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Netflix Nods to Nostalgia with New ‘Little House on the Prairie’ TV Series

The Netflix logo is seen at the Netflix Tudum Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, Sept. 14, 2022. (AFP)
The Netflix logo is seen at the Netflix Tudum Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, Sept. 14, 2022. (AFP)
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Netflix Nods to Nostalgia with New ‘Little House on the Prairie’ TV Series

The Netflix logo is seen at the Netflix Tudum Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, Sept. 14, 2022. (AFP)
The Netflix logo is seen at the Netflix Tudum Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, Sept. 14, 2022. (AFP)

For Australian actor Luke Bracey, joining Netflix's 2026 adaptation of the classic 1935 book "Little House on the Prairie" represents the return of a story that resonates across generations.

The show portrays a family in the 19th-century American West that goes through ups and downs but ultimately holds on to its love for one another — a theme Bracey believes is timeless.

"It's no mistake, and it is no accident, that the story and the family are so loved by so many people for so long," ‌said Bracey, who plays ‌Charles Ingalls, the father of central character Laura ‌Ingalls.

Both ⁠the "Little House on ⁠the Prairie" series and books are based on the real-life experiences of Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder, who drew inspiration from her own childhood in a pioneer family. The series of books was published in the 1930s and 1940s.

The story has also been adapted before, most notably in a 1970s television series that ran ⁠on NBC until 1983.

Netflix's "Little House on the ‌Prairie" follows the Ingalls family as ‌they navigate frontier life while engaging with settler-colonial and Indigenous narratives.

Alongside Bracey ‌as Charles Ingalls, the Ingalls family includes Laura, portrayed by ‌Alice Halsey; Crosby Fitzgerald as Laura's mother, Caroline; and Skywalker Hughes as Mary, Laura's older sister.

While the show highlights many heartfelt themes, Halsey reflected on the challenges Laura faced growing up as a girl in the ‌1800s.

"I think boys had more privileges," she said.

"Girls didn't have the same opportunities that ⁠boys had ⁠back then. Girls didn't get to learn as much as boys did," she added, noting that if she had lived in Laura's time, she wouldn't have been able to pursue many of the things she loves today.

The story of the pioneering family's struggles and successes is led by creator and showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine and has already been renewed for a second season ahead of its Season 1 premiere.

"We got to make so many amazing and just perfect memories last season, and now we get the chance to go back and make more," Hughes said.

The eight-episode series arrives on Netflix on Thursday.

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Entertainment

‘Tinker Tailor’ Filmmaker John Irvin Dies at 86

British filmmaker John Irvin. (AFP)
British filmmaker John Irvin. (AFP)
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‘Tinker Tailor’ Filmmaker John Irvin Dies at 86

British filmmaker John Irvin. (AFP)
British filmmaker John Irvin. (AFP)

British filmmaker John Irvin, best known for adapting John Le Carre's espionage classic "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" for television, has died aged 86, his producer Claire Evans told UK media Wednesday.

Irvin, who also directed a string of 1980s action movies including "The Dogs of War", "Raw Deal" and "Hamburger Hill", enjoyed a five-decade career that spanned TV, documentaries and cinema.

He died "peacefully at home" on August 11, surrounded by his family, Evans confirmed to The Guardian.

The pair worked together on the 2016 film "Mandela's Gun", which explored the South African ex-president's experience as a guerrilla fighter for the African National Congress.

Irvin, born in northern England in 1940, won two BAFTAs and an Emmy nomination for his 1979 BBC adaptation of Le Carre's spy novel, which cast Alec Guinness as the shy, monkish hero George Smiley.

Its success opened the doors to Hollywood, with Irvin making a number of action-packed movies and other films featuring a host of star names in the decade that followed.

They included Christopher Walken and Tom Berenger in "The Dogs of War", Fred Astaire in horror film "Ghost Story", Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Raw Deal" and Patrick Swayze and Liam Neeson in crime thriller "Next of Kin".

He is survived by three children and two grandchildren, according to reports.

Entertainment

A Viking Longship in ‘The Odyssey’? It’s a Case of History Meets Hollywood

The Draken Harald Harfagre, the ship used in the movie "The Odyssey", is docked outside Oslo Opera in the Norwegian capital on August 14, 2026. (AFP)
The Draken Harald Harfagre, the ship used in the movie "The Odyssey", is docked outside Oslo Opera in the Norwegian capital on August 14, 2026. (AFP)
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A Viking Longship in ‘The Odyssey’? It’s a Case of History Meets Hollywood

The Draken Harald Harfagre, the ship used in the movie "The Odyssey", is docked outside Oslo Opera in the Norwegian capital on August 14, 2026. (AFP)
The Draken Harald Harfagre, the ship used in the movie "The Odyssey", is docked outside Oslo Opera in the Norwegian capital on August 14, 2026. (AFP)

The eras of "The Odyssey" and the Vikings happened about 2,000 years apart -- so how did a Viking longship end up with a starring role in this year's blockbuster movie?

Look to director Christopher Nolan, and his obsession with bringing spectacle to life with real props, real scenes.

But also credit a team of Norwegian shipwrights and sailors who built a vessel that speaks to both history and Hollywood.

With its tar-soaked rigging, creaking oak deck and 50 spruce oars, Draken Harald Harfagre is the largest modern replica of a Viking ship.

It mattered little that it had to drop its Scandinavian roots for Greek mythology -- the anachronism blended into the service of Nolan's brand of realism.

For the film, though, Draken had to be stripped of the dragon figurehead at its bow -- typical of the Viking era, from the 8th to 11th centuries -- as it sailed for the cameras in Greek, Italian and Scottish waters.

"We found a Viking ship that had been built exactly according to those ancient specifications. And it was very much the whole shape and the rig that we needed to do a Bronze Age ship," Nolan told US television last month.

"We took the crew, and we put their crew all in our costumes. They became part of the movie crew, as it were. And Odysseus' guys, the actors, joined in with them, and they figured out how to raise the sail, how to rig it, how to row, all of this stuff."

For months, the longship's crew of seasoned sailors rubbed shoulders with Hollywood star Matt Damon, who plays Odysseus on-screen, and a host of professional actors.

- 'Doing the real thing' -

"There was one day where one of the actors who was sitting in front of me got seasick and threw up over the rail. It blew back on me," recalled sailor Trammell Hudson.

"I thought that would be my big scene, because the IMAX camera was very focused on him and me in the background dodging the debris. But I didn't see that particular scene in the film," he told AFP when the Draken and its crew made a recent visit to Oslo.

Based on Homer's epic, Nolan's film retraces the hero Odysseus in a perilous journey to his home on the island of Ithaca after the Trojan War in the 12th century BCE.

Rather than recreating a ship with computer-generated images, Nolan wanted a real one, capable of sailing on the open sea with flesh-and-blood men aboard.

"Most of the scenes would be completely different if it wasn't for us being there, doing the real thing with the real ship and the real crew in the real ocean and real weather," said Emanuel Persson, expedition director for Draken.

"I think the viewers can actually feel the genuine materials. I don't know if you can really smell the tar, but you can tell it's really genuine handicraft instead of being a digital creation," he said.

- All hands on deck -

On board, everyone played their part.

"Matt Damon was very nice and very good. Never complained. Every one of the actors was out for a long time and it was very cold and sometimes rough," recalled the longship captain, Bjorn Ahlander.

"No complaints, nothing, never. So that was fantastic to see."

With such a mixed crew on board, it wasn't always easy to row in perfect sync.

"It's very important that the hundred rowers coordinate because the oars are quite long and they will tangle with each other," Trammell Hudson stressed.

He recalled being thrown "a meter-and-a-half into the air", along with his rowing partner, when the blade of their oar hit a wave head-on.

The sweet memories from the shoot are in sharp contrast to those from neighboring Sweden.

Like Penelope waiting for Odysseus, the owners of another Viking ship used in the film had their patience tested: after the ship incurred damage during a shoot, they had to wait a year for compensation.

Entertainment

ByteDance Signs AI Copyright Pact with Hollywood Trade Group

The ByteDance logo is seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2025. (Reuters)
The ByteDance logo is seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2025. (Reuters)
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ByteDance Signs AI Copyright Pact with Hollywood Trade Group

The ByteDance logo is seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2025. (Reuters)
The ByteDance logo is seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2025. (Reuters)

ByteDance ‌and the Motion Picture Association on Monday signed an agreement to strengthen copyright safeguards on the Chinese company's AI video and image-generation models, months after the Hollywood trade group challenged its handling of ‌intellectual property.

The ‌deal, which covers ‌ByteDance's ⁠Seedance video and Seedream ⁠image-generation models, follows a cease-and-desist letter the MPA sent in February over these tools.

Disney and other studios in ⁠February raised concerns the ‌AI ‌tools could generate content featuring copyrighted ‌characters and celebrity likenesses ‌without authorization.

ByteDance said newer versions of the models include stronger intellectual-property protections.

Models ‌are offered through services including TikTok, CapCut and Dreamina.

The ⁠MPA's challenge came amid concerns that Seedance could generate content featuring copyrighted film and television characters without permission.

Both sides said they will continue collaborating on safeguards for copyrighted content as AI technology evolves.