The roots of Earl Hamner, Jr.'s seminal generational drama, The Waltons, would begin with the 1963 adaptation of his book, Spencer's Mountain, into a feature film by the same name. Eight years later, CBS & Lorimar Television presented the TV-movie, "The Homecoming: A Christmas Story", which served as the pilot for the series, with Andrew Duggan, Patricia Neal, & Edgar Bergen, the latter in a rare role without Charlie McCarthy by his side. The parts were recast for the regular series with Ralph Waite, Michael Learned, & Will Geer, respectively.
The Waltons aired for 9 seasons (1972-81), the story told through the eyes of John Walton, Jr., aka John-Boy (Richard Thomas), based on Hamner, who served as the show's narrator as well as executive producer. Jon Walmsley (Jason) enjoyed a brief musical career spinning out of the series, leading to an appearance in my area at the annual Cerebral Palsy telethon one year. What historians might not know is how a supporting player would later become a superstar after leaving the series.
That would be John Ritter, who made his debut as Rev. Borthwick in the 7th episode, "The Sinner". Ritter became a recurring player until leaving for what would be his big break on Three's Company. Geer passed away during the show's run, and his role as Zeb Walton was not recast. Rather, Zeb had passed on as well. Ellen Corby (Esther) suffered a stroke and was gradually written out.
There were six TV-movies during the 80's & 90's that brought the remainder of the cast back together. INSP has the rights to those films, and is one of the cablers carrying the series proper.
Here's the intro for the first season:
Rating: A.
Grandma Walton was brought back sometime after recovering from the stroke. She was still very limited in movement but it was portrayed realistically. I remember a rather heartbreaking scene in which she was determined to sweep the front porch using her one good arm.
ReplyDeleteJohn Ritter was still making the rounds as a guest star during this time, I remember seeing him in an early episode of M*A*S*H as well. A talent taken far too soon - and as far as I know, a real class act.
That's why Ritter was a "recurring" player, not a regular, allowing him to do other shows, such as M*A*S*H & Streets of San Francisco, the latter of which likely got ABC's attention.
ReplyDeleteIn that episode The Sinner, I think the Rev got drunk from drinking too much of "the recipe".
ReplyDeleteMust've mistaken it for spring water that should've been used for "holy water"......
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