Little House on the Prairie ran on NBC for nine seasons from 1974 to 1983, but did you know the series was almost an entire season shorter?
During the Thursday, Oct. 9 episode of the Little House 50 podcast, actor Dean Butler reflected on the season 8 two-part episode “Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow,” which ultimately secured the historical drama a ninth and final season.
In the series, Butler played Almanzo Wilder, who marries Melissa Gilbert’s Laura Ingalls in the season 7 premiere. In the real Laura Ingalls Wilder‘s life, she and her husband both contracted diphtheria in 1888, leaving Almanzo partially paralyzed. The episode “Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow” offers a fictionalized version of this real-life event.
“There could have been a more noble way to play this problem, but it was written the way it was written,” Butler said of his acting in the episode, noting producer Michael Landon “never tweaked” his portrayal.
After watching the episode back in preparation for the podcast, he continued, “I was so depressed thinking, ‘Oh my god, this is so not what I think of when I think of what this character was.’”
He did admit, however, that he loved the beginning and the end of the episode, where Almanzo is his normal self.
Along with being a producer, Landon also starred as Charles “Pa” Ingalls. After deciding he and Karen Grassle’s Caroline “Ma” Ingalls were going to depart the series after season 8, he used the episode as a test to see if Butler and Gilbert could carry the show on their own.
“The underlying motivation for the episode was Michael had made the decision that he was going to step away at the end of the eighth season. And [producer Kent McCray] said, ‘We need to find out if you and Melissa can carry this.'” Butler said.
The producers also told Butler and Gilbert they were “going to throw every calamity we could throw at you.”
The actor said that even though the episode was “depressing,” ratings for the two-parter were “spectacular,” and that “it worked really well.”
While filming, Butler said both he and Gilbert were “nervous” and asking themselves, “What if we can’t pull this off?”
“I think we both went into it knowing that this was very important,” he said. “I think that she and I worked very well together during this episode because we both knew that there was something at stake.”
“I think Michael used the success of this episode as part of the argument to say we can go on,” he added.
Little House on the Prairie ended up going on for one more season, season nine, which ran from 1982 to 1983. The show concluded with three post-series movies.
The Little House 50th Anniversary podcast is hosted by Pamela Bob, a Little House super-fan and actor, writer and producer of the award-winning series, Livin’ On a Prairie. Butler and co-star Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson) are also featured on the podcast.
This story was originally reported by Parade on Oct 13, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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