The BEST episodes of Little House on the Prairie

Every episode of Little House on the Prairie ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Little House on the Prairie!

Based upon the best selling "Little House" series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The show follows the lives of a simple farming family, the Ingalls, who settle into a quaint little house near the small town of Walnut Grove during the late 1800s. The majority of the shows were narrated by Laura and the series follows her from when she and her family arrive in Walnut Grove until her adulthood with Almanzo Wilder, with whom she starts a family of her own.

Last Updated: 2/22/2024Network: NBCStatus: Ended
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Dark Sage
star
8.97
73 votes

#1 - Dark Sage

Season 8 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/26/1981

Dr. Baker posts an ad for another doctor, to relieve his workload (and Mrs. Oleson's constant pestering). He hires Dr. Caleb Ledoux, but doesn't count on him being black. The Ingalls are among the very few to accept Dr. Ledoux, as others are outright hateful and racist. Even Dr. Baker struggles with his prejudice and, to show his spite, gives the young doctor minor cases. In the end, Dr. Ledoux is the only doctor available to call on a pregnant woman who is having labor complications. The woman's husband won't allow the doctor in the house (because he's black), and can only get to her when Charles knocks the man aside. Ledoux performs a successful surgery and delivers a son to the couple. A stunned and shaken Dr. Baker witnesses the surgery and concedes that only Caleb's and his superior training could have saved the woman's life. Dr. Ledoux later angrily tells his wife he plans to leave Walnut Grove. But only Dr. Baker's emotional speech at church convinces the good doctor to stay.

Directors: Maury Dexter
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The Lost Ones (2)
star
8.82
74 votes

#2 - The Lost Ones (2)

Season 7 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/11/1981

The Cooper children go home with Charles, but as they're adjusting, a set of adoptive parents arrive.

Directors: Michael Landon
Writer: Don Balluck
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I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away (2)
star
8.73
55 votes

#3 - I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away (2)

Season 4 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/13/1978

Charles and Caroline sign Mary up for the blind school in Iowa. At first, Mary is very reluctant to learn anything at the school. However, after being with her teacher, Adam Kendall, for a while, she turns her outlook on life around. Mary is such a great student that Adam asks her to help her teach at a blind school with him.

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The Reincarnation of Nellie (2)
star
8.72
89 votes

#4 - The Reincarnation of Nellie (2)

Season 8 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/12/1981

Nancy turns out to be worse than Nellie ever was. She even locks another girl in the ice house. The students devise a plan to teach Nancy a lesson. They trick her into being the star in a dunking tank. Also during this episode, Adam and Mary move to New York so that they can earn a living and Hester Sue comes to Walnut Grove to work at the restaurant.

Directors: Michael Landon
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The Nephews
star
8.67
84 votes

#5 - The Nephews

Season 7 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/19/1981

Almanzo gets suckered into watching his brother Royal's two bratty boys.

Writer: Chris Abbott
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For The Love of Nancy
star
8.65
75 votes

#6 - For The Love of Nancy

Season 8 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/30/1981

An overweight boy comes to school at Walnut Grove. The schoolkids pick on him because he is so heavy. Nancy persuades the boy to bully the other school children. The jokes of the school children get so bad that the obese boy decides to quit school. The school children then decide that enough is enough. They go over and apologize to him.

Directors: Maury Dexter
Writer: Chris Abbott
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The Lost Ones (1)
star
8.59
103 votes

#7 - The Lost Ones (1)

Season 7 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/4/1981

While making an out-of-town delivery, Albert and Charles meet and travel with the Cooper family. An accident occurs en route with the parents, leaving Charles in charge of their two children.

Directors: Michael Landon
Writer: Don Balluck
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Laura Ingalls Wilder (1)
star
8.54
103 votes

#8 - Laura Ingalls Wilder (1)

Season 7 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/22/1980

Upon being sold a piece of land, Almanzo is eager to begin building a home for him and Laura. He hires his friend Harv Miller to assist him with his crop. Meanwhile, Laura is offered a teaching job at a faraway school.

Directors: Michael Landon
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The Silent Cry
star
8.49
88 votes

#9 - The Silent Cry

Season 7 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/20/1980

The orphanage in Sleepy Eye faces a difficult situation when two young brothers meet with a potential adoptive family. The younger child refuses to speak and shows symptoms of emotional trauma, so the family is only interested in taking the older child. Rather than be separated, the boys run away to the nearby blind school, where the kindly Houston agrees to help. Although the aging Houston would love to adopt them himself, it creates problems that he cannot handle by himself, so Charles and Jonathan must intervene.

Directors: Michael Landon
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Blizzard
star
8.41
108 votes

#10 - Blizzard

Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/27/1976

The day before Christmas vacation started, Miss Beadle lets the children out early when she notices that a snowstorm is beginning. The children aren't able to make it home before the storm starts. The men of Walnut Grove search for the children while Doc Baker takes care of the frostbitten children that show up at the school.

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Ebenezer Sprague
star
8.36
126 votes

#11 - Ebenezer Sprague

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/24/1975

Laura Ingalls is stunned to learn that her amiable fishing friend is none other than Walnut Grove's new banker, miserly Ebenezer Sprague, and heartbroken when he accuses her of becoming his friend to secure a loan for her family.

Directors: Victor French
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I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away (1)
star
8.33
75 votes

#12 - I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away (1)

Season 4 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/6/1978

Mary falls in love with Seth. When Mary's eyesight starts to get worse, Charles takes her to a specialist. He is devastated when the specialist tells him that Mary will lose her sight. Charles is unable to tell Mary for a while that she is going blind. When Mary does go blind, the whole family suffers.

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The Campout
star
8.33
106 votes

#13 - The Campout

Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/19/1975

The Olesons get themselves invited onto the Ingalls family campout, after Nellie complains that it will give Laura and Mary an advantage for the school holiday project of leaf-collecting. The two man bond while fishing and their wives try to improve their relationship, but the children continue to clash. However, when Nellie falls into a river, her later false account of what happened brings out the same Mrs. Oleson. Back at the school. the result of the leaves project gives some satisfaction to Laura and Mary.

Directors: Victor French
Writer: Hindi Brooks
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The Award
star
8.29
128 votes

#14 - The Award

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/11/1974

While studying for an optional history exam in the barn, Mary accidentally knocks over a reading lamp and starts a fire. Caroline punishes Mary by telling her she couldn't take the exam. Mary doesn't tell Ms. Beadle this until the day of the exam.

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Back To School (2)
star
8.25
164 votes

#15 - Back To School (2)

Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/24/1979

When Laura and Nellie get in a fight about the graduation test, Almanzo separates them and takes Laura home with him. When Charles finds out that Almanzo took Laura home with him, Charles goes to Almanzo's place and punches Almanzo because he fears his daughter was being taken advantage of. Laura yells at the fighting pair and tells them that she is no longer a child.

Directors: Michael Landon
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Laura Ingalls Wilder (2)
star
8.22
69 votes

#16 - Laura Ingalls Wilder (2)

Season 7 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/29/1980

Almanzo's dreams of building a home do not go as planned, forcing him to postpone the wedding. Laura has a way for them to earn some money, but his rejection of her idea starts a feud between them.

Directors: Michael Landon
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Stone Soup
star
8.21
78 votes

#17 - Stone Soup

Season 8 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/18/1982

Laura finds that balancing her teaching duties at school and managing Almonzo's orchard, while he and Charles are gone on a delivery trip to Arizona, too much to handle. Her heart-to-heart talk with a maturing Willie may hold the key to both their futures in this coming-of-age story.

Directors: Maury Dexter
Writer: Peter Dixon
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He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (1)
star
8.11
128 votes

#18 - He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (1)

Season 6 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/5/1980

Almanzo asks for Laura's hand in marriage. Mr. Ingalls tells Almanzo to wait until Laura was eighteen. Not wanting to wait, Almanzo forces Laura to choose him or respect her father. Laura respects her father's wishes. Almanzo leaves town and causes Laura a lot of heartache. Harriet hires Percival Dalton to help her in the restaurant. Nellie and Percival fall in love and eventually Percival asks Nellie to marry him. Adam's father dies, which means that a new blind school wouldn't be built in Walnut Grove.

Directors: Michael Landon
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There's No Place Like Home (2)
star
8.10
59 votes

#19 - There's No Place Like Home (2)

Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/16/1978

As the Ingalls, Garveys and Olesons return to Walnut Grove they discover a town that is badly in need of repair. With a lot of hard work, from everyone around them, they're able to get the town back to its old self, helping a number of people who feel they are living in a dead town, like Lars Hanson.

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The Handyman
star
8.07
73 votes

#20 - The Handyman

Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/3/1977

Charles must take a delivery to Mankato immediately and is unable to finish the addition to his house. Caroline hires a handsome man, Chris, to finish the house. Mary suspects that her Ma and Chris are falling in love.

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The Cheaters
star
8.06
65 votes

#21 - The Cheaters

Season 5 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/20/1978

Andy Garvey's mother is embarrassed by her son's performance at school. She hires Nellie Oleson to tutor him. Nellie reveals to Andy how she gets such good grades. Nellie makes Andy keep the secret of Nellie cheating. Andy eventually admits what he has been doing and his mother makes sure that Nellie isn't able to cheat on the next test.

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Christmas At Plum Creek
star
8.06
205 votes

#22 - Christmas At Plum Creek

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 12/25/1974

The Christmas holiday is approaching and the members of the Ingalls family go about their holiday shopping in secrecy. Laura is able to buy her mom a stove that she wanted after she sells her horse to Mr. Oleson.

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Blind Journey (2)
star
8.05
60 votes

#23 - Blind Journey (2)

Season 5 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/4/1978

When Mrs. Oleson meets Hester-Sue Terhune she is very disappointed to discover she is black. Hester-Sue has bought black children to join the rest of the blind school and they all continue the journey onwards to Walnut Grove. In the end it takes the words of a little blind black boy to teach her that prejudice is wrong, and Harriet comes to a crossroads in her life, whilst Adam will have to face his deepest fear as he comes to a crossing of his own.

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Little Girl Lost
star
8.05
82 votes

#24 - Little Girl Lost

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/18/1976

Carrie, having tagged along on Laura and Mary's classroom assignment, falls down a mine shaft, providing an alcoholic ex-miner a chance at redemption.

Directors: Michael Landon
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The Inheritance
star
8.05
64 votes

#25 - The Inheritance

Season 4 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/6/1978

When Charles learns that he's inherited the estate of a wealthy uncle, the Ingalls family find themselves on the brink of a new way of life.

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