MTV board thoughts on the Waltons

My mother watched this. I liked the earlier episodes but once Zeb died off, Grandma had the stroke, Liv went to Arizona, etc. it just seemed too labored. I couldn't stand the fat cousin who came to stay in the last couple of seasons, after the parents went off to Arizona. Some of the WWII related stuff was good, but to me the Depression-era times were the better episodes.

Goodnight John Boy

It's a good watch. Went downhill when they tried to replace John Boy.

It's interesting to see all the guest stars they had that went on to other bigger and better things.

Definitely not as good as Little House.

We watched the Waltons, just don't remember memorable episodes like in Little House.

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Definitely not as good as Little House.

We watched the Waltons, just don't remember memorable episodes like in Little House.

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I think that's a generational thing.

Some memorable Walton's episodes:

John Boy realizing that he's not a hunter, and what that means to his father and grandfather.

John Boy going to work for his father's enemy, and finding out he's a pawn in the matter.

The Pearl Harbor episode.

The father welcoming his WWI comrade, only to slowly realize that it's his friend's brother, living his life secretly.

The mother contracting Polio.

Any episode with the grandfather getting tanked with the Baldwin sisters.

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John Boy going to work for his father's enemy, and finding out he's a pawn in the matter.

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Is that the one where they were going to build a highway and John Boy ends up getting shot?

They sure didn't like the highway coming through.

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Nah, this guy gives John Boy the job of collecting his rent from his tenants. He sells it as easy money. JB soon finds out that people can't pay, and it's his job to be the enforcer. The guy hired JB knowing it wasn't in his nature and he'd have to quit like a puss or go through the torture of threatening people with eviction. All to get back at Mr. Walton for being a stand-up guy.

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Ahhh... gotcha.

I’ve recently started rewatching on Prime. I agree that the early depression episodes are the best.

Wasn't The Walton's kind of taken from the movie Spencer's Mountain (1963)?



Spencer's Mountain IMDb starred Henry Fonda, Maureen O'Hara, and James MacArthur (Clayboy)

Ole Danno from Hawaii 50 was much more likable as Clayboy than Richard Thomas' John Boy.

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Wasn't The Walton's kind of taken from the movie Spencer's Mountain (1963)? 

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Yep.

Both were written by Earl Hamner, Jr., based upon his own childhood in Virginia.

After the movie in 1963, he wrote a piece called "The Homecoming: A Story About Spencer's Mountain" in 1970. It was made into a Christmas special TV movie that had a lot of the eventual cast of "The Waltons" and helped it become a series.