The Waltons

[ClassyCo]

Considering I recently started a Little House on the Prairie thread, I figured I'd start one for The Waltons. It seems these two shows are often mentioned in the same breath, and that many people generally engage in those "Which Is Better?" debates among these shows.

Of the two, it seems the Walton family generally gets a warmer reception from many fans and TV critics today. I personally prefer the Waltons over the Ingalls-Wilder clan.

Did you enjoy your time on Walton's Mountain?

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Heh. You knew I'd take the bait.

The 1971 pilot for THE WALTONS was called "THE HOMECOMING: A CHRISTMAS STORY" and starred all the same kids and the same grandmother, although Mama was played by Patricia Neal (instead of Michael Learned, as Neal was never asked to do the series) and Edgar Bergen as the grandfather (instead of Will Geer) and Andrew Duggan as the father (instead of Ralph Waite). It was a good pilot, with the Grand Tetons of Wyoming doubling for the Virginia Appalachians, and with that melancholy mood of the early-'70s which was as perfect to portray Christmas as were the '40s (although the script takes place in the early-'30s). It's not perfect, the pilot, but it was a decent TV-movie from the era.

I always marvel at the LITTLE HOUSE fans who trash THE WALTONS for being too schmaltzy and drippy.... Say, what?? Many an episode went by before you saw a single tear from anybody (unlike the eternally disingenuous waterworks flowing over at Walnut Creek).

No, THE WALTONS wasn't to everybody's taste, but was much less manipulative than the Ingalls' world.

Like television at the time, it's hit-and-miss, but I still run across the odd episode I'd forgotten about which is very sweet and even understatedly poignant. If you're in the right mood.

Sure, once Richard Thomas left after Season 5 (and they tried to Donna Reed his John-Boy role for a couple of episodes) the show began to sort of deteriorate. And by the final years when the grown-ups were stroking-out or dying or wandering off and the producers tried to have the dorky kids carry the show, it became a giggle-inducing disaster. The writers decided to skip ahead in time to WW2 (like LAVERNE & SHIRLEY skipped ahead to the late-'60s, but at least they were funny on purpose) and I seem to recall a scene in which Jim-Bob, the dorkiest and least talented of the brood, came home from the war and tried to convey what it was like to survive Pearl Harbor (or some other battle -- I forget) and the director shot him in profile with his siblings in the background so his "speech" could be done in a single take. Like that was gonna help. We howled at how pathetic it was, but we felt kinda sorry for the young actor, so out of his depth he was.

And the horrid reunion movies I think they're still making never worked for five minutes.

Sometimes when you come down from the mountain you just can't really ever go back.

So, at its best, THE WALTONS was much, much better, if only because it lacked the crocodile tears-in-every-frame we were given by LITTLE HOUSE. But at its worst, THE WALTONS was also much worse, because the show just fell completely apart after half-a-dozen years and was as incapable of being revived as Grandpa's corpse; in contrast, LITTLE HOUSE was much more consistent, dishing out its twisted frontier B.S. with minimal fluctuation for as long as it ran.

 

[ClassyCo]

Heh. You knew I'd take the bait.

The 1971 pilot for THE WALTONS was called "THE HOMECOMING: A CHRISTMAS STORY" and starred all the same kids and the same grandmother, although Mama was played by Patricia Neal (instead of Michael Learned, as Neal was never asked to do the series) and Edgar Bergen as the grandfather (instead of Will Geer) and Andrew Duggan as the father (instead of Ralph Waite). It was a good pilot, with the Grand Tetons of Wyoming doubling for the Virginia Appalachians, and with that melancholy mood of the early-'70s which was as perfect to portray Christmas as were the '40s (although the script takes place in the early-'30s). It's not perfect, the pilot, but it was a decent TV-movie from the era.

I always marvel at the LITTLE HOUSE fans who trash THE WALTONS for being too schmaltzy and drippy.... Say, what?? Many an episode went buy before you saw a single tear from anybody (unlike the eternally disingenuous waterworks flowing over at Walnut Creek).

No, THE WALTONS wasn't to everybody's taste, but was much less manipulative than the Ingalls' world.

Like television at the time, it's hit-and-miss, but I still run across the odd episode I'd forgotten about which is very sweet and even understatedly poignant. If you're in the right mood.

Sure, once Richard Thomas left after Season 5 (and they tried to Donna Reed his John-Boy role for a couple of episodes) the show began to sort of deteriorate. And by the final years when the grown-ups were stroking-out or dying or wandering off and the producers tried to have the dorky kids carry the show, it became a giggle-inducing disaster. The writers decided to skip ahead in time to WW2 (like LAVERNE & SHIRLEY skipped ahead to the late-'60s, but at least they were funny on purpose) and I seem to recall a scene in which Jim-Bob, the dorkiest and least talented of the brood, came home from the war and tried to convey what it was like to survive Pearl Harbor (or some other battle -- I forget) and the director shot him in profile with his siblings in the background so his "speech" could be done in a single take. Like that was gonna help. We howled at how pathetic it was, but we felt kinda sorry for the young actor, so out of his depth he was.

And the horrid reunion movies I think they're still making never worked for five minutes.

Sometimes when you come down from the mountain you just can't really ever go back.

So, at its best, THE WALTONS was much, much better, if only because it lacked the crocodile tears-in-every-frame we were given by LITTLE HOUSE. But at its worst, THE WALTONS was also much worse, because the show just fell completely apart after half-a-dozen years and was as incapable of being revived as Grandpa's corpse; in contrast, LITTLE HOUSE was much more consistent, dishing out its twisted frontier B.S. with minimal fluctuation for as long as it ran.

Yeah, Snark, I knew you'd snatch this one up, too. Had to give us something to decipher. The Waltons, as a whole, seemed more realistic and heartwarming than Little House on the Prairie ever was to me. They both dabble in sappiness on occasion, but I'd certainly agree that the producers attempts to fix, evolve, or prolong the Walton's Mountain saga lagged, and the newer characters never gelled with the rest.

 

[Barbara Fan]

I enjoyed the Waltons as a little girl but would never confess to that when I was younger!!

There was always a moral to the story, and I particularly liked ralph waite who played the father and the baldwin sisters and their moonshine recipe

Felt sorry for Ellen Corby when she had a stroke and must have been tough for her to lose her speech
was never the same as @Snarky's Ghost says once they replaced original John Boy - but when it was repeated i ejoyed watching it for Lorimar supporting actors who also appeared in dallas and took me a while to figure that Boone Walton was none other than Punk Anderson!

not quite so keen on it when fat Aunt Rose appeared with her 2 bratty relatives.

 

[ClassyCo]

not quite so keen on it when fat Aunt Rose appeared with her 2 bratty relatives.

This is hilarious! In discussing The Waltons last night, I referred to Rose's two kids (nieces, or nephews, what ever) as brats.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

The early seasons were the best. I remember liking The Waltons as a kid, and anything in a rural setting always gets a few extra points from me.
Does anyone remember an episode where Mama is away because she's sick(and Michael Learned left to do Nurses, I think) and the youngest child, Elizabeth starts exhibiting telekinetic powers? Unless my memory is faulty, I could swear there was such an episode.
The Carol Burnet Show did a fun takeoff of The Waltons, "The Walnuts," with Joan Rivers as Mama

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

The early seasons were the best. I remember liking The Waltons as a kid, and anything in a rural setting always gets a few extra points from me.
Does anyone remember an episode where Mama is away because she's sick(and Michael Learned left to do Nurses, I think) and the youngest child, Elizabeth starts exhibiting telekinetic powers? Unless my memory is faulty, I could swear there was such an episode.
The Carol Burnet Show did a fun takeoff of The Waltons, "The Walnuts," with Joan Rivers as Mama

No, Michael Learned's NURSE was just after the series' ended. I thought it a unique show -- everything ST. ELSEWHERE should have been but wasn't. And Learned got another Emmy for it.

I think the poltergeist episode was around 1979, Season 7 or 8. It could have been worse, although I seem to recall the rocking chairs going crazy. On CHARLIE'S ANGELS, a ghost once picked up Bosley's desk and the girls just giggled like it was no big deal.

Those kinds of plots are difficult to pull off, and you generally have to do them absolutely straight. I do recall one really good WALTONS installment, circa 1974, well-directed by Ralph Waite, called "The Ghost Story" in which a small boy, the son of a late friend of Olivia Walton, is staying with the family, and John-Boy becomes increasingly suspicious that someone is trying to communicate with the tyke from The Other Side, especially after John-Boy brings home a spirit board (i.e., a Ouija board) from Ike Godsey's store after the Baldwin sisters refuse to leave his business because they can't stop engaging in ectoplasmic exchanges about the family enterprise, The Recipe... It's all done in a hushed, understated manner, which makes it five times more effective than chairs that rock wildly by themselves. The only minor flaw is that the radio program revelation in the penultimate scene is a wee bit rushed --- it's, like, maybe seven seconds too brief.

There was also a really good episode from Season 5 called "The Pony Cart" for which octogenarian Beulah Bondi won an Emmy --- so I was amused to find out that Will Geer hated her doing the show because she'd ratted on her fellow actors during the McCarthy hearings 25 years earlier.

 

[Barbara Fan]

This was on after Dallas - after they were famous- they made one about the Waltons

enjoy
love BF x

 

[ClassyCo]

The CW is gearing up for a modern-day remake of THE WALTONS in an upcoming television movie.

The CW Introduces New 'Waltons' in 'Homecoming' First Look (PHOTO)

The made-for-TV movie, 'The Waltons' Homecoming,' is a remake of the '70s original.

www.tvinsider.com

 

[ClassyCo]

I ordered this yesterday. It should be here next week. It has all nine seasons of THE WALTONS and the six television movies.

 

[lbf522]

I enjoyed the Waltons as a little girl but would never confess to that when I was younger!!

There was always a moral to the story, and I particularly liked ralph waite who played the father and the baldwin sisters and their moonshine recipe

Felt sorry for Ellen Corby when she had a stroke and must have been tough for her to lose her speech
was never the same as @Snarky's Ghost says once they replaced original John Boy - but when it was repeated i ejoyed watching it for Lorimar supporting actors who also appeared in dallas and took me a while to figure that Boone Walton was none other than Punk Anderson!

not quite so keen on it when fat Aunt Rose appeared with her 2 bratty relatives.

Its funny you should mention Aunt Rose and those kids. I still remember that scene when she tells her granddaughter how the Waltons need them. Like its during the Great Depression and these people are dirt poor. They don't need three extra mouths to feed.

 

[ClassyCo]

Its funny you should mention Aunt Rose and those kids. I still remember that scene when she tells her granddaughter how the Waltons need them. Like its during the Great Depression and these people are dirt poor. They don't need three extra mouths to feed.

They "needed" them to round out the cast those final years after several of the original characters had moved on.

 

[Chris2]

Best years are the first five. The fifth season ends with John Boy leaving the mountain as a successful writer, which fulfills the show’s original premise. It should have ended there (and that fifth season finale would have made a fine series finale). They tried to shift the focus to the remaining kids. But while most of them were serviceable actors as children, they became wooden as they got older and could not carry the series. That’s why the producers made the foolish attempt to recast John Boy.

The 1982 TV movies, made for NBC in the season following the original series’ cancellation on CBS, were clearly an attempt to reboot the series. New theme, new opening titles, and a focus on the Waltons kids. You could tell that they were pitching a show called “Walton’s Mountain” that would have focused on the five remaining Walton kids (John Boy and Jason were living in NY at the end of the last movie), the new spouses, and Aimee Godsey (now recast and rebellious), with Ike, Corabeth and the Baldwins in support. NBC chose not to continue though, which was just as well.

The Waltons was considered a quality show and has multiple Emmys to show for it. Little House was kind of a campy silly show that was not in the same league (though it did manage to produce some fine episodes here and there in between the camp).

Great pic of Michael Learned smoking while on the Waltons set. She visibly aged quite a bit in the eight years she was on the show, and I always wondered if some of that was due to smoking.

 

[ClassyCo]

THE WALTONS did get more accolades, especially during its prime, while I know several that dismiss LITTLE HOUSE as a "prairie soap opera" for teenage girls.​

 

[Barbara Fan]

The Waltons was repeated here a few years ago and I did watch a few epiosdes, mainly to spot the cross over of actors who were on Lorimars books and also appeared in Dallas

It took me a long time to recognise that Boone In the Waltons was Punk in Dallas! DUH!

 

[Monzo]

First Waltons reboot movie did well in total viewers for the CW, but not so great among important demos, so it's not going to return as a series, instead another movie is coming later this year:

‘The Waltons’ Thanksgiving Special Set At CW; Teddy Sears Joins Cast

The CW sets The Waltons Thanksgiving special with Bellamy Young, Logan Shroyer, and Richard Thomas. Teddy Sears joins new cast.

deadline.com

 

[tommie]

First Waltons reboot movie did well in total viewers for the CW, but not so great among important demos, so it's not going to return as a series, instead another movie is coming later this year:

‘The Waltons’ Thanksgiving Special Set At CW; Teddy Sears Joins Cast

The CW sets The Waltons Thanksgiving special with Bellamy Young, Logan Shroyer, and Richard Thomas. Teddy Sears joins new cast.

deadline.com

I assume this is down to the CW getting bought out by Nexstar's influence. I think they're going for a slightly more conservative and older audience. I'd be surprised if The Walton's doesn't end up being ordered to series at one point.