Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert just revealed what she thinks is the most progressive episode of the original series, on the heels of the reboot series premiering on Netflix.
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly published on July 10, Gilbert, 62 — who played Laura Ingalls Wilder as a child actress — looked back at the OG show. She named a 1977 episode titled “The Wisdom of Solomon,” declaring, “I don’t think we get more woke than that.”
Gilbert’s “woke” comment was a reference to former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, who in January 2025, posted on X, “@Netflix If you wokeify Little House on the Prairie I will make it my singular mission to absolutely ruin your project.”
At the time, Gilbert caught wind of the remark and replied via Instagram, writing, “Apparently Megyn tweeted (I’m not on that platform) asking that Netflix not ‘woke-ify’ their Little House remake. Ummm…watch the original again.”
She continued, “TV doesn’t get too much more ‘woke’ than we did. We tackled: racism, addiction, nativism, antisemitism, misogyny, rape, spousal abuse and every other ‘woke’ topic you can think of.”
In the LHOTP Season 3 episode “The Wisdom of Solomon,” a young boy named Solomon Henry (Todd Bridges) ran away from home. He was desperate to have an education, but was banned from the school because he was Black.
After Laura’s dad, Charles “Pa” Ingalls (Michael Landon), was kind to Solomon, he sneaked into the back of the family’s wagon and rode back to their home. The young boy was shown further kindness by the Ingallses, including Pa, who helped him learn how to read.
Gilbert reflected on her response to Kelly’s “wokeify” remark during a February 2025 appearance on The View.
“I really wasn’t gonna have any comment,” she explained. “I support the project. It’s just like, you know, different versions of Little Women. It’s people’s interpretation of a classic story. But, when she said that, it shocked me, because you have to have watched Little House on the Prairie to understand what you’re talking about.”
Little House on the Prairie aired for nine seasons from 1974 to 1983. On July 9, Season 1 of the reboot series dropped on Netflix.
Little House on the Prairie reboot, streaming on Netflix; original Little House on the Prairie, streaming on Peacock