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For the first time in more than 40 years, people have an opportunity to watch new episodes of Little House on the Prairie.
Netflix recently came out with its new Little House series. It premiered in the past month. A second season is already planned, according to the show's web site.
The show is set in Kansas, which corresponds to Laura Ingalls Wilder's second book. It offers a view of life in an area that was still part of the frontier in the 1870s.
It's hard to imagine that a new show can compare to the original series, which put Walnut Grove on the radar screen of people throughout the world. Although it was made for television, it stayed authentic in many ways to the real town and the real Ingalls farm.
What made it special is that it was simply a good story, a story about families and a community. It had memorable characters like Mr. Edwards, Dr. Baker, Rev. Alden, Miss Beadle the school teacher, and store owners Nels and Harriet Oleson.
My hope is that the Netflix series stays true to at least some of that tradition. I think most television shows aren't nearly as good as they were 50 years ago.
The biggest reasons seem to be an endless focus on action and on relationship related drama. Audiences in the 21st century seem to have a huge appetite for both.
I personally don't share that appetite. I prefer stories that entertain just because they're simple. We need comedies like Happy Days, adventure stories like Emergency and Adam 12, and good science fiction like the original Star Trek.
Maybe we'll need to have that on a special cable channel, one that caters to viewers in my age group or ones who like the traditional approaches.
Even if we get that, every new series will face certain standards. They'll have to give audiences characters that are worth caring about. They'll have to be three dimensional, with genuine emotions and a combination of strong attributes and human faults.
They'll also have to meet standards for historic authenticity. Experts in the 21st century look for higher degrees of authenticity in museum exhibits, performances, and written publications.
It's a trend that goes back to at least the 1930s. John Wayne was an exception. He didn't care if his gun in a Western movie didn't exist in the film's time period.
He reasoned that he was John Wayne. People bought movie tickets to see John Wayne. They wouldn't care if the gun didn't match up.
Now it's more important. Many good performers and re-enactors won't use an object that doesn't match up with the time period. If it's old for its time it can be explained as a used item, maybe one that's been passed down in a family. It just can't appear too soon.
The authenticity standards will be high for the 21st century version of Little House on the Prairie. Many people won't take the show seriously if it's not authentic in every significant detail.
Even if the new series isn't historically accurate, all fans of Little House on the Prairie should think it's better than nothing.
It could easily awaken interest in the original television series, and in the books by Laura. I remember talking to Wilder Pageant coordinators 30 years ago who felt they had two groups of fans.
Some of them mainly knew the television series. Others knew both the series and the books. The book fans had more of an in depth knowledge of the real Ingalls family and the real pioneer era. They knew Laura's firsthand accounts.
We should hope that new generations experience all that Little House has to offer. They should consider making a pilgrimage to Walnut Grove and other Wilder communities.
The annual Walnut Grove pageant and the actual Ingalls dugout site on Plum Creek can make someone feel almost like going back in time. It leads to even more of an appreciation for the Little House books and the televised versions.
The pioneer era is no longer as much a part of oral history. It's not like 50 years ago when my ancestors told stories of how my great great grandfather Frank Muchlinski homesteaded.
The story of pioneers needs to live on in our literature and broadcasting. We need new interpretations that make it real to modern audiences. They need to not only entertain but also educate. They should reflect the true story.
-- Jim Muchlinski is a long time reporter and contributor to the Marshall Independent