Is This When The Waltons Jumped The Shark?

[TMC]

“The Waltons”

"The Waltons" was very well-written and acted in the first five seasons with good set design and stories. It was not depressing or tragic like LHOP was. It started to falter, through no fault of its own, when Ellen Corby had a stroke and, through a fault of its own, when Mary Ellen got married. The final WW2 seasons were nowhere near as compelling as the Depression era, mainly because of the departure of so many cast members one by one. At least they didn't replace Grandma like they did with John Boy. What were they thinking?

by Anonymous reply 125 March 18, 2026 10:29 PM

[biffbronson]

Quoting the comment by anonymous:

"At least they didn't replace Grandma like they did with John Boy. What were they thinking?"

If Richard Thomas was unwilling to reprise his role, what other option did the producers have? Kill the character off? Just what? Likely they were "thinking" they needed to advance the narrative, and if a replacement for Thomas in a very limited capacity was the only way to do that, so be it...!

[Tankeryanker]

Originally Posted by biffbronson

Quoting the comment by anonymous:

"At least they didn't replace Grandma like they did with John Boy. What were they thinking?"

If Richard Thomas was unwilling to reprise his role, what other option did the producers have? Kill the character off? Just what? Likely they were "thinking" they needed to advance the narrative, and if a replacement for Thomas in a very limited capacity was the only way to do that, so be it...!

It would have been better if they had kept him "off screen" like they did Nile's wife on Frasier. I don't think we ever saw her.