I kind of prefer the war years of the Walton's the reason I like them is that you got to see the other Walton's in the family act it seemed like the early years it was only JohnBoy in all the stories and the others where background. I like the Pearl Harbor episode and what about the one called Obsession where MaryEllen was hooked on drugs then there was the one with Verdie and the Family Tree trying to find her ancestry also the one where Miss Emily thought the original Ashley Longworth came back to her but it was the son she kind of went crazy.

I really like the first five seasons. The stories were simpler, and the show wasn't nearly as melodramatic. Also, it was a little grittier than the later years -- Olivia and Grandma were bible-thumpers who disapproved of the Baldwins, Yancy, etc (Livvie in particular mellowed out as the years went on). The Walton men imbibed in The Recipe fairly frequently. And we got to see people like the gypsies and the bad-seed cousins.

When they got to the war, the show was already dealing with all kinds of crippling cast changes (John Boy gone, Grandma absent due to illnees, Grandpa passing away, Olivia coming and going). And I thought the episodes where they tried to be relevant (Livvie goes through menopause, Mary Ellen is addicted to painkillers, Corabeth is an alcoholic) were too soap opera-like. Grandma came back, but with the exception of an episode or two, she was no longer her feisty self; I didn't think it was necessary to soften her character so much just because of her stroke. And Olivia's final departure really was the death knell for the show. It made sense for John-Boy to leave and even for the grandparents to be absent, but Olivia's departure was just so contrived -- it made no sense for her to leave the mountain.

The John Boy years. Things got very unbelievable in the latter shows. Like, the lame reason that was given for Olivia's absence! She went off and left her familly to work with the Red Cross?????????????:rolleyes: No, the earlier Olivia would no sooner leave her family than to die. It was totally out of character and I for one didn't like it! :angryfire Give me a break!:rolleyes:

The earlier years were the best. Grandpa was a hoot. The later seasons were watchable as well until Rose and her grandchildren moved into the house. They were kind of unneccessary.

Originally posted by hawaii five-o
The earlier years were the best. Grandpa was a hoot.
I think both Grandma and Grandpa were awesome. He was very funny, and she was always making some smart-ass remark about him. I love the fire episode where they move into the boarding house, and one of the lady boarders says to Esther, "Mrs. Walton, you must wear yourself out with laughter listening to Zeb." Esther replies, "You're partially right. Listening to the same stories over and over again does become wearing after awhile." I've heard some of the cast members say that Will Geer and Ellen Corby had a similar back-and-forth in real life.

Wait... Why did Olivia leave? I thought she got sick.

Originally posted by jayman75
Wait... Why did Olivia leave? I thought she got sick.


The first time that she left she was supposed to be in a sanitorium recovering from TB. It was in the last shows when she made guest appearances and she not being home was because she was in Washinton DC or somewhere helping with the war effort by working in the Red Cross. (while deserting her family,yeah, right!):rolleyes:
It would have been more believable to have killed her off.Writers!:rolleyes:

The last year of Michael Learned's contract was spread over two seasons, so she appeared in the first half of the 7th season, and in the first 10 episodes of season 8 (she was always billed in the opening credits, never as a guest star). When Olivia was first written out, in the second half of the 7th season, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She went to a sanitorium in another part of Virginia, near her Aunt Kate, to recuperate. This happened in the episode "The Parting".

As the eighth season began, Olivia arrived back on the mountain, recovered from her TB. Towards the end of this 10-episode run, John-Boy, who had been missing in the war, turned up critically injured in a Washington, D.C. hospital. Olivia decided to go to work for the Red Cross in Washington, so John-Boy would have a family member close by as he recovered. Michael Learned did not make any further appearances in the series after this. Even after John-Boy's recovery, Olivia remained in Washington with her Red Cross duties.

In the middle of the ninth season, the war came to an end. Ben, who had just gotten back from the South Pacific, went with Cindy to Washington to visit his mother, and when they got back, they told John that Olivia seemed tired and run down. John went to Washington to visit her and when he came back, he reported that Olivia had had a relapse of her TB, and that he was taking her to Arizona to recuperate (the dry air being better for her lungs). This was how Ralph Waite was written out as well. Both of these visits happened off-camera, since Michael Learned had not appeared on the series in over a year.

Michael Learned did make a brief appearance in one of the NBC movies from 1982. These stories took place in 1947, two years after the war ended. The movie in which she appeared had Olivia still recovering in Arizona (she must have had the world's most tenacious case of TB), and Mary Ellen going to visit her. And, of course, Olivia was back full-time for all the CBS reunions in the 1990s.

I liked the early seasons better than the late seasons. Just as in my family, and most people's families, the Walton family grew apart as they grew older. Everyone, to one degree or another, went their own way. That in itself was disconcerting to watch on the Waltons, as well as in real life.

I enjoyed having the three generations of Waltons living under one roof and sharing their lives on a daily, everyday basis. In the later years we were taken all over the countryside trying to keep up with what was happening to whomever. I lost interest after awhile. I no longer related to their hopes and fears that were put before us each week -- or each day in the case of watching reruns, lol.

I was touched by a lot of the early shows. The emotions and the plots and themes, and morals to the stories were, I felt, realistic. I could relate to what they were all going through.

I love the john boy years the best. Because all the waltons were on.

Originally posted by mommy2simon
I love the john boy years the best. Because all the waltons were on. I agree. The show wasn't the same after John Boy left. I didn't like the actor who replaced Richard Thomas in the later seasons. Also Grandpa and Grandma weren't in it and I liked them.

Originally posted by hawaii five-o
The earlier years were the best. Grandpa was a hoot. The later seasons were watchable as well until Rose and her grandchildren moved into the house. They were kind of unneccessary.

I agree totally. Cousin Oliver deserved being on The Brady Bunch far more than Rose and her grandchildren did being on The Waltons.

OK, I might have been too harsh. If Rose and her grandchildren had been on for an episode or two (granted, the episode where Jeff was always getting into trouble and we found out that his father always beat him across the back with a belt was touching!), it would have been all right, but any more is overstaying their welcome in my book.

I love the john boy years the best. Because all the waltons were on.
I realize that this is an old post but I'd have to say 'the Johnboy years'. Even though I haven't yet seen all of the remaining seasons 4-9. I have though seen some others like 'The Best Christmas', 'The Rebellion', 'The FireStorm', 'The Baptist',(these I saw when TVland was still airing The Waltons').