7.8/10300 votes#1 - The Reincarnation of Nellie (1)
Season 8 Episode 1 - Aired 10/5/1981
Percival and Nellie go to New York so that Percival can run the family business now that his father has died. Mrs. Oleson gets very depressed because of Nellie leaving. The Olesons decide to adopt a girl to take the place of Nellie. While they are in Sleepy Eye, they find a girl that looks almost exactly like Nellie when she was young.
Director: Michael Landon
Writer: Michael Landon
7.7/10284 votes#2 - The Reincarnation of Nellie (2)
Season 8 Episode 2 - Aired 10/12/1981
Nancy turns out to be worse than Nellie ever was. She even locks another girl in the ice house. The students devise a plan to teach Nancy a lesson. They trick her into being the star in a dunking tank. Also during this episode, Adam and Mary move to New York so that they can earn a living and Hester Sue comes to Walnut Grove to work at the restaurant.
Director: Michael Landon
Writer: Michael Landon
7.2/10268 votes#3 - Growin' Pains
Season 8 Episode 3 - Aired 10/19/1981
James is trying to be more like Albert. He even wants to shave like Albert has to. While James is shaving, he breaks Albert's razor. James steals a razor from the mercantile hoping Albert wouldn't notice the difference. When the truth is found out about the razor, James runs away. Albert takes off after him. When Albert finds James, it takes a lot of convincing before James decides to come back home with him.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/10295 votes#4 - Dark Sage
Season 8 Episode 4 - Aired 10/26/1981
Dr. Baker posts an ad for another doctor, to relieve his workload (and Mrs. Oleson's constant pestering). He hires Dr. Caleb Ledoux, but doesn't count on him being black. The Ingalls are among the very few to accept Dr. Ledoux, as others are outright hateful and racist. Even Dr. Baker struggles with his prejudice and, to show his spite, gives the young doctor minor cases. In the end, Dr. Ledoux is the only doctor available to call on a pregnant woman who is having labor complications. The woman's husband won't allow the doctor in the house (because he's black), and can only get to her when Charles knocks the man aside. Ledoux performs a successful surgery and delivers a son to the couple. A stunned and shaken Dr. Baker witnesses the surgery and concedes that only Caleb's and his superior training could have saved the woman's life. Dr. Ledoux later angrily tells his wife he plans to leave Walnut Grove. But only Dr. Baker's emotional speech at church convinces the good doctor to stay.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/10302 votes#5 - A Wiser Heart
Season 8 Episode 5 - Aired 11/2/1981
Laura goes to visit Eliza Jane because of a literature seminar that is going on in town. Laura has to find a part-time job to pay for meals and other stuff. She ends up hating the job. There is a person who Laura met on the train who begins to like Eliza Jane. Eliza Jane in turn begins to like the professor teaching the seminar and the professor likes Laura. The professor tells Laura that her writing is bad when Laura tells him she is happily married. The man on the train eventually defends Laura's writing. It only takes one punch by the man to get the professor to take off and leave.
Director: Michael Landon
Writer: Chris Abbott
6.8/10275 votes#6 - Gambini, the Great
Season 8 Episode 6 - Aired 11/9/1981
In an episode about hero worship, Charles and Nels share deep concerns over an aging circus performer's influence on the children of Walnut Grove. Particularly since some of them - Albert and Willie in particular - have tried some of the daredevil's more dangerous stunts, with mixed results.
Director: Michael Landon
Writer: Jeri Taylor
6.8/10310 votes#7 - The Legend of Black Jake
Season 8 Episode 7 - Aired 11/16/1981
Nels is kidnapped by two crooks. The crooks try to get Mrs. Oleson to pay ransom for her husband, but she refuses to. This makes Mr. Oleson upset and causes him to help the crooks. The kidnappers aren't very lucky. After kidnapping several different people, the crooks decide that they need to try another line of work. They leave without hurting any of the kidnapped people.
Director: Michael Landon
Writer: Chris Abbott
7.4/10281 votes#8 - Chicago
Season 8 Episode 8 - Aired 11/23/1981
Charles travels to Chicago to comfort a deeply grieving Mr. Edwards, whose son John Jr. had died in a tragic accident. But that grief soon gives way to rage when it becomes apparent John Jr.'s death was no accident. Charles and Mr. Edwards enlist the aid of the editor of the newspaper where John Jr. worked to uncover the truth.
Director: Michael Landon
Writer: N/A
7.6/10284 votes#9 - For the Love of Nancy
Season 8 Episode 9 - Aired 11/30/1981
An overweight boy comes to school at Walnut Grove. The schoolkids pick on him because he is so heavy. Nancy persuades the boy to bully the other school children. The jokes of the school children get so bad that the obese boy decides to quit school. The school children then decide that enough is enough. They go over and apologize to him.
Director: N/A
Writer: Chris Abbott
8.1/10281 votes#10 - Wave of the Future
Season 8 Episode 10 - Aired 12/7/1981
Mrs. Oleson changes the restaurant into a franchise restaurant, She has a hard time living up to the agreement of the franchise. Charles and Nels get together and decide to open up a restaurant of their own, right across the street. The new restaurant forces Mrs. Oleson's restaurant out of business. The town is now back to normal, or at least as normal as it can be.
Director: N/A
Writer: Jeri Taylor
8.2/10367 votes#11 - A Christmas They Never Forgot
Season 8 Episode 11 - Aired 12/21/1981
Mary, Adam, Hester Sue, the Wilders, and the Ingalls are all together for Christmas. The snow begins falling and soon they are snowed in by a blizzard. To pass time, several of them tell stories. Laura talks about the Christmas in Kansas when Mr. Edwards came.
Director: Michael Landon
Writer: N/A
7.7/10265 votes#12 - No Beast So Fierce
Season 8 Episode 12 - Aired 1/4/1982
James makes friends with Gideon Hale, a young boy who stutters. However, the budding friendship is damaged when Gideon overhears James making fun of him. A wolf that follows James and Charles on a delivery trip may hold the key for bringing Gideon out of his shell.
Director: Michael Landon
Writer: N/A
8.0/10261 votes#13 - Stone Soup
Season 8 Episode 13 - Aired 1/18/1982
Laura finds that balancing her teaching duties at school and managing Almonzo's orchard, while he and Charles are gone on a delivery trip to Arizona, too much to handle. Her heart-to-heart talk with a maturing Willie may hold the key to both their futures.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.2/10278 votes#14 - The Legacy
Season 8 Episode 14 - Aired 1/24/1982
Charles beings making tables so that he could pass on a legacy. While he is at this, Albert begins taking care of the farm. Charles gets very upset when someone steals his design and starts producing the tables in large quantities. Charles soon realizes that memories of his family is a lot more important.
Director: Michael Landon
Writer: N/A
7.6/10246 votes#15 - Uncle Jed
Season 8 Episode 15 - Aired 1/31/1982
An elderly relative of James and Cassandra tries to get custody away from Charles. He ends up being unsuccessful in the lawsuit, which means that Charles kept custody of the children.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.3/10268 votes#16 - Second Chance
Season 8 Episode 16 - Aired 2/7/1982
Hester Sue's ex-husband, Sam, comes to town. He tells Hester Sue that he was no longer a drinker and a gambler. Hester Sue believes he has changed and soon decides to marry him. Hester Sue learns the truth about Sam when his wife and kids come and warn Hester Sue that Sam is still a drinker and gambler.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/10267 votes#17 - Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow (1)
Season 8 Episode 17 - Aired 2/14/1982
The Wilders' budding marriage is put to its first major test when Almonzo, soon after recovering from an illness, is felled by a stroke.
Director: Michael Landon
Writer: N/A
7.9/10257 votes#18 - Days of Sunshine, Days of Shadow (2)
Season 8 Episode 18 - Aired 2/21/1982
Almonzo, bitter at his apparent life-crippling illness, nearly gives up on life, despite the birth of little Rose. His attitude nearly drives Laura to consider leaving her husband. A tornado that destroys the farmstead may hold the key to both of their futures.
Director: Michael Landon
Writer: Chris Abbott
7.6/10252 votes#19 - A Promise to Keep
Season 8 Episode 19 - Aired 2/28/1982
Mr. Edwards' alcoholism, fueled by John Jr.'s violent death, ruins his marriage, and he travels back to Walnut Grove to see solace with his old friends. However, those long-standing friendships are put to the test when an accident, caused by a drunken Mr. Edwards, nearly costs Albert his life.
Director: Michael Landon
Writer: N/A
7.1/10255 votes#20 - A Faraway Cry
Season 8 Episode 20 - Aired 3/7/1982
A longtime friend of Caroline writes to her and asks for help. Her friend is pregnant and lives at a gold prospector's camp where there is an outbreak of influenza. Caroline finds out that her friend's husband doesn't like her wife. In fact, he wants his wife's baby to die. Caroline's friend dies during childbirth, but the child survives. In another tent, a mother's child dies while be born. Caroline decides to give the baby to the other mother since she knows that the baby will be taken care of properly.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/10288 votes#21 - He Was Only Twelve (1)
Season 8 Episode 21 - Aired 5/2/1982
While Mr. Edwards, Charles, and James are in Sleepy Eye, James gets shot during a bank robbery. James, who is in a coma, is taken to the hospital. While James is in the hospital, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Ingalls, and Albert look for the bank robbers. They find them and bring them to justice. Charles continues to believe that James will get better.
Director: Michael Landon
Writer: Paul W. Cooper
6.9/10364 votes#22 - He Was Only Twelve (2)
Season 8 Episode 22 - Aired 5/9/1982
When Charles refuses to admit that James will likely never recover from his gunshot wound, he leaves Walnut Grove with his adopted son. He builds an altar in the woods and hopes that God will bring a miracle.
Director: Michael Landon
Writer: Michael Landon
The Best Episodes of Little House on the Prairie Season 8
Every episode of Little House on the Prairie Season 8 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Little House on the Prairie Season 8!
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon, Melissa Gilbert, and Karen Grassle, about a family living on...
Genres:WesternDramaFamily
Network:NBC
Season 8 Ratings Summary
"The Reincarnation of Nellie (1)" is the best rated episode of "Little House on the Prairie" season 8. It scored 7.8/10 based on 300 votes. Directed by Michael Landon and written by Michael Landon, it aired on 10/5/1981. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "The Reincarnation of Nellie (2)".