Viewer Backlash Rises Over Netflix’s ‘Little House on the Prairie’ Remake

Earlier today Netflix posted on X, highlighting a dramatic plot point in which the Ingalls family’s wagon attempts to cross a treacherous river: “Little House on the Prairie is gonna have you stressed out.” So it has proved, if viewer response to the streaming giant’s new remake of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved semi-autobiographical 1935 novel — which became an equally beloved TV series which ran for nine seasons on NBC between 1974 and 1983 — is anything to go by.Following several aborted attempts to make film and TV adaptations of the adventures of the Ingalls’ family on the Kansas frontier, Netflix yesterday released its eight-episode first series of “Little House on the Prairie.” The original TV series had been a huge streaming hit during the pandemic and was reputedly one of Ronald Reagan’s favorite TV shows.While the new show’s creatives stressed their intention was to be more faithful to the original source material than the NBC version was, Netflix’s take on “Little House on the Prairie” has also diversified proceedings. The Ingalls family’s circle of friends now includes a black doctor and a black storekeeper, an Osage couple, and a French-Canadian sexually-liberated woman.The critical reaction to the new series has been mixed. The Hollywood Reporter called it “an honorable interpretation that’s accommodating of Wilder’s books and their spirit, sincere in purpose and respectful in execution.” But the Telegraph concluded, “You won’t be able to shake the feeling that this was made for an audience with modern – ie. short – attention spans and a desire for social media likes…it doesn’t live up to the original.”High-profile conservative journalist Megyn Kelly wrote on X last January when the Netflix reboot was announced, “If you wokeify Little House on the Prairie I will make it my singular mission to absolutely ruin your project.” Her message attracted nearly 8,000 retweets and it seems in the immediate aftermath of its release, many viewers share those concerns. One X user wrote: “As an OG fan of the original Little House on the Prairie, I have to say the new version just upsets me. I wanted to like it but but it’s devoid of Pa’s heart, Ma’s dignity, Laura’s rambunctious innocence, Mary’s need to help.”Another user wrote: “They totally destroyed my favorite show of all time. Ridiculously woke on race and gender. At one point Pa suggests they eat breakfast and Ma snaps at him and tells him to make it himself.”While there has been also positive audience response to “Little House on the Prairie” on social media, devotees of the 1974 series are up in arms at Netflix’s modernization. One posted on X: “Absolutely hate the Netflix “re-imagined” Little House on the Prairie series! Would have been better to have made a series on the Mitchell family instead of shoving a bunch of DEI and adult ideas onto the back of a beloved children’s novel.”‘Little House on the Prairie.’ Eric Zachanowich/ NetflixThe showrunner of Netflix’s “Little House on the Prairie,” Rebecca Sonnenshine, dismissed such concerns. “People are worried for no reason,” she told Variety, adding: “I’m not even sure what ‘woke’ means to people anymore, to be honest…I think people just are afraid of whatever they’re afraid of, and that’s OK. But I honestly think that there’s nothing to be afraid of and it’s a story that will really resonate with everybody.”

Viewer Backlash Rises Over Netflix’s ‘Little House on the Prairie’ Remake

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