La famille des collines

Ten years ago, I was working in private home healthcare for an elderly woman in her nineties. Every day at three o'clock, she would sit down and watch an episode of this show, which also happened to be what time my breaktime rolled around. I was enthralled with television shows like Breaking Bad and Lost at the time and my initial thought of this wholesome countryside yarn about a large family doing their best to get by was... Well, I just assumed it wouldn't be my cup of tea. But every time I'd sit down with my snack on her afghan-encased sofa, I found myself getting drawn more and more into the show, until one day she insisted I use the entire hour as a break so we could enjoy the episodes together. Her daughter, my boss, wasn't exactly keen on the idea of me being paid to literally watch television for an hour instead of taking a customary twenty-minute break, but her insistence persevered. She was old and lonely and told her daughter that having a guest to watch television with was worth the eight bucks. I worked there for about two and a half years, watching an episode of The Waltons with her everyday up until the day before her passing.

I still tune in once in a blue moon if I happen to catch a rerun, but it's never quite the same. This show opened my mind and broadened my viewing horizons and I couldn't be more thankful. Wild, out of sight action-dramas can be great, and so can terrifying horror flicks, but there's nothing wrong with enjoying something tethered to strong family values. You can learn a lot from this show. Yes, you. Everyone. Give it a chance.

This was one of the most popular series on CBS in the mid-1970's and it is one of the most ironic. This show came one year after CBS's infamous purge of all of its rural comedies. In 1971 hugely popular shows like The Beverly Hillbillies, Mayberry RFD, Green Acres, He Haw and The Ed Sullivan show were all canceled because of the perception that they didn't appeal to urban dwellers or young people. Ironically all these shows were still in the top-10 at the time they were canceled. The next year The Waltons debuted and quickly became one of the most popular shows in the network's history, it even was responsible, in part, for the cancellation of the hugely popular Flip Wilson Show on NBC. I wonder how Fred Silverman, the man responsible for the purge, felt after this show became a hit.

TV Land is showing the series in sequence (for the most part), and I'm enjoying seeing it again, for only the second time. The acting is excellent, as are the production values. The terrible reunion shows of the 90s did not do justice to the series. They "messed" with the chronology, jumping ahead in time, for the sake of historical landmarks, when they should have respected the reality of the series. Granted, the last two seasons were strained, but I am currently viewing Season Six, the first without John-Boy, and it works quite well. Some complain that the series is a 70s version of the 30s/40s, but in 2004, I would not agree. I grew up in Virginia during the 60s, and I definitely feel that the series creators have adequately presented the dignity and attitude of the Southeast. Again, the reunion shows were idiotic. (Did these people never buy new appliances, or pave their driveway? The last reunion, set in 1969, was ridiculous. The characters were ten years younger than they should have been. The youngest child would have been around 41 years old, not 30.)

12/2006 NOTE: The current Walton's home set is NOT the original - just check with the studio.

Richard Thomas, "John Boy", left the series after Season 5. Ellen Corby, "Grandma Walton", suffered a stroke in November 1976, then was not in any further episodes until 1978, and only on a very limited basis because her stroke greatly impaired her ability to speak. The quality of the episodes without the John Boy character nosedived in Season 6, with many contrived storylines and the limited acting ability of the rest of the cast portraying the other six Walton children. Then Will Geer, "Grandpa Zeb Walton", died after Season 6 had been completed. The producers should have called it quits after Episodes 1-2 in Season 7, which were a tribute to Grandpa Walton and Geer, and the storylines continued to get worse. Michael Learned (Olivia Walton), also curtailed her performances on the series, and the writers had to come up with some dubious reasons why she'd be gone for much of the time, then reappear on occasions. The "Jump the Shark" moment came in Season 8 when they introduced not one but two "Cousin Olivers" (the Brady Bunch had just one) and even a fake John Boy! Given Richard Thomas's strong portrayal of John Boy for the first five seasons, the producers should have been smart enough (I know that's expecting a lot) to realize that a Fake John Boy was a terrible idea. The two kids were gone by Season 9, and I don't remember any explanation being given. In Season 9, the writers even came up with a fake Curtis, "resurrecting" Mary Ellen's husband, supposedly lost at Pearl Harbor in Season 7. The associated storyline was equally ludicrous. After that, the producers, who were obviously more concerned with the Bottom Line than program quality, fired Ralph Waite after just a few episodes in Season 9 in order to dump his salary. With the real John Boy, Grandpa, Grandma, Olivia, and now John Sr gone from the cast, , Season 9 was a complete embarrassment.

I can't help but be amazed at the few individuals who feel compelled to give negative reviews to this totally entertaining television show. It's one thing to accurately note that the quality of some specific episodes weren't up to the normally high standard that had been set by the vast majority, but it's a different matter completely when someone who obviously either hasn't watched any episodes, or who is basing their opinion of the entire series on one or two specific episodes, takes the time to run the series down. In virtually every case of someone taking the time to run down "The Waltons", it is obvious from their comments that either they have never seen it, they haven't seen enough of it, or they just "don't get it". "The Waltons" is fictional entertainment based loosely on the Hamner family's experiences during the thirties and forties (framed mostly against the Great Depression and WWII). It was almost never overly sentimental or "soppy" and most who have viewed the series agree that it was generally extremely well acted, written, and produced. There were very few exceptions. My wife and I raised three kids in the seventies and eighties, and "The Waltons" was, and is, universally loved and (still) viewed by all of us. The characters are almost like members of our family... and the love, devotion, and family values displayed on that series, became an integral part of the life lessons we chose to make a high priority in the raising of our own children.

The standards generally set for kids today is worlds away from those of just a generation ago, and it's not hard to see why those who were, and are, being raised without benefit of a strong family ethic might see "The Waltons" as somewhat "simple" and overly sentimental. Thankfully, these people are still in the minority. Most people still "get it" and we are forever grateful to the people who were involved in any way with the production of this wonderful television show for giving all of us a standard to which we might aspire even as society in general continues to degrade and cheapen the concept of a nuclear family at every opportunity.

To those who haven't tried it... I suggest that you do so while it is still available. I'm sure that somewhere some group of "new thinkers" is trying to outlaw shows like "The Waltons" for the very reasons that it became so monumentally popular in the first place. As a country, our standards, morals, and sense of family values is being eroded every day... we parents are very much aware of how hard it is today to instill a sense of right and wrong in our children. "The Waltons" made the "medicine" go down in the easiest and most effective way... as an integral part of an extremely entertaining TV show that everyone in the family could/can view without a worry that the wrong values might be represented in a positive light. I've seen the entire series multiple times (except the "reunion specials) and I've never seen an exception to that statement. Again,I invite the "snobs" out there to take a look... or even a second look... the vast majority knows what I know... that a very pleasant surprise awaits you if you'll just give "The Waltons" a chance.

John Christie

("Thumbs-down TVLand" and "Thumbs-up Hallmark Channel"