It puts you in a house where the men are gone and the war is a rumor arriving by letter, then dares you to care about piano lessons and drawing pads anyway. Mr. March is off at the front as a physician, and the whole series lives in the space he left: Marmee holding four daughters together, and the daughters holding each other. Meg carries the eldest's weight, Jo scribbles and scraps like the boy she never got to be, Beth loves the piano too much to speak up about it, and Amy draws her way through being the youngest and least listened to. The Laurence house next door starts as the scary place with the intimidating old man and becomes the second home, which is exactly how Laurie sneaks into the family without anyone deciding to let him in. Twenty-six episodes of nothing dramatic and everything important. If Beth's shyness around that piano gets you before the war ever does, this one was built for you.

When the American Civil War begins, Mr. March, a doctor, leaves for the front, and his wife is left at home with their four daughters. Meg is the oldest. Jo is an aspiring writer who acts more like a boy than a girl. Shy Beth loves playing the piano, and Amy, the youngest, is fond of drawing. The girls soon meet their neighbor Mr. Lawrence, who frightens them a little at first, and his grandson Laurie, who is about Jo's age. Together the family weathers good times and bad: Aunt March's tempers, jealousies and moments of joy, all while the war goes on in the background and they hope their father returns home unharmed. The result is a quiet, character-focused family drama.