Big Drama over South Dakota ‘Little House on the Prairie’ Event
When Little House on the Prairie premiered on NBC-TV 50 years ago last month (September 11, 1974), it became an instant cultural phenomenon and was on the air for 204 episodes over nine seasons.
This year, in honor of its golden anniversary, some of the surviving stars of the show: Melissa Gilbert (Laura Ingalls Wilder), Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson Dalton), Karen Grassle (Caroline Quiner Ingalls), Dean Butler (Almanzo Wilder), Charlotte Stewart (Eva Beadle Simms), and Matthew Labyorteaux (Andrew 'Andy' Garvey) were scheduled to make a series of appearances around the country, including a stop in South Dakota.
But that never happened and now there's a big controversy brewing.
People is reporting that in early September, the former show's actors were concerned about the 'poorly organized and executed events', prompting them to send a letter to organizer Jack Bishop and his company Gravel Road Markets LLC, stating that they were no longer going to appear as scheduled:
'This letter informs you that, effective immediately, the undersigned members of the original cast of Little House on the Prairie will no longer support, promote, or appear at any Gravel Road Markets, LLC events.'
The letter also demands that Bishop and Gravel Road Markets 'remove our names and likenesses from sales and marketing assets supporting any upcoming Little House on the Prairie 50th Anniversary events produced or promoted by Gravel Road Markets, LLC.'
One of those events was for the Black Hills, September 27-29, in Keystone.
The cast claims that Bishop never officially canceled the events, only changing the status to 'sold out'. They allege that some fans arrived in Keystone and were never informed that the event was not happening.
Gilbert also told People that Gravel Road Markets LLC advertised the actress as a co-producer of these events, which she claims was not the case.
Little House on the Prairie focused on the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family and was loosely based on her best-selling series of Little House books.
While the majority of the TV series was devoted to the family's time in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, the Wilder family moved to South Dakota in 1879, settling in DeSmet.
Laura's sister Carrie later lived in Keystone for several years.
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