July 9, 2026

Netflix's Little House reboot fixes the original's blind spots, and critics are split on whether it's still fun

The Ingalls family returns today in an eight-episode Western that re-centers the Osage. Plus a 400-crore Telugu blockbuster hits streaming, and Sneaky Pete leaves Netflix tomorrow.

The pick of the day: Little House on the Prairie

Little House on the Prairie is now streaming, all eight episodes of Netflix's new adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. Showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine (The Boys, The Vampire Diaries) sets Season 1 entirely in Kansas, matching the third novel, with Luke Bracey as Pa, Crosby Fitzgerald as Ma, Alice Halsey as Laura, and Skywalker Hughes as Mary. It's already renewed for a Season 2 that will move the family on to Minnesota.

• The biggest swing is who gets the story. Sonnenshine centers the Osage Nation whose land the Ingalls are squatting on, and brings back Dr. George Tann, the Black frontier doctor who saved the family from malaria in the books but was cut from the 1974 NBC show. Collider calls the result a "must-watch Western masterpiece" and The Hollywood Reporter says it "sparkles with appealingly wholesome sincerity."
• The dissent is sharp and it's about joy. Time finds it "strangely joyless," the SF Chronicle says it "fixes old harms but forgets to be fun," and the Star Tribune verdict is "more accurate, it's also kind of a drag." Their common complaint: Bracey and Halsey never find the Pa-and-Half-Pint warmth that made Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert iconic, and the show is too grim for kids, too soft for adults.
• The honest read: it's a handsome, serious-minded family Western that earns its Osage reframing, and the split in reviews is real, not noise. Queue it if you want a wholesome-but-weighty frontier drama; rewatch the 1974 run on Prime if you want the cozy version.

Also new today: Peddi, the Telugu blockbuster that just left theaters

Peddi is now streaming, Ram Charan's sports drama that grossed over Rs 400 crore worldwide to become the highest-grossing South Indian film of 2026 so far. It's available in Telugu (original), Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam with English subtitles; the Hindi dub comes later.

• Director Buchi Babu Sana tells the story across two timelines: a gifted cricketer from a tribal village that doesn't exist on government maps, who plays for money, gets broken, and rebuilds as a para-athlete fighting for his community's recognition. Shiva Rajkumar, Divyenndu, Jagapathi Babu, and Boman Irani round out the cast, with an A.R. Rahman score. The Netflix cut runs 3 hours 5 minutes, trimmed from the 3h9m theatrical version.
• For whom: South Indian cinema fans and anyone who rode the RRR wave. Theatrical reviews were mixed (Ram Charan's performance praised, Janhvi Kapoor's role drew a controversy that saw scenes re-edited mid-run), but this is a genuine event title landing on streaming, not shelf-filler.

New episodes of ongoing shows today

• Ancient Aliens (History Channel's long-running aliens-and-history doc series): a new episode added.
• We're Back! With Brian Williams: a new episode of the former NBC anchor's Netflix interview show, whose early guests have included Tom Hanks.

Leaving this week

Two titles you covered here earlier are about to disappear, so this is the last call.

• Sneaky Pete (Seasons 1-3) leaves Netflix US tomorrow, July 10. The Giovanni Ribisi con-man crime drama heads back to Prime Video after just one year. Finish your binge tonight.
• Bob Marley: One Love leaves Sunday, July 12. The Kingsley Ben-Adir biopic is a warm weekend catch if you haven't seen it.
• Side Effects (2013, Soderbergh's twisty pharma thriller) leaves July 15, and the Saw franchise (Saw through Saw: The Final Chapter) leaves July 19. Full departures list is on Netflix's Tudum leaving page.

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