Little House on the Prairie Cast Blasts Fired Event Organizer Who Continued to Market Cancelled Fan Events

That Nellie Oleson is really not to blame for this commotion that has been going on.

Melissa Gilbert, Karen Grassle, and Alison Arngrim are among the nearly twenty Little House on the Prairie stars who have criticized a promoter of fan gatherings for the cherished television series for “taking advantage” of people by continuing to market events that have been cancelled. The promoter was fired not too long ago.

The Little House on the Prairie cast issued a statement on social media on September 6, following what has been described as “poorly organized and executed events” in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The cast’s letter instructed Bishop to “remove our names and likenesses from sales and marketing assets supporting any upcoming Little House on the Prairie 50th Anniversary events produced or promoted by Gravel Road Markets, LLC.” The events in question were held in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. (On September 11, Little House celebrated the 50th anniversary of the broadcast of its first episode.)

In the beginning of September, Friendly Family Productions decided to terminate Bishop’s Little House on the Prairie event license. However, they were surprised to learn that just this past weekend, “many fans traveled to Keystone, South Dakota, to attend what Jack Bishop should have announced weeks ago as a canceled Little House on the Prairie 50th Anniversary Event.”

A similar mischaracterization impacted fans in Lyles, Tenn. over the weekend of September 13-15, and while Friendly Family Productions says that Bishop reportedly failed to announce the cancellation of other, upcoming Little House events (in Branson, Mo. and Corsicana, Texas), neither of those events are currently listed on the Gravel Road Markets site.

In a similar vein, although it was reported that Eventbrite had tickets for upcoming Little House events hosted by Gravel Road Markets listed as “Sold Out,” the tickets are now appropriately labeled as “Cancelled.”Laura Ingalls Wilder and Melissa Gilbert are seated in the front row, in the center; Karen Grassle and Caroline Ingalls are seated to the left of Melissa; and Lucy Lee Flippin and Eliza Wilder are seated in the front row, second from the left. In addition to the following couples: Jonathan Gilbert and Willie Oleson, who are seated to the right of Melissa; Alison Arngrim and Nellie Oleson, who are seated in the front row, second from the right; Rachel Linssay or Sydney Greenbush and Carrie Ingalls, who are seated far to the right; Dean Butler and Almanzo Wilder, who are seated in the middle of the back row, wearing a blue vest; Brenda and Wendi Turnbaugh and Grace Ingalls (back row, third and fourth from right); Patrick Labyorteaux and Andrew Garvey, who are seated in the back row, second from the right; and yet another couple that I am unable to identify.

Little House event ticketholders are strongly encouraged by Friendly Family Productions to inquire with Eventbrite about the current status of their tickets to cancelled events and to “continue requesting refunds from both Eventbrite and their credit card companies” whenever it is deemed necessary to do so.as well as in a letter that was sent to promoter Jack Bishop, stating that they would “no longer support, promote, or appear at” events that were produced by Bishop and his company, Gravel Road Markets.