Netflix’s highly anticipated Little House on the Prairie reboot premiered this month. Michael Landon starred as Charles “Pa” Ingalls in the original. His character was wholesome and beloved. But one cast member revealed that the actor was different off-camera. Keep reading for his alleged shocking behavior on set when the cameras weren’t rolling.
Little House on the Prairie Reboot Gets Mixed Reaction
Little House on the Prairie was part of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s book series from the 1930s. The books followed the Ingalls family as they lived on the frontier in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1880s. The series was made into a television show that aired on NBC from 1974 to 1983.
Michael Landon played the family patriarch. Netflix announced in 2024 that they were rebooting the beloved series. It finally premiered in July. Unlike the original, the reboot’s first season focused on the Ingalls family before they moved to the prairie. The show has already been renewed for a second season, which follows them as they move to Minnesota.
Michael Landon played a loving father and family man on the original series. He also starred in Highway to Heaven, which is getting a reboot at Fox. Despite playing wholesome characters, Michael Landon weathered several scandals off-screen. He was still married to his second wife when he had an affair with co-star Cindy Clerico. At the time, she was 18 and he was 43. They later married, and she stood by his side until he died from cancer in 1991.
Michael Landon’s Shocking On-Set Behavior
Little House stars Melissa Gilbert and Shannen Doherty never said a bad word about their experience with Michael Landon on the beloved show. However, others saw a different side of him.
Karen Grassle, who played Caroline “Ma” Ingalls, claimed in her 2021 memoir that Michael Landon made dirty jokes while filming intimate scenes. Another star from the original series recently recalled shocking behavior happening on the set of Little House on the Prairie.
Alison Arngrim played villain Nellie Oleson in the original series and made a surprise cameo in the reboot. She was a guest on the Here’s What Happened podcast last week. She revealed that, in her experience, Michael Landon wasn’t nearly as wholesome as “Pa” or as viewers thought.
“They came from an era where everybody smoked and everybody drank, like all the time,” she said about the cast and crew. While she never saw any of the minor actors partake, Michael Landon allegedly smoked and drank on set every day. He “often would have a shot of whatever he was drinking that day” — usually whiskey,” she told the shocked podcast hosts.
According to Alison Arngrim, Michael Landon and the crew went through a case of alcohol a day on set. But that’s the only negative thing she said about working on the show. Tell us in the comments if you’re shocked by Michael Landon’s alleged behavior.
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger
