"Little Men" (1998) TV series 1998-1999

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Directors:

Eleanor Lindo
Graeme Lynch

Writers:

Louisa May Alcott (characters)
Louisa May Alcott (story)

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

7 November 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Michelle Burke	...	Jo / ... (20 episodes, 1998-1999)
Rachel Skarsten	...	Elizabeth 'Bess' Lawrence (20 episodes, 1998-1999)
Corey Sevier	...	Dan 'Looking Forward' Maddison (16 episodes, 1998-1999)
Amy Price-Francis	...	Amy Lawrence (15 episodes, 1998-1999)

Runtime:

USA:60 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Alliance Communications Corporation

Movie Connections:

Version of Little Men (1997)

Nothing special and nothing like "Little Women"

I have read "Little Women" but not "Little Men", though I have seen the movie with Mariel Hemingway and now this TV series. Both are awfully sugary-sweet and predictable, but this show far outweighs the movie in both departments. If you expect this to be anything like "Little Women", you have another thing coming. Sure, it's got the March sisters, but that's about it. First off, Jo's husband, Fritz, is dead, so she has to run their school all by herself. Second, a sailor just happened to blow in and start working there, so there's some sexual tension between him and Jo. Third and most disconcerting, the wild, free-spirited, fun-loving Jo of "Little Women" has turned into an insufferable Little Miss Perfect. I would never expect her to run around and put on "wild theatricals", but that's supposedly what she did as a child. Now she's the prissiest, most righteous character on TV, which may be a good thing for family values groups but is hard for me, (and, I'm sure, many others), to stand. The show is so predictable you can tell how the whole story will turn out in the first scene. The scripts just are never good. It tries to be Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, but ends up feeling like an old, boring English novel. Yes, Louisa May Alcott would not approve; she'd probably try to stop it from production. I'd say bravo.