Little House on the Prairie has been beloved by fans for decades — but that doesn’t mean the behind-the-scenes escapades were always wholesome.
That’s why fans were thrilled to learn that Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson, who played sisters Laura and Mary Ingalls, respectively, had reunited in December 2025. (The pair famously did not get along while filming the iconic series, which aired from September 1974 to March 1983. At one point, Gilbert called Anderson “bossy” on set.)
“I’ve been keeping [this] close to my heart for a while now. Reconnection with a sister. Long, healing talks,” Gilbert wrote via Instagram at the time. “Lots of reminiscing. Lots of catching up. Lots of laughter and a few tears.”
Gilbert and Anderson weren’t the only cast members who dealt with discord and dysfunction while filming. Keep scrolling to read more about the biggest offscreen drama from the Little House set.
Karen Grassle Accused Michael Landon Of Sexism
Grassle and Landon might have played a sweetly married couple on TV, but behind the scenes the pair didn’t always see eye to eye. In November 2021, The New York Post reported things grew especially tense after Grassle asked Landon for a raise, only for Landson to claim she should be paid the same as the children on the show.
“I felt insulted as his co-star on a hit series,” she told the outlet. “I didn’t want to gouge anybody, but I expected a fair wage.” Grassle also claimed that her scenes started to get cut in the wake of her request, and that Landon would often mock her body on set.
Karen Grassle Struggled With Alcoholism
Karen Grassle, Melissa Sue Anderson, Lindsay Greenbush, Melissa Gilbert. Courtesy of Everett Collection
Grassle also admitted to the Post that she struggled with alcoholism while filming on the series, something she went into detail about in her memoir Bright Lights, Prairie Dust.
“I spent my drinking career trying to get a handle on it,” she said. “I wanted to drink the way other people drank — just to have fun at the party. But it started to get bad. I’d get horribly drunk and would sob, cry and carry on. I’d feel like everything in my life was wrong.”
Melissa Gilbert Also Abused Substances
Grassle wasn’t the only one who struggled with substance abuse. Per The List, in her own memoir Prairie Tale, Gilbert admitted to struggling with prescription drugs and alcohol before she got sober in 2004.
Melissa Gilbert And Melissa Sue Anderson Didn’t Get Along
Though they played sisters on the series, Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson were not good friends behind the scenes.
“From the moment we walked onto that set, Melissa Sue Anderson was the boss of me. She took that absolutely seriously,” Gilbert said in an old video reposted via Facebook in 2024. “She was two years older than me, which, you know, when you’re nine and 11 is a big deal.”
Gilbert added at the time, “She was tough. I mean both off and on camera, but on camera especially. One of the first episodes … when Ma comes home with fabric and I reach out to touch it. Melissa whacked me so hard and you can see [where] I almost started to laugh and you can see the whole spectrum of emotion on my face.”
Things changed when the pair reunited in December 2025.
“Worlds collide. Blessings abound. Hearts heal and reunite. Magic happens,” Gilbert wrote via Instagram on December 27. “Last night after @penpalsplay my genius costar @veannecox had a surprise in the audience. Boy, am I glad I didn’t know in advance that the remarkable @blbuckley was there. But I had a secret of my own.”
Gilbert added, “I’ve been keeping [this] close to my heart for a while now. Reconnection with a sister. Long, healing talks. Lots of reminiscing. Lots of catching up. Lots of laughter and a few tears.”
Gilbert went on to share that she was “so happy to have Melissa Anderson back in my life,” noting the “important history” the pair share that “no one else on earth truly understands.”.
“Just us Ingalls girls,” she explained. “The best part is, the past is now just that and we can move forward as the sisters/friends we always wanted to be. What a wonderful Christmas gift.”
Jason Bateman Was “Hazed” By Older Cast Members
In September 2025, Jason Bateman, who played James Cooper Ingalls on the series, accused his old cast mates of hazing him on the show. In the September 18 episode of Hot Ones, Bateman denied rumors that “the older kids in the cast played an April Fool’s joke” on the actor by telling him his “character had died.”
“Untrue,” he said at the time. “What they did do is they pinned me down on the ground, straddled me with knees on my shoulders and gave me noogies or whatever they call it on my chest.”
He added. “I went to the makeup artist and said, ‘Put a big black-and-blue mark all over my chest,’” Bateman added. “And then I went to their parents and I said, ‘Look what your kids did to me.’ And that was good. I got them in trouble.”
Little House on the Prairie sisters Melissa Gilbert and Melissa Sue Anderson have squashed any bad blood decades after the show wrapped. “Worlds collide. Blessings abound. Hearts heal and reunite. Magic happens,” Gilbert, 61, wrote via Instagram on Saturday, December 27. “Last night after @penpalsplay my genius costar @veannecox had a surprise in the audience. […]
Michael Landon Had An Affair
Michael Landon Courtesy of Everett Collection
Though his character was considered the ideal husband and father, Landon wasn’t exactly the same in his real life. Grassle wrote in Bright Lights, Prairie Lights that the actor had an affair with a much younger woman who worked as a stand-in for Melissa Francis on the show, who played Cassandra Cooper Ingalls.
