WARNING! The following contains spoilers for “Little House on the Prairie” season 1, now streaming on Netflix. Please don’t read further if you don’t intend to find out what happens at the end of the season.
Netflix’s new “Little House on the Prairie” series took a different path from the beloved NBC drama, but the first season still included one familiar face.
Showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine revealed that Alison Arngrim, who played Nellie Oleson in the original “Little House on the Prairie,” made a brief cameo in season 1. The surprise appearance came in episode 2, although some viewers may not have immediately recognized Arngrim.
Sonnenshine told Parade that she came up with the idea while writing the episode and later approached Arngrim about appearing in the new adaptation.
‘Little House on the Prairie’ Hid Alison Arngrim in a Tense Season 1 Scene
Arngrim appears during a tense moment involving Laura Ingalls (Alice Halsey) and her sister, Mary (Skywalker Hughes).
The girls go searching for John Edwards (Warren Christie) after he suddenly disappears. While walking through a field, they hear what they believe is Edwards playing his harmonica and follow the sound.
Instead, they discover three strangers sitting around a fire. Arngrim plays an older woman who initially appears friendly and tells the girls that Edwards is with the group and will return soon.
The situation quickly becomes more threatening. When Laura tries to escape, the woman grabs her and claims she is protecting her from wolves. Laura bites her before Edwards arrives and saves the girls.
The cameo gave Arngrim a very different role from Nellie, the character she played on the original NBC series from 1974 to 1983.
“I wrote that episode,” Sonnenshine told Parade. “And then I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to bring in Alison Arngram as this crazy woman on the prairie? I just felt like, ‘Maybe she’d be up for it. She seems very cool.’”
The showrunner said the idea temporarily slipped her mind before production began, but she eventually returned to it.
Rebecca Sonnenshine Found a Way to Honor the Original Nellie Oleson
The new “Little House on the Prairie” does not introduce Nellie in season 1 because the Ingalls family has not yet reached Walnut Grove. Willa Dunn will play the character when Nellie arrives in the already-confirmed season 2.
Sonnenshine said Arngrim’s cameo offered a way to acknowledge the importance of the original Nellie before introducing the new version.
“I know how much Nellie Oleson means to people as a character,” she told Parade. “She doesn’t appear in the season because they haven’t made it to Walnut Grove yet. But I thought this is a way that we could bring her in because she’s so important to people.”
Arngrim agreed to the appearance and embraced the transformation required for the role.
“She was such a great sport,” Sonnenshine recalled. “She was like, ‘Can I have more stuff on my teeth?’ And I said ‘Yes, of course!’ She was so delightful and fun and energetic and down for all of it. We’re just really lucky. It was definitely a dream come true.”
Arngrim is the only cast member from the original “Little House on the Prairie” to make a cameo in the first season of the Netflix adaptation.
More Original ‘Little House on the Prairie’ Stars Could Still Appear in the Netflix Reboot
Although Arngrim is the only original cast member to appear so far, Sonnenshine did not rule out other familiar faces joining the series in the future.
The showrunner said she has met several people connected to the NBC series while working on the Netflix adaptation and praised their response to the new show.
“I have gotten to meet people at some events,” she told Parade. “And they could not be more lovely. They’re so supportive. They’ve gone out of their way to tell me how excited they are about the show, and to sort of spread the word. I can’t tell you how much that means to me. It’s just so kind and wonderful, and very much in the spirit of Little House on the Prairie.”
The eight-episode first season premiered July 9 and stars Halsey, Luke Bracey, Crosby Fitzgerald and Hughes.
Fans can watch the original “Little House on the Prairie” on the Hallmark Channel.
