An actress who played an unforgettable mean girl on Little House on the Prairie was seen running errands – as a reboot of the series moves full steam ahead.
For over 100 episodes, actress Alison Arngrim played Nellie Oleson, the bane of her classmates’ existence and a character who she herself branded the ‘prairie bi**h.’
On Wednesday, Arngrim, 64, went under the radar as she ran errands in Los Angeles on her own.
Clad in a ‘Winnipeg’ T-shirt, Arngrim was seen running errands with a handy pair of sunglasses tucked into her hair and a well-worn tote thrown over her shoulder.
She showed off some of her playful personality with a bold red manicure and pedicure, made visible by her strappy sandals.
Arngrim played Nellie on the show from 1974 to 1982, the spoiled daughter of wealthy mercantile owners and resident bully who feuded with protagonist Laura Ingalls.
However Nellie’s edges were softened after she met her husband, and Laura even caught the bouquet at their wedding.
Arngrim embraced the role’s bratty personality in her 2010 autobiography, Confessions of a Prairie B**ch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated.
It has been decades since Oleson last portrayed Nellie, but the story of a family traveling to the Midwest is now being introduced to a whole new generation of viewers thanks to Netflix.
The streamer has rebooted Little House on the Prairie with a brand new cast portraying the Ingalls family, and a new trailer offered a hint of the adventures in store.
‘Once upon a time, Ma and Pa, and Mary and Laura, left the big woods of Wisconsin and moved to the prairie where a new life was waiting for them,’ a young girl narrates.
‘Every day and every night was an adventure but even though they were all alone, and very small against the sky and the stars, they were happy because they were a family and they were together.’
Based on the beloved series of children’s novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder – portrayed by Melissa Gilbert in the series – the show premiered in September 1974 and ran for nine seasons.
Little House on the Prairie followed the adventures of the Ingalls family as they built a homestead and life in the 19th century Midwest.
It has been more than 40 years since the original, long-running series wrapped its final episode after nine seasons in 1984.
The reboot was announced last year and in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Jinny Howe, VP drama series for Netflix, revealed that series will be a ‘fresh take on this iconic story.’
Howe also praised showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine for bringing ’emotional depth that will delight both new and existing fans of this beloved classic.’
‘I fell deeply in love with these books when I was five years old. They inspired me to become a writer and a filmmaker, and I am honored and thrilled to be adapting these stories for a new global audience with Netflix,’ Sonnenshine said of the upcoming project.
The new reboot will debut on the streamer on July 9, 2026.
In 2024, the Little House on the Prairie cast reunited at the Monte Carlo Television Festival in Monaco.
Karen Grassle, Alison Arngrim, Melissa Sue Anderson, Labyorteaux, and Wendi Lou Lee sat on a panel and reflected on their favorite memories from the show.
They also addressed fans’ questions about a reboot or reunion of the series.
‘There have been lots of attempts to do a Little House on the Prairie again,’ Grassle, who played the show’s matriarch Caroline Ingalls, explained to People.
‘There have been shows, there have been a musical, and I think we had a unique experience and it can’t be repeated.’
‘Michael [Landon] was a genius at casting and writing,’ she added of her onscreen husband, who played Charles Ingalls.
‘He understood things about how to translate that material into television for the public that was beyond what most writers understand.
‘And he had his thumb on the pulse of the public and understood what people were longing for, and you don’t find that every day,’ she gushed about the late actor who was also an executive producer and writer for the show.
