Little House on the Prairie

In the days before eharmony and match.com, potential life mates who had never met could lie about themselves via snail mail. The children of Walnut Grove school are given pen pals. Albert's is a girl of the same age, Leslie, in Minneapolis, who writes of her achievements in basketball and ballet. In reality, she's a lonely, chubby, wheelchair-bound girl. Not wanting to feel like an inadequate loser, Albert embellishes his personality profile as well. When Charles has an opportunity to travel to where Leslie lives, Albert is allowed to accompany him to meet the girl he's fallen for. Though he calls the house and tries to meet her throughout the trip, every attempt is rebuffed. As Charles and Albert are leaving town, they swing by the girl's house--unannounced this time--and catch a glimpse of Leslie being carried out to the street in her wheelchair. He gently confronts her, admits that he lied about himself as well, and they agree to remain friends and continue writing. Albert then goes so far as to tell her (at the top of his lungs) that he loves her. And all of this without a single date under their belts. I find this episode boring and tedious. The girl in question, while understandably bitter about her condition, has no personality to speak of or endearing qualities that would cause Albert to "fall in love" with her. In fact, since she spends the entire episode lying to him, he couldn't really know her at all, could he? Don't bother with this one.