Melissa Sue Anderson's (Missy) Interview on last DVD set

bethandmanly wrote:

She said she had to focus on being Laura, not Melissa. Maybe this did not come as easily to MSA as it did to MG, but they both played their characters well and it was nice to finally hear from MSA about her LHOP memories.l

There was one thing that stuck out with me, that kind of threw me with her interview. She was speaking of the characters, (Ma, Pa, Laura & Mary) and I can't remember the scene she was describing, but she kept referring to the characters by their real names, like "Michael and Melissa". Usually actors use character names when speaking of characters, you know? I just thought that was a bit strange, and I do feel that she had a very difficult time separating herself from the character, as a professional actor should.

I really think she was not all that enthused to be talking about it. Like she really didn't want to do the interview. It's just the impression I got from her.

Maybe that's why she never goes to the reunions that the others go to?

You might be right. I am glad she did it though, because when there are interviews out there claiming you were difficult to work with, or even MG's interview which was on the same DVD set, which talked about how she really say MSA as an older sister (implying they didn't have the best relationship), it was nice to hear how MSA felt about her years on the show. She spoke fondly of it, even if she is more reserved than MG, and spoke of all the fun she had on the set.

Cheryl

Yeah, Melissa Gilbert is always upbeat and excited when talking about her Little House days.

I think that I read at Alison Arngrim site -I'm not 100% certain- , that Melissa Gilbert and her where excellent friends, the best friends of the world, while Melissa Sue Anderson was not too friendly to them and seemed more a "Nellie Oleson" than a Mary Ingalls...Am I wrong? :think:

Vanesa.

I do know that Alison and MG became very good friends...I don't think they were the 'best' of friends, but close. I would hardly think MSA was a Nellie Oleson of the group, but I'm just not sure that she could relate well.

I don't know if this has been posted, but Melissa talks about getting her role on LHOP. Still so pretty. I think it was 2007.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iF-eS-8LGQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptcw1gw7ToU&feature=relmfu


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xsWQXE3B8E&feature=relmfu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyKD-cBro4k&feature=relmfu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3MZjjM17I8&feature=relmfu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFbAompjQhA&feature=relmfu

I think that's the interview on the DVDS.

Oh, I never got the DVD's, so I'm glad I saw it..I have old VHS tapes and wondered if it would be an investment to get them. For the time being, Hallmark has it on a lot and my children got to see it again. I hear a lot of complaints about missing scenes, I didn't see that with the VHS that I noticed. I still have a "combo" DVD/VHS player but that will die soon enough.

littlehouselover wrote:

Oh, I never got the DVD's, so I'm glad I saw it..I have old VHS tapes and wondered if it would be an investment to get them. For the time being, Hallmark has it on a lot and my children got to see it again. I hear a lot of complaints about missing scenes, I didn't see that with the VHS that I noticed. I still have a "combo" DVD/VHS player but that will die soon enough.

The Melissa Anderson Interviews you posted above came straight off the DVD's.

There are two types of missing scenes. There are American versions and international versions. Example: The International versions include the following scenes that most of us have heard about.
1. Albert asking Charles if he can call him PA in the barn when Fagin was sick.
2. Albert saying goodbye to Laura in Family Tree.
If your VHS's contain those two scenes, you are a lucky person.

There may be others, but I haven't heard about them.
None of the US DVD's include the above. The international versions do.
International versions. as a rule, will not play on US DVD players.

Hallmark, as of late has snipped a few inconsequential scenes out to make room for more commercials.

The DVD's are complete minus the two scenes listed above in the international versions, plus all the interviews are included.
Plus, of course, the DVD's have much better picture quailty than the VHS's and have interactive quizzes.

I purchased the entire package at SAM's Club for 99.99, The Best price I could find. Also, the season 9 DVD's contains a great collectors book with trivia.

That is not bad at all for all those DVD's. I never got the collection, just certain ones, Xmas episodes, the pilot.
I find most of the cuts today aren't that important on TV, but sometimes I remember a longer scene, a conversation I don't see now. The commercials are not 2 minutes anymore and sometimes the cut is noticeable, sometimes not. Even on the Waltons, a thought or look is cut, nothing you can really do about it.
The "Albert" scenes were important though, that is a mystery.
I will keep a look out for the set at Sam's, just joined a month ago. Maybe at Christmas they will have them.

Do that, you won't regret it..........The Box Looks like below

I wont miss that.

That's cool! I already have them all on DVD.....I bought them one by one..

WOW! Thanks for posting it,since here I can't get the DVD!

Vanesa.

I found this page looking for the DVD's and although you might not agree with her reviews on each season, some are comical, some I think are very accurate and some are a bit harsh. You can hit on each season on the left of the column.

http://www.tvdvdreviews.com/little1.html

I understand in her review of Season 5, her defense of Carrie, but it might have been that the young actress just couldn't handle an expanding role. She does give a different view though:

However, there IS most definitely something wrong with Carrie Ingalls (played by twins "Lindsay" Robin and "Sidney" Rachel Greenbush). For four seasons, Carrie has had little to do but tag along after her older sisters, get her dress nailed to the roof by Mr. Edwards, occupy a high chair, and occasionally fall down a well. Watching season five, you can't help but wonder if there was some sort of war going on between Michael Landon and the twins' parents. Carrie goes from being an adorable living prop to being pretty much a developmentally disabled, autistic child. Carrie is about seven or eight by this time, but she apparently has. . .well, some bladder control issues. Almost every time we see or hear about Carrie, she's in the process of wetting her pants, has recently wet her pants, or is frantically scrambling to the outhouse to prevent wetting her pants (or rather, her calico dress). She also does alarmingly dumb things like locking herself in a chiffarobe and tipping it over, and dragging newly scrubbed laundry through the dirt. At another point, she accidentally drops some food into her lap, and bellows out "Damn!", much to the horror of her God-fearing family. That's what taking your family to live in the city gets you: a potty-mouthed imbecile for a daughter. Poor Carrie is never taken seriously by the writers, or even the other cast members. In almost every one of the scenes where she and Laura (Melissa Gilbert) have fleeting dialogue, Laura (or is it Melissa Gilbert herself?) rolls her eyes, shrugs, and speaks sharply to the addled little girl.

However, the greatest injustice to poor Carrie Ingalls is the Greenbush twins' signature episode (and thankfully, their last star turn in the series), "The Godsister." I love Little House. I've seen all of the episodes many, many times. But "The Godsister" is the most horrendously awful episode in the ten year run of the series. Hands down. If you've never seen it (or have blocked it from your memory), you may want to get your hands on season five just so you can see this utter disaster. When Pa has to go away to find work, Carrie gets lonely and creates an imaginary friend, Alyssa. Oddly enough, Alyssa looks exactly like Carrie (those sneaky writers FINALLY figured out a way to have both of the Greenbush twins onscreen simultaneously). Carrie and Alyssa have a series of Alice in Wonderland-type adventures, including a visit to heaven (where they run into the Ingalls' deceased pooch, Jack), and picking berries on a horrendous set zapped right out of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. That particular adventure concludes with Carrie GETTING CHASED BY A GIANT SPIDER. Watching it, you get the feeling that Michael Landon said to Ma and Pa Greenbush, "You want your brats to have more to do on the show? Fine!!!! I'll dedicate an entire episode to them - and it will be the lousiest episode ever - and then, after that, they will NEVER, EVER SPEAK ONSCREEN AGAIN!"

Well...I don't exactly know if Michael Landon had had some issues with Greenbush Twins ...But I don't know if the couldn't act for sure, since we didn't have so many opportunities to judge if Sidney and Lindsay could REALLY do betrer than they did or not.

This review is pretty accurate to me. Maybe the Twins acted awfully, but it's also true that the writers gave them the worst lines in the whole show...

Vanesa.