Young Pioneers is a 1976 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

television film which aired in March 1976 on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. Elements of novels '' Let the Hurricane Roar'' and '' Free Land'' by

Rose Wilder Lane Rose Wilder Lane (December 5, 1886 – October 30, 1968) was an American journalist, travel writer, novelist, political theorist and daughter of American writer Laura Ingalls Wilder. Along with two other female writers, Ayn Rand and Isabel Pa ...

(daughter of

Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer, mostly known for the ''Little House on the Prairie'' series of children's books, published between 1932 and 1943, which were based on her childhood ...

) were used as the basis for the movie, with Roger Kern and

Linda Purl Linda Purl (born September 2, 1955) is an American actress and singer, known for her roles as Ashley Pfister (Fonzie's girlfriend) on ''Happy Days'' (she originally played Gloria as Richie’s date in season 2 episode 6), Sheila Munroe in the 1982 ...

starring as the focal characters David and Molly Beaton. Although produced as a TV series pilot by

ABC Circle Films Walt Disney Television, formerly American Broadcasting Companies, Capital Cities/ABC and Disney-ABC Television Group has formed a number of production companies over the years. ABC Film Syndication, or ABC Films, was ABC's syndication distributio ...

and ranked #7 in the

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

for the week it aired, the movie was not immediately picked up by ABC as a series. A second pilot attempt was made in December 1976 with ''

Young Pioneers' Christmas ''Young Pioneers' Christmas'' is a 1976 American made-for-television Western drama film which was broadcast by ABC in December 1976 as a Christmas special starring Linda Purl and Roger Kern. It was a sequel to the made-for-television movie '' Youn ...

'', but ranked lower at #37 in the Nielsen ratings. In 1978 ''

The Young Pioneers (miniseries) ''The Young Pioneers'' was a trial-run ABC western television series about young newlyweds who settle in the Dakota Territory during the 1870s. If the first three episodes had received good ratings the series may have found a place on the netwo ...

'' was broadcast.Lee Margulies, Trial Run for Young Pioneers, ''The Los Angeles Times'', April 1, 1978, page 32
/ref>

Plot

David and Molly Beaton, 18-years-old and 16-years-old respectively, marry and leave their native Iowa to make a life for themselves as homesteaders in the

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of No ...

of the early 1870s. The U.S. Government

Homestead Act The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of th ...

offers applicants 160 acres of land in undeveloped areas. Those who stay on the land for five years become the official owners. The young couple manages to survive government and railroad corruption, and perseveres through blizzards, a grasshopper invasion, crop destruction, and giving birth in a sod house among other challenges.

Production

The project was developed and produced by

Ed Friendly Edwin "Ed" Samson Friendly Jr. (April 8, 1922 – June 17, 2007) was an American television producer. He was responsible for creating the television programs ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'', ''Little House on the Prairie'', and ''Backstairs at ...

for

with the script written by Blanche Hanalis and directed by

Michael O'Herlihy Michael O'Herlihy (1 April 1929 – 16 June 1997) was an Irish television producer and director who directed shows like ''Gunsmoke'' (1955), ''Maverick'' (1957), ''Star Trek'' (1965), ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968), ''M*A*S*H'' (1972) and ''The A-T ...

. Ed Friendly and

Blanche Hanalis Blanche Hanalis (11 December 1915 – 27 July 1992) was an American screenwriter and television writer best known for developing the '' Little House on the Prairie series'' as well as several made-for-TV movies based on Little House on the Prairi ...

had previously produced and scripted the television series pilot for ''

Little House on the Prairie The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books is a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adolescence in the Midwestern United States, American M ...

'' based on the novels by

, the mother

. 400 actors and actresses were interviewed before

and Roger Kern were offered the lead roles of Molly and David Beaton.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began November 28, 1975, in

Southern Arizona Southern Arizona is a region of the United States comprising the southernmost portion of the State of Arizona. It sometimes goes by the name Gadsden or Baja Arizona, which means "Lower Arizona" in Spanish. Geography Although Southern Arizona ...

with additional filming at the

Old Tucson Studios Old Tucson (formerly Old Tucson Studios) is an American movie studio and theme park just west of Tucson, Arizona, adjacent to the Tucson Mountains and close to the western portion of Saguaro National Park. Built in 1939 for the movie ''Arizona'' ...

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. A scene with 180,000 grasshoppers was done on location in Nogales, Mexico. Sound stages at

20th-Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

in Los Angeles, California were used for the blizzard scenes.Hoffman, Steve. “’Young Pioneers’ Looks Like Best Of New Westerns.” ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'', 1 March 1976.

Cast

*Roger Kern as David Beaton *

as Molly Beaton *

Robert Hays Robert Hays (born July 24, 1947) is an American actor, known for a variety of television and film roles since the 1970s. He came to prominence around 1980, co-starring in the two-season domestic sitcom '' Angie'', and playing the central role of ...

as Dan Grey *Shelly Juttner as Nettie Peters *

Robert Donner Robert Donner (April 27, 1931 – June 8, 2006) was an American television and film actor. Early life and career Donner was born in New York City and raised in New Jersey, Michigan and Texas. He spent four years in the United States Navy ...

as Mr. Peters *Frank Marth as Mr. Svenson *Brendan Dillon as Doyle *

Charles Tyner Charles Tyner (June 8, 1923 – November 8, 2017) was an American film, television and stage character actor best known, principally, for his performances in the films ''Harold and Maude'' (1971), '' Emperor of the North Pole'' (1973), '' The Long ...

as Mr. Beaton *Jonathan Kidd as Dr. Thorne *Arnold Soboloff as Clerk in Land Office *

Britt Leach Britt Leach (born July 18, 1938 in Gadsden, Alabama) is an American character actor. Biography and acting career Leach was born on July 18, 1938 in Gadsden, Alabama. He graduated from The McCallie School, McCallie School, a boys college-prepara ...

as Mr. Loftus *

Dennis Fimple Dennis Clarke Fimple (November 11, 1940 – August 23, 2002) was an American actor. Biography Fimple was born in Ventura, California, the son of Dolly and Elmer Fimple. He graduated from Taft Union High School in 1958 and received a teaching c ...

as Man in Land Office *Bernice Smith as Mrs. Svenson *Janis Jamison as Eliza *Jeff Cotler as Charlie Peters *Lucky Hayes as Second Woman *Earl W. Smith as Man in Boxcar *Michelle Stacy as Flora Peters *

Mare Winningham A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four y ...

as Nettie Peters

References

External links

''Young Pioneers (1976)'', Internet Movie Database (IMDB.com)

''About Blanche Hanalis'', LittleHouseonthePrairie.com

''Rose Wilder Lane and Laura Ingalls Wilder'', Hoover Presidential Library and Museum
{{Little House ABC network original films 1976 Western (genre) films 1976 television films American Western (genre) television films Films set in the 1870s Films scored by Laurence Rosenthal Films directed by Michael O'Herlihy 1970s English-language films