Little House on the Prairie Harriet's Happenings (Season 5, Episode 8)
TV-PG
TV Episode | 60 min | Drama, Family, Romance

Little House on the Prairie

Harriet's Happenings (Season 5, Episode 8)

TV-PG

TV Episode | 60 min | Drama, Family, Romance

Sterling Murdoch arrives in Walnut Grove planning to found a newspaper. The fledgling newspaper is The Pen and the Plow, and its star reporter is none other than one Harriet Olesen. At first, everyone including the Ingalls welcome the ...See moreSterling Murdoch arrives in Walnut Grove planning to found a newspaper. The fledgling newspaper is The Pen and the Plow, and its star reporter is none other than one Harriet Olesen. At first, everyone including the Ingalls welcome the newspaper, but the completely inaccurate content of the "Harriet's Happenings" column soon has some people losing their enthusiasm. Nels reminds his wife that a reporter's job is to be accurate, but Mrs. Olesen suggests she's merely "reporting the fact that they are rumors"; he is even more frustrated when she suggests holding an unethical sale at the store. Later, Nellie loses a spot in the county's spelling bee to Erich Schiller, the son of German immigrants and outstanding student in his class. Mrs. Olesen is outraged and in her next column, writes a story suggesting that Erich's parents are illiterate. Erich is deeply upset by the story and it causes him to perform badly at the county spelling bee; he even drops out of school. With some help from Charles, Mr. Schiller tells Erich that he is proud of his son and has a great future ahead of him; this is enough to get him to come back to school. Charles is unable to make headway with Murdoch about his newspaper, since Murdoch reasons that people like reading their names in print and it means more advertising and money. Laura and Albert get some revenge when they switch the printing plates and publish some unflattering stories about Nellie and Mrs. Olesen, and an ad that suggests a 100 percent-off sale at the Mercantile. When Caroline refuses to punish Laura and Albert over their trick, Mrs. Olesen responds by publishing a story stating that Charles fathered Albert outside his marriage (along with another item that suggests that the Garveys are heavily in debt). An angry Charles has enough and, at church on Sunday, exposes "The Pen and the Plow" as yellow journalism, and that everyone else shares in the blame for reading the paper even though they knew the stories were clearly untrue. It isn't long before the newspaper is forced to stop publishing and Murdoch is driven from town. In the close, Laura tells how she hoped that someday, Walnut Grove would get a legitimate newspaper. Written by Brian Rathjen See less

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Cast	+ Add Cast
28 cast members

Name	Known for
Michael Landon Charles Ingalls Charles Ingalls See fewer	Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Karen Grassle Caroline Ingalls Caroline Ingalls See fewer	Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Melissa Gilbert Laura Ingalls Laura Ingalls See fewer	Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Melissa Sue Anderson Mary Ingalls (credit only) Mary Ingalls (credit only) See fewer	Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Rachel Lindsay Greenbush Carrie Ingalls (as Lindsay Sidney Greenbush) Carrie Ingalls (as Lindsay Sidney Greenbush) See fewer	Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Sidney Greenbush Carrie Ingalls (as Lindsay Sidney Greenbush) Carrie Ingalls (as Lindsay Sidney Greenbush) See fewer	Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Richard Bull Nels Oleson Nels Oleson See fewer	Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Katherine MacGregor Harriet Oleson Harriet Oleson See fewer	Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Alison Arngrim Nellie Oleson Nellie Oleson See fewer	Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Jonathan Gilbert Willie Oleson Willie Oleson See fewer	Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Merlin Olsen Jonathan Garvey Jonathan Garvey See fewer	Mitchell (1975)
Hersha Parady Alice Garvey Alice Garvey See fewer	Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Patrick Labyorteaux Andrew 'Andy' Garvey (as Patrick Laborteaux) Andrew 'Andy' Garvey (as Patrick Laborteaux) See fewer	Heathers (1988)
Matthew Labyorteaux Albert Quinn Ingalls (as Matthew Laborteaux) Albert Quinn Ingalls (as Matthew Laborteaux) See fewer	Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Kevin Hagen Dr. Hiram Baker Dr. Hiram Baker See fewer	The Twilight Zone (1959)
King Moody Otto Schiller Otto Schiller See fewer	Teenagers from Outer Space (1959)
Ike Eisenmann Erich Schiller Erich Schiller See fewer	Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
John Hillerman Sterling Murdock Sterling Murdock See fewer	Magnum, P.I. (1980)
Lisa Pera Maria Schiller (as Lisa Perá) Maria Schiller (as Lisa Perá) See fewer	The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
Ruth Foster Melinda Foster Melinda Foster See fewer	Cyborg 2087 (1966)
Laurie Beach Jenny Crawford Jenny Crawford See fewer	Love at First Bite (1979)
Stacey O'Brien Sarah Fuller Sarah Fuller See fewer	The Bionic Woman (1976)
Carl Pitti Customer Customer See fewer	High Plains Drifter (1973)
Jeffrey the Dog Bandit (uncredited) Bandit (uncredited) See fewer
Leslie Landon Woman Sitting at The Church (uncredited) Woman Sitting at The Church (uncredited) See fewer	Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Margaret Richey Girl (uncredited) Girl (uncredited) See fewer	Priest (2011)
Brenda Turnbaugh Grace Ingalls (uncredited) Grace Ingalls (uncredited) See fewer	Little House on the Prairie (1974)
Wendi Turnbaugh Grace Ingalls (uncredited) Grace Ingalls (uncredited) See fewer	Little House on the Prairie (1974)