May 8, 2025 • 47 mins
We’re joined by one of our all-time favorite guests—Andy Garvey himself, the one and only Patrick Labyorteaux!Patrick and Alison take us behind the scenes of this unforgettable episode, where (surprise!) Nellie proves once again she’s the absolute worst. Poor Andy!Patrick shares stories about working with his on-screen parents, his real-life adoptive parents, how he was directed in the episode, and what it was like growing up alongside his equally talented brother, Matthew.But we’ve got questions…Why was Alice the worst teacher ever?
Why did Nellie literally write the answers in her coat lining?!
Can we all agree—no one feels good getting a whooping?
And finally… was Patrick actually psychotic as a child? You have to hear the story.
Then, Patrick joins us again on Patreon to talk about how being a child actor today compares to his time on Little House on the Prairie—and what’s changed over the years.
Don’t forget to subscribe, comment, leave a review, and share this episode with fellow Bonnetheads.
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!
LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE CAST REUNION Columbia State Historic Park in California’s Gold Country!June 6–8, 2025Secure your tickets now through TIXR athttps://plp.tixr.com/little-house-gold-country
To learn more about Little House on the Prairie, Visit www.littlehouseontheprairie.com
Check out Patrick Labyorteaux! Patrick Labyorteaux-Working Actors School & Podcast/Youtube
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/
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/little-house-fifty-for-50-podcast--6055242/support.
Why did Nellie literally write the answers in her coat lining?!
Can we all agree—no one feels good getting a whooping?
And finally… was Patrick actually psychotic as a child? You have to hear the story.
Then, Patrick joins us again on Patreon to talk about how being a child actor today compares to his time on Little House on the Prairie—and what’s changed over the years.
Don’t forget to subscribe, comment, leave a review, and share this episode with fellow Bonnetheads.
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!
LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE CAST REUNION Columbia State Historic Park in California’s Gold Country!June 6–8, 2025Secure your tickets now through TIXR athttps://plp.tixr.com/little-house-gold-country
To learn more about Little House on the Prairie, Visit www.littlehouseontheprairie.com
Check out Patrick Labyorteaux! Patrick Labyorteaux-Working Actors School & Podcast/Youtube
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/
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.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you've been enjoying our podcast as much as we
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Speaker 2 (00:22):
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Speaker 3 (00:37):
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(01:19):
We thank you so much for your continued support and
we cannot wait to share our ongoing journey with you
on Patreon. We are extremely grateful for the support of
visit Semi Valley dot com and the City of Semi
Valley's belief in Little House on the Prairie and their
support of the Little House fiftieth Anniversary podcast, Discover the
(01:40):
charm of Semi Valley, California, the home.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Of the Prairie.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Visit Semi Valley, where adventure meets history and the spirit
of the Prairie comes live. Explore the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library,
step aboard Air Force One, enjoy stunning hikes, and savor
delicious local cuisine. Whether you're here for a weekend get
away or a family vacation, seam Valley offers something for
(02:09):
everyone and is only thirty minutes from Los Angeles. Plan
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Go to visit Seami Valley dot com for more details.
Your adventurer waits in Seami Valley.
Speaker 5 (02:30):
Well.
Speaker 6 (02:30):
Hello bonnet Heads, Hi, welcome, Welcome back.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
I'm Pamela Bob, your host creators Living on a Prairie,
that's right. And I'm here not get a giggle from
that every time because it's you know, I've got to
be grandiose about it a little bit.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
I've got a great clip on the air on streaming
right now, I do.
Speaker 7 (02:48):
Yeah, there's a clip.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
From Living on a Prairie streaming where you are having that.
It's the clip about you know, the Waltons never did this,
mog dish sure with them, Sure.
Speaker 7 (03:01):
Yeah, you're just like coming unglued.
Speaker 6 (03:04):
It's yeah, guys, Look, I'm so comedient. You'll find me
there anyway.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
I am here with the face of evil. That's right,
our prairie.
Speaker 6 (03:15):
Bitch extraordinaire, Allison Arnfro. Hello, there it is. But she's
really nice, you guys, she's really nice. And also you're
with our hashtag.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Imagine every boyfriend or at least mine.
Speaker 8 (03:25):
Anyway, Well am I flattered by that?
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Thank you?
Speaker 3 (03:30):
If you only knew, it was the trifecta for me,
it was Pa.
Speaker 6 (03:34):
Although I didn't want to sleep it Pie. I just
wanted to look at Paw because he was pa uh,
Almanzo and Albert. That was my trifecta. But Garby is
high Garby is I don't know.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
But Andy was listen when we were watching this episode.
Andy's eyes, Holy moly, and those lashes.
Speaker 6 (03:51):
We'll get to it.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
We'll get to But I know another trifecta for people
was Adam Garvey and Hot Duck Hot.
Speaker 6 (04:00):
I'm still not over that one anyway.
Speaker 7 (04:03):
You Wow, you have sexualized a.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Very innocent it's a prairie sexualization sexual thing.
Speaker 9 (04:14):
Yet Old Van Ducker's a fine old man.
Speaker 6 (04:23):
We're naughty, all right, this is why anyway, how are
you guys? What's happening?
Speaker 7 (04:29):
Really good?
Speaker 4 (04:29):
So, you know, we've got Allison's just home from Europe.
She's now in Atlanta. That yeah, we are just you know,
We've got our Little House fiftieth anniversary event coming up
in Columbia tonight. Although it will be out by the
time this will be well out by the time this breaks.
We are announcing the addition of a wonderful Whole House
(04:52):
fan experience, the Wine and Cheese Train ride on beautiful
old Sierra Number three steam train that through that all
the Little House episodes were shot with. Uh, it's going
to include the caboose, It's going to include I mean,
this is really going to be so much fun and
(05:16):
just a wonderful opportunity to have a little a little
adult refreshment, some nice cheese and so forth, cheese and crackers.
And look at the beautiful scenery going by, uh in
this in the low Sierras, in the gold Rush country,
it should be really beautiful.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Now, let's see, do you think Almonzo or Paw or
any of the prairie men would have had a little
light refreshment on a I've.
Speaker 7 (05:41):
Had a big refreshment?
Speaker 6 (05:42):
Really alcohol?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
You think Paw ever drank alcohol? Ever did probably had
a taste, right, he had a taste.
Speaker 7 (05:52):
I think they in certain that. Yeah, I guess that's
an interesting thing, Alison. Do you think.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
Historically he drank all that stuff about pinea cider? He
wasn't talking about apple juice. What cider?
Speaker 9 (06:04):
Hartsider, which was like weaker than beer but had a
little kick to it. So Paul was like a cider person.
And of course mister Edwards drank and I don't know
there was then them be snails where they went. He
took model a fancy dinner. They went to a pantry
where he got like a glass of wine. I think right,
absactly exactly, I.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Just I just I guess, but I think of that,
and you asked that I I always think of Michael
and his white styre foam cups.
Speaker 7 (06:32):
And and you know, so I know that, well he
would have had a drink on a.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
Train, of course, there's no there's no question.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
But that was very much that era. And you know,
there was a lot there was a lot of consumption
on our set, a lot of consumption going on.
Speaker 8 (06:49):
So anyway, but that's not what we're talking about to no,
of course, not what we're talking about today.
Speaker 6 (06:55):
Well, coming up today, I'm very excited.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
We have a visit with a Little House cast member
of it, Patrick Leberteaux, and an episode all about honesty,
which is a recurring theme I think with Andy.
Speaker 6 (07:06):
But we'll get to we'll get to.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
It for Andy.
Speaker 6 (07:11):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
First produced in the studios of ubn go and Burbank, California.
This is that's right, the Little House fiftieth Anniversary podcast.
Speaker 6 (07:35):
Okay, Dean, let's get to this. What are we talking
about to do?
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Okay, So this episode tonight or today for in Perpetuity.
In this episode we are talking about we're talking about
season five, episode eleven, The Cheaters, the Cheaters premiered on Monday,
November twentieth, nineteen seventy eight. Cheaters was written by Arthur
(08:01):
Hyneman Arthur Hyneman and directed by Bill Claxton.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
Just a strong.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
Stable presence as a director in the law.
Speaker 6 (08:11):
So many amazing episodes.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
That Bill is a wonderful director. We could go on
and on about what a wonderful director Bill was. But
now Alison give a little synopsis.
Speaker 9 (08:22):
One of my favorite episodes are we surprised that she
has well that growth. Alice Garvey begins to worry that
her son Andy, who is her weakest student, dear she's
Alice reluctantly agrees to let Nellie Olsen tutor him, but
this ends up being a grave mistake.
Speaker 7 (08:44):
No, you know prediction.
Speaker 10 (08:49):
I all right, well let's let's let's bring in let's
bring in the cheater.
Speaker 6 (09:03):
Yeah, well the one of the cheaters, one of them
here forced to cheater.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Yes, hello, Patrick, how are you great?
Speaker 7 (09:14):
Thanks? Gulls And again I was forced into this theme.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Yes, yes, oh okay, all right, see yeah, okay, he
was Listen.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Allison was full mafia boss in this episode.
Speaker 5 (09:29):
So freaking mean in this thing.
Speaker 7 (09:31):
Horrible.
Speaker 9 (09:32):
It's disturbing because I'm so awful, and I'm also because
I'm like, I just turned sixteen, you're so sixty. My
voice is no lower and everyone's going through puberty and
voices are changing and not changing and cracking.
Speaker 5 (09:44):
And people who are only one year, two years maybe
younger than me are still calling, you know, talking like this,
and I'm like, you're going to still And suddenly I'm
a little bankheads, like what is even happening? I'm like, wow,
where did that come from? So yeah, I'm terrifying.
Speaker 9 (10:02):
I'm the big, bad sixteen year old now and I'm
so cute in the blue bow.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
I really love that blue bough.
Speaker 9 (10:07):
But I'm monstrous, just terrible, terrible of this. But poor
poor little Landy, you know, and then that's probably doing
the pitting you against of course Albert, who like because
he was a little street wise orphan like knows everything
is and like Ace is all his tests without cheating.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Patrick, how do you feel about this episode before I
rip into it, because I'm about.
Speaker 7 (10:30):
To rip into it, I think of it, and I
think of that Deers must have a phrase of like,
oh he was full andy with Nelly when Deers get
afraid because I just look terrifying. It's not you know,
deer in the headlights. It's Andy in front of Nelly.
I think the idea of placing you know, it reminded
(10:55):
me a lot of your performance, Alison. Reminded me a
lot of Ian McDermot in the Star Wars movies as
the Emperor. I just expected you at one point to just,
you know, yell at Andy do it, and you know
turned me to the dark side. Yeah, yeah, I okay.
So the answer to your question is this to me
(11:18):
was I categorized a couple of different types of episodes,
you know, since I was since I was able to
do a bunch of these episodes. This was a working
episode in my head, like, okay, so I had to
do really good. There was lots of stuff. There's lots
of scenes.
Speaker 6 (11:35):
I mean, it's all you yeah.
Speaker 7 (11:37):
Kind of is. I was surprised when I rewatched it
because you know, you remember things in one way and
then you watched the episode. I think, I'm sure I
hear you guys talking all the time. Part of my
memory of Little House is my experience shooting it, as
opposed to when people watch the show. Makes sense. Experience
is the show the story, and so I don't really
(12:00):
remember the story so much as the experience. And the
experience I had was with Alison, who was always a
blast to work with. But I remember having to focus
because Alison never seemed to have problem with lines, never
seemed to have a problem with any of the script,
so she was always happy to like cut and then
this guy happened, and then she's just talking all the time,
(12:24):
and so I had to concentrate a lot to make
sure that all the stuff that I was doing kind
of was what I wanted.
Speaker 9 (12:32):
To do and that I'm in your face like terrorizing
it at the same time.
Speaker 5 (12:37):
So, yeah, it's the shifting gears.
Speaker 7 (12:39):
It's yeah, but that was the weird part. You would
think that everyone's question would be, you know, oh, is
she really liked that? Meaning Nelly, And it's like, she's
so not like that that I was never intimidated by Alison,
always intimidated by Nelly, And it's really easy for her
to turn it on and off. And I mean, it's.
Speaker 6 (13:00):
What does that say about her?
Speaker 7 (13:03):
Well, she's a psychopath, but we kind of know it exactly.
Speaker 6 (13:06):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
How did you feel when you when you I mean,
did you have any idea that you were getting this
keep getting weird freeing things?
Speaker 5 (13:15):
Am I freezing? Are you freezing?
Speaker 7 (13:19):
Was bad?
Speaker 5 (13:20):
It was weird. It was like I went away came back.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Now.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
This episode has a bunch of my favorite pieces of
dialogue ever. And when they first come in and like,
you know, okay, Missus having to go to Missus Olsen
with the very idea of like weoth because your daughter
Guss just like oh uh.
Speaker 9 (13:33):
Uh, and she is so horrible to her in the store.
But the line I like is when she says, well,
shouldn't you be helping Willie? And I actually say no,
no one can help Willy. He's hopeless, and Missus like, yes, yes, yes,
this is it just agrees that that there's no hope
for for Willy, and it's one of my favorite lines.
(13:54):
There's like four or five things in this episode that
are like my favorite lines of all time at the
show that are just lovely.
Speaker 7 (13:59):
No objected, no, no one objected when you said that. No,
just the dialogue of that time where even Laura is
like going, I didn't know you'd got She refers to
Andy saying you know you've gotten so smart as opposed
to like doing well on the test, like the things
that would be great like massaged out of it, including
(14:21):
my favorite line from Laura, like what's the worst that
could happen? You'll get a licking, which, yeah, that no
big deal. Back in the eighteen seventies, seven, nineteen seventies,
it's like, what's the big deal?
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Like my face is about to explode because I have
so much that I did not notice as a child
at all, But now watching it, I guess I haven't
watched this episode in a really long time because I
did not remember all of this messed up stuff in
this episode. First of all, Alice is horrible. She's the
(14:53):
worst teacher ever posting everyone's grades on the board, Like
what is that?
Speaker 6 (14:58):
Do you know what?
Speaker 3 (14:58):
That reminds me of when I was at my conservatory
for university they had just stopped posting weighing everyone and
posting everyone's weight.
Speaker 6 (15:10):
Oh yeah, like abusive, abusive.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
That absolutely like triggered that in me of like, oh no,
they're posting all the grades on the board.
Speaker 6 (15:18):
That's horrible.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
See and then daily tests like what what?
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Why?
Speaker 6 (15:23):
What kind of teacher does that?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
But yeah, I she's not a good teacher.
Speaker 6 (15:30):
Let's just all be honest. With that. That is a
bad technique. Can we agree?
Speaker 9 (15:35):
Can we love her straight to the embarrassment, not like, hey,
I'm really concerned, can I help you? I'm a teacher.
You were all people failing these tests. When you have
the teacher, she goes right to your embarrassing me.
Speaker 5 (15:48):
She goes straight.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Not only that, but what if, like what if Andy
had undiagnosed ADHD or dyslexia or some sort of learning disability.
Speaker 7 (15:58):
We don't know.
Speaker 6 (15:59):
Nobody beat it out of him, nobody had those things.
Speaker 9 (16:02):
Then back then, do you know how you know that
you had ADHD or you had a learning disability?
Speaker 5 (16:09):
You've got beaten more than everybody else.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Exactly, And then comparing him to and to Albert like brutal.
Speaker 6 (16:18):
Just listen, teachers out there watching and listening.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
We know this is not the appropriate way to do
things correct, Like this is a bad, bad teacher.
Speaker 6 (16:28):
Sorry, Alice Garvey had to get that off my chest.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
But however, you know, you know Patrick, you're you know,
you're you're a writer. You do everything that sort of
serves the drama. You have to give the characters the
stuff that they need in order to drive the drama right,
and forget that.
Speaker 7 (16:50):
I take Pamela's notes, which is like a lot of
the stuff on a Little House is very manufactured to
get to the emotional aspect, which yes, for you know,
response to the emotion, and of course it's the emotion
of Michael is always very good with the kids' stories
and the adult stories of mirroring them and and having
(17:10):
them be complimentary. And the whole storyline between Missus Garvey
and Missus Olsen, you know, is being told in you know,
in tandem. And so yeah, it's not a very good
time for teaching.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
And also I don't blame Patrick. I don't blame you
at all for kicking Albert's ass. Are you kidding me?
I would have too.
Speaker 6 (17:36):
I was totally totally andy.
Speaker 9 (17:40):
But see, it worked because it's meant to trigger childhood memories.
A lot of the themes are things for kids where
something isn't isn't fair, where they're accused of doing something
they didn't do, or blame for something and then Paul
or someone has to go, you're right, I'm so sorry
you did. That's a big theme with kids and the parents.
But you're right, that wasn't fair, and that's like you
It worked because Pamela, what happened. You were thrown immediately
(18:03):
back to when you were in school and they tortured
you in the same way, and that was precisely what
it was meant to do.
Speaker 7 (18:10):
But it's funny memory of it. Go ahead.
Speaker 5 (18:13):
Sorry, no, I.
Speaker 6 (18:15):
Was just saying.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
But as a kid, like none of this, I didn't
get pick up on any of this at all.
Speaker 6 (18:20):
But as an adult, I'm.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Like, what she does, she's doing huh, this is crazy talk.
Speaker 6 (18:25):
Okay, Patrick, continue please?
Speaker 7 (18:27):
Well, yeah, I think part of it is like if
you look at the structure of the story, but like
what Alison was saying, as a kid and as a viewer,
you're like, that's how you remember school, Like, oh god,
there was a test every day. I can't even get
I can't and so you feel like that, but yeah,
exactly testing for what what was I mean obviously the
(18:48):
next if you're going to be moved up to the
next grade, like you get to move back a chair, Like,
what's the big deal? I mean, there's no.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
I want to know, Patrick, when you got the did
you have any idea that you were getting an episode
about you, like an Andy centric episode, or did you
open the script that week and go, oh wow, okay,
it's me No.
Speaker 7 (19:08):
I My experience on the show was always we'd get
the scripts and I would be excited to read the
scripts to find out what the next story was. I
like that anyways, on whether it's whatever show, Jag or
Little House or except the shows that I wrote, where
I know what's coming up, the idea of following along.
There's like different levels of experience. In the first level,
(19:30):
I'm a big comic book fan, and so scripts are
very similar in that you're being told a story, and
it's better than a novel. It's shorter, it's faster, you
can get the whole story. And the scripts were really readable.
They were very, very readable. So I didn't know that
it was coming up, and when I read it, I
was excited because obviously, you know, more page count, more
(19:52):
camera time, more all of that staff. Yeah, I'm a
professional kid. You know it's going to be, you know,
a big deal. Watching it just today, I was shocked
at the amount of camera time I had.
Speaker 6 (20:07):
Which is like, it's all you baby, It's all yeah.
Speaker 7 (20:10):
It was crazy easy, and it's like, oh, now I
get why people know me from the show. It's like
an hour on.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
The eyes. You have eyelashes like a lama, and you
are so cute.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
So they're so big and blue. They're just You're just
like his eyes are amazing.
Speaker 7 (20:31):
Can I it was pretty? They were pretty spectacular, but
I think my head was smaller. And you know, topped
off with that mushroom cap of.
Speaker 6 (20:39):
The you are very pretty.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
I just have to read you the note that I.
Speaker 6 (20:47):
That I wrote.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
I went the dinner table scene at the Garby's house.
First of all, I like the Garby's house.
Speaker 6 (20:52):
It's very nice for us, especially loghouse, open.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
Floor Alex Alice, Yes, exactly, and you get your own bedroom.
Speaker 6 (21:02):
Sweet okay.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Alice says, quote, I won't have you continue to disgrace
me with the graves you've been getting. And then I wrote,
she sucks so hard.
Speaker 6 (21:17):
Yeah, I thought a little else of the prairie.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
Terrible.
Speaker 9 (21:23):
She says, what do you dislike about Nellie? There's a
call just like a call back to the episode Country
when she comes storming in and says, you miss said this,
Well what did she Well, it's not what she said,
it's the way she said it. Do you go back
to Country Girls and says, Country girls, Country girls, that's
(21:45):
not an insult you our country. It's the way she
said it, And that's running theme of the way the
Ulson say things and torturing.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Just her tuts her is so it's.
Speaker 6 (21:59):
So like high blood pressure inducing.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
It's just it's just so horrible how a little sound,
a little gesture like that can just set you over
the edge.
Speaker 5 (22:11):
It's horrible, the open mouthed thing, the whole thing.
Speaker 6 (22:18):
Now, what was your relationship?
Speaker 3 (22:21):
First of all, what was I know, you had a
great relationship with your daddy, yeah, yes, And what was
your relationship like with your mother Alice.
Speaker 7 (22:34):
With her show? It was it was fine. And I
say fine in the sense that, like I think we
talked about this last time I had issues with my
dad with my dad was sick, and so my connection
with Merlin was like I was in a lifeboat on
a stormy sea and Merlin was like this lighthouse. Okay.
(22:57):
So it's like all my attention was always on Merlin.
And so when Hersha was around, it was like yeah, yeah, yeah, hi, good,
nice to see you. She was sweet, she was fine.
But my mom was on set. And if you remember
my mom, guys, my mom was not a shrinking violet.
In fact, none of the moms on our show were
shrinking Violet, so much so that some of them were
(23:19):
asked not to be on the set.
Speaker 6 (23:21):
I have not heard this before.
Speaker 7 (23:25):
I won't. There are other people here that can speak
to that. But for my mom, my mom was word.
My mom was always very connected or she was really
bossy with the acting, and because she was an actress,
and so the whole thing. You know, it's no surprise
(23:45):
that my brother and I are both actors. I mean,
she took us on auditions that she was on and
that's how we got into the business. They said, well,
who are the kids, and she's like, those are my kids.
But she would run lines with us. And around this time,
I'm not saying anything bad. I'm just gonna be honest
with you guys. Around this time, I began to understand
that my mom wasn't a good actress. And the stuff
(24:08):
that she was giving us to be, you know, to
do on our show was not what I saw Michael
do or even when I saw Merla do or Melissa
or anyone else. And I'm like, you know, I'm a
young actor putting it all together. And so this show
and a couple other shows around this era, I started
(24:30):
doing things that you know, it was like always a classic,
you know, for me, I was on camera, camera was here,
Michael was here, and then thirty feet behind him was
my mom watching. And so it was like early on
I'd ignore Michael and watch my mom. If my mom
was happy, then I was happy. And then around this
(24:51):
time I was like watching Michael. And in this case
Bill Claxton, who was about the sweetest, kindest, softest voice.
I didn't say much of anything. He sort of shuffled
and kicked.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
The dirt around on the ground, and you know, he'd
sort of looked everywhere but at you.
Speaker 7 (25:08):
But he was really wonderful to work with.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
He he was. He was very pithy in what he was.
He didn't say what he would just throw a little
thing out there, not much, just a little.
Speaker 7 (25:20):
Thing, and and you know you were listening. If you
were listening, you got some stuff from him.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
He was great.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Do you remember, I mean, did you get do you
remember being really directed or they let you come in
you you had prepared, you had done your stuff, or
do you remember a nugget of a direction you got
that really helped you.
Speaker 7 (25:44):
That's a good question. I'm thinking to give a real answer.
That's that would be real because House there's so many
there's so many stories that you just immediately jump into. No,
I don't. I don't remember. There is only a couple
of times I remember Michael directly directing me, but it
(26:06):
was always like a little softer kitty or upset kitty.
Like it was always kitty something, but it was always
something quick and like a temperament, like a level issue.
I think because the way Michael did the show was
I don't think he ever had patients for any type
(26:26):
of not only diva but just sort of like work
at that level. I think he cast the people that
you wanted as the characters, and then especially as kids.
We were those kids. I mean, if you look at
this exact episode or any other episode with myself and
Melissa and Matt and anyone else, but we three were
(26:50):
in scenes, we were all so completely different, and each
one of us was It wasn't like we were trying
to out out act each other. It was just like
we were doing our own little uh things. And for me,
it's like what you were saying earlier, Alison, It's like
I'm going, who is this cute little girl that's getting
(27:13):
railroaded into cheating. It's like, oh, that's me. I got
this tiny little girl voice.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
Having you start having Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 9 (27:28):
In that scene because you had that so innocent and
I remember, as said, my favorite pieces of dialogue and
all the terrible things I said, but I also remember
you were just perfect.
Speaker 5 (27:36):
You were so innocent, and it's like, do you know
how I get good grades? You studying hard?
Speaker 9 (27:42):
And you it's no a cheat and you're just so
like flabber gast, You're absolutely do But that was a
running thing with Michael. He would hire people. Dean's talked
about this, we all talking about this. Then I want
you to do that. I brought you in because you
do that, because you were this and you pretty much
do that.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
Do that, and if you did, it was like, no,
I just hired you to do that. You don't have
to do anything else. You just took the show, would
do that thing and we're all happy.
Speaker 9 (28:09):
Lets you bump into the furniture, do something weird and
I'll stop you carry on. And so there was there
was a lot of that where run right.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
I also I also have to say you said before
how you you and your brother got into the business
physical because you were just following your mom into auditions.
Speaker 6 (28:25):
But you're both really good. Like that wasn't normal.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
Yeah, do not normal work out.
Speaker 4 (28:31):
But let's take a break and talk about how good
they really are.
Speaker 6 (28:34):
We Okay, how do you feel about that? Patrick, We're
gonna tell.
Speaker 7 (28:41):
I'm gonna hate every hour of it.
Speaker 6 (28:45):
All right, Well, we'll see when we return.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
When you visit see Me Valley, California, you're stepping into
the pages of history. Go from the pioneers to the
President's Explore beautiful wildflowers, hike through a car on a
Hollywood locations, and in your day, aboard the actual Air
Force one at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.
(29:09):
Throughout the summer, take the Little House fiftieth Anniversary tour
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(29:29):
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Speaker 6 (29:38):
Okay, we are back, everybody.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Let's talk about Patrick the late actor.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
Shallity brilliant Dean.
Speaker 6 (29:46):
Do you want to say something? Do you want to
lead us into this?
Speaker 4 (29:50):
Well, look, I Patrick, you have known you now for
going back to nineteen seventy nine when I first met
you at six years.
Speaker 6 (30:02):
That's insane.
Speaker 7 (30:04):
Yeah, no exactly.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
I mean, you guys, are you and your brother such
different actors, such different people, but so good at what
you were doing? And you know, Okay, your mom she
may not have been the actress that you know that
you came to discover that she wasn't the actress, and
maybe that.
Speaker 7 (30:24):
She might have been, but she didn't do she didn't
do it.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
All wrong with you guys either, I mean, because really
wonderful about the work.
Speaker 7 (30:32):
That you were doing. Yeah. Well, I think what happens
is for me when I can't talk about my acting
without talking about Matt because Matt's acting was preternatural. It
wasn't like he learned that stuff. The storyline goes, and
(30:57):
this is in a thousand interviews back in the seventies.
Both my brother and I are adopted. We are not
biologically related. We are brothers and will always be brothers,
but we don't have any blood together. Matthew was diagnosed
as autistic when he was very very young, and he
(31:18):
was nonverbal for years, and I was labeled psychotic as
a child, which psychotic, h right, this is like.
Speaker 6 (31:33):
What does you know empathy? Or I mean not at all.
Speaker 7 (31:36):
What happened was is that they had no I have
lots of empathy. But this story is not true. I'm
getting around actually why this makes sense? So I read
a book just in the last couple of years called
The Primal Wound, which is about adoption. Okay, and in
the Privable Wound they talk about when you're separated from
(31:58):
your mother. No matter how organ and how beautiful and
whatever the adoption is, you're still separated from your biological mother,
and it creates this primal wound. Right. My experience was
I was nine months old when I was adopted by
my mom. Now, it didn't mean much to me when
I was on little house. Didn't mean much to me
(32:18):
when I was a kid, because nine months is just
a ball of good. It doesn't really mean. It's just
a baby. It doesn't do anything. Until I had my
own son, and from zero days to nine months, that's
a lot of life, right. So I was in five
different foster homes in that nine months, and in my
(32:44):
medical records it said that I had to be given phenobarbital,
which is like this heavy drug to calm me down
because I was psychotic. What I found out in this book,
the primal wound, was babies who were yearning for touch
and who weren't being held and who wanted love would cry,
(33:08):
and in the orphanages or wherever the facilities were, they
would give them phena barbital to calm them down. They
drug them out. So this is what I'm this is
what I'm learning in this book. And I'm like, oh,
well this makes sense, right. So now you've got a
kid who's had five, you know, foster homes. I'm in
this new home and again I'm only nine months. But
(33:31):
I was trained from a very young age to suss
out the room to get the hugs and love that
I needed. So this goes directly to acting, which is
all that is is an audition, is like you look
around the room going Okay, what do these guys want?
I can do that, And so I had that ability
to figure out what was going on and how to
(33:54):
basically get the parts right now. With my brother it
was a lot different, but my mom, being an actress, decided, well,
the kid who's super stressed out and desires love, what
better than to put him on stage? And for the
autistic kid, what better to break through this nonverbal thing
(34:15):
then to put him on stage wow and have him
express emotions that aren't his but aren't his right. So,
if you look at my brother's performance and my brother's
this is all my opinion that I don't know how
my brother feels about this. But if you look at
my brother and how easily he could go from just
a regular kid to going to a core pain that
(34:38):
he is able to express, and why everyone goes, oh
that Albert, You know he's a really good actor, because
he really is. He's just not well, he's acting, but
he's also expressing in tapping into these emotions that he
didn't express or didn't learn how to express, or chemically
wasn't able, or however it works with autism, I don't know.
(35:00):
I'm not judging. This was his way to express things.
So in long round about history of my life, the
idea of being an actor I really love because I
like the attention, I like the praise, I like the
simplistic idea of these words. You say on this mark
(35:21):
and then you did a good job. It's like, oh,
I love that. So I was really easy to iterate
and to learn, like, oh Michael liked that. Oh Laura
did this, she did that, My brother did this. And
I would watch my brother, and at no point did
I think that I was the same type of actor
as my brother. For a long time, I thought I
wasn't as good an actor as my brother. And then
I realized, no, no, no, it's not the good it's
(35:44):
just a different type of acting that Matthew does. And
so by the time I'm getting to this era, which
is what we're you know, this Cheaters episode type of thing,
I kind of had the idea of like, oh I
get it, like if you and again, and with my school,
I still go by the idea that if you have
the right thought in the back of your head, it'll
(36:05):
come out the front of your face. That's kind of
like the only way that I explain acting. Everything else
is kind of easy. If you understand how to get
to that thought in the back of your head, your
face and everything is going to do what it's gonna do, right.
And if you're if you're leaving it alone, Yeah, if
you're leaving it alone. Yeah, it just it comes out
because you're like, if I'm terrified that I'm going to
(36:26):
get caught, your eyes get big and you don't know
what you're gonna do. It's just that's the thought. You're
not sitting there going, Okay, I'm going to raise my
eyebrow on line three.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Well, if you are actors that do that, actors that
do that for sure.
Speaker 7 (36:42):
So my brother is this amazing actor where I would
just sort of watch him and go, okay, I see
what he's doing there. And again, you know, it's like
I took a lot from what I saw him do.
I took a lot from Melissa, I took a lot
from from Michael. You know, one scene, I was like, going,
(37:02):
this guy Andy is not a bright kid. It's like
Laura knows you're cheating. And then Charles Ingalls invites you
go fishing, like that's not.
Speaker 5 (37:13):
Normal, and you don't.
Speaker 9 (37:16):
You're like, oh gosh, I'm so glad he invited me
to go fishing, and you get clueless absolutely well, and
then the fact that you're get with Nelly, you're like
still thinking, I'm gonna teach you how to study.
Speaker 7 (37:26):
Right after you've admitted that you're going that you cheat.
Speaker 6 (37:30):
Yeah, you're.
Speaker 5 (37:32):
Out the door. You're like again, get you.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
I also just love that cheating is on the same
level as like murder, Like it's that serious to all
of them.
Speaker 6 (37:44):
You know when when Laura it's when I was watching
this episode with my six year old.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
Daughter and and when Laura starts crying, Marco just looked
at me and went, why is she crying?
Speaker 6 (37:57):
I was like, it's and I said, I watched.
Speaker 5 (38:01):
Like why is she crying?
Speaker 7 (38:03):
Because she's contractually obligated to every episode.
Speaker 3 (38:07):
Wait, let me take this back for a second, because
I find that really fascinating that your mom put you
guys in the biz for the feeling love and validation
and also expression. But that is such a risky move too,
because we all know this genus is a disaster and
it could also break a child just as easily as
(38:30):
booster them up. And you also don't want the child
to only feel validated through booking work or was I
good enough?
Speaker 7 (38:37):
Well, look, there's no there's no mistake, there's no there's
no coincidence here that my brother isn't doing on camera
work anymore. It's just like he made a choice long ago,
going I don't want to go into an audition and
have him go, hey, you were Albert. It's like, yeah,
I'm forty, Yeah, let me read for your part. Me
I did it a different way. It was just sort
of like my idea was, I'm just keep chugging because
(39:01):
I recognized early on again, because the little house that like, oh,
like you can be really really old, like in your
eighties and nineties and still be doing this. So it's
a long marathon in my mind that I'll always be
able to work. So I just got to stick around.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
That's always that carrot, that dangling carrot. That's why so
many people stay in it for so long, and you
know what they might think of leaving, But that little
dangling Karen in front of you, like, but wait, but
you could make it at fifty, you can make it
at sixty. Who knows your big break might be at eighty.
Speaker 6 (39:33):
You just don't know.
Speaker 7 (39:34):
Well, And for me, obviously, I have the benefit of
having made it a couple of different times, so I
know that it's sort of like I know it's possible
to get really, in my mind more work because it's
not like you're going to ever make it there's I
mean even Tom Cruise had down years. It's like you're
never You're never going to always be number one. It
doesn't matter. And if you're not number one, that's fine.
(39:57):
In fact, if you're number twelve on the calls sheet
and you're number twelve on a bunch of projects, that's
way better than being Yeah.
Speaker 6 (40:04):
I mean, that's that's what I said. I asked them,
I asked, what is.
Speaker 5 (40:10):
I reconnected to her?
Speaker 6 (40:11):
Are you frozen?
Speaker 7 (40:12):
Very dark?
Speaker 9 (40:13):
But the internet? I just want to quit because here's
a weird thing that was happening. I mean, and you
talked about also with your union broth. We were told this,
which we probably shouldn't have been, but I guess your
mom I don't know, so I was told like, oh, yes,
you know, Matt was autistic when he's younger, and I
believe the phrase that I was told was that.
Speaker 5 (40:32):
You were diagnosed as an infant as schizophrenic, which I
remember going, yeah, that's not a thing at sixteen yet. No, no,
it's not a schizophrenic eight month old baby. But okay, whatever.
But that was very weird to be working relating with
you and being told yes, they're both like you know,
straight out of the mental hospital and just like what's
(40:53):
going on? Like they seem fine to me? What are
we doing?
Speaker 9 (41:00):
It's crazy that of all the things of being a
child actor and everymon then to also have this like
bizarre really not like a label like this child may
have been somewhat disturbed because you know they are adopted
and they have emotional difficulties. Like no, we're gonna slap
a gigantic label on this kid and he's gonna know about.
Speaker 5 (41:20):
It, and so we're all his friends. How are you
even remotely saying now, that's I guess that's my question,
because you're pretty good, you.
Speaker 7 (41:31):
Seem sane.
Speaker 8 (41:40):
I'd love to continue this conversation, but we have to
dive out of here. Listen, you need to do a
Patreon and I know what the topic's going to be.
Speaker 6 (41:49):
We'll get to the end of the episode. Here's my notes.
Speaker 3 (41:52):
Ready, Garvey Win's father of a year toward until he
still gives him a whooping, like, what the hell are
we doing?
Speaker 6 (42:01):
Little House on the Prairie, Make me feel better?
Speaker 5 (42:07):
What that part?
Speaker 7 (42:09):
That part was like, Well, let that that creates a
whole nother that's a.
Speaker 6 (42:16):
Whole other episode we can later. I know.
Speaker 3 (42:22):
Andy the later years, it could have been totally a
spin off on HBO.
Speaker 7 (42:26):
I was watching when we were watching the show, it's like,
you know what, I'm getting a hug from Merlin. And
what's so ridiculous is Merlin's hand is on my head,
which is what you know I was hugging he's and
like his finger, his knuckle is as big as my
eye socket. It's like I thought that what happened was
it he'd take me out back and be like, all right,
don't tell your mom, but I'm not going to do anything.
(42:47):
But you've got to say that you got a good whooping,
because totally I whoop you. I will kill you because
just because.
Speaker 3 (42:53):
I'm so big, and also taking you out to the barn, Like,
my god, is there a torture chamber in the barn?
Speaker 6 (42:59):
What is happening in the barn?
Speaker 5 (43:01):
The ship they always went to. But I thought of
that to us, Bebby doesn't really do it because she
would have to know how would he even if he said, yes,
I must spank or beat my kid with a bell.
He's six foot seven.
Speaker 9 (43:13):
In a way, he's gonna have to go tap because
otherwise he's gonna knock the can into tomorrow, just tail fine.
Speaker 3 (43:22):
Pat on the behind right there in the kitchen, like
what's in the barn?
Speaker 6 (43:26):
That's so important? Anyway, he had me and then.
Speaker 7 (43:29):
He lost me.
Speaker 6 (43:32):
That's my own issue though.
Speaker 3 (43:33):
And then finally the final scene where all the kids
are going to school and Alice is ringing the bell
in which we now know actually does not make any sound.
And here's my question too, And this is the end.
I promise this is the end, Alison. Why would Nellie
write actually on the lining of the jacket. Why had
she tin a note? She would she would run out
(43:54):
of room eventually in that jacket and.
Speaker 9 (43:56):
Run perfectly nice in my Ridiculus his friendship the Patrie
can I do? In France, we do a send up
of this episode that we do again.
Speaker 5 (44:05):
We're playing game show.
Speaker 9 (44:07):
We bring people up and I go, oh, hang on
a minute, and I come out in a remake of
the Cheeters jacket and all the questions to ask I'm
doing this, and in I put it on notes that
I take or kin to the.
Speaker 5 (44:18):
Jacket, because the hell, what you got a test? Every day?
Speaker 9 (44:21):
I'm gonna write history and math on the inside everywhere linings.
Speaker 5 (44:26):
I have multiple linings I'm zipping in and out of the.
Speaker 3 (44:28):
Thing, and it never occurred to me as a kid
either of like, wait, she's writing actually on the lining
of the jack that makes no sense.
Speaker 7 (44:36):
See I'm such a guy. I'm like sitting there going
did she write it so that when she's bending.
Speaker 6 (44:44):
And we had the right technique little sliver cribbits which
destroys Laura.
Speaker 7 (44:50):
Which is so funny because there's there's like TV does
this weird thing right where it makes everything look bigger.
That's schoolhouse was so small. It's like Laura was literally
I could feel her breath. I mean, it's not like
as far away as it looks. It's like there's no
way that either one of these kids can get away
(45:12):
with it.
Speaker 3 (45:14):
Well they did it in the end, that's right. And
then maybe Nelly got a whipping in her whip. When
you're back from was it? You're back from Winoka and
now you're rocking the black and white school uniform?
Speaker 5 (45:26):
Yeah? Why am I still wearing the uniform because we
left the school?
Speaker 6 (45:31):
I don't know, but I love it. I love it.
Speaker 5 (45:33):
It's gorgeously Now I do get.
Speaker 9 (45:35):
I actually get beaten in this episode. And see because
Katherine McGregor. They handed her the jacket and Richelina were
I have folded it so the big giant metal buttons
are on the inside, and if you take it and.
Speaker 5 (45:47):
Just go like this, you can hit her with and
you won't hurt her. And Catherine, of course.
Speaker 9 (45:51):
Just took one end and went and unfurled the whole
thing so that metal buttons at all were struck across.
Speaker 5 (45:58):
My back and I'm screaming in that Dame. Yes, lovely,
she's method.
Speaker 6 (46:04):
She's so method.
Speaker 3 (46:06):
All right, I guess we have to wrap, but you
have to run. We will do more and more and more. Patrick,
thank you for being here. This is so much fun getting.
Speaker 7 (46:17):
To the show. I hope everybody enjoys and.
Speaker 6 (46:19):
We love listening to your show. Also, plug go for it,
hit it. What's your show, Patty, I.
Speaker 7 (46:23):
Don't really like to plug things. Please just the Patrick
labor Show with Patrick Laborteau. I've had this two thirds,
two half. One half of the cast has been on
the show.
Speaker 6 (46:38):
It's a great show. I love it. I love it.
I love it.
Speaker 7 (46:41):
It's all because of the guests. The guests are amazing.
I've been really lucky.
Speaker 9 (46:45):
I like for New Year's when we did each other
show and then ran them both on New Year's.
Speaker 7 (46:49):
That was really fun and we had a lot of
fun on that and what surprises me is that we
had different stories on each show.
Speaker 6 (46:56):
Oh yeah, that's good.
Speaker 3 (46:57):
That's really good because that is now Yeah, really good. Okay, anyway,
you guys, we have to wrap things up. Thank you
for joining us today. Please join us on Patreon. We're
gonna be here with Patrick. It's gonna be so much fun.
And you can find us on Little House fifty podcast
dot com. Our socials on Little House fifty podcast. And
it's time, Bob get the wig.
Speaker 6 (47:19):
Let's fly. Everybody k
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Speaker 5 (02:30):
Well.
Speaker 6 (02:30):
Hello bonnet Heads, Hi, welcome, Welcome back.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
I'm Pamela Bob, your host creators Living on a Prairie,
that's right. And I'm here not get a giggle from
that every time because it's you know, I've got to
be grandiose about it a little bit.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
I've got a great clip on the air on streaming
right now, I do.
Speaker 7 (02:48):
Yeah, there's a clip.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
From Living on a Prairie streaming where you are having that.
It's the clip about you know, the Waltons never did this,
mog dish sure with them, Sure.
Speaker 7 (03:01):
Yeah, you're just like coming unglued.
Speaker 6 (03:04):
It's yeah, guys, Look, I'm so comedient. You'll find me
there anyway.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
I am here with the face of evil. That's right,
our prairie.
Speaker 6 (03:15):
Bitch extraordinaire, Allison Arnfro. Hello, there it is. But she's
really nice, you guys, she's really nice. And also you're
with our hashtag.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Imagine every boyfriend or at least mine.
Speaker 8 (03:25):
Anyway, Well am I flattered by that?
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Thank you?
Speaker 3 (03:30):
If you only knew, it was the trifecta for me,
it was Pa.
Speaker 6 (03:34):
Although I didn't want to sleep it Pie. I just
wanted to look at Paw because he was pa uh,
Almanzo and Albert. That was my trifecta. But Garby is
high Garby is I don't know.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
But Andy was listen when we were watching this episode.
Andy's eyes, Holy moly, and those lashes.
Speaker 6 (03:51):
We'll get to it.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
We'll get to But I know another trifecta for people
was Adam Garvey and Hot Duck Hot.
Speaker 6 (04:00):
I'm still not over that one anyway.
Speaker 7 (04:03):
You Wow, you have sexualized a.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Very innocent it's a prairie sexualization sexual thing.
Speaker 9 (04:14):
Yet Old Van Ducker's a fine old man.
Speaker 6 (04:23):
We're naughty, all right, this is why anyway, how are
you guys? What's happening?
Speaker 7 (04:29):
Really good?
Speaker 4 (04:29):
So, you know, we've got Allison's just home from Europe.
She's now in Atlanta. That yeah, we are just you know,
We've got our Little House fiftieth anniversary event coming up
in Columbia tonight. Although it will be out by the
time this will be well out by the time this breaks.
We are announcing the addition of a wonderful Whole House
(04:52):
fan experience, the Wine and Cheese Train ride on beautiful
old Sierra Number three steam train that through that all
the Little House episodes were shot with. Uh, it's going
to include the caboose, It's going to include I mean,
this is really going to be so much fun and
(05:16):
just a wonderful opportunity to have a little a little
adult refreshment, some nice cheese and so forth, cheese and crackers.
And look at the beautiful scenery going by, uh in
this in the low Sierras, in the gold Rush country,
it should be really beautiful.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Now, let's see, do you think Almonzo or Paw or
any of the prairie men would have had a little
light refreshment on a I've.
Speaker 7 (05:41):
Had a big refreshment?
Speaker 6 (05:42):
Really alcohol?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
You think Paw ever drank alcohol? Ever did probably had
a taste, right, he had a taste.
Speaker 7 (05:52):
I think they in certain that. Yeah, I guess that's
an interesting thing, Alison. Do you think.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
Historically he drank all that stuff about pinea cider? He
wasn't talking about apple juice. What cider?
Speaker 9 (06:04):
Hartsider, which was like weaker than beer but had a
little kick to it. So Paul was like a cider person.
And of course mister Edwards drank and I don't know
there was then them be snails where they went. He
took model a fancy dinner. They went to a pantry
where he got like a glass of wine. I think right,
absactly exactly, I.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Just I just I guess, but I think of that,
and you asked that I I always think of Michael
and his white styre foam cups.
Speaker 7 (06:32):
And and you know, so I know that, well he
would have had a drink on a.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
Train, of course, there's no there's no question.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
But that was very much that era. And you know,
there was a lot there was a lot of consumption
on our set, a lot of consumption going on.
Speaker 8 (06:49):
So anyway, but that's not what we're talking about to no,
of course, not what we're talking about today.
Speaker 6 (06:55):
Well, coming up today, I'm very excited.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
We have a visit with a Little House cast member
of it, Patrick Leberteaux, and an episode all about honesty,
which is a recurring theme I think with Andy.
Speaker 6 (07:06):
But we'll get to we'll get to.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
It for Andy.
Speaker 6 (07:11):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
First produced in the studios of ubn go and Burbank, California.
This is that's right, the Little House fiftieth Anniversary podcast.
Speaker 6 (07:35):
Okay, Dean, let's get to this. What are we talking
about to do?
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Okay, So this episode tonight or today for in Perpetuity.
In this episode we are talking about we're talking about
season five, episode eleven, The Cheaters, the Cheaters premiered on Monday,
November twentieth, nineteen seventy eight. Cheaters was written by Arthur
(08:01):
Hyneman Arthur Hyneman and directed by Bill Claxton.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
Just a strong.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
Stable presence as a director in the law.
Speaker 6 (08:11):
So many amazing episodes.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
That Bill is a wonderful director. We could go on
and on about what a wonderful director Bill was. But
now Alison give a little synopsis.
Speaker 9 (08:22):
One of my favorite episodes are we surprised that she
has well that growth. Alice Garvey begins to worry that
her son Andy, who is her weakest student, dear she's
Alice reluctantly agrees to let Nellie Olsen tutor him, but
this ends up being a grave mistake.
Speaker 7 (08:44):
No, you know prediction.
Speaker 10 (08:49):
I all right, well let's let's let's bring in let's
bring in the cheater.
Speaker 6 (09:03):
Yeah, well the one of the cheaters, one of them
here forced to cheater.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Yes, hello, Patrick, how are you great?
Speaker 7 (09:14):
Thanks? Gulls And again I was forced into this theme.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Yes, yes, oh okay, all right, see yeah, okay, he
was Listen.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Allison was full mafia boss in this episode.
Speaker 5 (09:29):
So freaking mean in this thing.
Speaker 7 (09:31):
Horrible.
Speaker 9 (09:32):
It's disturbing because I'm so awful, and I'm also because
I'm like, I just turned sixteen, you're so sixty. My
voice is no lower and everyone's going through puberty and
voices are changing and not changing and cracking.
Speaker 5 (09:44):
And people who are only one year, two years maybe
younger than me are still calling, you know, talking like this,
and I'm like, you're going to still And suddenly I'm
a little bankheads, like what is even happening? I'm like, wow,
where did that come from? So yeah, I'm terrifying.
Speaker 9 (10:02):
I'm the big, bad sixteen year old now and I'm
so cute in the blue bow.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
I really love that blue bough.
Speaker 9 (10:07):
But I'm monstrous, just terrible, terrible of this. But poor
poor little Landy, you know, and then that's probably doing
the pitting you against of course Albert, who like because
he was a little street wise orphan like knows everything
is and like Ace is all his tests without cheating.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Patrick, how do you feel about this episode before I
rip into it, because I'm about.
Speaker 7 (10:30):
To rip into it, I think of it, and I
think of that Deers must have a phrase of like,
oh he was full andy with Nelly when Deers get
afraid because I just look terrifying. It's not you know,
deer in the headlights. It's Andy in front of Nelly.
I think the idea of placing you know, it reminded
(10:55):
me a lot of your performance, Alison. Reminded me a
lot of Ian McDermot in the Star Wars movies as
the Emperor. I just expected you at one point to just,
you know, yell at Andy do it, and you know
turned me to the dark side. Yeah, yeah, I okay.
So the answer to your question is this to me
(11:18):
was I categorized a couple of different types of episodes,
you know, since I was since I was able to
do a bunch of these episodes. This was a working
episode in my head, like, okay, so I had to
do really good. There was lots of stuff. There's lots
of scenes.
Speaker 6 (11:35):
I mean, it's all you yeah.
Speaker 7 (11:37):
Kind of is. I was surprised when I rewatched it
because you know, you remember things in one way and
then you watched the episode. I think, I'm sure I
hear you guys talking all the time. Part of my
memory of Little House is my experience shooting it, as
opposed to when people watch the show. Makes sense. Experience
is the show the story, and so I don't really
(12:00):
remember the story so much as the experience. And the
experience I had was with Alison, who was always a
blast to work with. But I remember having to focus
because Alison never seemed to have problem with lines, never
seemed to have a problem with any of the script,
so she was always happy to like cut and then
this guy happened, and then she's just talking all the time,
(12:24):
and so I had to concentrate a lot to make
sure that all the stuff that I was doing kind
of was what I wanted.
Speaker 9 (12:32):
To do and that I'm in your face like terrorizing
it at the same time.
Speaker 5 (12:37):
So, yeah, it's the shifting gears.
Speaker 7 (12:39):
It's yeah, but that was the weird part. You would
think that everyone's question would be, you know, oh, is
she really liked that? Meaning Nelly, And it's like, she's
so not like that that I was never intimidated by Alison,
always intimidated by Nelly, And it's really easy for her
to turn it on and off. And I mean, it's.
Speaker 6 (13:00):
What does that say about her?
Speaker 7 (13:03):
Well, she's a psychopath, but we kind of know it exactly.
Speaker 6 (13:06):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
How did you feel when you when you I mean,
did you have any idea that you were getting this
keep getting weird freeing things?
Speaker 5 (13:15):
Am I freezing? Are you freezing?
Speaker 7 (13:19):
Was bad?
Speaker 5 (13:20):
It was weird. It was like I went away came back.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Now.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
This episode has a bunch of my favorite pieces of
dialogue ever. And when they first come in and like,
you know, okay, Missus having to go to Missus Olsen
with the very idea of like weoth because your daughter
Guss just like oh uh.
Speaker 9 (13:33):
Uh, and she is so horrible to her in the store.
But the line I like is when she says, well,
shouldn't you be helping Willie? And I actually say no,
no one can help Willy. He's hopeless, and Missus like, yes, yes, yes,
this is it just agrees that that there's no hope
for for Willy, and it's one of my favorite lines.
(13:54):
There's like four or five things in this episode that
are like my favorite lines of all time at the
show that are just lovely.
Speaker 7 (13:59):
No objected, no, no one objected when you said that. No,
just the dialogue of that time where even Laura is
like going, I didn't know you'd got She refers to
Andy saying you know you've gotten so smart as opposed
to like doing well on the test, like the things
that would be great like massaged out of it, including
(14:21):
my favorite line from Laura, like what's the worst that
could happen? You'll get a licking, which, yeah, that no
big deal. Back in the eighteen seventies, seven, nineteen seventies,
it's like, what's the big deal?
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Like my face is about to explode because I have
so much that I did not notice as a child
at all, But now watching it, I guess I haven't
watched this episode in a really long time because I
did not remember all of this messed up stuff in
this episode. First of all, Alice is horrible. She's the
(14:53):
worst teacher ever posting everyone's grades on the board, Like
what is that?
Speaker 6 (14:58):
Do you know what?
Speaker 3 (14:58):
That reminds me of when I was at my conservatory
for university they had just stopped posting weighing everyone and
posting everyone's weight.
Speaker 6 (15:10):
Oh yeah, like abusive, abusive.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
That absolutely like triggered that in me of like, oh no,
they're posting all the grades on the board.
Speaker 6 (15:18):
That's horrible.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
See and then daily tests like what what?
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Why?
Speaker 6 (15:23):
What kind of teacher does that?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
But yeah, I she's not a good teacher.
Speaker 6 (15:30):
Let's just all be honest. With that. That is a
bad technique. Can we agree?
Speaker 9 (15:35):
Can we love her straight to the embarrassment, not like, hey,
I'm really concerned, can I help you? I'm a teacher.
You were all people failing these tests. When you have
the teacher, she goes right to your embarrassing me.
Speaker 5 (15:48):
She goes straight.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Not only that, but what if, like what if Andy
had undiagnosed ADHD or dyslexia or some sort of learning disability.
Speaker 7 (15:58):
We don't know.
Speaker 6 (15:59):
Nobody beat it out of him, nobody had those things.
Speaker 9 (16:02):
Then back then, do you know how you know that
you had ADHD or you had a learning disability?
Speaker 5 (16:09):
You've got beaten more than everybody else.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Exactly, And then comparing him to and to Albert like brutal.
Speaker 6 (16:18):
Just listen, teachers out there watching and listening.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
We know this is not the appropriate way to do
things correct, Like this is a bad, bad teacher.
Speaker 6 (16:28):
Sorry, Alice Garvey had to get that off my chest.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
But however, you know, you know Patrick, you're you know,
you're you're a writer. You do everything that sort of
serves the drama. You have to give the characters the
stuff that they need in order to drive the drama right,
and forget that.
Speaker 7 (16:50):
I take Pamela's notes, which is like a lot of
the stuff on a Little House is very manufactured to
get to the emotional aspect, which yes, for you know,
response to the emotion, and of course it's the emotion
of Michael is always very good with the kids' stories
and the adult stories of mirroring them and and having
(17:10):
them be complimentary. And the whole storyline between Missus Garvey
and Missus Olsen, you know, is being told in you know,
in tandem. And so yeah, it's not a very good
time for teaching.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
And also I don't blame Patrick. I don't blame you
at all for kicking Albert's ass. Are you kidding me?
I would have too.
Speaker 6 (17:36):
I was totally totally andy.
Speaker 9 (17:40):
But see, it worked because it's meant to trigger childhood memories.
A lot of the themes are things for kids where
something isn't isn't fair, where they're accused of doing something
they didn't do, or blame for something and then Paul
or someone has to go, you're right, I'm so sorry
you did. That's a big theme with kids and the parents.
But you're right, that wasn't fair, and that's like you
It worked because Pamela, what happened. You were thrown immediately
(18:03):
back to when you were in school and they tortured
you in the same way, and that was precisely what
it was meant to do.
Speaker 7 (18:10):
But it's funny memory of it. Go ahead.
Speaker 5 (18:13):
Sorry, no, I.
Speaker 6 (18:15):
Was just saying.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
But as a kid, like none of this, I didn't
get pick up on any of this at all.
Speaker 6 (18:20):
But as an adult, I'm.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Like, what she does, she's doing huh, this is crazy talk.
Speaker 6 (18:25):
Okay, Patrick, continue please?
Speaker 7 (18:27):
Well, yeah, I think part of it is like if
you look at the structure of the story, but like
what Alison was saying, as a kid and as a viewer,
you're like, that's how you remember school, Like, oh god,
there was a test every day. I can't even get
I can't and so you feel like that, but yeah,
exactly testing for what what was I mean obviously the
(18:48):
next if you're going to be moved up to the
next grade, like you get to move back a chair, Like,
what's the big deal? I mean, there's no.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
I want to know, Patrick, when you got the did
you have any idea that you were getting an episode
about you, like an Andy centric episode, or did you
open the script that week and go, oh wow, okay,
it's me No.
Speaker 7 (19:08):
I My experience on the show was always we'd get
the scripts and I would be excited to read the
scripts to find out what the next story was. I
like that anyways, on whether it's whatever show, Jag or
Little House or except the shows that I wrote, where
I know what's coming up, the idea of following along.
There's like different levels of experience. In the first level,
(19:30):
I'm a big comic book fan, and so scripts are
very similar in that you're being told a story, and
it's better than a novel. It's shorter, it's faster, you
can get the whole story. And the scripts were really readable.
They were very, very readable. So I didn't know that
it was coming up, and when I read it, I
was excited because obviously, you know, more page count, more
(19:52):
camera time, more all of that staff. Yeah, I'm a
professional kid. You know it's going to be, you know,
a big deal. Watching it just today, I was shocked
at the amount of camera time I had.
Speaker 6 (20:07):
Which is like, it's all you baby, It's all yeah.
Speaker 7 (20:10):
It was crazy easy, and it's like, oh, now I
get why people know me from the show. It's like
an hour on.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
The eyes. You have eyelashes like a lama, and you
are so cute.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
So they're so big and blue. They're just You're just
like his eyes are amazing.
Speaker 7 (20:31):
Can I it was pretty? They were pretty spectacular, but
I think my head was smaller. And you know, topped
off with that mushroom cap of.
Speaker 6 (20:39):
The you are very pretty.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
I just have to read you the note that I.
Speaker 6 (20:47):
That I wrote.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
I went the dinner table scene at the Garby's house.
First of all, I like the Garby's house.
Speaker 6 (20:52):
It's very nice for us, especially loghouse, open.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
Floor Alex Alice, Yes, exactly, and you get your own bedroom.
Speaker 6 (21:02):
Sweet okay.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Alice says, quote, I won't have you continue to disgrace
me with the graves you've been getting. And then I wrote,
she sucks so hard.
Speaker 6 (21:17):
Yeah, I thought a little else of the prairie.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
Terrible.
Speaker 9 (21:23):
She says, what do you dislike about Nellie? There's a
call just like a call back to the episode Country
when she comes storming in and says, you miss said this,
Well what did she Well, it's not what she said,
it's the way she said it. Do you go back
to Country Girls and says, Country girls, Country girls, that's
(21:45):
not an insult you our country. It's the way she
said it, And that's running theme of the way the
Ulson say things and torturing.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Just her tuts her is so it's.
Speaker 6 (21:59):
So like high blood pressure inducing.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
It's just it's just so horrible how a little sound,
a little gesture like that can just set you over
the edge.
Speaker 5 (22:11):
It's horrible, the open mouthed thing, the whole thing.
Speaker 6 (22:18):
Now, what was your relationship?
Speaker 3 (22:21):
First of all, what was I know, you had a
great relationship with your daddy, yeah, yes, And what was
your relationship like with your mother Alice.
Speaker 7 (22:34):
With her show? It was it was fine. And I
say fine in the sense that, like I think we
talked about this last time I had issues with my
dad with my dad was sick, and so my connection
with Merlin was like I was in a lifeboat on
a stormy sea and Merlin was like this lighthouse. Okay.
(22:57):
So it's like all my attention was always on Merlin.
And so when Hersha was around, it was like yeah, yeah, yeah, hi, good,
nice to see you. She was sweet, she was fine.
But my mom was on set. And if you remember
my mom, guys, my mom was not a shrinking violet.
In fact, none of the moms on our show were
shrinking Violet, so much so that some of them were
(23:19):
asked not to be on the set.
Speaker 6 (23:21):
I have not heard this before.
Speaker 7 (23:25):
I won't. There are other people here that can speak
to that. But for my mom, my mom was word.
My mom was always very connected or she was really
bossy with the acting, and because she was an actress,
and so the whole thing. You know, it's no surprise
(23:45):
that my brother and I are both actors. I mean,
she took us on auditions that she was on and
that's how we got into the business. They said, well,
who are the kids, and she's like, those are my kids.
But she would run lines with us. And around this time,
I'm not saying anything bad. I'm just gonna be honest
with you guys. Around this time, I began to understand
that my mom wasn't a good actress. And the stuff
(24:08):
that she was giving us to be, you know, to
do on our show was not what I saw Michael
do or even when I saw Merla do or Melissa
or anyone else. And I'm like, you know, I'm a
young actor putting it all together. And so this show
and a couple other shows around this era, I started
(24:30):
doing things that you know, it was like always a classic,
you know, for me, I was on camera, camera was here,
Michael was here, and then thirty feet behind him was
my mom watching. And so it was like early on
I'd ignore Michael and watch my mom. If my mom
was happy, then I was happy. And then around this
(24:51):
time I was like watching Michael. And in this case
Bill Claxton, who was about the sweetest, kindest, softest voice.
I didn't say much of anything. He sort of shuffled
and kicked.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
The dirt around on the ground, and you know, he'd
sort of looked everywhere but at you.
Speaker 7 (25:08):
But he was really wonderful to work with.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
He he was. He was very pithy in what he was.
He didn't say what he would just throw a little
thing out there, not much, just a little.
Speaker 7 (25:20):
Thing, and and you know you were listening. If you
were listening, you got some stuff from him.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
He was great.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Do you remember, I mean, did you get do you
remember being really directed or they let you come in
you you had prepared, you had done your stuff, or
do you remember a nugget of a direction you got
that really helped you.
Speaker 7 (25:44):
That's a good question. I'm thinking to give a real answer.
That's that would be real because House there's so many
there's so many stories that you just immediately jump into. No,
I don't. I don't remember. There is only a couple
of times I remember Michael directly directing me, but it
(26:06):
was always like a little softer kitty or upset kitty.
Like it was always kitty something, but it was always
something quick and like a temperament, like a level issue.
I think because the way Michael did the show was
I don't think he ever had patients for any type
(26:26):
of not only diva but just sort of like work
at that level. I think he cast the people that
you wanted as the characters, and then especially as kids.
We were those kids. I mean, if you look at
this exact episode or any other episode with myself and
Melissa and Matt and anyone else, but we three were
(26:50):
in scenes, we were all so completely different, and each
one of us was It wasn't like we were trying
to out out act each other. It was just like
we were doing our own little uh things. And for me,
it's like what you were saying earlier, Alison, It's like
I'm going, who is this cute little girl that's getting
(27:13):
railroaded into cheating. It's like, oh, that's me. I got
this tiny little girl voice.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
Having you start having Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 9 (27:28):
In that scene because you had that so innocent and
I remember, as said, my favorite pieces of dialogue and
all the terrible things I said, but I also remember
you were just perfect.
Speaker 5 (27:36):
You were so innocent, and it's like, do you know
how I get good grades? You studying hard?
Speaker 9 (27:42):
And you it's no a cheat and you're just so
like flabber gast, You're absolutely do But that was a
running thing with Michael. He would hire people. Dean's talked
about this, we all talking about this. Then I want
you to do that. I brought you in because you
do that, because you were this and you pretty much
do that.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
Do that, and if you did, it was like, no,
I just hired you to do that. You don't have
to do anything else. You just took the show, would
do that thing and we're all happy.
Speaker 9 (28:09):
Lets you bump into the furniture, do something weird and
I'll stop you carry on. And so there was there
was a lot of that where run right.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
I also I also have to say you said before
how you you and your brother got into the business
physical because you were just following your mom into auditions.
Speaker 6 (28:25):
But you're both really good. Like that wasn't normal.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
Yeah, do not normal work out.
Speaker 4 (28:31):
But let's take a break and talk about how good
they really are.
Speaker 6 (28:34):
We Okay, how do you feel about that? Patrick, We're
gonna tell.
Speaker 7 (28:41):
I'm gonna hate every hour of it.
Speaker 6 (28:45):
All right, Well, we'll see when we return.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
When you visit see Me Valley, California, you're stepping into
the pages of history. Go from the pioneers to the
President's Explore beautiful wildflowers, hike through a car on a
Hollywood locations, and in your day, aboard the actual Air
Force one at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.
(29:09):
Throughout the summer, take the Little House fiftieth Anniversary tour
at Big Sky Movie Ranch less than fifteen minutes from
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has small town charm with big jime history. Go to
visit Sea Valley dot com for more information. We are
(29:29):
so grateful to visit Seemi Valley dot com for their
commitment to presenting the Little House fiftieth Anniversary podcast.
Speaker 6 (29:38):
Okay, we are back, everybody.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Let's talk about Patrick the late actor.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
Shallity brilliant Dean.
Speaker 6 (29:46):
Do you want to say something? Do you want to
lead us into this?
Speaker 4 (29:50):
Well, look, I Patrick, you have known you now for
going back to nineteen seventy nine when I first met
you at six years.
Speaker 6 (30:02):
That's insane.
Speaker 7 (30:04):
Yeah, no exactly.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
I mean, you guys, are you and your brother such
different actors, such different people, but so good at what
you were doing? And you know, Okay, your mom she
may not have been the actress that you know that
you came to discover that she wasn't the actress, and
maybe that.
Speaker 7 (30:24):
She might have been, but she didn't do she didn't
do it.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
All wrong with you guys either, I mean, because really
wonderful about the work.
Speaker 7 (30:32):
That you were doing. Yeah. Well, I think what happens
is for me when I can't talk about my acting
without talking about Matt because Matt's acting was preternatural. It
wasn't like he learned that stuff. The storyline goes, and
(30:57):
this is in a thousand interviews back in the seventies.
Both my brother and I are adopted. We are not
biologically related. We are brothers and will always be brothers,
but we don't have any blood together. Matthew was diagnosed
as autistic when he was very very young, and he
(31:18):
was nonverbal for years, and I was labeled psychotic as
a child, which psychotic, h right, this is like.
Speaker 6 (31:33):
What does you know empathy? Or I mean not at all.
Speaker 7 (31:36):
What happened was is that they had no I have
lots of empathy. But this story is not true. I'm
getting around actually why this makes sense? So I read
a book just in the last couple of years called
The Primal Wound, which is about adoption. Okay, and in
the Privable Wound they talk about when you're separated from
(31:58):
your mother. No matter how organ and how beautiful and
whatever the adoption is, you're still separated from your biological mother,
and it creates this primal wound. Right. My experience was
I was nine months old when I was adopted by
my mom. Now, it didn't mean much to me when
I was on little house. Didn't mean much to me
(32:18):
when I was a kid, because nine months is just
a ball of good. It doesn't really mean. It's just
a baby. It doesn't do anything. Until I had my
own son, and from zero days to nine months, that's
a lot of life, right. So I was in five
different foster homes in that nine months, and in my
(32:44):
medical records it said that I had to be given phenobarbital,
which is like this heavy drug to calm me down
because I was psychotic. What I found out in this book,
the primal wound, was babies who were yearning for touch
and who weren't being held and who wanted love would cry,
(33:08):
and in the orphanages or wherever the facilities were, they
would give them phena barbital to calm them down. They
drug them out. So this is what I'm this is
what I'm learning in this book. And I'm like, oh,
well this makes sense, right. So now you've got a
kid who's had five, you know, foster homes. I'm in
this new home and again I'm only nine months. But
(33:31):
I was trained from a very young age to suss
out the room to get the hugs and love that
I needed. So this goes directly to acting, which is
all that is is an audition, is like you look
around the room going Okay, what do these guys want?
I can do that, And so I had that ability
to figure out what was going on and how to
(33:54):
basically get the parts right now. With my brother it
was a lot different, but my mom, being an actress, decided, well,
the kid who's super stressed out and desires love, what
better than to put him on stage? And for the
autistic kid, what better to break through this nonverbal thing
(34:15):
then to put him on stage wow and have him
express emotions that aren't his but aren't his right. So,
if you look at my brother's performance and my brother's
this is all my opinion that I don't know how
my brother feels about this. But if you look at
my brother and how easily he could go from just
a regular kid to going to a core pain that
(34:38):
he is able to express, and why everyone goes, oh
that Albert, You know he's a really good actor, because
he really is. He's just not well, he's acting, but
he's also expressing in tapping into these emotions that he
didn't express or didn't learn how to express, or chemically
wasn't able, or however it works with autism, I don't know.
(35:00):
I'm not judging. This was his way to express things.
So in long round about history of my life, the
idea of being an actor I really love because I
like the attention, I like the praise, I like the
simplistic idea of these words. You say on this mark
(35:21):
and then you did a good job. It's like, oh,
I love that. So I was really easy to iterate
and to learn, like, oh Michael liked that. Oh Laura
did this, she did that, My brother did this. And
I would watch my brother, and at no point did
I think that I was the same type of actor
as my brother. For a long time, I thought I
wasn't as good an actor as my brother. And then
I realized, no, no, no, it's not the good it's
(35:44):
just a different type of acting that Matthew does. And
so by the time I'm getting to this era, which
is what we're you know, this Cheaters episode type of thing,
I kind of had the idea of like, oh I
get it, like if you and again, and with my school,
I still go by the idea that if you have
the right thought in the back of your head, it'll
(36:05):
come out the front of your face. That's kind of
like the only way that I explain acting. Everything else
is kind of easy. If you understand how to get
to that thought in the back of your head, your
face and everything is going to do what it's gonna do, right.
And if you're if you're leaving it alone, Yeah, if
you're leaving it alone. Yeah, it just it comes out
because you're like, if I'm terrified that I'm going to
(36:26):
get caught, your eyes get big and you don't know
what you're gonna do. It's just that's the thought. You're
not sitting there going, Okay, I'm going to raise my
eyebrow on line three.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Well, if you are actors that do that, actors that
do that for sure.
Speaker 7 (36:42):
So my brother is this amazing actor where I would
just sort of watch him and go, okay, I see
what he's doing there. And again, you know, it's like
I took a lot from what I saw him do.
I took a lot from Melissa, I took a lot
from from Michael. You know, one scene, I was like, going,
(37:02):
this guy Andy is not a bright kid. It's like
Laura knows you're cheating. And then Charles Ingalls invites you
go fishing, like that's not.
Speaker 5 (37:13):
Normal, and you don't.
Speaker 9 (37:16):
You're like, oh gosh, I'm so glad he invited me
to go fishing, and you get clueless absolutely well, and
then the fact that you're get with Nelly, you're like
still thinking, I'm gonna teach you how to study.
Speaker 7 (37:26):
Right after you've admitted that you're going that you cheat.
Speaker 6 (37:30):
Yeah, you're.
Speaker 5 (37:32):
Out the door. You're like again, get you.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
I also just love that cheating is on the same
level as like murder, Like it's that serious to all
of them.
Speaker 6 (37:44):
You know when when Laura it's when I was watching
this episode with my six year old.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
Daughter and and when Laura starts crying, Marco just looked
at me and went, why is she crying?
Speaker 6 (37:57):
I was like, it's and I said, I watched.
Speaker 5 (38:01):
Like why is she crying?
Speaker 7 (38:03):
Because she's contractually obligated to every episode.
Speaker 3 (38:07):
Wait, let me take this back for a second, because
I find that really fascinating that your mom put you
guys in the biz for the feeling love and validation
and also expression. But that is such a risky move too,
because we all know this genus is a disaster and
it could also break a child just as easily as
(38:30):
booster them up. And you also don't want the child
to only feel validated through booking work or was I
good enough?
Speaker 7 (38:37):
Well, look, there's no there's no mistake, there's no there's
no coincidence here that my brother isn't doing on camera
work anymore. It's just like he made a choice long ago,
going I don't want to go into an audition and
have him go, hey, you were Albert. It's like, yeah,
I'm forty, Yeah, let me read for your part. Me
I did it a different way. It was just sort
of like my idea was, I'm just keep chugging because
(39:01):
I recognized early on again, because the little house that like, oh,
like you can be really really old, like in your
eighties and nineties and still be doing this. So it's
a long marathon in my mind that I'll always be
able to work. So I just got to stick around.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
That's always that carrot, that dangling carrot. That's why so
many people stay in it for so long, and you
know what they might think of leaving, But that little
dangling Karen in front of you, like, but wait, but
you could make it at fifty, you can make it
at sixty. Who knows your big break might be at eighty.
Speaker 6 (39:33):
You just don't know.
Speaker 7 (39:34):
Well, And for me, obviously, I have the benefit of
having made it a couple of different times, so I
know that it's sort of like I know it's possible
to get really, in my mind more work because it's
not like you're going to ever make it there's I
mean even Tom Cruise had down years. It's like you're
never You're never going to always be number one. It
doesn't matter. And if you're not number one, that's fine.
(39:57):
In fact, if you're number twelve on the calls sheet
and you're number twelve on a bunch of projects, that's
way better than being Yeah.
Speaker 6 (40:04):
I mean, that's that's what I said. I asked them,
I asked, what is.
Speaker 5 (40:10):
I reconnected to her?
Speaker 6 (40:11):
Are you frozen?
Speaker 7 (40:12):
Very dark?
Speaker 9 (40:13):
But the internet? I just want to quit because here's
a weird thing that was happening. I mean, and you
talked about also with your union broth. We were told this,
which we probably shouldn't have been, but I guess your
mom I don't know, so I was told like, oh, yes,
you know, Matt was autistic when he's younger, and I
believe the phrase that I was told was that.
Speaker 5 (40:32):
You were diagnosed as an infant as schizophrenic, which I
remember going, yeah, that's not a thing at sixteen yet. No, no,
it's not a schizophrenic eight month old baby. But okay, whatever.
But that was very weird to be working relating with
you and being told yes, they're both like you know,
straight out of the mental hospital and just like what's
(40:53):
going on? Like they seem fine to me? What are
we doing?
Speaker 9 (41:00):
It's crazy that of all the things of being a
child actor and everymon then to also have this like
bizarre really not like a label like this child may
have been somewhat disturbed because you know they are adopted
and they have emotional difficulties. Like no, we're gonna slap
a gigantic label on this kid and he's gonna know about.
Speaker 5 (41:20):
It, and so we're all his friends. How are you
even remotely saying now, that's I guess that's my question,
because you're pretty good, you.
Speaker 7 (41:31):
Seem sane.
Speaker 8 (41:40):
I'd love to continue this conversation, but we have to
dive out of here. Listen, you need to do a
Patreon and I know what the topic's going to be.
Speaker 6 (41:49):
We'll get to the end of the episode. Here's my notes.
Speaker 3 (41:52):
Ready, Garvey Win's father of a year toward until he
still gives him a whooping, like, what the hell are
we doing?
Speaker 6 (42:01):
Little House on the Prairie, Make me feel better?
Speaker 5 (42:07):
What that part?
Speaker 7 (42:09):
That part was like, Well, let that that creates a
whole nother that's a.
Speaker 6 (42:16):
Whole other episode we can later. I know.
Speaker 3 (42:22):
Andy the later years, it could have been totally a
spin off on HBO.
Speaker 7 (42:26):
I was watching when we were watching the show, it's like,
you know what, I'm getting a hug from Merlin. And
what's so ridiculous is Merlin's hand is on my head,
which is what you know I was hugging he's and
like his finger, his knuckle is as big as my
eye socket. It's like I thought that what happened was
it he'd take me out back and be like, all right,
don't tell your mom, but I'm not going to do anything.
(42:47):
But you've got to say that you got a good whooping,
because totally I whoop you. I will kill you because
just because.
Speaker 3 (42:53):
I'm so big, and also taking you out to the barn, Like,
my god, is there a torture chamber in the barn?
Speaker 6 (42:59):
What is happening in the barn?
Speaker 5 (43:01):
The ship they always went to. But I thought of
that to us, Bebby doesn't really do it because she
would have to know how would he even if he said, yes,
I must spank or beat my kid with a bell.
He's six foot seven.
Speaker 9 (43:13):
In a way, he's gonna have to go tap because
otherwise he's gonna knock the can into tomorrow, just tail fine.
Speaker 3 (43:22):
Pat on the behind right there in the kitchen, like
what's in the barn?
Speaker 6 (43:26):
That's so important? Anyway, he had me and then.
Speaker 7 (43:29):
He lost me.
Speaker 6 (43:32):
That's my own issue though.
Speaker 3 (43:33):
And then finally the final scene where all the kids
are going to school and Alice is ringing the bell
in which we now know actually does not make any sound.
And here's my question too, And this is the end.
I promise this is the end, Alison. Why would Nellie
write actually on the lining of the jacket. Why had
she tin a note? She would she would run out
(43:54):
of room eventually in that jacket and.
Speaker 9 (43:56):
Run perfectly nice in my Ridiculus his friendship the Patrie
can I do? In France, we do a send up
of this episode that we do again.
Speaker 5 (44:05):
We're playing game show.
Speaker 9 (44:07):
We bring people up and I go, oh, hang on
a minute, and I come out in a remake of
the Cheeters jacket and all the questions to ask I'm
doing this, and in I put it on notes that
I take or kin to the.
Speaker 5 (44:18):
Jacket, because the hell, what you got a test? Every day?
Speaker 9 (44:21):
I'm gonna write history and math on the inside everywhere linings.
Speaker 5 (44:26):
I have multiple linings I'm zipping in and out of the.
Speaker 3 (44:28):
Thing, and it never occurred to me as a kid
either of like, wait, she's writing actually on the lining
of the jack that makes no sense.
Speaker 7 (44:36):
See I'm such a guy. I'm like sitting there going
did she write it so that when she's bending.
Speaker 6 (44:44):
And we had the right technique little sliver cribbits which
destroys Laura.
Speaker 7 (44:50):
Which is so funny because there's there's like TV does
this weird thing right where it makes everything look bigger.
That's schoolhouse was so small. It's like Laura was literally
I could feel her breath. I mean, it's not like
as far away as it looks. It's like there's no
way that either one of these kids can get away
(45:12):
with it.
Speaker 3 (45:14):
Well they did it in the end, that's right. And
then maybe Nelly got a whipping in her whip. When
you're back from was it? You're back from Winoka and
now you're rocking the black and white school uniform?
Speaker 5 (45:26):
Yeah? Why am I still wearing the uniform because we
left the school?
Speaker 6 (45:31):
I don't know, but I love it. I love it.
Speaker 5 (45:33):
It's gorgeously Now I do get.
Speaker 9 (45:35):
I actually get beaten in this episode. And see because
Katherine McGregor. They handed her the jacket and Richelina were
I have folded it so the big giant metal buttons
are on the inside, and if you take it and.
Speaker 5 (45:47):
Just go like this, you can hit her with and
you won't hurt her. And Catherine, of course.
Speaker 9 (45:51):
Just took one end and went and unfurled the whole
thing so that metal buttons at all were struck across.
Speaker 5 (45:58):
My back and I'm screaming in that Dame. Yes, lovely,
she's method.
Speaker 6 (46:04):
She's so method.
Speaker 3 (46:06):
All right, I guess we have to wrap, but you
have to run. We will do more and more and more. Patrick,
thank you for being here. This is so much fun getting.
Speaker 7 (46:17):
To the show. I hope everybody enjoys and.
Speaker 6 (46:19):
We love listening to your show. Also, plug go for it,
hit it. What's your show, Patty, I.
Speaker 7 (46:23):
Don't really like to plug things. Please just the Patrick
labor Show with Patrick Laborteau. I've had this two thirds,
two half. One half of the cast has been on
the show.
Speaker 6 (46:38):
It's a great show. I love it. I love it.
I love it.
Speaker 7 (46:41):
It's all because of the guests. The guests are amazing.
I've been really lucky.
Speaker 9 (46:45):
I like for New Year's when we did each other
show and then ran them both on New Year's.
Speaker 7 (46:49):
That was really fun and we had a lot of
fun on that and what surprises me is that we
had different stories on each show.
Speaker 6 (46:56):
Oh yeah, that's good.
Speaker 3 (46:57):
That's really good because that is now Yeah, really good. Okay, anyway,
you guys, we have to wrap things up. Thank you
for joining us today. Please join us on Patreon. We're
gonna be here with Patrick. It's gonna be so much fun.
And you can find us on Little House fifty podcast
dot com. Our socials on Little House fifty podcast. And
it's time, Bob get the wig.
Speaker 6 (47:19):
Let's fly. Everybody k
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