‘Little House on the Prairie’ Set the Stage for This Short-Lived NBC Western

The big picture

• Father Murphy
  was a unique project of Michael Landon, with his
  Little house on the prairie
  co-stars Merlin Olsen as the title character.
• The cancellation of
  Father Murphy
  after two seasons it was attributed to a time slot change and declining ratings.
• Despite the cancellation of the show,
  Father Murphy
  it played a key role in launching Shannen Doherty's career and marked a departure for Landon since he did not star in the series.

This is no secret Michael Landon had a big part of the race Little house on the prairie. The series would not have been the same without him, both in front of and behind the camera. But even while working Little House, Landon had other projects in the works. One such venture was a Western drama series he pitched to NBC in the early 1980s. titled Father Murphy, this program began because of the network's previous partnership with Landon on Little House, although the actor wasn't the star of the show this time. No, that honor was Merlin Olsena former NFL defensive tackle turned actor who had played Jonathan Garvey for four seasons a Little House.

'Father Murphy' isn't a 'Little House' spin-off, but it feels like one

After the departure of Victor Frenchwho played Mr. Isaiah Edwards in the early seasons of Little house on the prairie, the show introduced a new best friend character to star Michael Landon's Charles Ingalls. Portrayed by Olsen, Jonathan Garvey was part of the show's fourth season of Little House passing through the seventh, and one of the most important characters of that time. The Garveys were the best kind of friends and neighbors the Ingalls could ask for, and Charles and Jonathan helped each other out of more messes than can be described. But when Jonathan was written off the show after 50 episodes, last appearing in the Season 7 two-parter “The Lost Ones,” Landon worked with his former castmate to launch a new series on the network, Father Murphy.

Although often confused as a Little House spin off, Father Murphy it has nothing to do with Olsen's previous series. Instead of being a farmer and mill worker like he did Little Housethis time Olsen played an 1870s frontiersman posing as a priest (hence the title “Father Murphy”) in Golden Hill to save a few orphaned children from being sent to the local workhouse. Next to Olsen was Moses Gunnwho previously played Joe Kagan for five episodes of Little House and this time he played a prospector named Moses Gage. While Murphy and Gage worked together to keep the priests farce, and thus prevent the boys from being expelled, the titular hero fell unassumingly in love with the local housekeeper, Mae Woodward.Katherine Cannon). Of course, Catholic priests can't marry, and as such, Murphy seemed to be in a bit of a bind. But really little house fashion, things have a way of working.

A profitable way to keep Michael Landon invested in both Little house on the prairie (which was then in its eighth season) and its new series Father Murphy was to keep both productions in the same place. while Father Murphy took place in the Dakota Territory in the 1870s and Little House was set in Walnut Grove, Minnesota between the 1870s and 1890s, both productions took place, at least in part, at Simi Valley's famed Big Sky Movie Ranch. This was also a regular watering hole for TV westerns like gun smoke i raw leather, and is still used by major Hollywood productions even now. Although some Father Murphy it was shot in Tuscon, Arizona, the town seen in the series was undoubtedly located on the Big Sky Movie Ranch, and not far from the Ingalls' home. But keeping these two shows together during production didn't mean much when it came to airing.

'Father Murphy' was canceled after only two seasons

Father Murphy premiered on NBC as a two-hour pilot on November 3, 1981. Written and directed by creator Michael Landon, Father Murphy it was successful enough to warrant a full first season of 22 episodes (21 if you count the “Pilot” as an episode). At the end of the season, the two-part finale “The First Miracle” saw Murphy and Mae marry after it was revealed that he was not really a priest. But instead of ruining the program, this makes the couple eligible to adopt all the orphaned boys as their own (thus avoiding the workhouse). Although Season 1 ends on such a high note, the show's second season would be shortened by the networkwith only 13 total episodes before that Father Murphy it was eventually cancelled.

“What killed us was moving to Sunday night in front 60 minutes,” series star Merlin Olsen told UPI in 1982. “We had very healthy ratings, in the 30s. Then we moved, and when you lose an audience it's a lot harder to get it back than it is to pick it up the in the first place.” Olsen believed that NBC’s cancellation of Father Murphy it was somewhat political in nature, and the fact that Little House it had also been canceled after nine seasons on the network would probably have supported this idea. This came a decade after the network's infamous “rural purge” that killed the vast majority of its westerns and other rural programming. “One of the reasons I was sorry to see Father Murphy Wow, there's not a lot of shows that families can sit down and watch together,” Olsen noted, a sentiment many still feel today.

Of course, while Little House It had three made-for-TV movies to wrap things up and send off the decade-long series, Father Murphy was left without a trace. The show created by Michael Landon would never be heard from again, which is a shame, as it had real heart behind it. The series was even responsible for launching the career of the future Beverly Hills, 90210 i enchanted star Shannen Dohertywho got her first acting gig in 1981's “By the Bear That Bit Me” before being cast as Jenny Wilder in Little House next year. “I was really excited because it was a TV show produced by Michael Landon,” Doherty noted in 2024, also revealing that he saw Landon as something of a mentor figure early in his career. But while Landon's Western series was an important starting point for some, it was the end of the road for others. Olsen, for example, would not star in a hit TV series again, with her final starring role on television, Aaron's Way, with a duration of only 14 episodes.

“Father Murphy” was the only Michael Landon show in which he also did not star

From the time Michael Landon was on bonanza, always played a leading role in the television productions that he also wrote, directed and produced. Aside from a few made-for-TV movies, Landon starred in his three major network shows, from bonanza i Little house on the prairie all the way to road to heaven. In many ways, Father Murphy acts as a strange interlude where Landon, who only directed two episodes of the series (and wrote seven), never appears on camera. Although we don't know why Landon never showed his face in an episode of father murphy, he was also moving away from Little House (which had been renamed Tiny House: A New Beginning in its ninth season) at the time, possibly to focus more on producing and directing.

Anyway, Father Murphy mark an odd point in the little house timeline, not because it was technically connected by plot, characters or story, but by those who first made a name for themselves in the family drama before moving to the West. from Olsen Little House The character had to be completely written out of the show in order to do that Father Murphy a reality, which unfortunately meant a great tragedy for the Garvey family. Although Father Murphy i little housetackled many of the same ideas, especially in regards to adoption, they were very different shows that, while each was cancelled, had very different results. while Little house on the prairie still loved today Father Murphy has been largely forgotten, which shows since it's nearly impossible to find a copy of the two-season show anywhere. Maybe someday there will be one Father Murphy revival, but until then we encourage you to visit again Little Housethe golden years

While Father Murphy is not available for streaming, Little house on the prairie can be streamed on Prime Video.

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