‘Little House on the Prairie’: Dean Butler Says This Episode ‘Jumped the Shark’ With Its Storyline

Little House on the Prairie star Dean Butler recently revealed the episode he thought “jumped the shark” with its storyline.

In a November episode of The Patrick LabyorSheaux podcast, Butler, 69 — who played Laura Ingalls Wilder’s (Melissa Gilbert) husband, Almanzo Wilder — shared his least-favorite episode of LHOTP, which aired for nine seasons from 1974 to 1983.

He called out Season 9, Episode 20, which was titled “For the Love of Blanche,” pointing to a storyline featuring Victor French. Mr. Edwards (French) promised a dying traveler that he would take care of his baby, which turned out to be an orangutan named Blanche. Ultimately, the orangutan ended up at a zoo.

“I just felt like we jumped this huge shark with this orangutan. It’s like, ‘Where does this come from?'” Butler confessed, as his former costar, Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleseon), 63, spat milk out of her nose while remembering the episode.

Butler continued, “And of course, Mr. Edwards adopts the orangutan. And we never see the orangutan again. You go through this whole moment, and you never see it again.”

Podcast host Patrick Labyorteaux (Andrew Garvey), 60, then pointed out, “It was good enough for Clint Eastwood,” referencing the 1978 movie, Every Which Way but Loose. “They did two movies with Clyde. Why not?”

For those wondering, Arngrim’s least-favorite LHOTP episode was “anything where there was a sporting event” because her character would inevitably be sitting in the stands, “where it was 100 million degrees,” and she was “doing absolutely nothing for many, many hours.”

In related LHOTP news, Karen Grassle (who played Caroline “Ma” Ingalls) feared that a Season 7  episode would ruin her career.

What was your least favorite episode of Little House on the Prairie? Which storyline(s) did you feel “jumped the shark” in the beloved historical drama series?

Little House on the Prairie, streaming on HBO Max, Prime Video, Philo, and FRNDLY TV