest or by contest. Mary had an entry in the
fat and missed. Both missus Olsen and Karen had entered
a pickling contest, So I guess that's why they had
(15:12):
to drive all the way up to this place, which
they say is called Redwood City, which we've never really
heard of except in the centennial episode. Who's wrong with
Redwood City? Okay, so they go to the fair, everyone
has a busy day. Mary finds her friend Patrick, who
just happens.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Never seen the never seen again in the vortext he's in.
Speaker 6 (15:40):
She She's like, oh, yeah, we're going to meet at
the fair because apparently what they were texting, how does
she know they arranged him? No sense whatsoever? All right,
A hi, gambling, they're gambling, and they've abandoned the children.
To wander the carnies and pickpocket filled area. And so
(16:00):
Laura is now playing a shell game, which is like
a legal cha de miner. Okay, and use it a permission.
Laura is gambling on a con artist shell game. Nobody
thinks this is bad. Okay, there's a.
Speaker 5 (16:11):
Running gaming with a pick pocket. There's a pit pocket
that's working.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
And does eleanor Roosevelt look alike who's trailing him?
Speaker 6 (16:19):
That we don't because this dude with the box where
snatches people's things and sticks to the But there's this
cute little old lady. But we all know where that's going,
don't wait. So, oh, so Laura has to make money,
so she so takes a job at the carnival. But
her family is a tending notes. You go back to
her parents and go, I was gambling on the shell game,
(16:40):
which I know. I'm not supposed to be a lost man. No,
she takes a job in the dugging booth without.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
An hour about that.
Speaker 6 (16:48):
I do it too, which is like an insane amount
of money. Isn't that what makes it the middle of
a week? Why is it all? Okay? Nelly of course
comes along to taunt her and Laura tells her that
the game is rigged and nothing will happen. Well, actually,
Nelly gets it's rigged. It can't be any to get
to death because Nelly can't hit the side of a bar,
so she says, oh yeah, it's totally safe, and of
course Nelly gets done. This was the only good thing
in this episode. We were shooting this. It was a
(17:10):
billion degrees and I thank god got dunked in ok
water of the day. I was so happy. Also, now
regarding Nelly in the fair, it does have one of
my favorite lines. Laura says, Nellie Olsen says she's going
up in the balloon, and Caroline says Neillielsen says a
lot of things. Caroline's trying to get her entries registered
(17:33):
in the canned vegetables, so Carrie has to wait with her, yes,
because Gry is a child and cannot be alone. But
of course they forget about that. Charles Mille rope and
ride a wild mule. Excuse me, wild asses, as they
refer to them. That was happening in the quote.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Turnout the jackasses that a.
Speaker 6 (17:55):
Ring tone on my phone. I turn up the backasses
to be a ring tone on my phone. They win
money again. Everyone is gambling and becoming employed by the fair.
What is going on? Her parents asked Laura to take
Carrie to the merry ground. That's her first reasonable request
is And so while they're line, of course, the balloon
starts to lift off. Laura goes to watch it.
Speaker 5 (18:16):
Leaving Carrie.
Speaker 6 (18:18):
She repeatedly abandons carry and allows her to get lost.
He's already lost the dog. We don't know where the
dog is at this point.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
The dogs run off somewhere away.
Speaker 6 (18:27):
Yeah, because nobody's watching the dog. Charles get tanged Carrie
and then if you, if you find band it, tether
the wagon what the dog is and of course the
dog is gone. Laura sees banded and again leaving Carrie.
Carrie of course wanders off, sees the balloon desk and
gets in and we all know where that goes. Now again,
do you remember in Oh Gosh something bloom Boy there
(18:48):
was that various weird kind of crack Boddy family and
the little boy supposed to leave was up in the
milar balloon. It turned out he wasn't. It was a hoax.
It was all weird, but balloon boy Carrie did it first,
and we all know Carrie, tell well, or down that
pipe that mine shaft. Years before, poor baby Jess got
stuck in a pipe in her yard and had to
be rescued. Carrie does it first, Maybe just got balloon boy,
(19:10):
Carrie did.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Well ahead of her time.
Speaker 6 (19:13):
Yes, But they go to the pier and it's an
old tuoson and I guess because they need to use
this balloon, and everything is just wrong. I mean, okay
in real life. We know for reading the books in history,
the Ingles were very strict. Ma was by the shores
of Silver Lake. When there's the railroad men. We know
that Ma said, don't go near the railroad men. The
girls stick together, don't talk to strangers. They arrive at
(19:36):
the fair, they say, the girls are fighting. Why don't
you two spend as little time together as possible today we're.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
A great idea.
Speaker 6 (19:44):
We're in a crowded area, including carnies and pickpockets, and don't.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
I ever, don't stick together? I know it's wild from
the beginning. Then we see cute little cutie Patuity Patrick,
sixteen year old on boy Patrick. We never see him again.
He enters the vortex as soon as the show is over.
The Vortex of people we've never ever seen ever again.
He and Mary have a little date going to the fair. Great,
(20:11):
and then the balloon guy enters the picre.
Speaker 6 (20:15):
Now this is the prey Okay, now was.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
I think Yeah? Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
This balloon guy. There's so much wrong about what's happening
with this balloon guy. First of all, he's super creepy.
I am positive he has dead bodies chopped up in
his barn somewhere. He's literally like Silence of the Lamb's weird,
shady icky hitting on Mary so so hard in the weirdest,
(20:56):
weirdest way.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
Intuition.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Oh my god, where's Mary's intuition? Like zero zero intuition? Whatsoever?
Speaker 6 (21:07):
Mary was goody goodie, she had a date and dump
shit just like who what's your name? Again? Walked away
from her date who she agreed to go to the
fair with, to Joe this much older the boyish age
appropriate Patrick, She is a minor. There's much older guy
with the weird irish action. Oh yes, she's my pretty
made al right. Yeah? Is what the hell by prescious?
She's like the creepiest And to leave with this adult
(21:29):
ma'am and go hang out. Who's treating her date, like crap,
who and.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
She's a dressed like a like a like a cosplay
Carnie person. It's like, here reminds me. Here reminds me
of those guys that you see that work at the
Renaissance bears who like believe that they're actually the Green
Knight and like who get all the ladies because like
the fantasy is hardcore, But the second they leave the fair,
(21:54):
they're just like some idiot in a in a night outfit.
It's this guy. This guy is like the worst kind
of Carnie like Renaissance fair dude you will ever see. Ever,
he's so creepy.
Speaker 6 (22:10):
For the record, mister creepy incredibly creepy Cats was played
by an actor named Dick de dECOi or quait Coit
d Koit, who apparently is alive and well in living
in Burbank. Don't now trying to track him down.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Did he do anything else?
Speaker 6 (22:25):
Yes, he was in a bunch of stuff and he
seems to have been married to the same woman for
thouses and it's a really nice guy, go figure. And
poor little Patrick, just for the record, was played by
a marvelous actor, mister Michael Morgan, who is the was
the son of stuntman Bob Morgan and Yvonne de Carlo. Yes,
missus Lilly Munster, that's just Moon de Carlo, Lily Munster
(22:47):
and movie star and her husband Bob Morgan, famous stuntman
who was in many westerns. They had this boy, Michael Morgan.
He tragically died at age thirty nine at a stroke
of a freak, leaving his brother and his mother and
Yvonne de Carlow never recovered and died of a stroker's
shelf less than a year later. So, poor little Michael
(23:09):
morren Patrick's a horrible, horrible, tragic story. He died very young.
And but but the horrible guy is still alive and
is apparently a nice kinydal life.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
So horrible guy is still alive.
Speaker 6 (23:20):
Damn it.
Speaker 9 (23:22):
Uh, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Okay, let's take it. Let's take it back for a second. So,
so we're at this random carnival fair. We don't know
how why where they're just there, everyone's there. Also, imagine
at that time going to something like that. I'm sure
it was like the event of the decade for them.
How happen did they get to see any.
Speaker 7 (23:45):
Of the the bands are playing the clown is barching
and all games, Yeah, all of it.
Speaker 6 (23:53):
You've ever been? Oh never, I've never been. They've never
seen hornor.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Never seen No, of course they haven't. Uh So then right,
so Ma has the brilliant idea of let's separate the girls.
That'll be a good idea. So the girls under way.
Then we see the balloon guy, total creepy, creepoid, weird
carny guy. So Mary is already I mean, I'm just
kind of like, Mary, what are you doing?
Speaker 6 (24:19):
What are you doing?
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Then we go to the Jackasses where where I mean,
there is so much going on at this carnival. They're
the jack let out the Jackasses.
Speaker 6 (24:33):
Nels what I want to know?
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Nells ends up winning. I mean it is It is
funny seeing Nels try to get and Charles and the
delight that Charles has being like, you won, you won.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
Did Charles and Nells split that fifty dollars because Charles
had a lot to do with him winning. They were together, right,
Charles needs the twenty five five bucks, Nells does not.
I would hope that Charles left that fair with some money.
That is never discussed ever ever.
Speaker 6 (25:08):
Richard Bull always brilliant comedy, and when they let Richard,
he was so comedy that with the tug Awar thing
and the fair that when we had to and writing
it Jack genius genius because he was always so proper
in state. And so when he goes nuts and is
writing a donkey backwards, it's like he's and you want
him turn out these that.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Merch that's a T shirt. Okay, here's the here's the
next thing. I want to know. So Laura goes to
play the game at the carnival and she's cutting down
dime cam dime after dime, and I am thinking, this
family doesn't have a penny to their name. Where is
(25:52):
she getting five dimes from where?
Speaker 7 (25:56):
But didn't didn't but didn't give the both fifty cents
before they.
Speaker 5 (26:02):
Took off on this adventure.
Speaker 7 (26:03):
Where did he get I think they were in the
wagon and I gave them Yeah, for the whole day.
Speaker 5 (26:08):
He gave them each fifty cents, which is a lot
of money for that. Yeah, so much money the mill.
Speaker 6 (26:14):
Look, I made a dollar fifties like a week and
he's given them because the prices are all off. The
prices are all off because a slate pencils two cents.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
Why was the game ten cents each for a game.
I thought that was exorbitant, and.
Speaker 6 (26:30):
Yund fifty cents, fifty cents, I'm sorry.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
The balloon was a dollar.
Speaker 6 (26:36):
It made no sense. It made no sense because they
talk about needing being needing a dollar to let pay
a huge thing.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
I be I don't think that.
Speaker 7 (26:47):
And Michael, who re wrote all these things, I found
we fell found throughout the series that these kinds of
details about pricing and that kind of thing specifically, it's
all relative.
Speaker 5 (27:04):
And Michael sees these shows is each in.
Speaker 7 (27:07):
A box and they are their own independent little world
and they have to Obviously there are threads that get
pulled through the series, but this is one of those things.
There's no thread being pulled other than the obnoxious relationship
with Nelly and Laura, and you know, the jealousy of
Harriet and Caroline and all the friendship of Nels and Charles,
(27:30):
the you know, that's the vulnerability of Carrie that we
see all that.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
But it's but I think that Michael just his reasoning
was no, no, no.
Speaker 7 (27:40):
This has to work in its own logic, in its
own context, and we never have We don't have to
own any of this.
Speaker 10 (27:48):
It's comedic relief and that it's a little TV movie
with these characters completely divorced from everything, because otherwise you'd go,
why people are doing things that are not in character?
Speaker 6 (27:59):
People are behaving very badly.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Yes, so now we're back with Renaissance Man, balloon guys,
fair guy, God's blay guy who says, and I quote Mary,
would you say yes to something if I asked you?
Speaker 5 (28:18):
What the actual what?
Speaker 7 (28:21):
What would you say yes to something if I asked you?
Speaker 5 (28:29):
I wonder, I wonder how.
Speaker 7 (28:32):
This story came together. You know, it's episode episode eleven
of season four. I'm just sure of wondering what the
state of things was at that moment in timing Nelson,
you were there.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
I mean, you know, I don't right, well, that exactly
what I was thinking? What is what was the actual
awareness at this time?
Speaker 6 (28:56):
Because it's sometimes there are episodes, you know, no criticism.
This is how TV works, where an episode was a
Bonanza episode and Michael took it and recycled it. Now
you way, he recycled it very well and would write
the b plot line, the subplot totally about something happening
in Little House world. So you went even people went
I think I saw this in Bonanza, but then there'd
(29:17):
be a whole section that you did to write it.
This really, when I watch it feels like something somebody
wrote for a different show that got repurposed for us
because we had a deal on a hot air blink.
That's what it feels like now. Bob asked a question
when I started telling about this episode, he goes, oh, Arizona,
(29:39):
because Bob remembers that, indeed, there was an incident early
in the show. As we know, there were several divorces,
you know, Michael and crew members who then married the
women that they were gading, and that that happens and
with multiple people, and that it had to do. There
was a lot of people going a location Okay, I
(30:03):
don't know, it's it's the coldl like concert thing with
the guy, and there was like an intan people got
caught in Arisota, I remember, and I talked about it
in my book. There was an episode in Arizona that
I wasn't actually in, but at the last minute was
called to come be in and just kind of be
in a scene and do very very little because unfortunately,
(30:26):
it's just so happy that the person who was my
friend and who was needed to be able to work
that week, to be in Arizona for other reasons, and
I was. I got paid basically weeks, paid to not
do much so somebody could have somebody there. Hollywood, Hollywood.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
These things happened, the scandal on the Prairie.
Speaker 6 (30:45):
When I started telling Bob about this episode, he looked
at me, because remember he didn't grow up on the show.
He's seen a few episodes. He looked at me and
was like, this sounds weird. Did they shoot this because
they all had to go to Arizona and be with
their girlfriends or something. But I don't know, And like
I said, I got to discard the ball I don't
know what the hell's going on. I don't know. I
(31:07):
know we had a contract, I believe, to shoot so
many episodes at Old Tucson. We've made some kind of deal,
and we did shoot so many episodes at Old Tucson
and so many in Sonora. And it's like, oh, when
we have a balloon and there's this episode about a
hot air balloon that was really great when they did it.
I don't know, because there's so many out of character
(31:28):
things and it's a standalone. It doesn't relate to anything else,
and it's kind of all about how can we use
this balloon that there is something kinky about the whole thing.
I was to let me get in the water.
Speaker 8 (31:40):
Let me get in the.
Speaker 6 (31:41):
Water after all that.
Speaker 5 (31:42):
Yeah, right, No, it is.
Speaker 7 (31:44):
It is odd because we spend a lot of time
on the podcast talking about episodes that have deeper meaning.
Speaker 6 (31:55):
That have right, don't go in Redwood City.
Speaker 5 (32:02):
I don't know, it's.
Speaker 6 (32:05):
Talk to strangers.
Speaker 5 (32:07):
Let's let's let's take it. Let's take a quick break.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
Okay, come try edwards from wrapping my brain around this one.
All right, we will be right back. Let's all breathe. Yes.
Speaker 11 (32:20):
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(32:42):
House fiftieth Anniversary Tour at Big Sky Movie Ranch. Less
than fifteen minutes from Los Angeles and thirty minutes from
Universal Studios, Seem Valley has small town charm with big
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more information. We are so grateful to visit seemi Valley
dot com for their commitment to presenting The Little House
(33:05):
fiftieth anniversary podcast.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
Okay, we are back. Where are we now? So? So
now we're in the dunking booth where Laura has swindled
Allison to persuade her to cheat her and tell her
that no, the thing is rigged. Do you go and
you can make fifty sentence if you get on the thing.
And then of course the boys come and dunk her
in the water.
Speaker 6 (33:29):
Because the only needs to dunk and it was a
million degrees and I was so happy. I was so
happy because I was miserable at hot and they said,
and now we will fling you in a tank of water.
I said, yes, please, and please, okay, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
Poor Carrie is just stuck online with mo while everyone
else is having fun. I do feel bad for her
this episode. With all the slack I give Carrie, I
will give her this one. Dean, what were you going
to say?
Speaker 7 (33:53):
Well, no, I was just going to say, there's all
this we're at that. You know, we're at the at
the food area, and you know, Ma wins and Harriet doesn't,
and then we have these other names of other people
who win who we don't know, which.
Speaker 5 (34:08):
Is sort of, you know, like why are we doing that?
And it's just sort of it's just sort of odd.
Speaker 7 (34:16):
Mary's upset because she doesn't win, but then you've got
the cast. McCrae is telling her that it doesn't matter, and.
Speaker 5 (34:23):
Blah blah blah blah.
Speaker 7 (34:24):
I think I think the moment we need to get to,
which is really where I mean, this is a cast
of thousands. I gotta believe this episode was massively expensive
to shoot. Just look, just look at the bodies that
are there. It was Look, Little House was shot probably
(34:44):
average budget, around seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars an
episode in those days, which today would be nothing. You
can't shoot the commercial and promo for seven fifty, but
episodes were shot for seven to fifty and they were
so efficient with budget. I gotta believe this was one
of those things you said, Okay, we're going to do
(35:05):
this show. We're going to spend a little more than
seven point fifty now, because we've got all these bodies.
Everywhere you look, there are one hundred people. Yeah, yeah,
I mean it's it's really incredible and for so little story,
there's so much production.
Speaker 6 (35:24):
It's all right.
Speaker 12 (35:27):
So let's get to because I think the beautiful the
visual thing that that that sort of that moment that
Michael works for, that Bill worked for, Bill Klaxton worked for,
is that carry in the balloon moment.
Speaker 5 (35:41):
But maybe there's something that precedes that. Okay, there are.
Speaker 3 (35:44):
Two things that perceive that. First, yes, Mary does lose
the what is it needle competition? Okay, and Carney crazy
renaissance there guy Creeper Hannibal Lecter says her, I'll make
it up to you, and this is something else, and
he goes, now, come on, let's have some lunch. And
(36:05):
I thought, yeah, with fava beans and a nice cante,
because you are about to chop her up into pieces
and like wear her flesh as your skin, and you don't.
Speaker 5 (36:19):
They walk out of that scene.
Speaker 7 (36:21):
He's got his arm around her sort of like it's like, wow,
this is not the Little House world.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
And he he also then makes her go onto the balloon. Right,
I mean this is like, oh that's right, okay. Narcissistic
abuse one one. Right, this guy is a total sart
psychopath where he forces her onto the balloon she does
not want to go, he does not give her a choice.
She gets on the balloon, and then when she gets
(36:52):
off the balloon and her parents are like, you didn't
ask us? How dare you?
Speaker 6 (36:54):
Like?
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Why didn't you say no? And he manipulates it so
that she feels that it was her choice as opposed
to him forcing her on, And then that's how narcissistic
abuse her he is. That then Pa ends up apologizing
to him about her going up in the ball Like
(37:15):
the whole thing is so twisted and awful. This guy
is a malignant narcissist serial killer. I'm convinced want like
a stupid sword collection at his cabin, like he thinks
he's cool. Meanwhile in the basement there are dead bodies everywhere.
(37:38):
I'm convinced of it.
Speaker 7 (37:42):
Yeah, I mean, as you watch this, she just sort
of feel like, what jumping the shark moment app is next?
Speaker 5 (37:49):
Because it does, and that's so unusual. That's so unusual.
Speaker 7 (37:53):
I think this episode may be more bizarre than For
the Love of Blanche.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Of a plan, but it is definitely in the top
I'd say top five to ten.
Speaker 6 (38:04):
Yes, when Mary loses, she gets really met, When did
Mary become a sore loser? Mary? What would her mother
said that way before? Why are you so they would
have a fould all of a sudden, then wants her
alone in the balloon, So yeah, and then her parents
(38:28):
this is again and she's like, why didn't you ask us?
Because you know where to be found because you left
and abandoned your children and the dog.
Speaker 3 (38:33):
And that's correct.
Speaker 6 (38:34):
It's so bad. And then of course it all leads
up to Carrie. Now now we have to remember though, Okay,
Patrick who does the thing of holding a rope to
save her. But it's his fault because in the fifty
jealous peak he goes nuts and goes there the hell
with this say, and shops off the rope and says,
screw it, I'll screw up his balloon. Yeah, except he
(38:56):
doesn't realize that carries in and the second see her
realizes this.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
Let me also add that the precursor to the balloon
is also No one wants to freaking take care of Carrie,
so they make Laura do it, who also doesn't want
to freaking take care of carry and leaves her alone.
Speaker 13 (39:18):
She leaves like the five year old alone in the
middle of a carnival with hundreds of people are a
sketchy character.
Speaker 6 (39:28):
Yeah, it's very it's just walks away like twice like yeah.
And the guy Patrick, to his credit, goes, oh what
have I done? The baby's in the thing, grabs the road,
drags himself across the ground truck practically kills himself trying
to save her. So okay, redeem and then everybody shows
up and flips out, mind you serial killer cass is
(39:52):
like my balloon because he could care less. And then
the ingles and the fire fire department because we're quite
rightly the because the fire keeps the blue up. Now,
the fire department work there in the city. They are
the fire department at this fair no doubt. All the
time they have seen a hot air balloon before. They
(40:13):
are quite aware that hot air makes it rise, and
that there is a fire in the blue. The fire
department knows that the fire department probably approved the balloon
or helped issue the permit for it, or whatever they
did back then if.
Speaker 9 (40:23):
They do permit, yes, Pauw, who's the episode, he's never
seen a fire balloon? Bit up one that morning from
the farm to the fire.
Speaker 6 (40:34):
Chief and says, you should spray water on the fly
in the pollup so it will come down. Because why
is he having because he thinks he knows more about
blows it. The freaking fire chief who works there. He
the guy who just showed up there goes now, just
tells direct the fire department, who had to have turned
around and gone, yeah, no shit, sure lock, what did you?
(40:56):
Who is this guy? He's ordering the fire department to
put out the fire, to bring the balloon down. Yet no, really,
thank you guy, you just showed up this morning. He's
never seen a hot air balloon before.
Speaker 7 (41:07):
Again, again, it was written that way, it was written,
and they need to get the balloon down.
Speaker 5 (41:14):
I mean again, these are these are things that are
expedient in the moment.
Speaker 7 (41:18):
So did this come to you as you're watching this
or was this something you processed later.
Speaker 6 (41:24):
I was falling off the couch now I realized what
they were doing was it's voice of the audience because
we're watching the fires. Oh no, how will they do that?
And so he's doing.
Speaker 3 (41:35):
Mister narrator that to Charles, right, Yeah, they.
Speaker 6 (41:39):
Could have said we're gonna put water on that fire
because that's how you get a balloon down. But it
was the moment they go, don't worry, I see you
wait to put water on the fire in the balloon.
That's what that was. I was like to But then
they get there and when it all comes down and
carry's fine and thinks they're all hysterical and nobody's yelling
at the parents, why did you leave your child alone?
Speaker 5 (41:58):
They did?
Speaker 6 (41:59):
Yeah, Cat is totally heartless. He's like, ask my balloon,
I'd never mind the kid. So he reveals himself to
be rotten, and Mary finally kind of goes and then
she got obvious from the beginning. But okay, Patrick's the
one who cut the rope and sent her baby sister
off into space now and then tried to save her.
But it is his fault that it happened. He tried
(42:22):
to save it. He tried to fix the problem he lost. Yeah,
what wrong is the episode is wrong?
Speaker 3 (42:29):
No, it's super bizarre. I also wanted to know that.
So shouldn't shouldn't someone have gotten sued for that store,
for that bullet? I was like, do they have litigation
on the prairie? Litigation on the on the prairie.
Speaker 6 (42:42):
Adam Adam Kendall hasn't shown up to become a lawyer yet.
Speaker 5 (42:48):
Off it's uh, it is interesting.
Speaker 7 (42:54):
So what so this was forty eight minutes of television
on a Monday night.
Speaker 3 (43:02):
Yeah, but I will say I did laugh at this.
I mean I did laugh. It was so bizarrely silly.
And I also cringed because Renaissance Fair Annipocter was.
Speaker 7 (43:13):
Yeah, as always with all Little House episodes, wonderfully produced
to me, and all the you know, the the photography
is beautiful, the you.
Speaker 5 (43:23):
Know, David Rose's music.
Speaker 7 (43:25):
Is appropriately carny, creepy in moments, fun and silly in
other moments. It all, you know what, It all comes together,
but you don't want it's moving so fast you don't
want to stop and think about it too much.
Speaker 6 (43:40):
No, nothing to think about it. At the end, Catherine
Gregor and I swear to god, this had to be
an ad lib because nothing's really happening. She yells with
Nelly and Will you aren't actually doing anything in the wagon.
It was just what she could do that She probably
just did it to do it, to have something to
do in the wagon.
Speaker 3 (43:59):
You giggle because I'm looking at our notes, Dean, and
you just wrote the end no earth shattering themes, when.
Speaker 6 (44:10):
The dog finally shows up, the dog and we're going
to leave the dog dog, and I wrote dog well boo,
and the dog is also stupid boo. That was my note.
Speaker 3 (44:26):
Now again, I do not think this episode was as
bad as a few others, Blanche taking the top. I
think the one, uh what what's the title of it
where Jason Bateman almost dies and Paul grows a beard
and makes it he was only twelve, He was only twelve?
(44:47):
That one is rough. There are a couple of really
rough ones later on. I don't think this is as
rough as those were, but it certainly was bananas.
Speaker 5 (45:00):
Yeah, it doesn't make a lot of sense.
Speaker 9 (45:02):
I mean it.
Speaker 7 (45:03):
It's asking us to believe that these people who we've
come to know in a particular way, we're all capable
of making bad decisions, just like everybody made bad decisions
throughout the episodes, everyone.
Speaker 3 (45:18):
Over and over and over again.
Speaker 5 (45:20):
And then they leave happily and drive home before it
gets start.
Speaker 3 (45:25):
It's a miracle that they all ended up back together
in one piece together.
Speaker 6 (45:31):
Yeah, and so one in a moment. Yeah, they didn't say, wow,
you know, next time we go to the fair, let's
all be more careful.
Speaker 3 (45:39):
Yeah, but oh okay, So two questions, Alison, What this
must have been for kids? It must have been really
fun filming this, I mean.
Speaker 6 (45:51):
So hot, aggressively nightmarishly huks like I said, it's like, please,
can I be in the dunk tech? Now? I really
got it.
Speaker 3 (46:02):
Oh and those poor extras and the clown outfits all that.
Speaker 5 (46:06):
No, it's it's hot time.
Speaker 7 (46:07):
I had gallons of water and there must have been
cases of sea breeze on the set.
Speaker 3 (46:13):
And what about the animals? How did they How did
they make sure the animals are okay?
Speaker 5 (46:17):
I think.
Speaker 6 (46:20):
Are pretty good. We did get ice cream? What WILLI
and I had ice Yeah?
Speaker 3 (46:27):
Yeah, that was That was Literally as I was watching it,
I was like, oh, they're so happy they're eating ice
cream right now.
Speaker 6 (46:32):
Yeah, it was. It was hard to do. Now it
was fun. I mean the craw crowd cheans are hard
to shoot, and you know that things had to be
done over and over and over again with the people,
especially with the pickpocket chase. And yes, the little old
lady sits down and I take all of your money.
Speaker 3 (46:46):
Still that that was odd too, of like the Bad
the pickpockets actually don't get in trouble. She just steals
his fine like she steals more Like yeah, where's the morality.
Speaker 7 (47:00):
Yeah, there's there's there are no No one learns anything
good in this episode.
Speaker 3 (47:05):
No one.
Speaker 6 (47:07):
Yeah, but yeah, you had to You had to do
stuff over and over against you have a million crunch.
You'd have to say, everybody, okay, no, wait, you have
to let the pickpocket through. No way. Everybody stopped because
the wagon. No, everybody stopped because because you had the
lead people doing things with crowd milling. So how many
retakes did that all take? So it was a pain
to fill things over and over in the blistering heat
(47:28):
and the stuff, and so takes hard.
Speaker 3 (47:31):
Seven days of it would have.
Speaker 5 (47:33):
Been, well, it would have been six or seven days,
I would think. I mean there was a lot going on.
Speaker 6 (47:39):
Were four out there, maybe three or four maybe because
we were trying to be efficient, but it was just
hot and miserable and crowded. Now there were fun things
because you know, there were candy apples and things, and
you know if there was pie or candy apples or
ice cream, you know, damn well.
Speaker 5 (47:54):
Like dogs stole a candy apple band. It stole a
candy apple.
Speaker 3 (48:00):
Okay, So then my other question is because because again
it's we're in we're watching this in twenty twenty five
eyes right now, right, which we we know a lot
more now about sexual predators now, we say, or the
treatment of ladies or like if a guy is coming
on start like, we're much more but part of me
(48:23):
things in nineteen seventy seven we weren't idiots, were we?
Speaker 5 (48:26):
I mean?
Speaker 3 (48:27):
Or was it so not a part of the cultural
conversation yet of creepy guy hitting on young girl?
Speaker 6 (48:36):
Like what?
Speaker 3 (48:36):
What was this just generally accepted? Like what was that?
Speaker 6 (48:41):
No? People? I mean people let stuffs for TV. I
think this is fair because English in eighteen hundreds she
would have said, why are you talking to a strange man?
Speaker 5 (48:53):
Right? I mean?
Speaker 6 (48:54):
None of that was a lot. All the episodes of
Laura goes fishing with middle aged bankers and doesn't tell
her parents, who are there? No of course, stories in
the books and the story from Loui's life where her
mother said, oh my god, get in the house, why
are you talking to it? Never that was not a lot.
Speaker 3 (49:12):
Was there something about but was there something about the
nineteen seventies or it was more like it was. It
just not a thing. I mean, because it just strikes me.
Speaker 5 (49:25):
Some strange people talk a lot.
Speaker 6 (49:27):
From sixties year it'll be fine.
Speaker 5 (49:30):
Yeah, well I think there's some of that.
Speaker 7 (49:32):
I think there, you know, nineteen seventy second wave feminism. Yeah,
maybe you know, young girls need to be able to
be a little.
Speaker 5 (49:42):
Bit, you know, girls just want to have fun pre
Cindy lauper Se.
Speaker 3 (49:46):
But I just wanted to yell to Mary, like Mary,
you're allowed to say no. You're allowed to say no
to someone.
Speaker 6 (49:52):
There was also a terrible denial in TV because other
TV shows did it too, with the children went prancing
off into the ether. And you're like what because in
the seventies, okay, the seventies seven, we're talking about the
Hillside strange, right, Yeah, because and I know because we
had a seven eleven that was super close to our
apartment in Hollywood, and I remember walking down there alone
(50:14):
or with a girlfriend to get fudgicles. And then we
kind of stopped doing that because there was a woman
who was almost taken down the street from Yeah. Yeah,
and there were several serial killers that were on the news.
I mean, yeah, that that happened where people were being
serial killers, right. That was the height of serial killer land,
was the seventies where women were snatched off corner. So
(50:37):
people knew that, and so it wasn't so, but there
was a fantasy denial of everyone wanted the seventies and
the eighteen seventies. And you know Opie and Andy Griffiff,
who have been another time where nothing bad happened, even
though they bloody well knew better, and they tried to
tell them, says, oh, look see there they're on the prairie,
at the fair, at the balloon. There's no hillside strangler. Yeah,
(51:00):
there's there's none of that is happening where we can
It's fine. And of course it wasn't really.
Speaker 3 (51:09):
No, I was gonna say. And of course, watching this
as a girl, you're not thinking any of those things.
You're thinking, oh, look they get to be on a balloon,
like this is a fun. But now as an adult watching,
I'm like, he's forcing her on this hot air balloon
alone with him. He could do anything to her up there.
Speaker 5 (51:27):
And as the mother of a young daughter, you know
that you are.
Speaker 7 (51:34):
Throughout our time we're doing this, you know you are
very sensitive to those kinds of issues. Good for you,
But I wasn't a girl, no, no, of course not
mon Paul were not being helicopter parents.
Speaker 3 (51:50):
No, you know, there's a part of me that's like,
damn it, I wish i'd I wish you know. And
and Allison, you're a big part of this of like
being consciously aware of bad guys out there right of
and having and needing to be aware of it. And
(52:12):
and I do miss watching this show with that sense
of pure innocence because I watch it now and I
am Jay did right, Like I still love the show,
and I still get the lessons that they you know,
the purity of the.
Speaker 5 (52:29):
Lessons that are the best.
Speaker 3 (52:31):
Learning, the best lessons. But it is hard for me
to watch us now and go, oh, that guy could
do anything to her in that moment, Like what what
was she doing with this guy? Like he's he's a
serial killer, clearly right, And I.
Speaker 6 (52:43):
Have to think that there were grown ups, like grown
up for older people who watch it then and while
the kids were going look at the cute boy, look
at the balloon, went yeah, right now, I'm not on
your life kid who were watching it, Yeah, she's going
with the strange man that she doesn't know in a balloon. Yeah,
that's not happening. People have watched it.
Speaker 5 (53:03):
No, I think we have. I think we have covered
this ground. I think we have. I think we need
to prop.
Speaker 7 (53:11):
Or fully stated our concerns about meet me at the
fair where we're not going to Redwood City again anytime soon.
Speaker 5 (53:21):
But everyone survived.
Speaker 6 (53:24):
The carnival. Do not leave your children unattended at a
carnival and tell them to split up. Don't just don't don't,
don't leave.
Speaker 3 (53:30):
That's you know what. That's the takeaway from this episode.
Speaker 5 (53:33):
There you go, there you go. They got lucky and
nothing happened.
Speaker 3 (53:37):
Yeah, this is a horror story and they gone out alive.
That's it. That was the true story.
Speaker 7 (53:50):
And if there are any like look, I think if
there are any uh if if people watch this and say, oh,
you guys have got this completely wrong, there's a whole
other side of hear what it is we.
Speaker 3 (54:02):
Want to hear from me.
Speaker 5 (54:05):
If we're missing all right, Yeah, so anyway, Pamela.
Speaker 6 (54:17):
Now.
Speaker 3 (54:21):
All right, everybody, this is a very silly, silly episode.
Thank you for joining us. Join us on socials, Little
House Swifty podcast, or on our website, Little House fifty
podcast dot com. All of our stuff is on there.
All of our recent goings ons and future goings ons
will be in shown the show notes as well. Thank
you for joining us. We do want to hear from
(54:41):
you if you have another takeaway from this episode that
we seem to be missing somehow, the horror story of
take Me, Meet Me at the Fair. Anyway, Thanks guys
so much, we'll see you next time. Bob, get the
way clips fly, not in, not hair balloon.
Speaker 5 (55:05):
Not a bound hair bullet.
Speaker 6 (55:14):
M hm
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