Whenever Netflix chooses a new IP to be a big TV project, it doubtless has an almost scientific method behind the scenes. After all, we're now years into the streaming era and it's adapted a whole host of books, mangas and games into shows, many of which have done enormous numbers for it. Still, though, that doesn't stop every project from being at least some sort of a risk.
Take the latest big novel series that it's adapting, which just so happens to be one of the most influential and best-selling in American history: Little House on the Prairie. The books have already been made into one long-running and much-loved series, but now Netflix is updating things with a higher budget and doubtless the hope that it'll run for ages, too.
After a teaser a couple of weeks ago, we got a proper trailer this week to showcase a bit more of what awaits the Ingall family when they upend their life and migrate to the prairie of Minnesota. Those huge open expanses promise the possibility of a better life for them all, but also hold clear and present dangers that need to be tackled head on.
The trailer shows us how the family will indeed be prepared for the challenges of life on the frontier, but it also makes clear that they'll only survive and thrive if they can make connections and find friends to rely on. That won't be hard, though, since anyone who's read even just the first book will know that the whole Ingall clan has hearts of gold – they're good people to their core.
It'll be really interesting to see how much appetite people have for this sort of quasi-Western historical drama, which is so much less absurd and thrill-a-minute than many competing shows. The whole attraction of the series is likely to be its slower pace and more gentle storytelling, although the trailer still shows us wolves and other frightening parts of outdoor life.
The show clearly also aims to tackle the question of indigenous Americans and the way they were treated in this period of history. Whether it can do so with total clarity, or if it'll sugarcoat things a little for the wide family-friendly audience it's courting. I'm fascinated to see how that unfolds, when the show arrives on 9 July, in just under a month's time.
