The Waltons, part II

Back in June of 2024 I wrote about The Waltons TV series for the first time, “Part I” if you will, after having “discovered” some wholesome TV, like when we seniors were kids. Well, we’re still watching and enjoying the series, including last night when we watched episode 11 of season 2. Let me tell you about it.

But first, let me tell you another aspect of why we’ve been watching the series: because it fills a void in the heart of one of my sons. Twenty three years ago we adopted a nine year old boy from a Russian orphanage in Siberia where it was -27 degrees when we were there to get him in early December, 2002! 

He spent his first nine years in that orphanage and of course, missed the kind of early family life that most of us grew up with. So, the series has not just been for the seniors in our household, it’s been for him as well. We all enjoy it equally.

Of course, the primary reason we watch it is because it’s wholesome TV, like we grew up with back in the 50s and early 60s. If you’ve never watched it or it’s been a long time, let me refresh you a bit on what I’m talking about.

The series was based on the television film “The Homecoming: A Christmas Story” that was broadcast on Dec. 19, 1971. The main story is set in Walton’s Mountain, a fictional mountain community in fictitious Jefferson County, Virginia. The real place upon which the stories are based is the community of Schuyler in Nelson County, Virginia. 

The time period is from 1933 to 1946, during the Great Depression and World War II, during the presidential administrations of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman.  

All the episodes are about the family of John Walton Jr. (known as John-Boy), his six siblings, his parents John and Olivia Walton, and paternal grandparents Zebulon “Zeb” and Esther Walton. John-Boy is the first of the seven children (15 years old in The Homecoming; 17 at the beginning of the series), who becomes a journalist and novelist. 

Each episode is narrated at the opening and closing by a middle-aged John Jr. (voiced by author Earl Hamner on whom John-Boy is based). John Sr., who quit his city job after the traumatic events in the pilot episode, manages to eke out a living for his family by operating a home lumber mill with the help of his sons as they grow older.

All of the plots revolve around this setting and these characters, but I’m not going to tell you anymore than that, lest I spoil it for you if you choose to watch.

I can tell you this though: after two seasons and eleven episodes we have, without exception, looked at each other with the wonderful satisfaction that in the end good wins over evil and without having had our eyes and ears assaulted with scenes and language that seem to be so prevalent in most contemporary TV. 

In fact, we were reminded of that peril Saturday night as we watched game seven of The World Series with its commercial trailers for contemporary TV shows.

The whole Walton series is available without charge on Amazon Prime Video, although there are some commercials to put up with so you need to be prepared for that.

And if all this sounds “old fashioned” to you… Thanks! I don’t mind wearing that badge at all!

Thanks for reading All About Seniors, see you next week!

Bill Milby is a Director of Visiting Angels® of Central Georgia, a non-medical, living assistance service for seniors. If you have questions or comments about this column you can reach him at william.mercylink@gmail.com or search for us at  facebook.com/VisitingAngelsofCentralGA