Best known for its life-affirming lessons and heartwarming
adventures, "LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE" made its TV debut
in 1974 and significantly altered the landscape of
television. Loyal fans will relive these exciting and
touching adventures, while new viewers will discover the
Ingalls' unconquerable courage to build a new way of life.
The series, nominated for 17 Emmy Awards and 3 Golden
Globes, has become a TV milestone.
The Complete Seventh Season - 1980-1981 The season starts
with Laura and Almanzo's much-anticipated wedding - The
Garveys move to Sleepy Eye to run a business - Laura
suspects Almanzo of having an affair with her friend -
Almanzo and Mr. Ingalls expand their business to Sleepy Eye
- Adam's sight returns. He and Mary move back to Walnut
Grove and set up a law practice - Mrs. Ingalls leads the
women in favor of a referendum concerning fair property
rights for married women - Mr. Percival and Mrs. Oleson
disagree very strongly on the subject of their grandchild's
upbringing - Mrs. Oleson takes over as teacher after Laura
quits - Albert falls in love with Sylvia and faces many
difficult challenges - Cassandra and James become orphans
after their parents are killed in an accident. Charles
considers making them part of his family. These and many
other exciting adventures from the entire seventh season are
presented in this Special Collector's Edition!
Season 7 (1980-1981)
22 episodes
#
Airdate
Prod. Code
Title
Overview
138
September 22, 1980
7052
Laura Ingalls Wilder (Part 1)
Picking up six months after the
previous season finale, Almanzo decides to purchase
land for a new farm but will need the earnings from
his first crop to pay off the mortgage. When the
holder of the mortgage refuses to let him use water
from an adjacent creek he loses everything.
Meanwhile, Eliza Jane falls in love with Harve
Miller, a friend of Almanzo's who has come to live
in Walnut Grove. Laura begins teaching at Walnut
Grove School and dreams of career but this meets up
with Almanzo's strong objections, since he wants her
to be a traditional housewife. Nellie finds out that
she is pregnant.
139
September 29, 1980
7053
Laura Ingalls Wilder (Part 2)
The relationship of Eliza Jane
and Harve blossoms, but it never reaches its
potential since Eliza is unable to express her true
feelings of love for Harve. Things begin to fall
apart when Harve reveals he is in love with someone
else although Eliza pretends that they are still
involved. After Almanzo loses his crop and postpones
their wedding, Laura offers to take a teaching
position in another town to help earn money for a
new farm. Laura breaks the engagement when Almanzo
refuses her help. In the end, Eliza Jane decides to
leave, but not before convincing her little brother
to let his wife-to-be teach at the school. Almanzo
agrees, and the two are wed at the Blind School in
Sleepy Eye.
140
October 6, 1980
7054
A New Beginning
Unable to make a living in Walnut
Grove, Jonathan moves to Sleepy Eye to start his own
freight business. His fledgling business quickly
becomes the target of robbers, and it isn't long
before Jonathan – wanting to stop it – becomes a
deputy sheriff. He catches the ringleader, but the
matter quickly becomes personal when Andy is beaten
by the leader's underlings
141
October 13, 1980
7056
Fight Team Fight!
One-time football star Pete
Ellerbee comes to Walnut Grove to coach the town's
football team. Albert decides to join, as he can
learn valuable skills such as teamwork,
responsibility, and doing your best. But those
aren't Ellerbee's goals. His goal is but one – to
win, since it proves manhood and pride. Soon,
football isn't so much fun in Walnut Grove, when
Ellerbee's desire to push the boys beyond their
abilities endangers their safety and well-being.
Note:
This episode conflicts with the historical
timeline of the show. Ellerbee and Mr. Oleson
are way too old to have played
college football, which wasn't played until
1869.
142
October 20, 1980
7051
The Silent Cry
Houston, the cantankerous
caretaker of the Blind School, gets a turn in the
spotlight when two orphaned boys are threatened with
separation. A tiny boy named Josh is mute, making
him unappealing to any potential families; but his
older brother Michael has plenty to offer. Houston
realizes that both brothers have value and wants to
adopt him, but the adoption agency says no. When a
young couple wants to adopt Michael but not Josh,
both brothers become very upset and run away,
leaving Houston to frantically search for the two.
Stars a young
Madeleine Stowe as a talented painter, Annie
Crane, who had lost her sight in early childhood. An
English art exhibitor was so impressed with Annie's
work, even before he found out she was blind, that
her art is publicized. Her birth mother realizes who
she is and wants to contact her, but Annie is
embittered because she felt abandoned, but is
reconciled when she learns why.
144
November 10, 1980
7057
Divorce, Walnut Grove Style
Laura believes that Almanzo is
having an affair with a former girlfriend.
145
November 17, 1980
7059
Dearest Albert, I'll Miss You
As a school project, Albert
becomes pen pals with a girl elsewhere in the state.
However, both of them fabricate stories about
themselves in attempts to be more attractive to the
other.
146
November 24, 1980
7058
The In-Laws
Charles and Almanzo, at the
suggestion of Jonathan Garvey, decide to start a
freight business to Sleepy Eye. When Almanzo
suggests that there might be a better way to get to
Sleepy Eye, the two decide to have a race to see who
is right.
147
December 1, 1980
7060
To See The Light (Part 1)
After a freak accident, Adam
Kendall regains his sight, which worries his wife
Mary.
148
December 8, 1980
7061
To See The Light (Part 2)
Having regained his sight, Adam
resumes his aspirations of becoming a lawyer. While
taking his entrance exam, he is assaulted by
hoodlums and falls ill, causing him to miss the
final exam. But Mary and Charles talk the
schoolmaster into granting Adam permission to finish
the test and Adam wins a scholarship to law school.
149
January 5, 1981
7062
Oleson Versus Oleson
A town referendum is scheduled,
wherein an affirmative vote will allow women to have
equal property ownership rights. The men of Hero
Township all oppose this effort, including Nels,
Charles, and Almanzo. However, those three men agree
to the concept of equal rights for women, but have
their reasons for not supporting the referendum.
When Caroline finds out, she rounds up the women and
leads a successful effort to get the men to see the
errors of their ways.
150
January 12, 1981
7063
Come, Let Us Reason Together
Percival's real name is revealed
as Isaac Cohen. Percival's parents visit Walnut
Grove. Percival's father, Benjamin, is a
hot-tempered man who lives by his Jewish faith,
while Nellie's mother Harriet is a full-fledged
Christian. Nels brokers peace between Benjamin and
Harriet with the deal that a boy would be raised
Jewish and a girl would be raised Christian. When
Nellie gives birth, she unexpectedly has twins, and
names them Benjamin and Jennifer. Nellie and
Percival agree to raise their son as a Jew and their
daughter as a Christian.
151
January 19, 1981
7064
The Nephews
Almanzo's brother Royal visits
Walnut Grove and leaves his two naughty children in
Almanzo and Laura's care while Royal and his wife
enjoy a vacation.
Note:
This is the first appearance of Royal Wilder,
and here played by
Woody Eney. The episode also implies that
Royal's wife is pregnant with daughter Jenny,
whom we will meet two seasons later in ...A
New Beginning.
152
January 26, 1981
7065
Make A Joyful Noise
Joe Kagen moves to Sleepy Eye to
assist at the blind school. While there he begins to
develop feeling for Hester Sue. She however is
planning to marry an undertaker.
153
February 2, 1981
7066
Goodbye, Mrs. Wilder
Laura finally loses her patience
with Mrs. Oleson's meddling and "suggestions" for
the school. So, Laura resigns and lets Mrs. Oleson
run the school, a task she gleefully accepts. She
implements French lessons and art appreciation into
the curriculum, and makes the children wear uniforms
to school. Albert leads a class rebellion against
Mrs. Oleson's nonsense, but Laura admonishes him for
taking matters into his own hands. Meanwhile, Nels –
who supports the more traditional curriculum – says
nothing, since he knows he can't get through to his
wife, so he allows the visiting regional
superintendent of schools to do the talking for him.
154
February 9, 1981
7067
Sylvia (Part 1)
A 15-year-old student, Sylvia
Webb, is sexually assaulted by an unknown person
only identifiable by a festival mask, and Sylvia
eventually becomes pregnant. Albert and Sylvia fall
in love, much to the objections of Sylvia's
overprotective father. Mrs. Oleson, at the
switchboard, overhears a conversation between Doc
Baker and Mr. Webb telling her that Sylvia is
pregnant, and she tells the entire town that Albert
got her pregnant.
155
February 16, 1981
7068
Sylvia (Part 2)
Sylvia and her father plan to
move out of Walnut Grove to escape Albert, whom most
of the town believes is the father of Sylvia's
unborn baby. But Sylvia and Albert, reunited, have
plans of their own to get married and raise her
child as their own. Caroline (who earlier had
confronted Mrs. Oleson about spreading lies about
Albert being the baby's father) counsels Albert
about whether he is ready to get married. Later,
after Sylvia runs off, Mr. Webb barges into the
house, where Albert affirms that he did not get
Sylvia pregnant. Albert gets a job with the town's
blacksmith, Irv Hartwig (Richard
Jaeckel). But when he unwittingly discloses
Sylvia's whereabouts to the blacksmith, Albert and
Sylvia try to escape, leading to a final and deadly
confrontation in which the rapist's identity is
exposed.
156
February 23, 1981
7069
Blind Justice
Adam becomes a lawyer, but after
a promised job at a law firm falls through, he and
Mary decide to return to Walnut Grove so Adam can
open a law firm of his own. He takes on as his first
client a man accused of swindling the citizens of
Walnut Grove in a railroad land deal.
157
March 2, 1981
7070
I Do, Again
Laura finds out that she is
pregnant. Caroline, who also believes that she is
pregnant, finds out from Doc Baker that she is
experiencing early menopause and can never have more
children. Charles, heartbroken upon learning that he
will never have another natural son, decides to take
Caroline on a second honeymoon, and then they renew
their wedding vows.
158
May 4, 1981
7071
The Lost Ones (Part 1)
Charles and Albert travel with
the Cooper family – parents Alvin and Sarah,
12-year-old James and 9-year-old Cassandra – while
on a delivery run. When they encounter a steep hill,
Charles and Alvin agree to take the hill one at a
time, with the children staying with the Ingalls
wagon. However, something goes horribly wrong and
Alvin loses control of the wagon; the wagon crashes
at the bottom of the hill, and both he and Sarah are
killed instantly. The children witness the accident.
Charles – knowing he cannot financially support any
more children in his already crowded home – takes
traumatized James and Cassandra to Walnut Grove to
stay while he searches for the youngsters' family.
However, Uncle Jed is living in a homeless camp and
unable to take custody, leading Charles to realize
he must find a foster family who will accept the
children.
Rev. Alden announces he has found
a family – the Tompkins – to take in orphaned James
and Cassandra, unaware the father is mean and is
merely interested in extra farmhands. At one point,
James is unjustly accused of stealing from Mr.
Tompkins and is given a whipping. Eventually, the
abuse takes its toll, and James and Cassandra run
away. The Tompkins tell the Ingalls the children are
missing but, when Mr. Tompkins declines to help
Charles in the search, it becomes clear he's more
interested in getting the children home to teach
them a lesson rather than for their safety. In the
end, James and Cassandra decide they would be much
happier living with the Ingalls, a responsibility
that Charles and Caroline realize they must accept.
