The Waltons - General Discussion

[methodwriter85]

On 12/3/2021 at 4:40 PM, Kyle said:

Agreed, especially since it’s likely that John Boy and Mary Ellen would be the focus of any follow-on series. The actors playing those roles were billed first and second and their names appeared individually on screen. Most of the other actors who were billed after them “shared” their onscreen credit with other actors. Also, the other kids had very little to do, so I don’t think it matters if there are four or five other children.

They're totally focusing on John Boy and Mary Ellen if this gets picked up as a series.. (I still think it needs to go to Hallmark or GMAC.) You can just see it. They were both very good so I welcome it. You can just see this Mary Ellen absolutely thriving during the World War II era and Logan Shroyer can totally carry a series.

It did crack me up that Mom Walton looks like she has a dedicated Botox/filler routine. (Which works great for her society matron character on Prodigal Son, but it's kind of jarring to see an unlined face on a 1930's poor mom.) 

Edited December 5, 2021 by methodwriter85

[Egg McMuffin]

Mary Ellen, to me, was one of the best things about the movie.

[KHenry14]

interesting...Homecoming earned a very good rating for the CW. Might this signal a full reboot?

[methodwriter85]

3 hours ago, KHenry14 said:

interesting...Homecoming earned a very good rating for the CW. Might this signal a full reboot?

I think the only hesitation might be that they're going to deal with conservative fans who won't like it if we see MaryEllen date a black boy...or girl. (You KNOW the CW would go there if the Earl Hammer estate doesn't veto it.) 

The CW in general commissions a ton of material that has bottom floor ratings because their Netflix deal tends to keep them floating. I can see a show happening, although again, there's going to have to be a lot of conversations of just how far they can push the CW inclusion values without going too out there for a show set in 1930's Virginia. That's really why I thought this might be a better fit for Hallmark or GMAC, but then again, there's really nothing like this on the CW so maybe it's a good idea to have it.

I'd guess that Bellamy Young and Ben Lawson are the least likely to make the jump to any actual show because they're both actually pretty in-demand if you look at their IMDB dance cards, and the show isn't being subtle that this is the John Boy/Mary Ellen show. A shame about Ben Lawson because wowzer...I wouldn't mind a shirtless scene with that hunk.

Also, can I have the number for Bellamy Young's plastic surgeon because DAMN that is some great work for a 51-year old woman.

[Egg McMuffin]

My guess is that they’ll do another movie to see if people are really interested, or if the ratings for the first one were due to curiosity. There are other two hour-episodes that they can remake, like the Easter and Thanksgiving shows.

If the Hamner estate has any veto power, I don’t believe they’d use it over an interracial romance. The original series was rather progressive about race relations (perhaps unrealistically so for the 1930s). The Waltons were friends with a Black family, the Fosters, who were the focus of a handful of episodes. And there’s even an episode where John and Livvie want to adopt a Black orphan but realize they can’t due to the social implications of it.

Edited December 5, 2021 by Kyle

[methodwriter85]

Judy Norton promoted the reboot on her YouTube channel:

Judy just seems like a sweet, gentle old lady now. Like I want to drink lemonade with her and some brownies and listen to her stories about the 70's and 80's.

Edited December 6, 2021 by methodwriter85

[Gharlane]

On 5/1/2020 at 12:36 PM, mmecorday said:

I watched this yesterday on INSP. What made John and Olivia think that sending Ben to live with Yancy Tucker was such a good idea? And the Baldwin sisters had a huge home. You'd think they could have accommodated more family members than just Jason.

I suspect Olivia was forced to allow Ben to stay with the Baldwin sisters and refused to allow anyone else to stay with "those heathens" and be corrupted.

[bobalina]

41 minutes ago, Gharlane said:

I suspect Olivia was forced to allow Ben to stay with the Baldwin sisters and refused to allow anyone else to stay with "those heathens" and be corrupted.

So Yancy was better?

[Katy M]

On 12/5/2021 at 5:07 PM, methodwriter85 said:

I think the only hesitation might be that they're going to deal with conservative fans who won't like it if we see MaryEllen date a black boy...or girl. (You KNOW the CW would go there if the Earl Hammer estate doesn't veto it.) 

I'm conservative and I don't know anybody that has issues with interracial relationships.  I think the word you're looking for is racist and contrary to popular belief, the two terms are not interchangeable.

[Egg McMuffin]

3 hours ago, bobalina said:

So Yancy was better?

I’m assuming we’re talking about “The Burn Out”, where the house is damaged by fire and the family is scattered.

I like this episode, but let’s face it: there was no reason the family needed to be quite as scattered as they were, other than for dramatic purposes. The Baldwins could have taken three kids at least, and if Livvie was that concerned about the recipe, she could have sent John Boy to be one of those three and keep an eye on things. But by that point of the series, Livvie was pretty friendly with the Baldwins and wasn’t as concerned about the bootleg whiskey as she had been in the first couple of seasons.

It was also clear that Elizabeth was deeply affected by the fire, and parents as attentive as John and Olivia wouldn’t have sent her off to the Godseys by herself. At the very least, she would have been paired with another sibling (maybe staying with Rosemary and Matt Fordwick). But the storyline called for Elizabeth to be isolated and pull away from the family, so staying with the Godseys was the perfect device for that subplot.

[Gharlane]

On 12/12/2021 at 7:24 PM, bobalina said:

So Yancy was better?

Livvie's irrational hatred of the Baldwin sisters was clouding her judgement.

Edited December 15, 2021 by Gharlane
Corrected the name.

[jason88cubs]

I'm watching the original Homecoming right now

[Blergh]

13 hours ago, jason88cubs said:

I'm watching the original Homecoming right now

I hope you enjoyed it! 

Spoiler

 

Patricia Neal's Olivia hit it out of the ballpark but Miss Learned would play her with far less angst and more friskiness on the series. As per Miss Neal's bio, since she herself had spent her early years growing up in the Kentucky mountains, she strongly identified with the family and the character and would have loved to have played Olivia on the series but no one asked her to (evidently not wanting to chance her health on a longterm basis for the series due to her having had to contend with devastating strokes six years before). 

Edgar Bergen [yes, Candice's father] played a much more laid back Grandpa in this movie than Mr. Geer's force-of-nature dynamo in the series.

 

 

So, in watching it, one might wonder how differently the series would have been with a more angsty Olivia and a frailer & more resigned Grandpa than the later performers  depicted. 

[Egg McMuffin]

An interesting thing about the original Homecoming movie: it was never intended as series pilot. Had it been, the cast would have been different - they would have cast actors with the intention of having them carry over into the series. So Neal, Bergen (who didn’t want to do a weekly series) and actresses who played the Baldwins (both NY-based stage actresses) wouldn’t have been in it. I also think they would have taken more care in casting some of the younger Walton children.

[Blergh]

It's funny how the birth order changed!

 

Originally it was John-Boy, Jason, Mary Ellen, Ben, Erin, Jim-Bob then Elizabeth.

 

However, since it seemed they wanted Mary Ellen to have more teen girl storylines they made HER older than Jason then later on when Mary Beth McDonough (Erin) got taller than Eric Scott( Ben) they made her older than Ben! 

[sATL]

Is this the same forum to talk about the CW reboot/premier/special that aired November 28?

If so, I didn't like it ; too far from the original version of the special & series which I watch closely on INSP (2 hours Mon - Thur) and MeTV at noon EST , mon-fri.

I had minor issues with the original Homecoming special that airs during holiday time, but at least that made sense for the time period ( rural 1930s VA) and the economics (ie lack thereof) of the family.

The special hit me wrong from the beginning- starting with Ike's superstore, the grand master bedroom John Boy was in, and the Real Housewives sized house and barn. The Baldwin's would never give a jar of recipe that wasn't full. And I guess the post-pandemic related job expenses made production cut out ( layoff) a whole child character. Anybody have red hair? The  death date on "JB"'s tombstone?

I won't say anymore until I know its ok to talk about the CW special here.

Glad to see there are others who still watch and like the original series.

Edited December 25, 2021 by sATL

[sATL]

13 hours ago, Blergh said:

It's funny how the birth order changed!

 

Originally it was John-Boy, Jason, Mary Ellen, Ben, Erin, Jim-Bob then Elizabeth.

 

However, since it seemed they wanted Mary Ellen to have more teen girl storylines they made HER older than Jason then later on when Mary Beth McDonough (Erin) got taller than Eric Scott( Ben) they made her older than Ben! 

Huh? Which episode did they make Mary Ellen older than Jason? I think she grew up faster because: 1- her strong willful personality, 2- she married, had a baby and widowed, in a short period of time. Took Jason most of a world war and to be overseas to find a woman.

I wish they would have let Erin marry when Chad came along the 2nd time - when they tried to elope. That seems to be all she wanted to do "be in love" and a married person could have finished school in a one room rural schoolhouse.

Edited December 25, 2021 by sATL

[sATL]

On 11/28/2021 at 11:54 PM, bobalina said:

My first thought at the new movie is OMG these kids can act. And that Judy Norton is old enough to play Grandma.

Boy I sure would love to see her face if someone presented that role opportunity to Judy..😂. You can't executive produce, write, historian, etc, but you can be Granny😂😂😂

Edited December 25, 2021 by sATL

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, sATL said:

I wish they would have let Erin marry when Chad came along the 2nd time - when they tried to elope. That seems to be all she wanted to do "be in love" and a married person could have finished school in a one room rural schoolhouse.

Especially since she only had 2 more episodes to go before she graduated.  So, either wait the 2 weeks (really how impatient can you get), or do the last 2 weeks whilst married.

I've said it before, but the whole timeline in The Waltons drives me batty.  First, Pearl Harbor is bombed in season 7 and the war is over by Season 9.  I bet World War II soldiers wished 4 years went by that fast.

Then, John Boy graduates at the end of season 2, Jason Season 3, and suppoedly Mary Ellen at the end of season 4.  But, then both Ben and Erin have graduated by the middle of season 5.   

[merylinkid]

The seasons timeline had nothing on the movies.    Elizabeth is a teenager in World War II.   But by the time of JFK's assassination, she is just finishing college.  You know 20 years later.   John Boy who is in his 20s when the show ends is only JUST proposing to his girlfriend when he has to go rush off to do a newscast of the assassination of JFK.   Jason who marries Toni after World War II, has small children had at home and she is pregnant again.   (which okay, late starter and all COULD be plausible).   

[Egg McMuffin]

The timeline is terrible. 18 months passed in the last 7 or 8 episodes of season 5, going from spring of 1937 to fall of 1938. Then when the show returned for season 6, it was now 1939. And the beginning of season 7 took place in 1941. The 1982 TV movies that were filmed the season after the regular series ended, three years later, took place in 1947. And the 1993 Thanksgiving reunion, filmed 11 years later, jumped ahead 16 years to 1963.

[methodwriter85]

18 hours ago, sATL said:

Boy I sure would love to see her face if someone presented that role opportunity to Judy..😂. You can't executive produce, write, historian, etc, but you can be Granny😂😂😂

Especially since Judy does have screenwriting experience.

Judy, for what it's worth, seems like she'd jump into the role of Granny in a heartbeat, but I think her face now comes off as too sweet. Mary McDonough would actually work better as Granny.

Anyway, Judy talked "Behind the Scenes" with the new Mary Ellen, Marcelle LeBlanc. What a charmer!

It's kind of funny seeing Marcelle react to the whole "Where is Ben?" stuff. I mean, the reasoning made sense- it's a 85 minute movie. They had to make cuts and Ben was probably the most expendable character.

If the show does go to series, maybe they can explain that Ben was working on the railway in the big bad city or something.

[Shermie]

I enjoyed the updated version of The Homecoming. Purists of the show need to remember that the original movie and show had differences, and the show was not true to the real family. Creative licence will always be taken, sometimes for good reason and sometimes not. But it happens.

I like that the new kids were nice-looking but not CW perfect. And yes, they could actually act, although the bar was pretty low.

I do wonder about the grandparents and whether they lived with the family in real life or not. Just curious, I don’t care one way or another. I like that this Olivia was not such a prissy Bible-thumper as Olivia was in the early episodes of the original show.

Kind of stupid of Pa Walton to declare that his working away from home days were over and he was going to begin farming full time - in December! Is he going to plant the fields in the winter? Although the Waltons weren’t crop planters in the original show; is he going to farm full time by increasing his herd (of one cow)? And how is he going to pay for these animals? I guess he had the same farming savvy as Pa Ingalls, who couldn’t bring a crop to fruition if his life depended on it (which it did).

This show was a childhood favourite, and I’d enjoy watching a reboot with this cast as long as they don’t make it too “new millennium” with the plot lines. It’s a conservative rural Baptist family in the 1930s; some things can’t change.

[sATL]

Nice picture book, they forgot a few of the supporting cast that would have been great to see:

 Verdie, Toni , Erin's Ashley  jr and the hubby-to-be who was wealthy and helped Ben cut lumber, one of Ben's girlfriend  who now plays on the Young& the restless ( ie easy to get a 2021 pix), Jonsey,  Rose, Marcia Wollery, lost track of the ministers (like the one erin & corabeth fell for), sheriff bridges &wife

Edited January 29, 2022 by sATL

[sATL]

 oh no... INSP is only showing the Walton's once a day now... 4 pm est... It use to be from 3-5 EST M-Thu... replaced the time slot with "wagon train" = circa 1957😭

[Egg McMuffin]

Well, keep an eye out for the Wagon Train where Ellen Corby guest stars.

[LadyIrony]

I came across the other Waltons board first and wanted to comment on the thread "John Boy Mr Obnoxious or Mr Wonderful". 

I have been watching some eps lately I am in the Obnoxious camp. He is set on becoming a writer which is fine but seems to do little to help around the house/family business. He sells his 10 acres of land to buy a printing press never to get it back! 

There is an ep where he has the chance to write for a Hollywood director yet turns it down because he doesn't want to do the wrong thing by his friend who currently has that job. 

Yet his family is poor, earn some money John Boy! All these high ideals. 

In another ep he starts talking to his long suffering "Daddy*" about Hitler and Nazi's and I had to laugh. His father just sits there quietly obviously bored but politely says he admires his son's convictions. Than runs out of the house to the peace of the mill! 

I actually find all the kids to be obnoxious in their own way. The mother and grandparents also annoying. Yet I still watch because it beats what is pumped out today.

* And what's with a grown man calling his father Daddy? Eeeech!

 

Edited February 14, 2022 by LadyIrony

[LadyIrony]

On 12/6/2021 at 9:07 AM, methodwriter85 said:

I think the only hesitation might be that they're going to deal with conservative fans who won't like it if we see MaryEllen date a black boy...or girl. (You KNOW the CW would go there if the Earl Hammer estate doesn't veto it.) 

The CW in general commissions a ton of material that has bottom floor ratings because their Netflix deal tends to keep them floating. I can see a show happening, although again, there's going to have to be a lot of conversations of just how far they can push the CW inclusion values without going too out there for a show set in 1930's Virginia. That's really why I thought this might be a better fit for Hallmark or GMAC, but then again, there's really nothing like this on the CW so maybe it's a good idea to have it.

I'd guess that Bellamy Young and Ben Lawson are the least likely to make the jump to any actual show because they're both actually pretty in-demand if you look at their IMDB dance cards, and the show isn't being subtle that this is the John Boy/Mary Ellen show. A shame about Ben Lawson because wowzer...I wouldn't mind a shirtless scene with that hunk.

Also, can I have the number for Bellamy Young's plastic surgeon because DAMN that is some great work for a 51-year old woman.

The CW is up for sale due to it's low ratings not being sustainable so I guess that says a lot for it's policies in their shows. 

I'm Conservative and interracial relationships don't offend me nor do LGBTIQ ones. For me it's a TV show and one based on a real family in a real time period. So it's about story for me not pushing politics or virtue signalling for the hell of it. 

How plausible would it be for Mary Ellen to date a black person? How plausible would it be for her to be a lesbian? Would they just tack it on to appease people who won't watch anyway? 

 

[Egg McMuffin]

On 2/13/2022 at 4:46 PM, LadyIrony said:

I came across the other Waltons board first and wanted to comment on the thread "John Boy Mr Obnoxious or Mr Wonderful". 

I have been watching some eps lately I am in the Obnoxious camp. He is set on becoming a writer which is fine but seems to do little to help around the house/family business. He sells his 10 acres of land to buy a printing press never to get it back! 

The worst is how sanctimonious he is when his siblings do wrong. “You go tell your mama and daddy what you did.” Yet, when the house burned down and he suspected that it was due to his new pipe that he accidentally left lit, he kept his big hypocritical trap shut.

[LadyIrony]

6 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

The worst is how sanctimonious he is when his siblings do wrong. “You go tell your mama and daddy what you did.” Yet, when the house burned down and he suspected that it was due to his new pipe that he accidentally left lit, he kept his big hypocritical trap shut.

I know! He let his grandpa take all the blame for it as his father believed the fire was caused by the heater being left on! It may have been a combination of both but I think it was almost certainly just from his lit pipe. 

 

[Egg McMuffin]

There were other little things too, like calling Ike or Ep or Verdie by their first names when his siblings were not doing so. I bet the neighbors sometimes rolled their eyes or sighed with relief when he left the room.

That said, I think Richard Thomas’ portrayal was spot on.

[Katy M]

4 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

There were other little things too, like calling Ike or Ep or Verdie by their first names when his siblings were not doing so. I bet the neighbors sometimes rolled their eyes or sighed with relief when he left the room.

That said, I think Richard Thomas’ portrayal was spot on.

It was kind of crazy.  He was only a  year older than Jason, yet he was treated as an adult from Season 1, when he was about 16, and Jason was still grouped with "the children" until he graduated.

[LadyIrony]

Just watched the ep on the Hindenburg. For someone who wants to be a writer John Boy really lacks focus. That was a huge event and yet he can't detach from his emotions so he can write the story. He eventually does but if he is going to be traumatized every time he sees something like that than he is going to have a very hard time as a journalist which is what he seems to be aiming for given the newspaper. 

I also laughed when his father was trying to tell him about his experience in WW1 and John Boy just discounts the whole thing because this explosion he saw was so big. I would say an artillery barrage would be bigger. But John Boy knows best. 

And even though his father fixes his printing press, he still was only willing to give him 1/4 page ad for six issues? His father pushed it up to a half page ad for 6 issues knowing his son is a tosser of the highest order.

[andromeda331]

4 hours ago, LadyIrony said:

Just watched the ep on the Hindenburg. For someone who wants to be a writer John Boy really lacks focus. That was a huge event and yet he can't detach from his emotions so he can write the story. He eventually does but if he is going to be traumatized every time he sees something like that than he is going to have a very hard time as a journalist which is what he seems to be aiming for given the newspaper. 

I also laughed when his father was trying to tell him about his experience in WW1 and John Boy just discounts the whole thing because this explosion he saw was so big. I would say an artillery barrage would be bigger. But John Boy knows best. 

And even though his father fixes his printing press, he still was only willing to give him 1/4 page ad for six issues? His father pushed it up to a half page ad for 6 issues knowing his son is a tosser of the highest order.

Yeah, fighting in a war is pretty big experience. 

[Egg McMuffin]

I know this makes me an awful person but I laugh every time the Hindenburg episode comes on because the “special effects” are so primitive and awful. John Boy is standing in front of a very obvious movie screen, with a few burning pieces of paper tossed in front of him. Oh, the humanity!

[LadyIrony]

6 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

I know this makes me an awful person but I laugh every time the Hindenburg episode comes on because the “special effects” are so primitive and awful. John Boy is standing in front of a very obvious movie screen, with a few burning pieces of paper tossed in front of him. Oh, the humanity!

Not to mention he's in colour but what he's watching is black and white. Quite jarring given he's meant to be there.

Edited February 17, 2022 by LadyIrony

[LadyIrony]

Up Season 6 now. Although it is refreshing without John Boy, it is showing the first serious signs of Shark Jumping. The Seashore ep where they go to the beach house. That house looked far too modern for the times and the woman they meet there just didn't seem to fit. 

I thought I would like the WW2 era eps but so far the show is starting to weaken.

[Egg McMuffin]

Season 6 is the last decent season. Even though it’s a clear step down from the first five, there are still episodes that follow the format from the first five seasons: small stories about the family or their neighbors. But you can see the melodrama starting to creep in; there are four two-part episodes, and none of them needed to be double-length; they are overwrought and reminiscent of “Little House”.

The producers also tried to use Jason in the John Boy role (older son helps an outsider with their problem) a few times and it didn’t work at all, because Jon Walmsley wasn’t nearly the actor that Richard Thomas was.

If you think season 6 is showing signs of decline, just wait for season 7! No Grandpa, Mama goes part time, and the melodrama is really amped up.

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

Season 6 is the last decent season. Even though it’s a clear step down from the first five, there are still episodes that follow the format from the first five seasons: small stories about the family or their neighbors. But you can see the melodrama starting to creep in; there are four two-part episodes, and none of them needed to be double-length; they are overwrought and reminiscent of “Little House”.

The producers also tried to use Jason in the John Boy role (older son helps an outsider with their problem) a few times and it didn’t work at all, because Jon Walmsley wasn’t nearly the actor that Richard Thomas was.

If you think season 6 is showing signs of decline, just wait for season 7! No Grandpa, Mama goes part time, and the melodrama is really amped up.

 I also don't know why they aged the kids out of school quite so fast. John Boy graduated after season 2, which was fine, and Jason in 3.  We didn't see Mary Ellen graduate, and I can't remember when she was done school, but I'll jsut say end of season 4, which again would be right.  But, after that it went wonky.  Ben should have graduated at the end of Season 5 and Erin the end of Season 6, but Erin graduated middle of Season 5 and Ben was already done. I assume it was so they could get on with the business of war, but MBM was 15 when Erin graduated.  As a girl she wasn't going to fight in the war anyway.  I just wish they had left her in school a little longer.  It was a family show that was only interested in having adults, I guess.

[Blergh]

11 hours ago, LadyIrony said:

Up Season 6 now. Although it is refreshing without John Boy, it is showing the first serious signs of Shark Jumping. The Seashore ep where they go to the beach house. That house looked far too modern for the times and the woman they meet there just didn't seem to fit. 

I thought I would like the WW2 era eps but so far the show is starting to weaken.

Not to mention, those of us with loved ones from Virginia had to laugh at the thought of Ben being able to drive from the Charlottesville area to Virginia Beach in one shot-  back then one had to take ferries to reach Virginia Beach so the fee could have wiped out his 'impulsive' budget!

[LadyIrony]

3 hours ago, Blergh said:

Not to mention, those of us with loved ones from Virginia had to laugh at the thought of Ben being able to drive from the Charlottesville area to Virginia Beach in one shot-  back then one had to take ferries to reach Virginia Beach so the fee could have wiped out his 'impulsive' budget!

Thanks I never would have picked up on that. The beach house looked so Californian 50’s/60’s that it made me think Gidget was going to turn up! I started thinking they were in California which of course is where the show was filmed.

Speaking of budgets, the Waltons are always crying poor yet seem to have money to do what they want. Both parents are great at giving up jobs that pay well (for the time) and the sons mostly have rather lofty ambitions for work. Asides from the one who is good mechanically.

Erin did well out of not giving it up for poor GW, an acre of land isn’t bad. Still can’t believe John Boy sold 10 acres to buy a printing press which is now rusting in his work room. Continuity isn’t great in this show as I am sure later that season he comments that he is still paying it off?! 

[Katy M]

33 minutes ago, LadyIrony said:

Speaking of budgets, the Waltons are always crying poor yet seem to have money to do what they want. Both parents are great at giving up jobs that pay well (for the time) and the sons mostly have rather lofty ambitions for work. Asides from the one who is good mechanically.

I think they were pretty consistently poor during the earlier seasons.  It makes sense that they were doing much much much much better when the war started. I remember when Jason was graduating, John flat out told him that he would have to come work for the mill because they couldn't afford to send him to school to something as impractical as music.  I can't remember how that resolved itself, but it was an issue. It was always pretty much assumed Ben would go into the family business and Jim Bob always wanted to join the air force. I'm not sure which of the two of them you were considering the mechanical one, but neither of them had ridiculous goals.

I will never understand how John Boy got so spoiled, though.  He did seem to expect the family to sacrifice a lot for his dreams

[Egg McMuffin]

Jason wound up, somewhat conveniently, getting a scholarship for music school. It seems to be there wouldn’t have been a lot of those around even at the tail end of the depression, but so be it.

My favorite spoiled John Boy moment is when Mary Ellen wanted to fix up the shed for herself, and John Boy - who already was the only child with HIS OWN BEDROOM - was complaining that he should have the shed, too.

[LadyIrony]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

I think they were pretty consistently poor during the earlier seasons.  It makes sense that they were doing much much much much better when the war started. I remember when Jason was graduating, John flat out told him that he would have to come work for the mill because they couldn't afford to send him to school to something as impractical as music.  I can't remember how that resolved itself, but it was an issue. It was always pretty much assumed Ben would go into the family business and Jim Bob always wanted to join the air force. I'm not sure which of the two of them you were considering the mechanical one, but neither of them had ridiculous goals.

I will never understand how John Boy got so spoiled, though.  He did seem to expect the family to sacrifice a lot for his dreams

Jim Bob was the mechanical one. He seemed to fit his father's image more than the other older sons. Jason's goals to become a musician was fine but I wonder how practical that really was in their area. Seems to me if he was really serious about that he would have left for some place like Nashville or a bigger city where he could have really explored that. 

It was like he was leaving at home not really helping yet still wanting to become a musician. John Boy was that way too. When he was offered the job for the Hollywood guy he turned it down due to his lofty morals. Seemed silly to me given their money issues and the opportunity itself. 

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, LadyIrony said:

It was like he was leaving at home not really helping yet still wanting to become a musician. John Boy was that way too. When he was offered the job for the Hollywood guy he turned it down due to his lofty morals. Seemed silly to me given their money issues and the opportunity itself. 

Jason worked at the Dew Drop Inn and played with some group on the radio.  I'm sure he pitched his money in to help.  He was way better in that regard than John Boy, IMO.

2 hours ago, Egg McMuffin said:

My favorite spoiled John Boy moment is when Mary Ellen wanted to fix up the shed for herself, and John Boy - who already was the only child with HIS OWN BEDROOM - was complaining that he should have the shed, too.

And he got it.  I think he should have got the shed to live and then Jason or Mary Ellen could have had his room. I don't think he should have had both.

[LadyIrony]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

Jason worked at the Dew Drop Inn and played with some group on the radio.  I'm sure he pitched his money in to help.  He was way better in that regard than John Boy, IMO.

He would have been. As soon as John Boy started looking like he had some promise he left home lol. 

I just always saw that kind of family as all working in the family business which the father seems to have trouble running on his own. Just not my perception of how those families worked but that is just my perception and I realize that The Walton's was created by "John Boy" Earl Hamner, and also it would be a dull show if all the sons just worked at the lumber mill all day. 

[Blergh]

6 hours ago, Katy M said:

I think they were pretty consistently poor during the earlier seasons.  It makes sense that they were doing much much much much better when the war started. I remember when Jason was graduating, John flat out told him that he would have to come work for the mill because they couldn't afford to send him to school to something as impractical as music.  I can't remember how that resolved itself, but it was an issue. It was always pretty much assumed Ben would go into the family business and Jim Bob always wanted to join the air force. I'm not sure which of the two of them you were considering the mechanical one, but neither of them had ridiculous goals.

I will never understand how John Boy got so spoiled, though.  He did seem to expect the family to sacrifice a lot for his dreams

 

7 hours ago, LadyIrony said:

Thanks I never would have picked up on that. The beach house looked so Californian 50’s/60’s that it made me think Gidget was going to turn up! I started thinking they were in California which of course is where the show was filmed.

Speaking of budgets, the Waltons are always crying poor yet seem to have money to do what they want. Both parents are great at giving up jobs that pay well (for the time) and the sons mostly have rather lofty ambitions for work. Asides from the one who is good mechanically.

Erin did well out of not giving it up for poor GW, an acre of land isn’t bad. Still can’t believe John Boy sold 10 acres to buy a printing press which is now rusting in his work room. Continuity isn’t great in this show as I am sure later that season he comments that he is still paying it off?! 

What was especially maddening about the printing press was that, after they had gone to SO much trouble depicting how John-Boy obtained it, put together his newly concocted (weekly?) newspaper 'The Blue Ridge Chronicle', and was evidently its only contributor as well as editor. They had John-Boy get all mushy about leaving his family  when he decided to seek his fortune as a writer in NYC - yet didn't say a word about what the fate of the Chronicle or the printing press was. No, there was no 'Farewell Edition' or anything like that. I think there was  a single throw away line by Ben roughly a year later about them unsure what to do with the press- meaning that John Boy did NOT sell it much less seek anyone else to take over the paper but, for all practical purposes, had left his family a huge pile of junk taking up what little extra space they had when he left home. 

As for Virginia Beach? Like much of the Atlantic coastline from Miami to Massachusetts, it's on the edge of rolling marshes and wetlands with a few dunes but no mountains for many miles inland- unlike California coasts which are mostly hilly with the mountains often edging down to the actual shore itself. 

Edited February 23, 2022 by Blergh

[LadyIrony]

2 hours ago, Blergh said:

What was especially maddening about the printing press was that, after they had gone to SO much trouble depicting how John-Boy obtained it, put together his newly concocted (weekly?) newspaper 'The Blue Ridge Chronicle', and was evidently its only contributor as well as editor. They had John-Boy get all mushy about leaving his family  when he decided to seek his fortune as a writer in NYC - yet didn't say a word about what the fate of the Chronicle or the printing press was. No, there was no 'Farewell Edition' or anything like that. I think there was  a single throw away line by Ben roughly a year later about them unsure what to do with the press- meaning that John Boy did NOT sell it much less seek anyone else to take over the paper but, for all practical purposes, had left his family a huge pile of junk taking up what little extra space they had when he left home. 

As for Virginia Beach? Like much of the Atlantic coastline from Miami to Massachusetts, it's on the edge of rolling marshes and wetlands with a few dunes but no mountains for many miles inland- unlike California coasts which are mostly hilly with the mountains often edging down to the actual shore itself. 

I know! There was one ep where Jason I think it was went into town and replaced a bunch of old papers with the Chronicle. If what he replaced were old Chronicles than not many were interested! I always got the impression everyone was humoring ol John Boy! 

Yeah he left them a pile of junk and with 10 acres less land. I am amazed they forgave him as easily and quickly as they did for selling that land. I guess the family could sell the press as scrap metal. 

His writing always seemed like more of a hobby to me than something serious. Just the way he came across. 

So it sounds like it looks nothing like the perfect beach we saw in that ep!

[LadyIrony]

Season 7 takes on a very Soapie vibe, the camera angles and style. The way they are acting and some of the really cheesy and silly story lines. Interesting watching these old  shows decades later. Obviously ratings are dropping and some of the actors were hoping to be the new star as well as create opportunities elsewhere.                               

Both of the oldest daughters modernize their hairstyles which is also telling. The show doesn't have that old town feel as much anymore. 

It would seem Mary Beth McDonugh saw herself as a sex symbol or was trying to establish herself as one.

[Egg McMuffin]

Have you hit the episode yet where a poltergeist invades the house?