Mother's Day on Walton's Mountain

This entry is much stronger than the previous one (A Wedding).

Here the issues have more gravitas. Mary-Ellen's plight is quite heart wrenching, and it is nice to see Michael Learned as Olivia, returning to the fold after quitting the series.

Most of the young actors grew up in their craft, and matured into their screen persona. I enjoy re-watching these movies to see them stretch a little before retiring into private lives. It is sad that none of them managed to sustain their careers in later years.

There is a common sense attitude to these characters that is refreshing in the 21st century. A reminder that there was good television writing before HBO, uncluttered by gratuitous sex and violence.

Those of us who grew up watching the series will always be happy that the network invested in bringing it back in these TV movies. It gave us a glimpse of the post WWII years, as the children grew up and founded their own families.

This, like the 1990s trilogy, has Hamner and the other scriptwriters abandoning what they presented during the series.

In a very early episode, the narrator concludes the story with the voice over: "Mary Ellen is now living in Richmond. She married a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and has two children." It seems continuity was sacrificed on the altar of making another film. As if Hamner needed the money/