Little House on the Prairie's fourth season, which premiered on September 12, 1977, proved to be the most successful in the series' run. Season four cracked the Nielsen Top Ten, and became the seventh-highest rated show of the 1977-78 television season, beating out mid-70s favorites such as M*A*S*H, Barney Miller, Soap, and The Love Boat. The most-watched episode in the series' history - the two part hanky-drowner "I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away" - garnered an Emmy nomination for Melissa Sue Anderson's harrowing portrayal of the blinded Mary Ingalls. The cast of Little House on the Prairie was on a roll in a season that, oddly enough, is all about change and a departure from the status quo. The fourth season sees the exit of beloved characters, the end of lingering storylines, the introduction of new friends, and some of the most startling plot developments to hit the series during its ten-year run.

In the fall of 1977, Victor French, who played the Ingalls' grizzled neighbor Mr. Edwards, left Little House to star in the ABC sitcom Carter Country. Strangely, the departure of Mr. Edwards (as well as his wife, postmistress Grace Snider-Edwards, and their adopted children Carl and Alicia), is never addressed. The family is simply gone from Walnut Grove (that is, until Carter Country was canceled and French returned solo). To replace Mr. Edwards, Michael Landon cast brawny Los Angeles Rams football star (and future FTD spokesman) Merlin Olsen as farmer Jonathan Garvey. Jonathan's wife, Alice (Hersha Parady), and young son Andy (Patrick Laborteaux) neatly fill the void left by the Edwards family: Alice serves as the town postmistress and Andy becomes a best friend to Laura (Melissa Gilbert).

When a television series runs for ten years, it's pretty clearly a success: having run from 1974-1984, Little House on the Prairie certainly merits a release on DVD, and Imavision has stepped up to the plate with season boxed sets. Little House on the Prairie: Season 3 continues the story of the Ingalls family: Charles and Caroline Ingalls and their children Mary, Laura, and Carrie, trying to raise a family and run a farm in the pioneer town of Walnut Grove. Little House on the Prairie is "family entertainment" in the best sense of the phrase: it's clearly intended to be a show that the adults and children in a family will watch and enjoy together.

Even though I was a kid while the show was on the air, for some reason I never watched it, so this DVD set was my first taste of the series (but not the premise, as I've read all the Little House books several times). I was half expecting the show to be too dated, but it's not: it has aged well and I have to say, it's fun to watch. The stories are fairly straightforward and pretty lightweight, but nonetheless they're very watchable and surprisingly satisfying. If I had to describe Little House on the Prairie in one word, it would be "sweet"… and most importantly, it manages to be sweet and genuinely heart-warming without slipping over the line into saccharine sentimentality. The characters are likable, and the stories do a nice job of using not just the Ingalls family but also quite a few recurring characters from the town in the various episodes, giving a sense of continuity overall even though the episodes are generally self-contained.

In its second season, the family historical drama Little House on the Prairie settles into the rhythm of storytelling that it would ultimately maintain for a total of ten seasons. While Season 1 had focused mainly on the Ingalls themselves, especially Laura, in the second season the stories branch out to include more of the secondary characters. Of course, we still have the strange Ingalls Neighbor Effect, in which we meet the "dear old friends" of one or another family member, the episode revolves around that character, and then we never see or hear about them again. Fortunately for the show, we can count on the ongoing involvement of the Oleson family, Dr. Baker, the Reverend, and in this season, the Ingalls' (genuine) old friend Mr. Edwards to provide a touch of continuity and community.

Little House on the Prairie: The Pilot introduced viewers to the Ingalls family, a pioneer family headed out west to find a home and a secure life. In what would eventually become a ten-year run, Season 1 picks up with the story as the Ingalls settle in the small town of Walnut Grove, where Pa (Michael Landon) intends to make a living as a farmer, while Ma (Karen Grassle) takes care of the family: feisty Laura (Melissa Gilbert), her well-behaved older sister Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson), and her little sister Carrie (Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush).

Little House on the Prairie, loosely based on the beloved series of children's books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, is a family show in the best sense of the word: starting with likable characters and an interesting setting, it tells entertaining stories that have something in them to appeal to both adults and children. The stories tend toward the sentimental end of the spectrum, and certainly there are plenty of sappy moments, but on the whole, the series stands up to the test of time better than you might expect it to.

Artist CORY WALKER returns to the series he co-created! After escaping from a Viltrumite Prison, Nolan Grayson and Allen the Alien must use what they've learned to gather the powers of the universe and unite them against the Viltumites. It all starts here, folks! The Viltrumite War looms large on the horizon!