While this one is not on my favorite list its still good and cute. Laura gets her first crush at a very young age now people must remember when watching this.that this story plays of in an era where people Mary young so Laura only 8 having a crush on a 16 year old is not that unusual. In fact its pretty cute!!!! His name was Jhonny Jhonson the new kid in school and also the first of many "boyfriends" for laura. But their was only one flaw with this fling Jhonny was not interesting in Laura but more in Mary but Mary does no like him at all. I think you can see where this is going, Laura notices this and tries to impress him she takes him out on a picnic she walks him home she wear her Sunday dress to school to look pretty. But nothing seems to work!!! If you want to see how this turns out go and check this episodes out and then....... ..... Move on to episode 6!!!!!!!!
Little House on the Prairie (TV Series)
The Love of Johnny Johnson (1974)
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And They Call It...A Love Triangle.
ExplorerDS678921 March 2012
Warning: Spoilers
There was a new student at the Walnut Grove schoolhouse today, a 15-year-old boy named Johnny Johnson...that is seriously his name. At first he was a misfit, what with being the tallest kid in class, but he instantly became the object of affection for young Laura Ingalls. All night long she gushed over him, not being able to get any sleep, or letting Mary sleep for that matter. She declared him the handsomest man she ever saw besides her pa. The next day after class, J.J. (I'm going to call him J.J. from now on, because it sounds cooler. Hope he doesn't mind) had to stay and clean the blackboards, not as a punishment but because it was his turn, and as he went about his task, Laura barged in and invited J.J. on a picnic at the lake, remembering a story she heard the previous night about how Charles and Caroline met, by way of a picnic and by Caroline's exquisite cooking, and she hoped the same circumstances would work for her. So the next day, Laura packed an extra big lunch and headed to the lake. J.J. was late, but they were able to get some fishing in. As Laura tried to show her feelings for J.J., the big doofus took no notice and fell asleep. At the end of the day, Laura concluded that the picnic was a disaster. As if that weren't enough, she began to agitate Charles by asking so many questions about how he and Caroline met. Could it be puppy love? Naw, not Laura. Surely. If only they'd known the love triangle that was forming: Laura was in love with---scratch that, infatuated with J.J., who actually liked Mary, who had no interest in him whatsoever. This is a seething volcano on the verge of eruption.
J.J. visits the Ingalls' farm a day later. Laura hoped the visit was for her, but it was actually for Mary, seeing as how J.J. was falling behind in his schoolwork and was hoping Mary could help him study. And from hereon out, things only got progressively worse. Laura wanted to try and impress J.J. by wearing her Sunday dress to school, which was out of the question, until she intentionally fell into the lake and had to change. This warranted little more than a glance from J.J., who was actually beginning to take a liking to Mary, who was not in the least bit interested, and so Laura and Mary got into a shouting match at home, Charles sulked about the prospect of a boy liking Mary, and Caroline was caught in the middle of it all. She tried telling Laura that may he just wasn't all that into her, but she refused to give up hope. There may be a silver lining, because J.J. asked Laura to meet him by the "sweetheart tree" after class. This was it, she thought, he had carved their initials into the tree for all to see. Well, she was half right, he did carve initials, but not his and her's, rather his and Mary's. Laura ran off, and rightfully so. Charles found her crying by the lake, and so they have a heart-to-heart, and Charles finally opens up about how he met Caroline and fell for her. It was a scenario not unlike Laura and J.J.'s. He assured his Half-Pint that there would be other guys in her future, and maybe J.J. would be one of them. Here's a spoiler: he's not. And so things slowly returned to normal, and hopefully they chipped those initials off the tree before Mary became a laughingstock.
If you're like me, the first thing that struck you odd about this episode was the title: The Love of Johnny Johnson. Johnny Johnson? Sounds like a stupid name. The product of uncreative parents, that's like naming your child Larry Lawrence, Bill Williams, Jim James and Dick Richards. Other than that, this episode did very little for me and I felt that it lagged a bit. I think it should have been done in 30 minutes because it was such a simple plot, but they stretched it out to 60 minutes and in many instances, it shows. As for performances, Melissa Gilbert was so cute and she displayed all the right emotions of a little girl trying to get the opposite sex to acknowledge them for the first time. Melissa Sue Anderson displayed the perfect emotion for anybody having to bear the brunt of Laura and J.J.'s antics: disinterest. Mitch Vogel was good as J.J., and he'll be back later this season in To See the World. Why they thought Johnny Johnson was such a popular character that they needed to bring him back is beyond me. I would suggest fans skip this one, because it's really not that interesting and it really feels lacking. It's one of the weaker episodes of the series. Interestingly, the theme of Laura liking older boys would carry over into Season 6 when she'd meet the man she really would end up with.
J.J. visits the Ingalls' farm a day later. Laura hoped the visit was for her, but it was actually for Mary, seeing as how J.J. was falling behind in his schoolwork and was hoping Mary could help him study. And from hereon out, things only got progressively worse. Laura wanted to try and impress J.J. by wearing her Sunday dress to school, which was out of the question, until she intentionally fell into the lake and had to change. This warranted little more than a glance from J.J., who was actually beginning to take a liking to Mary, who was not in the least bit interested, and so Laura and Mary got into a shouting match at home, Charles sulked about the prospect of a boy liking Mary, and Caroline was caught in the middle of it all. She tried telling Laura that may he just wasn't all that into her, but she refused to give up hope. There may be a silver lining, because J.J. asked Laura to meet him by the "sweetheart tree" after class. This was it, she thought, he had carved their initials into the tree for all to see. Well, she was half right, he did carve initials, but not his and her's, rather his and Mary's. Laura ran off, and rightfully so. Charles found her crying by the lake, and so they have a heart-to-heart, and Charles finally opens up about how he met Caroline and fell for her. It was a scenario not unlike Laura and J.J.'s. He assured his Half-Pint that there would be other guys in her future, and maybe J.J. would be one of them. Here's a spoiler: he's not. And so things slowly returned to normal, and hopefully they chipped those initials off the tree before Mary became a laughingstock.
If you're like me, the first thing that struck you odd about this episode was the title: The Love of Johnny Johnson. Johnny Johnson? Sounds like a stupid name. The product of uncreative parents, that's like naming your child Larry Lawrence, Bill Williams, Jim James and Dick Richards. Other than that, this episode did very little for me and I felt that it lagged a bit. I think it should have been done in 30 minutes because it was such a simple plot, but they stretched it out to 60 minutes and in many instances, it shows. As for performances, Melissa Gilbert was so cute and she displayed all the right emotions of a little girl trying to get the opposite sex to acknowledge them for the first time. Melissa Sue Anderson displayed the perfect emotion for anybody having to bear the brunt of Laura and J.J.'s antics: disinterest. Mitch Vogel was good as J.J., and he'll be back later this season in To See the World. Why they thought Johnny Johnson was such a popular character that they needed to bring him back is beyond me. I would suggest fans skip this one, because it's really not that interesting and it really feels lacking. It's one of the weaker episodes of the series. Interestingly, the theme of Laura liking older boys would carry over into Season 6 when she'd meet the man she really would end up with.
First Love
mitchrmp5 February 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Laura is in love with the new boy in school. He's barefoot, fifteen year old, and has no education. But when Laura sees him for the first time, she falls madly in love with him. No! Really, she does!
There's only one problem. Johnny Johnson is in love with someone else. He loves Mary. Can you say sisterly rivery? Well, not really because unfortunately, Mary is NOT in love with Johnny!
Laura does everything she knows to try to get his attention. She even tries to act like a girl. But no matter what, Johnny only has eyes for Mary. Oh, thinks Laura's a pretty unique girl, but that's not exactly how Laura wants Johnny to see her!
We'll encounter Johnny in another episode as he and Mr. Edwards make a trip to a nearby town (Sleepy Eye or Mankato), and Johnny encounters another true love. That episode is much, much better. Then the person who plays Johnny later comes back as Almonzo's younger brother. Of course, I like him the best in this episode.
Though I liked the ending when I was a little girl, now I just think it's a bit cheesy.
There's only one problem. Johnny Johnson is in love with someone else. He loves Mary. Can you say sisterly rivery? Well, not really because unfortunately, Mary is NOT in love with Johnny!
Laura does everything she knows to try to get his attention. She even tries to act like a girl. But no matter what, Johnny only has eyes for Mary. Oh, thinks Laura's a pretty unique girl, but that's not exactly how Laura wants Johnny to see her!
We'll encounter Johnny in another episode as he and Mr. Edwards make a trip to a nearby town (Sleepy Eye or Mankato), and Johnny encounters another true love. That episode is much, much better. Then the person who plays Johnny later comes back as Almonzo's younger brother. Of course, I like him the best in this episode.
Though I liked the ending when I was a little girl, now I just think it's a bit cheesy.
Puppy Love My Foot
snabbs23 December 2020
This episode was creepy on way too many levels. I have to disagree with the other poster. I think what made it creepy now as it did then when I was a teen watching it for the first time in 1974 was that Mitch Vogel was 19 when this was filmed and looked even older.
The sisters were WAY too young for him in any time even back then. 19 year olds were not tying to court 10 year old girls back then.
With all the young actors in the 70's at their disposal HOW could they have cast someone who looked like a grown man to play this role?
My least favorite House episode by far.
The sisters were WAY too young for him in any time even back then. 19 year olds were not tying to court 10 year old girls back then.
With all the young actors in the 70's at their disposal HOW could they have cast someone who looked like a grown man to play this role?
My least favorite House episode by far.
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