Everyone wants to go touch grass.
“Little House on the Prairie” is back with a new Netflix series – and while that fits into the category of, “random reboots that nobody asked for,” there’s a bigger reason why it’s back in 2026.
It’s no accident that “Little House on the Prairie” is back at a time when “trad wives” are in the zeitgeist. Influencers like Hannah Neeleman, aka “Ballerina Farm” — who has nine children, famous fans like Jennifer Garner, and posts videos of her domestic farm life — have become minor celebrities.
The novel “Yesteryear” — which follows a “trad wife” influencer who is seemingly sent back in time to the 1800s — is the current trendy bestseller. A movie adaptation is already in the works, with Anne Hathaway set to star.
Meanwhile, there’s widespread anxiety about the rise of AI. Dating apps are reportedly on a decline. “Luddite boyfriends” are sought after, as women increasingly seek “offline men.” Today’s young people are turning to “old-school grandma hobbies” such as needlepoint and birdwatching.
These cultural winds are all blowing in the same direction. Everyone in 2026 is romanticizing the idea of a life away from the mess and stress of the modern world.
It’s become a popular phrase to tell someone to “go touch grass” — meaning, get offline, and go take a walk in nature — if their brains seem poisoned by social media.
No story embraces the “go touch grass” mentality more than “Little House on the Prairie.”
Based on the popular semi-autobiographical children’s book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder (published in the 1930s), the original show was a classic of the era, airing for nine seasons on NBC from 1974 to 1983.
Set in the 1800s, the story follows the pioneer Ingalls family, and their rural frontier life in Walnut Grove, Minnesota.
The ‘70s show starred Michael Landon as Charles “Pa” Ingalls, Karen Grassle as Caroline “Ma” Ingalls, Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls and Melissa Sue Anderson as Laura’s sister, Mary.
The new Netflix series stars Luke Bracey and Crosby Fitzgerald as the Ingalls parents, and Skywalker Hughes and Alice Halsey as daughters Mary and Laura.
Both shows romanticize the beginnings of the American West, and family life on the frontier as the family supports each other and seeks out a better life, living off the land.
On a YouTube clip of the original show, one fan commented that it “reminds [me] of the good old days … carefree and unburdened.”
Another fan wrote, “I grew up with this show … no computers, no iPhone, it was just simple.”
“We were in the middle of an energy crisis, the automobile industry was collapsing, Watergate was going on,” he said.
Notably, they weren’t talking about the rise of AI in the ’70s, but they had their own tech concerns. The shift from typewriters to computers was just around the corner.
The author and professor explained those issues made the original show’s viewers think, “wouldn’t it be nice to go back to simpler times of life on the prairie?”
Thompson added, “I think that was appealing for the complexities of modern life in the ’70s. And, it’s also appealing for modern life in the 2020s, for different elements.”
Series creator Rebecca Sonnenshine has denied considering the “trad wife” trend when she was making the new show.
In an interview published Thursday, she told Variety that she came from a “crafty” family, citing how they did activities like carpentry, sewing, and gardening, “all these things that I don’t feel like should be like cornered by trad wives.”
But, just because a creator claims that there’s no connection, that doesn’t mean it’s not in the ether.
Both “Yesteryear” and “Little House on the Prairie” don’t shy away from the ugly elements of the rural life. The novel notably skews towards horror; it’s not a gentle pastoral tale. It features a horrible relationship between the protagonist and her husband, and a twist that makes the whole thing nasty.
“Little House on the Prairie” features a loving family life, but both versions of the show address issues like alcoholism, and characters suffering from a lack of proximity to medical help.
Thompson noted that ever since the Industrial Revolution, every era has been “anxious about post industrial modern life.”
People have always found a reason to view the past as “appealing,” he said.
“As long as people are clear-eyed about viewing it through rose-colored glasses, there’s no harm in taking a look back — just make sure you’re still moving forward, too. The grass isn’t always greener.”
