Young Pioneers' Christmas (TV 1976)

A young couple and their neighbours celebrate Christmas in 1874 on the Dakota prairie. Despite tragedy and an ongoing battle with the Railway company, Christmas is a homespun and overly ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael O'Herlihy

Writers:

Blanche Hanalis, Rose Wilder Lane (book)

Stars:

Linda Purl, Roger Kern, Robert Hays

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Linda Purl	...	Molly Beaton
Roger Kern	...	David Beaton
Robert Hays	...	Dan Gray
Robert Donner	...	Mr. Peters
Mare Winningham	...	Nettie Peters
Michelle Stacy	...	Flora Peters
Jeff Cotler	...	Charlie Peters
Kay Kimler
Sherri Wagner	...	Flora Peters
Brian Melrose	...	Charlie Peters
Arnold Soboloff	...	Yancy
Brendan Dillon	...	Doyle
Rand Bridges	...	Pike
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Britt Leach	...	Loftus

Storyline

A young couple and their neighbours celebrate Christmas in 1874 on the Dakota prairie. Despite tragedy and an ongoing battle with the Railway company, Christmas is a homespun and overly sentimental affair. This program was recommended by the National Education Association.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | sequel | based on book

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 December 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gwiazdka na prerii

Filming Locations:

south, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

ABC Circle Films, American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Followed by The Young Pioneers (1978)

User Reviews

If you're a Little House fan, you will like this.

"The Young Pioneers" was based on a novel written by Rose Wilder Lane. Not many people realize Rose Wilder Lane is the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder who wrote the books which led to the TV show "Little House On The Prairie". In fact it was Rose who helped her mother polish the books so they could be published.

The movies are corny to be sure but they are the good kind of corn. I suspect the reason it didn't last one season is there was already this kind of show on TV (Little House) so the story was already being told and the era of the TV western was winding down.

Who knows? If the novel had been adapted for TV before the Little House stories, it might have worked.

If you can find the movies, I recommend them.