Netflix reboots 'Little House on the Prairie' – reviewers predict tears by episode four

Although the original 'Little House on the Prairie' series from the 1970s was widely known, the reviewer admits never having watched it because Michael Landon's bouffant hair frightened him. However, the new Netflix version, released as the US marks its 250th birthday, is exactly what one would expect in 2026 – with improved character development and the same lack of historical accuracy as the original.

The series is based on Laura Ingalls Wilder's books, which recount her childhood moving across the American West in the 1870s and 1880s. In the new version, Laura (Alice Halsey) is a realistic child – thoughtful, thoughtless, frightened, brave, and foolish. She often wears her cousin's old cowboy hat and is a crack shot with a catapult, hinting that girls can be anything in the future. Her quarrels with sister Mary (Skywalker Hughes) are shown as a clash of two deeply different personalities.

Ma (Crosby Fitzgerald) looks like a diffusion-range Nicole Kidman, helps build the log cabin, and often wonders if she did the right thing by following her husband to the middle of nowhere. She has a backstory – a teaching career she misses and a father who died of drinking. Pa (Luke Bracey) is a man motivated by grief over his brother George's suicide, not greed. He admits mistakes and apologizes, quickly becoming a good carpenter.

Supporting characters include neighbor John Edwards (Warren Christie), who lost his wife and daughters to cholera, and the Mitchell family – Black, mixed-race, and Native American characters offering another side of the settlement story. The show is family-friendly, with problems solved in one- to three-episode arcs. Kansas may contain malaria, but the overall vibe is faith, hope, and the American way. Each episode features at least three songs and dances around the campfire. 'Little House on the Prairie' is now streaming on Netflix.