Does anyone else find it strange that they brought in another John Boy toward the end of the run of "The Waltons"??? I could never get used to him.

I did. I never liked him either. He was not Richard Thomas. Richard is John Boy! :D

What? What's this?? I've NEVER heard about this. Share some facts!

Robert Wightman played the 2nd John-Boy from 1979-81.

http://imdb.com/name/nm0927847/

It's funny that so few people remember John-Boy II, because he appeared in quite a few episodes. I guess people really weren't watching those last few years. He appeared in three episodes during the eighth season (during one of those, he was in a coma and didn't say a word) and was then a semi-regular during the ninth and final season. He also appeared in "A Day for Thanks on Walton's Mountain" in 1982.

I have always thought it was strange that such a vital role was recast as well. Richard Thomas was so distinctive as John-Boy and while Robert Wightman did as well as could be expected, it was a pretty thankless job. That said, the show had lost Thomas, Michael Learned, Will Geer, and Ellen Corby (and Ralph Waite left in the middle of the final season as well). And the fact was: the actors playing the other Walton children, while perfectly fine in supporting roles when they were younger, were not particularly natural in their roles as they grew up, and certainly couldn't carry the series. My guess is that the producers gradually phased in Wightman with the hope that he would catch on and the show could then revolve again around John-Boy. Didn't happen, though.

The episodes during the final couple seasons were terrible, IMO, anyway. That's what they are showing currently on TVLand at 6AM. Anyway, I agree that Richard Thomas WAS John-Boy. It's funny to think about recasting an important role like that but they did it on Bewitched, for example, with many cast changes (e.g., Darren, Mrs. Kravitz, Mrs. Tate, etc.).

Signed,
Respectfully,
Dutch

What's so weird about it is when Richard Thomas played him, John Boy was the central character. When the other guy played him, he was only a minor character.

Another wierd thing about is that Robert Wightman and Richard Thomas don't look anything like each other. How could they be playing the same character? Reminds me of when they recast the role of Chris Partridge on the Partridge Family. The second Chris (Brian Forster) looked nothing like the original Chris (Jeremy Gelbwaks). Go figure!:confused:

What's so weird about it is when Richard Thomas played him, John Boy was the central character. When the other guy played him, he was only a minor character.
At what season did (Richard Thomas) John boy leave the show?

At what season did http://www.poster.net/thomas-richard/thomas-richard-photo-richard-thomas-6200518.jpg (Richard Thomas) John boy leave the show?
He left at the end of the fifth season although I believe he made a few guest appearances during the 6th.

Robert Wightman just didn't have Richard Thomas's charm and sincerity, (and of course he didn't have the distinctive mole that was so endearing on John Boy 1).

Wow, that's interesting! I never watched the show much, but I can't imagine someone else playing John-Boy!:confused:

Andrea