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[[Category:Television shows set in Virginia]]
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[[Category:World War II television drama series]]

Revision as of 06:35, 27 November 2022

For other uses, see The Waltons (disambiguation).
The Waltons
GenreHistorical drama
Created byEarl Hamner Jr.
Based onThe Homecoming
by Earl Hamner Jr.
Starring
Narrated byEarl Hamner Jr.
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons9
No. of episodes221 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • Robert L. Jacks
  • Andy White
  • Rod Peterson
  • Claylene Jones
Running time45–48 minutes
Production companyLorimar Productions
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseSeptember 14, 1972 (1972-09-14) –
June 4, 1981 (1981-06-04)

The Waltons is an American historical drama television series about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II. It was created by Earl Hamner Jr., based on his 1961 book Spencer's Mountain and the 1963 film of the same name. The series aired from 1972–1981.

The television film The Homecoming: A Christmas Story was broadcast on December 19, 1971.[1] Based on its success, the CBS television network ordered the first season of episodes (to be based on the same characters) and that became the television series The Waltons.[2] Beginning in September 1972, the series aired on CBS for nine seasons in total. After the series was canceled in 1981, three television film sequels aired in 1982 on NBC, with three more in the 1990s on CBS. The Waltons was produced by Lorimar Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution in syndication.

The show's end sequence featured the family saying goodnight to one another before drifting off to sleep. According to the BBC (which also aired the series) "Goodnight, John-Boy" was one of the most common catchphrases of the 1970s.[3]

Premise

Setting

The main story is set in Walton's Mountain, a fictional mountain community in the fictitious Jefferson County, Virginia.

The real place upon which the stories are based is the community of Schuyler in Nelson County, Virginia.

The time period is from 1933 to 1946, during the Great Depression and World War II, during the presidential administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S Truman. The year 1933 is suggested by a reference to the opening of the Century of Progress exposition in Chicago, a brief shot of an automobile registration, and it is divulged in episode 5 that the date is in the spring of 1933.[4] The last episode of season one, "An Easter Story," is set in February – April 1934. The year 1934 takes two seasons to cover, while some successive years are covered over the course of a few months.[5]

The series finale, "The Revel," revolves around a party and the invitation date is given as June 4, 1946. A span of 13 years is therefore covered in nine seasons. There are some chronological inconsistencies, most of which do not hinder the storyline.

The first three reunion movies (A Wedding on Walton's Mountain, Mother's Day on Walton's Mountain, and A Day for Thanks on Walton's Mountain), all produced in 1982, are set in 1947. Of the later reunions, A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion, filmed in 1993, is set in 1963, and revolves around President John F. Kennedy's assassination. A Walton Wedding, made in 1995, is set in 1964, and A Walton Easter, filmed in 1997, is set in 1969.

The series began relating stories that occurred 39 years in the past and ended with its last reunion show set 28 years in the past.

A major inconsistency exists (for those keeping score) in how many years John and Olivia are said to be married in the last reunion movie counting back to the first episode. In the movie, set in 1969, John and Olivia are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. That would mean they wed in 1929, however John Boy is 17 years old in the series' first episode set in 1933, creating a 13 year gap. To reconcile John Boy's age gap and add an additional year to account for his "proper" Walton's Mountain post-wedding conception and pre-birth development, Mr. and Mrs. Walton would have more accurately wed in 1915. In 1969, they would have been celebrating their 54th wedding anniversary.

Story

John, John-Boy, and Olivia Walton

The story is about the family of John Walton Jr. (known as John-Boy): his six siblings, his parents John and Olivia Walton, and paternal grandparents Zebulon "Zeb" and Esther Walton. John-Boy is the oldest of the seven children (15 years old in The Homecoming; 17 at the beginning of the series),[6] who becomes a journalist and novelist. Each episode is narrated at the opening and closing by a middle-aged John Jr. (voiced by author Earl Hamner on whom John-Boy is based). John Sr. manages to eke out a living for his family by operating a lumber mill with the help of his sons as they grow older. The family income is augmented by some small-scale farming, and John occasionally hunts to put meat on the table. In the simpler days of their country youth, all of the children are rambunctious and curious, but as times grow tough, the children slowly depart from the innocent, carefree days of walking everywhere barefoot while clad in overalls and hand-sewn pinafores, and into the harsh, demanding world of adulthood and responsibility.

The family shares hospitality with relatives and strangers as they are able. The small community named after their property is also home to folk of various income levels, ranging from the well-to-do Baldwin sisters, two elderly spinsters who distill moonshine that they call "Papa's recipe;" Ike Godsey, postmaster and owner of the general store with his somewhat snobbish wife Corabeth (a Walton cousin; she calls her husband "Mr. Godsey"); an African-American couple, Verdie and Harley Foster; Maude Gormley, a sassy octogenarian artist who paints on wood; Flossie Brimmer, a friendly though somewhat gossipy widow who runs a nearby boarding house; and Yancy Tucker, a good-hearted handyman with big plans but little motivation. Jefferson County sheriff Ep Bridges, who fought alongside John in World War I and was awarded the Medal of Honor, keeps law and order in Walton's Mountain. The entire family (except for John) attends a Baptist church, of which Olivia and Grandma Esther are the most regular attendees.

In the signature scene that closes almost every episode, the family house is enveloped in darkness, save for 1, 2 or 3 lights in the upstairs bedroom windows. Through voice-overs, two or more characters make some brief comments related to that episode's events, and then bid each other goodnight, after which the lights go out.

After completing high school, John-Boy attends fictional Boatwright University in the fictional nearby town of Westham. He later goes to New York City to work as a journalist.

Grandma and John-Boy

During the latter half of the 1976–77 season, Grandma Esther Walton suffers a stroke and returns home shortly before the death of her husband, Grandpa Zeb Walton (reflecting Ellen Corby's real-life stroke and the death of Will Geer, the actors who portrayed those characters).

During the series' last few years, Mary Ellen and Ben start their own families; Erin, Jason and John-Boy are married in later television movie sequels. Younger children Jim-Bob and Elizabeth struggle to find and cement true love.

World War II deeply affects the family. All four Walton boys enlist in the military. Mary Ellen's physician husband, Curtis "Curt" Willard, is sent to Pearl Harbor and is reported to have perished in the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. Years later, Mary Ellen hears of sightings of her "late" husband, investigates and finds him alive (played by another actor), but brooding over his war wounds and living under an assumed name. She divorces him and later remarries.

John-Boy's military plane is shot down, while Olivia becomes a volunteer at the VA hospital and is seen less and less. She eventually develops tuberculosis and enters an Arizona sanatorium. Olivia's cousin, Rose Burton, moves in at the Walton house to look after the family. Two years later, John Sr. moves to Arizona to be with Olivia. Grandma appears in only a handful of episodes during the eighth season. She was usually said to be visiting relatives in nearby Buckingham County. Consistent with the effects of Ellen Corby's actual stroke, Grandma rarely speaks during the remainder of the series, usually limited to uttering brief one-or two-word lines such as "No!" or "Oh, boy!"

Six feature-length movies were made after the series run. Set from 1947 to 1969, they aired between 1982 and 1997.

Episodes

Main article: List of The Waltons episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedRankRating
First airedLast aired
PilotDecember 19, 1971 (1971-12-19)——
125September 14, 1972 (1972-09-14)April 19, 1973 (1973-04-19)1920.6[a]
225September 13, 1973 (1973-09-13)March 14, 1974 (1974-03-14)228.1
325September 12, 1974 (1974-09-12)March 6, 1975 (1975-03-06)825.5
425September 11, 1975 (1975-09-11)March 4, 1976 (1976-03-04)1422.9[b]
525September 23, 1976 (1976-09-23)March 17, 1977 (1977-03-17)1522.3[c]
626September 15, 1977 (1977-09-15)March 30, 1978 (1978-03-30)2020.8[d]
724September 21, 1978 (1978-09-21)March 22, 1979 (1979-03-22)37[7]19.0[7]
824September 20, 1979 (1979-09-20)March 13, 1980 (1980-03-13)——
922November 27, 1980 (1980-11-27)June 4, 1981 (1981-06-04)3018.6
TV Movies6February 22, 1982 (1982-02-22)April 27, 1997 (1997-04-27)——
  1. ^ Tied with The Partridge Family and Medical Center
  2. ^ Tied with M*A*S*H
  3. ^ Tied with Little House on the Prairie
  4. ^ Tied with The ABC Sunday Night Movie

Characters

The following is a brief summary of the main characters. See List of The Waltons characters for a more complete list.

Grandpa and Grandma Walton
  • John "John-Boy" Walton Jr. (Richard Thomas, seasons 1–5, guest seasons 6–7, three movie sequels; Robert Wightman, seasons 8–9 and one movie sequel), the eldest of the 7 children
  • John Walton Sr. (Ralph Waite, seasons 1–8, 8 episodes of season 9 and all movie sequels), the family patriarch (Andrew Duggan starred as John Sr. in The Homecoming movie only)
  • Olivia Walton (Michael Learned, seasons 1–7, guest season 8, and 4 movies), the matriarch (Patricia Neal starred as Olivia in The Homecoming movie only)
  • Zebulon "Grandpa" Walton (Will Geer, seasons 1–6), John's father (Edgar Bergen starred as Zebulon in The Homecoming movie only). Due to Geer's declining health during the sixth season, the script was adapted to the fictional death of his character with Geer's death in 1978.
  • Esther "Grandma" Walton (Ellen Corby, seasons 1–5 & 7, 2 episodes in seasons 6 and 8, and in 5 movies), John's mother
  • Jason Walton (Jon Walmsley, entire series and 6 movies), second-oldest brother; musically talented
  • Mary Ellen Walton (Judy Norton Taylor, entire series and 6 movies), headstrong oldest daughter; becomes a nurse
  • Erin Walton (Mary Elizabeth McDonough, entire series and 6 movies), second Walton daughter; works as a telephone operator and as manufacturing supervisor
  • Benjamin "Ben" Walton (Eric Scott, entire series and 6 movies), third Walton son; has an entrepreneurial spirit
  • James Robert "Jim-Bob" Walton (David W. Harper, entire series and 6 movies), youngest Walton son; mechanically inclined
  • Elizabeth Walton (Kami Cotler, entire series and 6 movies), youngest of the 7 children
  • Ike Godsey (Joe Conley, entire series), proprietor of the general store (Woodrow Parfrey starred as Ike in The Homecoming movie only)
  • Corabeth Walton Godsey (Ronnie Claire Edwards), seasons 3–9, John Walton's cousin
  • Curtis Willard (Tom Bower, seasons 5–7), Mary Ellen's husband
  • Cindy Walton (Leslie Winston, seasons 7–9 and 4 of the reunion movies), Ben's wife
  • Rose Burton (Peggy Rea, seasons 8–9 and 1 sequel), Olivia's matronly cousin who fills in as matriarch during Olivia's absence

Production

Inspiration

Earl Hamner's rural childhood growing up in the unincorporated community of Schuyler, Virginia, provided the basis for the setting and many of the storylines of The Waltons. His family and the community provided many life experiences which aided in the characters, values, area, and human-interest stories of his books, movies, and television series. Hamner provided the voice-over of the older John-Boy, usually heard at the beginning and end of each episode.

John-Boy Walton's fictional alma mater, Boatwright University, is patterned after Richmond College, which became part of the University of Richmond on Boatwright Drive near Westham Station in The West End of Richmond, Virginia, about 70 miles (110 km) east of Schuyler.

Television film

The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (1971) was not made as a pilot for a series, but it was so popular that it led to CBS initially commissioning one season of episodes based on the same characters, and the result was The Waltons.[8] Except for the Walton children and Grandma Esther Walton, the characters were all recast for the TV series. The musical score was by Oscar-winning composer Jerry Goldsmith and was later released on an album by Film Score Monthly paired with James Horner's score for the 1982 TV movie Rascals and Robbers: The Secret Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. (Goldsmith also scored several episodes of the first season, but the producers believed his TV movie theme was too gentle and requested he write a new theme for the series.[9])

Patricia Neal (as Olivia) won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama. The movie was also nominated for 3 Emmys: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (Neal), Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama - Adaptation (Earl Hamner), and Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Drama - A Single Program (Fielder Cook).[10]

Filming

The town of Walton's Mountain was built in the rear area of the main lot at Warner Bros. Studios, bordering the Los Angeles River, but the mountain itself was part of the Hollywood Hills range opposite Warner studios in Burbank, California, the reverse side of which, and slightly to the east, is Mount Lee and the Hollywood Sign. The Waltons house façade was built in the back of the Warner Brothers lot. After the series concluded, the set was destroyed. For the reunion shows, a replica Waltons' house façade was built on the Here Come the Brides set on the Columbia Ranch studio, now part of the Warner Brothers studios. The Waltons' house is still used as scenery at Warner Brothers. For example, it served as the Dragonfly Inn on Gilmore Girls.

For the first few seasons, the show would oftentimes shoot exterior scenes in Frazier Park, 70 miles to the north of Los Angeles. They would also occasionally film scenes in Franklin Canyon Park in Beverly Hills.

Broadcast and release

Some sources indicate CBS put the show on its fall 1972 schedule in response to congressional hearings on the quality of television. Backlash from a 1971 decision to purge most rural-oriented shows from the network lineup may have also been a factor. The network gave The Waltons an undesirable timeslot – Thursdays at 8 p.m – opposite 2 popular programs: The Flip Wilson Show on NBC and The Mod Squad on ABC.[11] "The rumor was that they put it against Flip Wilson and The Mod Squad because they didn't think it would survive. They thought, 'We can just tell Congress America doesn't want to see this'," Kami Cotler, who played Elizabeth Walton, said in a 2012 interview.[11] However, CBS had enough faith in the show to devise a full-page newspaper ad flanked with the show's positive reviews, urging people to watch the show. Radically increased ratings were attributed to this ad, saving The Waltons.[12]

Ralph Waite was reluctant to audition for the part of John Walton because he didn't want to be tied to a long-running TV series, but his agent persuaded him by saying, "It will never sell. You do the pilot. You pick up a couple of bucks and then you go back to New York."[11]

The cast at the 40th Anniversary of the show in 2012

Reception

Accolades

The Waltons won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 1973. Also in 1973 Richard Thomas won the Emmy for Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Michael Learned won the Emmy for Lead Actress in a Drama Series 3 times (1973, 1974, and 1976). Ellen Corby was also a three-time winner in the Supporting Actress category, winning in 1973, 1975, and 1976. Will Geer was awarded the Supporting Actor Emmy in 1975. Veteran actress Beulah Bondi won an Emmy in 1977 for Lead Actress in a Single Performance for her guest appearance as Martha Corrine Walton in the episode "The Pony Cart" (Episode #111). She first appeared in The Waltons episode "The Conflict" (Episode #51) as the widow of Zeb Walton's brother.

The series itself earned a Peabody Award for its first season.[13] In 2013, TV Guide ranked The Waltons No. 34 on its list of the 60 Best Series of All Time.[14]

In 2017, from March 20 to March 24, INSP network remembered the life of Earl Hamner Jr. (who died in 2016) by featuring clips of interviews (once per episode) with him about his time involved with The Waltons during the breaks while its syndicated reruns aired from 3–5pm and again at 7pm.

Cultural significance

On January 27, 1992, then-President George H. W. Bush said, "We are going to keep on trying to strengthen the American family, to make American families a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons."[15] In response, The Simpsons made a short animated segment for a repeat showing of the episode "Stark Raving Dad", where the family watches the speech, and Bart remarks, "Hey, we're just like the Waltons. We're prayin' for an end to the Depression, too."[16]

Reunion films

The Walton's Reunion Movie Collection

  1. A wedding on Walton's Mountain (1982)
  2. Mother's Day on Walton's Mountain (1982)
  3. A Day for Thanks on Walton's Mountain (1982)
  4. A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion (1993)
  5. A Walton Wedding (1995)
  6. A Walton Easter (1997)

Reboot TV films

"The Waltons: Homecoming" redirects here. Not to be confused with All American: Homecoming.

On November 28, 2021, The CW (part-owned by CBS and Warner Bros.) aired[17] The Waltons: Homecoming,[18] a remake of The Homecoming: A Christmas Story. Also set in 1933, this film features the Walton family (portrayed by new actors) minus Ben, waiting for John to get home by bus. Richard Thomas narrated.[19] Executive producer Sam Haskell hopes the movie will lead to a new series.[17] Another film A Waltons Thanksgiving aired on November 20, 2022.[20]In it, Ben was added to the family.

Home media

DVD releases

Warner Home Video has released all nine seasons and six TV movies of The Waltons on DVD in Region 1. Seasons 1–4 have been released in Region 2. The pilot movie, The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, was released by Paramount Home Entertainment. Lorimar produced the series, CBS produced the pilot film, which is why Paramount, under CBS Home Entertainment, handles home video rights for The Homecoming.

German-release DVDs provide German or English soundtrack options, with dubbed German voices, or the original English soundtrack, although the German episode titles are not always either literal or precise translations of the original English-language titles.

DVD name Episodes
Region 1 Region 2 (UK) Region 4 (AU)
The Homecoming: A Christmas Story N/A September 23, 2003 N/A N/A
The Complete 1st Season 24 May 11, 2004 November 1, 2004 November 11, 2015
The Complete 2nd Season 24 April 26, 2005 July 3, 2006 March 9, 2016
The Complete 3rd Season 24 April 25, 2006 September 11, 2006 May 11, 2016
The Complete 4th Season 24 January 23, 2007 March 5, 2007 July 13, 2016
The Complete 5th Season 24 May 8, 2007 N/A March 15, 2017
The Complete 6th Season 22 January 8, 2008 N/A August 9, 2017
The Complete 7th Season 23 April 29, 2008 N/A November 8, 2017
The Complete 8th Season 24 January 6, 2009 N/A March 7, 2018
The Complete 9th Season 22 April 28, 2009 N/A March 7, 2018
TV Movie Collection (not including the original movie) 6 January 26, 2010 N/A N/A

Streaming

Seasons 1–9 are available via streaming in standard-definition as well as high-definition video through services such as Amazon Prime Video.[21]

Syndication

Lorimar sold the distribution rights of The Waltons to Warner Bros. Television to avoid a lawsuit owing to the similarities between the series and the film Spencer's Mountain (1963), which Warner owned.[22] Warner Bros. acquired Lorimar in 1989, and has continued to syndicate the series ever since.

Reruns have aired in the U.S. on MeTV since January 1, 2020,[23] and also on INSP and Hallmark Drama, and formerly aired on Hallmark Channel. In Canada, The Waltons airs on Vision TV and BookTelevision.

In the UK, the series was broadcast on BBC 2 and BBC 1 and during the 1970s/1980s – the first three seasons were broadcast on BBC 2 from February 18, 1974,[24] to May 17, 1976,[25] on Mondays at 20.00 GMT, and seasons 4 and 5 were shown on BBC 1 from September 5, 1976,[26] to August 30, 1977,[27] on Sundays at 16.10 in 1976 and Tuesdays at 19.00 through 1977. After that, seasons 6–9 would be broadcast on BBC 2 again, starting on April 30, 1979,[28] and concluding in April 1983.[29] The three reunion TV movies filmed in 1982 were also shown on BBC 2 from December 21 to December 28, 1983.[30][31][32] The show was repeated on Channel 4 between 1986 and 1991 and again from 1996 to 2000. It last aired on Sony Channel until March 31, 2020, in the UK.

See also

  • These Are the Days; animated TV series produced by Hanna-Barbera which was inspired by The Waltons

References

  1. ^ "The Waltons" The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (1971) at IMDb[unreliable source?]
  2. ^ "All About The Creator". All About The Waltons. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  3. ^ "Goodnight John Boy". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
  4. ^ "The Typewriter", Season one, episode 5
  5. ^ A significant anachronism occurs in the first season. In the first episode, the Waltons listen to Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy's radio program (in tribute to Bergen, who played Grandpa in the pilot film). However, Bergen's radio show did not begin airing until 1937.
  6. ^ "The Foundling," season 1, episode 1
  7. ^ a b "Ratings info" (PDF). www.americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  8. ^ Crump, William D. (2013). The Christmas encyclopedia (Third ed.). p. 434. ISBN 9780786468270.
  9. ^ Jon Burlingame, p. 153, TV's Biggest Hits: The Story Of Television Themes From "Dragnet" To "Friends", Schirmer Books, 1996, ISBN 0-02-870324-3
  10. ^ "The Homecoming-A Christmas Story".
  11. ^ a b c King, Susan (2012-09-28). "40th anniversary celebration of 'The Waltons'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2016-04-30.[dead link‍]
  12. ^ IV, J. Garland Pollard (25 March 2016). "Earl Hamner and the CBS Brand | BrandlandUSA". Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  13. ^ "The Waltons". peabodyawards.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
  14. ^ "TV Guide Magazine's 60 Best Series of All Time". 23 December 2013.
  15. ^ Griffiths, Nick (April 15, 2000). "America's First Family". The Times Magazine. pp. 25, 27–28. Archived from the original on August 11, 2014.
  16. ^ Ortved, John (August 2007). "Simpson Family Values". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on August 27, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  17. ^ a b Brokaw, Francine (November 27, 2021). "The Waltons return in a new TV movie". Daily Herald. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  18. ^ "The Waltons: Homecoming". IMDb. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  19. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (November 28, 2021). "The Waltons' Homecoming: Did CW Movie Remake Evoke Enough Charm?". TVLine. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  20. ^ Rice, Lynette (September 14, 2022). "CW Sets Premiere Date for A Waltons Thanksgiving". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  21. ^ Prime Video: The Waltons: The Complete First Season Retrieved October 22, 2013
  22. ^ Lee Rich Interview: Archive of American Television. Retrieved on June 14, 2014.
  23. ^ "The Waltons, Adam-12 and Dragnet join the MeTV schedule in January". Me-TV Network. 14 December 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  24. ^ "BBC Two England - 18 February 1974 - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  25. ^ "BBC Two England - 17 May 1976 - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  26. ^ "BBC One London - 5 September 1976 - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  27. ^ "BBC One London - 30 August 1977 - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  28. ^ "BBC Two England - 30 April 1979 - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  29. ^ "BBC Two England - 29 March 1983 - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  30. ^ "BBC Two England - 21 December 1983 - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  31. ^ "BBC Two England - 23 December 1983 - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
  32. ^ "BBC Two England - 28 December 1983 - BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.

Further reading

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