At least for me, that is... It was aired only in mid-80s where I lived, as things worked much differently back then. And I recall very well watching it at a relative's apartment, waiting to be picked up. "The new episodes of LHOTP" they were, even though several years had passed from their production dates.
Now, as I polish my affection of the series thanks to the Italian channel 27, I'm watching it again, remembering how the plot had affected me. Especially that scene where Charles tells the frausdster "You used HIS name!", making the point God should be exclusively off limits when pulling such tricks.
The strange thing is, as I have watched or re-watched several earlier episodes of LHOTP in these past months, I can clearly see that this was a repeat plot: There was one very similar thing going on with a traveling one-man show with a monkey, where Laura was being given false hope. Maybe they picked up the potential of that story from the reactions to that, and developed this much more grim, striking episode.
I don't know if Michael Landon was a true believer himself. Both in this series and other work of his, he has used elements of faith frequently, sometimes resorting to pure mysticism. It's okay if he believed in the content he came up with. But if not, may his usage of TV been similar to how the antagonist played people in this episode?
Now, as I polish my affection of the series thanks to the Italian channel 27, I'm watching it again, remembering how the plot had affected me. Especially that scene where Charles tells the frausdster "You used HIS name!", making the point God should be exclusively off limits when pulling such tricks.
The strange thing is, as I have watched or re-watched several earlier episodes of LHOTP in these past months, I can clearly see that this was a repeat plot: There was one very similar thing going on with a traveling one-man show with a monkey, where Laura was being given false hope. Maybe they picked up the potential of that story from the reactions to that, and developed this much more grim, striking episode.
I don't know if Michael Landon was a true believer himself. Both in this series and other work of his, he has used elements of faith frequently, sometimes resorting to pure mysticism. It's okay if he believed in the content he came up with. But if not, may his usage of TV been similar to how the antagonist played people in this episode?