"Little House on the Prairie" is making a big return on ABC.
Alphabet is teaming with producer Ed Friendly for a six-hour miniseries based on the classic autobiographical saga of Laura Ingalls Wilder, whose first book about growing up on the American frontier was published 70 years ago.
Mini, scheduled to bow during the 2004-05 season under the "Wonderful World of Disney" banner, will be a more faithful adaptation of the book series than the long-running NBC drama, which focused more on the father figure (played by Michael Landon) than the books did.
Six-hour project, budgeted at $15 million-$20 million, will be written by Katie Ford, with David Cunningham ("To End All Wars") on board as helmer. Hans Proppe, who produced ABC mini "Anne Frank," is also on board as a producer. Production is set to begin in Calgary early next year.
ABC and Friendly already have hammered out a deal to bring back "Little House." Friendly has the rights to all nine books and has given ABC an option to use them as the basis of a new series should the mini perform as well as Alphabet execs hope.
Friendly produced the pilot for NBC's "Little House" skein but left the show not long after the first season due to creative differences.
"I walked away because it became too much of a Michael Landon vehicle," he said. "I don't mean to knock Michael; he had his own vision. My vision was that Laura was the star. I am proud of the series (because) even though it wasn't faithful to the books, it was in its own way a damn fine series. But now I'd like to go back and do it the way Laura Ingalls Wilder would have wanted."
ABC longform chief Quinn Taylor said bringing back "Little House" is a "slam dunk" idea.
"It's one of the most beloved children's classics of all time," he said. "You put it on as part of the 'Wonderful World of Disney,' and it's a no-brainer."
Still, it has taken a while for the project to get the greenlight. ABC Entertainment chief Susan Lyne first approached Friendly about building a new "House" franchise more than two years ago, back when she headed longform at the net.
"Susan came all the way to Rancho Santa Fe," said Friendly, 81. "She wouldn't let me retire."
Taylor said he views the new "Little House" mini "as a road picture" of sorts, since the family leaves the Big Woods to make their way west over the course of 18 months. All of the action will be seen through the eyes of Laura, who's around 8 at the time the story begins.
"She'll comment on things with the innocence of a child," Taylor said. "She doesn't know that if she wanders through the high grass, she could be lost."
Many of the aspects of the NBC series familiar to fans won't be present in the ABC mini. While Charles and Caroline still have three kids, they won't settle in the town of Walnut Grove, and Nellie Olsen won't be around to harass Laura.
"When Charles has to get supplies, he has to travel to Independence, which is two days away by horseback," Taylor said. "He leaves a wife and kids in the middle of hostile country, with hostile weather, Indians and wildlife."
The last "Little House"-related TV project was the 1999 CBS telepic "Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder." In 1997, Universal pacted with Friendly and scribe Horton Foote to bring "Little House" to the bigscreen, but no feature was ever produced.
In addition to producing the original "Little House," Friendly's long list of producer credits include "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" and the mini "Backstairs at the White House."
Cunningham is repped by WMA and Management 360. (As reported by VARIETY)
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