Friday, January 30, 2009

I always loved The Waltons.



I really identified with that show. It may have been set in the wrong decade, but it was the right poverty level. And, of course, it was ideal because the people in that home all loved one another. I had longed for a home like that when I was a child. Eleven people lived in the Walton home and only three lived in mine. I guess two out of three isn’t bad.

Here’s a little quiz for you (and looking answers up is cheating):

1. From oldest to youngest, what were the children’s names? The parents? The grandparents? (I’m asking for the character names, although you will earn extra credit if you can name the actors who portrayed the grandparents, the parents, and the first-born son. And you know what that means.)

2. Where is the Walton Family Museum?

3. When Grandma came home from the hospital after her stroke, what were her first words and to whom did she say them?

4. Who played the mother in the pilot episode? In the series?

5. What was the name of the next town over from Walton's Mountain?

6. Name the book that inspired the series. Name its author.

I suppose if you just have to peek, or if you genuinely want to learn more about The Waltons, this place is as good a one to pick as any.

Good night, Jeannelle. Good night, Pat (an Arkansas stamper). Good night, Ruth Hull Chatlien. Good night, Putz. Good night, Dr. John. Good night, Tracie. Good night, Vonda. Good night, Sam. Good night, Yorkshire Pudding. Good night, Ian. Good night, Daphne. Good night, Reamus. Good night, Mary @ Annie’s Goat Hill. Good night,...oh, the heck with it.

8 comments:

  1. Good night, Bob!!! You must have watched a lot of The Waltons episodes. About all I remember is "Good Night, John Boy."

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  2. 1. I'm not sure about the order but here goes: John-Boy, Mary Ellen, Jason, Ben, Erin, Jim-Bob, and . . . oh shoot, who was the little girl? The parents were John and Olivia. Actors: Will Geer, Ellen Corby, Ralph Waite, Michael Lerned, and Richard Thomas.

    2. Dunno
    3. Dunno
    4. Patricia Neal. Michael Lerned.
    5. Forgot.
    6. Spencer's Mountain. Earl Hamner Jr. or something like that.

    Darn, that youngest girl is making me crazy. LIzzie? That doesn't feel quite right.

    I can remember Ike and Cora Beth. I know that Mary Ellen's husband had a bad experience in the war and didn't come back to her. Jason was a musician.

    Oh well, I didn't do too bad, I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Pat - Thanks for commenting! I probably watched every episode!

    Ruth - You have six names correct! But the order is John-Boy, then Jason, then Mary Ellen, Ben, Erin Jim-Bob, and ELIZABETH! Did you know that Ellen Corby was in Oklahoma! (the movie version)? I liked Ike and Cora Beth Godsey too, and the Baldwin sisters. And you're also right about Earl Hamner, Jr. and Spencer's Mountain.

    John Ritter was also in The Waltons as the minister.

    I will let a few more try to answer the remaining questions before I barge back in with the answers.

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  4. Gosh....Ruth knew alot of answers! Wow. Impressive. I watched the Waltons regularly; the faces are still in my mind, but not the names. How do you do it? I don't remember John Ritter as the pastor, though.....I do believe you, I just don't recall him. The same John Ritter who was in Three's Company??

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  5. Jeannelle - Yup, the same John Ritter. In this Wikipedia article he is listed as having played Rev. Matthew Fordwick on The Waltons from 1972 through 1976. In case you didn't know, he is also the son of Tex Ritter, the singing cowboy of an earlier generation, whose unique voice is still heard today at the Country Bear Jamboree attraction at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, when Big Al (Tex) sings that old favorite, "Blood on the Saddle" (sample lyric: "There was blood on the saddle, and blood all around, and a great big puddle of blood on the ground"). It is at that same attraction (CBJ at WDW), coincidentally, where Bubbles, Bonnie, and Beulah sing the immortal "Every Guy That Turns Me On Turns Me Down".

    I got a million of 'em....

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  6. Maybe no one else is going to play. Here are the answers:

    1. The children are John-Boy, Jason, Mary Ellen, Ben, Erin, James Robert (Jim-Bob), and Elizabeth. The parents are John and Olivia. The grandparents are Zebulon (Zeb) and Esther.

    And Ruth named all the actors correctly.

    2. Schuyler, Virginia (the boyhood home of Earl Hamner, Jr.)

    3. She was mute during the entire episode until the very end, when she said to Zeb, as she had said so many times before, "You old fool."

    4. Patricial Neal in the pilot; Michael Lerned in the series.

    5. Rockfish

    6. And Ruth was correct again: Spencer's Mountain by Earl Hamner, Jr.

    Well, I thought the quiz was fun!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I LOVE the Waltons, lots of good memories as my now hubby was courting me then, and would come every Thurs. night to watch Waltons with my mother, even if I wasn't there! Gotta love it. I missed the quiz, but couldn't get my brain around the answers anyway, but I do remember John Ritter on there. Lots and lots of guest stars, too, that got "big" later. You can get all the videos on Netflix, and they are still good.

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  8. Oh I loved that show. It just warmed my heart. Still does. I knew the character names but not the exact order of the kids. But I do remember Granny saying "you old fool". Yes Good night Bob.

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<b>Always true to you, darlin’, in my fashion</b>

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