Customer Reviews

Little House on the Prairie: The Complete Television Series (Nine Seasons + Three TV Movies)

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

That's the question you must ask yourself before buying this complete series set.

For a number of years I have seen the individual season sets available and while I've been tempted on several occasions to pick them up, something had always stopped me. Maybe I didn't consider myself a big enough Little House fan, or maybe I was a bit put off by some of the negative reviews I had read here about them, or maybe it was a little of both. But when I saw the complete series out together in one place, I couldn't resist temptation any longer.

I'll begin by saying that those people who have complaints because of audio/video quality and editing have legitimate gripes. If I were a Little House purist seeking complete, uncut, pristine episodes, I'd be more than a little disappointed, too. However, I'm not necessarily one of those people. Yes, some of the episodes obviously have been edited a bit, and some of the episodes show their age, but not all of the episodes show these traits! A great many of the programs appear to be in absolute pristine condition for this release. As far as I am concerned, even the worst episodes from an a/v standpoint were not enough to hinder my enjoyment of the stories, nor were any of the edits that were made. For the casual LHOTP fan who enjoyed the series growing up as I did, and wants to relive the stories, characters and places again, there is nothing here that is going to put you off.

Additionally, once you get into Season 5, the bonus interviews and special features included in the box set are quite interesting. Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson) in particular provided some great insights into the show, and her audio commentaries on a number of the shows are often quite funny. There are no less than three discs of bonus material that provide a wealth of behind the scenes stories and interviews, not to mention all of the bonus goodies that was included on all of the individual season sets as well.

The biggest reason why I am giving the complete series set 4 stars, aside from the previously mentioned a/v and editing "issues", is that the pilot episode was not included. As far as I'm concerned, the pilot was as much a part of the series as the individual seasons were, and it's kind of a bummer that it has to be purchased separately in order to complete your collection. I'm also a little bit disappointed that the 3 hour "Little House Years" special from Season 6 has been omitted from this release, but seeing as though it is primarily a "flashback episode", and those "flashbacks" are already available in their complete episodes elsewhere in the box, I can understand that decision to a certain degree. My hope is that this show will see it's own release somewhere down the line, too.

Beyond that, I have never really been a fan of cardboard packaging for DVDs. As already noted elsewhere, the discs are very easy to scratch if you are not very careful. But with 60 DVDs to package together in this set, this is another decision I can understand in order to try and keep costs down as much as possible.

Bottom line: If you are a purist who needs a pristine, uncut LHOTP experience, by all means avoid this. You will not get your money's worth. But for my money, I have been enjoying revisiting these old stories and characters again. I haven't regretted making this purchase. If nothing else, it has given me something to occupy my time on these long Wisconsin winter nights when there hasn't been a whole lot to do.

I'm not about to go over the seasons here. I will let it be known though that Little House On The Prairie is one of the greatest TV shows ever. It was a time where TV shows were innocent fun and anyone could watch it and not have to worry about foul language or some toilet humor. A time where shows like Gilligan's Island, The Brady Bunch, Leave It To Beaver, were all seen on regular network TV on a daily run. Kids and family alike could enjoy!! Gosh I miss those days of TV shows.

So let's get to the point of why this BOX set is so bad and a one star. Well it's simple, it's chopped up and cut to bits. At least give fans the UNCUT version of the show. It's not like there are commercials to worry about and if you expect us to pay a couple hundred dollars to own the whole show, then put a bit of effort into it and at least give the true fans what we want. UNCUT!!!!

I'm not here to complain about the price. I'll GLADLY shell out plenty of cash for any show that I love, IF the company puts a bit of effort into taking the time to give me the real deal and not this edited down junk. I'll put my cash towards another TV box set that is UNCUT and wait for the real deal here. I refuse to pay for this set though, just so down the road the company can put out a UNCUT version and expect fans to pay again for this.

STOP BEING SO LAZY!!! Give the fans what we want and we will gladly buy the set. Think about it. A fan of any show that is going to go out and buy the complete TV series of a show, is a REAL fan. Do companies actually think that we want some cut down, chopped up nonsense as this?

WE WANT LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE IN A BEAUTIFUL BOX SET, UNCUT!!!!

Thank you for reading, just needed to vent. I'm angry because I love the show and REALLY DID want this.

Micah

These are the edited for commercial reruns. They are chopped up. I have no idea how the title can say with any conscience - "complete" unless it means "complete..ly mangled" or "complete waste of money". No thanks I will wait for the UNEDITED versions to come out if they ever do. These are NOT remastered, and these are NOT uncut.

Don't buy it ... you'll regret it!

Until last week I've been so exited to hear that a new "Complete Edition" will be released in November ... until last week ... it looks as if someone cheered too soon!

According to ImaVision the upcoming DVD release will use the same cut, edited and "mutilated" episodes that are currently available!!! I think $ 250 are far toooooooo much for censorship! I'm really deeply disappointed. Shame on you ImaVision.

Unlike a previous reviewer, I wasn't looking for a perfect, unedited collection. The fact that the three TV movies that ended the series are included only enhances this collection.

Who has time to watch NINE seasons of unedited episodes? If you're going to pay good money for that, at least buy the remastered, enhanced F/X "Star Trek HD" series or something similar.

These are the episodes I grew up with, and I enjoy watching them over and over again. My all-time favorite episode is the first season "Survival", which deals with bigotry and an unexpected blizzard.

As for packaging, this is quite possibly the most EFFECTIVE presentation I have ever seen in a large DVD collection. Two small magnets hold a sturdy book together, and it opens up into an actual ringed binder. Each "page" in the binder holds 3 DVDs on one side, and a description of their contents on the other.

In terms of presentation, ease of DVD use, and description of the contents of each, this is easily the BEST setup for a collection (and long-term storage) I have EVER seen. Usually DVD packaging is pretty flimsy, but NOT in this case!

This is an excellent purchase, especially if you can get it at a deep discount!

I'm pretty happy to have all the episodes, the three final movies and all the special features. I deducted a star because the sound and picture look about how they did thirty years ago, or maybe worse, and another star because the three special features disks at the back of the binder got caught under the binding during shipping and got very scratched. Although they look really badly damaged they do play fine. The wagon packaging looks fun but it's hard to pull the disks out without scratching them on the binder posts. I guess giving scenes a purple tint is what's called color enhancement.

I grew up with these characters, I never thought back then I would ever own such a gem! I give this 5 stars because we have all 60 discs together with bonus content. I wish they had included the pilot, but that is not a big deal at all. I have NO idea why people are complaining about packaging. The DVDs do NOT slip out if you put them in their slots all the way. Perhaps at the factory or with shipping they came out. Just be careful! I agree a better design might have helped-but I won't complain~!There are no scratches. Buying from Amazon is the best idea, because the packaging is in perfect condition, has seen little to no handling unlike chain stores. The packaging is cute, the dvds are well organized inside with good descriptions of the content. There is an outer plastic box to keep the entire thing in when not in use.

Unlike other reviewers, I do not agree the sound is bad nor is the picture bad. We are looking at footage that is old! It says right on the box they did remaster it. I think people are expecting 2008 sound from circa 1974-83 film! Of course, there WILL be some defects in the ORIGINAL film and that does not take away from the stories. Honestly, who on earth cares that the original commercial breaks are in there? If we watch them happily on TV as reruns, then this is 1000 times better having them at your fingertips. I think people will be happy with this purchase and I'm glad I didn't listen to the complaints. I love the bonus content; especially when you see how much the cast loved Michael Landon and remember him.

I only wish Michael Landon, Jr. would make a NEW Little House, or similar story using some of our beloved actors as the parents and grandparents!

It didn't bother me that the picture quality was the same as the previously released volumes, which I thought were fine. But I am upset that the sound is noticeably lower (and sometimes a little muffled). This did not occur on the Seasons 1 through 5 that I already owned, which proves the fact that the films being made in the 1970s is not the problem (nor is the sound a problem on any other 1960s or 1970s TV shows I have). No... the manufacturer has screwed up... and it's really annoying when the sound on the DVD musical introduction is loud as can be, and then the actual show starts and the sound drops by half the decibels, forcing one to turn the volume up on the TV to 100% capacity! It was so bad I thought I has a defective set, and had it replaced. The new one is exactly the same, so it's a mistake to be seen in all of these sets. It's probably better to buy the individual Season 1-9 sets even though you lose the cute and lovable packaging. One complaint about the packaging making it hard to get the DVDs in and out of is not valid, by the way. The Complete Set comes in a 3 ring binder. To get the DVDs out, you take the individual sheet that holds three DVDs out of the binder first -- then they slide out easily.
Feb. '09 Update: After watching nearly all of the shows, I would change my star rating to 3 from a 2. The low sound is not as bad on some of the discs as others. But all comments above to the fact that this was never a problem in the earlier releases still apply.

Just recieved an advance copy and watched most of the 7+ hours of "never before seen" extras. Those alone should be encouragement enough to pop for what I believe is an excellent value. Unless you are a videophile, don't buy into the nae-sayers! The most important thing is that the discs are of an excellent quality. The images are crisp and bright (on my 720i line tv) and the timeless stories of love, family and virtue come through as if viewed for the first time. If I had to point out one small item that I would have changed, it would have been to offer the set not making use of cardboard sleeves. At least for me the jury is still out on how they affect the discs over time. But I also recognize that with a 60 disc package, it would be difficult, not to mention how changes would affect the bottom line pricepoint. The wagon is clever and sits on my standard size DVD shelves with no problem. Not too high or thin as is the case (no pun intended) with my "Sex In The City" collectors set.

Do yourself a favor and order it while the price is good. And I say to you videophiles...wait for the Blueray or remastered edition (could be years) for your 1080i system.

The rest of you, Enjoy!

I see lots of complaints about this series- but there is one MAJOR PROBLEM that is not mentioned properly. I was so excited to buy this set- I bought seasons 1-4- this release is the same disks. Anyway back to THE problem- the sound is not just bad- it actually is too fast!! I ran some tests because I noticed that Carolyn and Charles were sounding a bit like Mickey and Minnie mouse. It turns out that the sound was actually 1 FULL NOTE higher than it should be! Every episode of every disk is like this. I used some equipment to slow the voice and found that it truly was a full note in pitch too high.
Don't believe me? WATCH THE CLIP THEY HAVE ON AMAZON.COM AND HEAR FOR YOURSELF. Specifically- listen to Charles and Carolyn near the end of the clip--- it's ridiculous. The kids voices are pretty high- so its not as noticable- but poor Charles- the man's man of all time- has been reduced to a high pitched weenie voice. I want his awesome manly voice back!

Listen- I NEVER WRITE reviews and I hate being negative about such a great show- but EVERY EPISODE is like this- and I care too much to remain quiet.