Melissa Sue Anderson Sided With Michael Landon During Feud With ‘Little House’ Producer Ed Friendly

Little House on the Prairie was a popular show in the ’70s, based on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The books and the show shared Laura and her family’s experiences growing up in the late 1800s. Michael Landon was the creator and star of the show, and at first, he was a co-producer with Ed Friendly. However, their visions for the series didn’t quite line up.

Ed reportedly wanted to stick closely to the book series and have the Ingalls family very poor and appear dirty. Michael wanted to veer off from the books a bit and go into a direction that would be better suited for television. They fought so much that Michael finally gave the network an ultimatum. If they didn’t fire Ed, he would quit.

Melissa Sue Anderson sided with Michael Landon in his feud with Ed Friendly

So, Michael got his wish, and Ed was fired but his name still appears in some credits and he reportedly made millions from the show. Michael once said, “Ed did his best to sabotage the show. Fortunately he didn’t, because he made about $40 million from it.”

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Melissa Sue Anderson, who played Mary Ingalls in the series, once said she agreed with Michael’s vision. She said, “Their visions of ‘Little House’ were just not the same. Personally, I thought Mike’s perspective was the right one for our show. I believed in his track record: His instincts were pretty right-on. He wanted to be able to veer away from the books when creatively necessary while keeping the morals and principles well defined in the original stories.”

She added, “By the end of the first season they would part ways for good. Ed would always receive a credit on any shows produced, but he and Mike would no longer act as partners.”

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