Show name | The Waltons |
---|---|
Caption | Title screen from Season 1 (early episodes, without Lorimar notice) |
Genre | Family Drama |
Creator | Earl Hamner, Jr. |
Starring | Richard ThomasRalph WaiteMichael LearnedEllen CorbyWill GeerJudy NortonJon WalmsleyMary Elizabeth McDonoughEric ScottDavid W. HarperKami Cotler |
Narrated | Earl Hamner, Jr. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Num seasons | 9 |
Num episodes | 221 + 7 TV movies |
List episodes | List of The Waltons episodes |
Producer | Robert L. JacksAndy WhiteRod PetersonClaylene Jones |
Exec producer | Lee RichEarl Hamner Jr.Rod Peterson |
Camera | Single-camera |
Runtime | 45–48 minutes |
Company | Lorimar ProductionsAmandas Productions |
Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Distribution |
Network | CBS |
First aired | |
Last aired | |
Status | Ended |
The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on the titular family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television movie entitled The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, broadcast in 1971. The show originally aired on CBS from 1972 to 1981. After the series left the air, three television movie sequels were broadcast in 1982, with three more following in the 1990s.The Waltons was produced by Lorimar Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution in syndication.
The series' time frame takes the viewer from 1933 to 1946. The year 1933 is suggested by a brief shot of an automobile registration, and it is divulged in episode 18 that the date is in the spring of 1933. The series finale, The Revel, evolves 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 errors, which ostensibly do not hinder the storyline.
The last episode of season one, An Easter Story, is set in February through April, 1934. The year 1934 takes two seasons to cover, while some successive years are covered in months.
After the series run, six feature-length sequels were made, set from 1947 through 1969 and first airing on holidays between 1982 and 1997.
The last sequel, 1997's A Walton Easter, contains a serious anachronism which contradicts the setting of the series. John and Olivia celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in 1969, which would have placed their marriage in 1929, John-Boy's birth in 1930, and the series' first year when John-Boy was seventeen years old, in 1947, after the Depression and World War II were over.
In the signature scene that closes every episode, the family house is enveloped in darkness, save for a light in an upstairs window. Through voice-overs, two or more characters have a very brief conversation, often humorous and related to the episode, and then bid each other goodnight (e.g., "Goodnight, Mary Ellen." "Goodnight, John-Boy.")
After completing high school, John-Boy attends fictional Boatwright University in Westham, Virginia, which is also fictional. He later goes to New York City to work as a journalist. Richard Thomas, the original actor to play John-Boy, left the series in 1976 to seek other roles; his farewell episode aired March 17, 1977. He would make some guest appearances before the role was recast with actor Robert Wightman.
During the latter half of the 1976-77 season, Grandma Esther Walton suffers a stroke (reflecting actress Ellen Corby's own stroke and absence from the program), returning home shortly before the death of her husband, Grandpa Zeb Walton (reflecting actor Will Geer's death during the 1978 summer hiatus), and continuing to deal with her diminished ability to move and speak.
During the last five years of the series, Mary Ellen and Ben marry and begin having families of their own (Erin, Jason and John Boy are married in later television movies).
World War II deeply affects the family. All four of the 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 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 (reflecting actress Michael Learned's reduced involvement), eventually developing tuberculosis and entering an Arizona sanitarium. Olivia's cousin, Rose Burton (Peggy Rea), moves into the Walton house to watch over the brood. Two years later, John, Sr., moves to Arizona to be near Olivia, marking the departure of Ralph Waite from the cast. In 1981, the writers anticipated season 10 without the paternal John Sr. and created a de facto dad by wedding Cousin Rose to her salesman beau (played by William Schallert). Nonetheless, with five of the original actors gone, the series was not renewed for another season.
The following is a brief summary of the central recurring characters. See the main article for a more complete list.
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 east of Schuyler.
DVD Name | Ep # | ||
! Region 1 | ! Region 2 (UK) | ||
The Homecoming - A Christmas Story | September 23, 2003 | N/A | |
The Complete 1st Season | May 11, 2004 | November 1, 2004 | |
The Complete 2nd Season | April 26, 2005 | July 3, 2006 | |
The Complete 3rd Season | April 25, 2006 | September 11, 2006 | |
The Complete 4th Season | January 23, 2007 | March 5, 2007 | |
The Complete 5th Season | May 8, 2007 | N/A | |
The Complete 6th Season | January 8, 2008 | N/A | |
The Complete 7th Season | April 29, 2008 | N/A | |
The Complete 8th Season | January 6, 2009 | N/A | |
The Complete 9th Season | April 28, 2009 | N/A | |
TV Movie Collection (not including the original movie) | January 26, 2010 | N/A |
The series also earned a Peabody Award for its first season.
Category:1972 television series debuts Category:1981 television series endings Category:1970s American television series Category:1980s American television series Category:American drama television series Category:Best Drama Series Golden Globe winners Category:CBS network shows Category:Emmy Award winning programs Category:English-language television series Category:Fictional families Category:Fictional characters from Virginia Category:Peabody Award winning television programs Category:Period television series Category:Television programs based on novels Category:Television series by Warner Bros. Television Category:Television shows set in Virginia
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