Little Women is a 1978 American television miniseries directed by David Lowell Rich and written by Suzanne Clauser based on the 1868–69 two-volume novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott.
The cast includes Susan Dey, Meredith Baxter Birney, Ann Dusenberry, Eve Plumb, Dorothy McGuire, William Schallert, Greer Garson, Robert Young, Richard Gilliland, William Shatner and John de Lancie.
The three-hour miniseries was produced by Universal Television and originally aired in two parts on NBC on October 2–3, 1978.
[1] The miniseries chronicles the lives and loves of the four March sisters – Jo (Susan Dey), Meg (Meredith Baxter Birney), Amy (Ann Dusenberry) and Beth (Eve Plumb) – growing up in Concord, Massachusetts during the American Civil War.
She identifies them: Meg (16) is a governess, Jo (15) is an aspiring writer and hot-tempered, Beth (13) is timid and sweet and fond of playing the piano, while Amy (12) is the youngest with a predilection for art.
Meg and Jo arrive at Sally Gardner’s party, a rich, albeit snobby childhood friend of theirs.
Meg yearns for nice things like the other girls feeling out of place in the same dress she wore to Sally’s party the year prior.
Meanwhile, trying to follow Meg’s advice on proper etiquette, Jo stands apart from the party, trying to keep the back of her dress out of sight as it is scorched.
This is their first real meeting and they bond over what marks them each as Peculiar, they end up dancing together but out of sight because of Jo’s marred dress.
Later, champagne-drunk, Meg twists her ankle in her high heels, and Laurie offers to take the March sisters home.
To add insult to injury, when she and Meg go out with Laurie to the movies, Jo snappily tells Amy she isn’t allowed to come.
While submitting her stories to a newspaper, Jo finds Laurie and his grandfather in an argument after he catches him at a Pool Hall.
While Marmee is in Washington, Beth falls ill after caring for their neighbor’s sick baby, who dies of scarlett fever.
Her decision is solidified when Aunt March derides her for being involved with a poor man and threatens to never help her financially should she need it.
Meg stands up to Aunt March, declaring she’d rather be poor and happy than rich and miserable, ultimately choosing to marry for love rather than money.
Meg is to be married, Amy going off on sojourn to Europe, and Beth is chronically ill and unable to leave home.
As she gets settled in New York, she meets an awkward german professor named Friedrich Bhaer who tutors the children at the boarding school.
Feeling guilty, Meg sells the silk back to Sally and buys her husband his long-awaited overcoat.
Feeling sheepish, Jo quietly intercepts any new Weekly Volcano papers lest he see that she writes for them and resolves to discontinue her submissions.
Immediately, he sets out to Massachusetts to tell Jo the good news, now that he has a better paying job he could provide for her and he plans on proposing.
They run into each other at the train station, and upon receiving news of his new job and ability to take a wife, Jo is stricken—misunderstanding his intention, she struggles not to cry as she believes he is telling her that he is getting married and is saying goodbye.