The Waltons

Was also a rock band from the Isle Of Wight, see The Waltons (IOW)

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The Waltons was an American television series about a family living at Walton's Mountain in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the state of Virginia. The show ran on CBS from 1972 to 1981.

Related Topics:
American - Television series - Walton's Mountain - Blue Ridge Mountains - State - Virginia - CBS - 1972 - 1981

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The family, consisting of Olivia and John Walton and their seven children, as well as John's aging parents, Ester and Zeb (who live with the family), struggles to live a decent life during the Great Depression and the Second World War (roughly from the early 1930s to the mid-1940s in the continuity of the series). The audience follows this family's existence through the eyes of John-Boy, the eldest son and an aspiring novelist. The signature scene that closed each episode conveyed the warm, wholesome family values that the show promoted. The viewer sees the family house draped in darkness, save for one light in an upstairs window. Through voice-overs, each character bids the other good-night: "Good night, Mary-Ellen." "Good night, Jim-Bob." "Good night, Elizabeth." "Good night, Ben," etc., until the last good-night from Pa Walton to his son: "Good night, John-Boy." "Good night, Pa" -- and the last light in the house (that of the aspiring writer) clicks off.

Related Topics:
Great Depression - Second World War - 1930s - 1940s - Voice-over

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The series started with an episode featuring a deaf girl that was seemingly abandoned at the Waltons' home. More stories with a message of social value followed.

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The Waltons were always low on money. On occasion this caused John Walton Sr. to work extremely hard until he collapsed. At another time he took up a part-time job in an office; however, the harsh conditions did not agree with him and he soon quit the job.

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Occasionally, the Waltons would make the acquaintance of people who had a very different view of the world. They encounter gypsies, a group of acrobats from a circus and an actress who is absolutely broke. Another connection to the world outside Walton's Mountain is John-Boy who first attends (the fictional) Boatwright College (most likely modeled after The University of Richmond where Earl Hamner attended) and later goes to New York to work as a journalist.

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The Waltons were always helpful. For example, the day they celebrated getting out of debt, they discovered that local merchant Ike Godsey had been cheated when he bought a number of refrigerators which did not work. They helped him by taking out another loan.

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Alcohol was also an issue on the show. The women, most notably Olivia and Esther, were very strictly against it, but the men, most notably Zeb, would sometimes visit the Baldwin sisters who brewed their late father's wonderful "recipe" (which was, in fact, whiskey).

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For a while Esther Walton, the clan's grandmother, was not seen on the series due to the stroke which actress Ellen Corby suffered (which was also written into the storyline). However, Esther returned from the hospital after a while, just before her husband Zeb died (in 1941 in the continuity of the series) due to the death of Will Geer. Esther has a very hard time getting over it. Subsequent episodes featured the character dealing with her diminished ability to move and speak.

Related Topics:
Ellen Corby - Will Geer

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World War II deeply influenced the family. Mary-Ellen's husband Curtis Willard, a physician, is called up. He is sent to Pearl Harbor where he dies during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. Several of the younger Waltons enlisted in the military.

Related Topics:
World War II - Japanese attack - December 7 - 1941

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The show was created by Earl Hamner Jr., after his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara. After a long television run, some additional made-for-TV movies aired in the 1990s showing the Walton children's own children as well as most of the surviving stars of the original show.

Related Topics:
Earl Hamner Jr. - Spencer's Mountain - Henry Fonda - Maureen O'Hara - TV movies - 1990s

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In the German dubbing version, the name of Zebulon "Zeb" Walton was changed to Samuel "Sam" Walton. The television network ZDF which first aired The Waltons in Germany was worried that the name "Zeb" could be mistaken with "Sepp" which is a Bavarian short form of the name Joseph and could be seen as being cliché. Also, a few minutes were cut from each episode in the German version so that the show would fit into its designated time slot.

Related Topics:
German - ZDF - Bavarian

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In 2004, the first season of The Waltons was issued on DVD, followed by the second season in April 2005.

Related Topics:
2004 - DVD - 2005

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