The late great singer/songwriter Johnny Cash (1932-2003) starred as Caleb Hodgekiss in the season opener for Little House On The Prairie, Season Three, The Collection in a terrific performance.
People say to me 'Little House On The Prairie? Really?!' Like as if Michael effin' Landon isn't good enough for you. Well he was good enough for Johnny Cash.
While not a sci-fi icon I know, it was still such a pleasure to watch him perform in this fine episode. I love the voice behind Jackson, Ring Of Fire and so many more.
Little House On The Prairie gets the street cred it deserves. Hell yeah!
Actually, I think Little House can be considered "other-worldly" when compared to what passes for so-called family television now...things were so different back then. Not perfect, just different. It's still a show with fantastic writing and top-notch actors and actresses dealing with issues that are relevant today. Post what you want, it's your blog. From a lifelong Little House fan
ReplyDeleteAmen. It was other worldly. It was different. It was exceptional. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteStar Trek is my #1 favorite, but Space:1999 is up there close to the top for me. I also loved Little House. Many people may not be aware of the behind-the-scenes connection of Little House to Science Fiction TV. Walt Jefferies was the art director on Little House. I had the pleasure of knowing Walt during the last ten years of his life (through an aviation artist group) and I heard him tell several stories about Star Trek, Little House and Riptide. I'll share part of one of them. He spoke of having to paint on what the bird refused to apply to the helicopter for Riptide. "While doing that, I thought to myself Well Walt, you have now defined both extremes of your career. You have designed a starship that will sail the galaxy forever, and now you are painting bird droppings on a helicopter."
ReplyDeleteI miss Walt.
Very nice tribute Mike and informative. YEs, I've seen a lot of the crossover from writers or directors on both Star Trek and Little House.
ReplyDeleteI believe it was a period defined by immense talent that really overcame the limitations of broadcast television with some superior works of dramatic art.