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My Home Page on
The Waltons
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Note: Portions
of this section are from my news entry on
July 16, 2001,
describing my 2001 visit to Schuyler, Virginia. Three
years later, that
visit inspired me to create this section of my website,
devoted to The Waltons. |
It's probably hard for you to believe, but I was actually young once. Back in those days (I'm talking here
about the 1970s), The Waltons was my favorite television show.
In fact, I think it was one
of the best television programs ever produced. Yeah, I know, guys
aren't supposed to like The Waltons -- or at least they're not supposed
to admit that they like The Waltons. But what the
heck, I've never done all those things that I'm "supposed" to do, like get
married, have a family, and not quit a good job to go traveling for a few
years. Yep, I'm a Waltons fan and I'm darn proud of it.
Now, I couldn't write a 400-page website without honoring my favorite
television show, so I decided to create this section devoted to The Waltons.
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Above: The Waltons (left to right):
Front:
Elizabeth, John, Olivia, John-Boy, and Mary Ellen.
Rear: Jason, Grandma, Ben, Jim Bob. Grandpa and Erin aren't shown. |
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In case you lived in a
cave during the 1970s or, perhaps more likely, weren't even born yet, The Waltons
was a much-beloved, critically-acclaimed, and top-rated television series that
ran on CBS from 1972 until 1981. The show was about a poor-but-contented family, headed by John and Olivia Walton, who lived in the foothills of the
Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The family-oriented series centered on John and Olivia's oldest son, John-Boy, who, during
the show, grew up to become a writer. The other key cast members included John's
parents (Grandma and Grandpa) and John and Olivia's six other mostly-red-headed
kids: Jason, Mary Ellen, Erin, Ben, Jim Bob, and Elizabeth. Living
in rural Virginia, they all spoke with a slight drawl which, oddly enough,
disappeared after the first few episodes.
The Waltons
was a semi-autobiographical story created by writer Earl Hamner, the
"John-Boy" character portrayed in the series. Earl had grown up in a
large family during the Depression in the small town of Schuyler, Virginia
and wrote several books about his real-life experiences, including
Spencer's Mountain and The Homecoming. In 1971, The
Homecoming was developed into a highly-acclaimed made-for-TV movie and
it was expanded the next year into a CBS series called The Waltons.
The overriding theme of the
The Waltons is that family
bonds and personal relationships are more important than money and possessions,
and each episode stressed the homespun values of compassion,
resourcefulness, heritage, simplicity and
perseverance. Of course, those values are unfortunately becoming rare in
today's increasingly materialistic society, which is I why I believe
The Waltons will and should become a permanent reminder of the way our
lives should be lived.
The Walton's Eternal Message
I was fortunate
to have grown up in a stable household with two parents who were both wonderful
role models. Nevertheless, and although I didn't realize it at the
time, watching The Waltons when I was young helped to cement the
positive values that I'd been raised with, values like honesty, hard work,
and judging people not based on how much money they had, but rather on
their character and integrity. With recent surveys showing that most American
high school students cheat on tests, perhaps we could use more shows now
like The Waltons and fewer shows like The Osbornes or
Jersey Shore.
It's been 30
years since I've seen The Waltons, but I recently started watching
reruns of it on the Hallmark Channel. From watching the reruns, I
realized what a positive impact the show had on my life, both in the abstract,
like not judging others based on their wealth, and in
specific, simple things, like wanting to play the harmonica when I was
younger (I was terrible, not anywhere near as good as Jason) and always wanting to date a woman named Jenny (as in
John-Boy's "Jenny" from episode #17, "The Love Story" -- I never got my wish, by the
way).
Yes, The Waltons looks a bit dated now, but its message
about family harmony is timeless. To honor the
show and to promote its eternal message, I've dedicated this
section of my website to celebrate The Waltons. I hope you like
it.
And if your name
happens to be Jenny, drop me a line...
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Here's
The Waltons theme song.
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And here's a Waltons
"Good Night" with Earl Hamner talking about his
grandparents. It's from episode #38, The Bequest.
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