Little House on the Prairie
I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away (1)
TV Flash files “I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away (1)” as hour 87 of 200 in the TV Flash guide — Little House on the Prairie (1974–1983) on NBC, season 4, episode 21, aired 1978-03-06, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E21: listed hour 87 of 200 in the Little House on the Prairie guide, hour 21 of 22 in season 4. It aired 1978-03-06 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “A Most Precious Gift” (S04E20). Next is “I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away (2)” (S04E22).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Long hours studying by candlelight for the state teacher's exam results in tired, blurry eyes for Mary Ingalls, prompting a routine visit to the eye doctor; but when Charles is told that Mary's worsening sight is just the beginning of a much more serious problem, the concerned father can't bring himself to tell his beloved daughter that she will, most certainly, soon be completely blind.
Viewer FAQ
Where does I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away (1) sit in the Little House on the Prairie guide?
S04E21 is listed hour 87 of 200 — hour 21 of 22 in season 4, season 4 episode 21.
When did Little House on the Prairie S04E21 air?
I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away (1) aired 1978-03-06 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Do I need the Wilder books first?
No. The series adapts the Little House novels into NBC family-hour drama. The books are cousins, not a required syllabus.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Michael Landon's Charles Ingalls dispenses pioneer virtue while Melissa Gilbert's Laura becomes the eyes of Walnut Grove. Laura Ingalls Wilder's books turned into NBC family-hour hardship, disaster, and comfort without sneering. Frontier sincerity as a genre: tears included, freeze-frame sweetness not required.
Walnut Grove, 1974: NBC wants a western that will not die of gunfighter myth, and Michael Landon bottles pioneer virtue until the living room weeps on schedule. Little House on the Prairie (1974–1983) drew from Laura Ingalls Wilder's books and ran nine seasons, some two hundred hours, with Landon producing, starring, and directing enough of the hour to make sincerity a brand. Melissa Gilbert's Laura is the eyes of a generation; Karen Grassle's Caroline and Melissa Sue Anderson's Mary complete the homestead.…
Filed against
- Michael Landon as Charles Ingalls
Michael Landon’s Little Joe Cartwright is the matinee face of Bonanza — the youngest son as Sunday-night color, the through-line who remained when the Ponderosa roster broke. NBC’s glossy family western treated the ranch like a parish;…
- Karen Grassle as Caroline Ingalls
Karen Grassle’s Caroline Ingalls kept Little House on the Prairie’s Walnut Grove human — Michael Landon’s Charles dispensing pioneer virtue, Melissa Gilbert’s Laura as the eyes of the books, NBC family-hour hardship, disaster, and comfort…
- Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls
Melissa Gilbert’s Laura Ingalls became the eyes of Walnut Grove on Little House on the Prairie — Michael Landon’s pioneer virtue, NBC family-hour hardship, disaster, and comfort without sneering. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books as 1970s…
- Melissa Sue Anderson as Mary Ingalls
Melissa Sue Anderson’s Mary Ingalls held the quieter half of Little House on the Prairie’s Walnut Grove — 1970s NBC family-hour hardship beside Melissa Gilbert’s Laura, Michael Landon’s pioneer virtue, Wilder sincerity without a sneer. TV…
- Lindsay Greenbush as Carrie Ingalls
Lindsay Greenbush wore the little-sister braids as Carrie Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie — Walnut Grove’s youngest weather, pioneer hardship without a sneer, NBC family-hour tears included free of charge. Michael Landon’s virtue,…
- Sidney Greenbush as Carrie Ingalls
Sidney Greenbush was Carrie Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie — the youngest eyes in Walnut Grove while Michael Landon dispensed pioneer virtue and Melissa Gilbert's Laura narrated the hardship. NBC family-hour tears included, free.…