Hi there everyone,

I hope you've all had a good week and are enjoying visiting The Waltons at their new home on TNN. From what I hear the screenings are going very well. I see that they began with The Hunt. Does anyone know if they have the rights to the specials as well? I have a lot of people asking me about those ones.

After commenting that we had few people writing about Grandpa last week, a few of you did just that and I'm pleased to have these letters to include in this digest. I have managed to watch a couple of episodes during the week and there were some wonderful "Grandpa" moments. One really nice one was in "The Gift" where Grandpa is talking to Jason about Seth's imminent death, and helping him to try to accept it. His speech is just lovely, and at the end he hugs Jason and says that it is not as easy to comfort him now that he is bigger, as when he was small. How right he is! As he walks out of Jason's room we can see him just brushing a tear away.

Another episode I was watching was "The Quilting", always a favourite of mine. When Grandpa discovers that the quilting is going to be on for Mary Ellen he organises the menfolk to have a game of snooker (or billiards, I'm never quite sure which) and of course, he offers to bring the "refreshments". Off he goes to see the Baldwin sisters, armed with a box of their favourite chocolates. In exchange, of course, he hopes that they will give him some of the recipe. Just watch his face fall when Miss Mamie comes out with a jar of it, only to forget that she meant to give it to him, and goes to return it to the other room. In the same episode we see him putting the recipe carefully on a shelf in the shed, and out he goes, doing a little dance in anticipation of his afternoon with the men. A bit later on though his yearning turns to dismay when he discovers that the recipe has accidentally been used by Ben as turpentine, and Ben has refilled the jar with turpentine! He mentions that he thought the chairs which Ben had been finishing "had a kind of a special glow about them"!

Will Geer made Grandpa loveable, caring, friendly, stern when necessary and a wholly believable person. A Grandpa any person would be proud to have. An old man who had obviously been through a lot in his life, but was satisfied with his family and himself, and what he had achieved and done with his life. Above all he always seemed fun to be around and cared very deeply about Esther and the rest of his kinfolk. Grandpa made a wonderful patriarch for the Walton family...a credit to the writers and directors of the show, and above all, to that magical actor, Will Geer.

Goodnight Grandpa, goodnight everyone,

Karen.

Karen,

You mentioned in your digest that you were saddened that no one responded very much about Grandpas death or the anniversary of it. I just find it very painful to remember. You see to a lot of us he was the Grandfather we never really had and when he died we lost our Grandfathers too. So it saddens us to remember. By the way i like the trivia questions i can answer most all of them. There is not much about the Waltons that I don't know.

Take Care and keep writing

Scott Vestal

North Carolina USA

KAREN'S COMMENT: I do take your point Scott, and everyone remembers in different ways. I think that it is good to remember all the things that we loved about him as a way of celebrating his anniversary. He was special to a lot of us then, and I daresay that we all have a special place reserved for him in our hearts. I think it's nice that he is gone, but not forgotten by so many whose lives his acting and portrayals touched.

Hello Everyone,

I meant to write a letter last week about Grandpa, but with final exams coming up in a week I got distracted and forgot! I will certainly be happy when I'm through with classes and can work exclusively on my research.

I think my favorite image of Will Geer has to be his laugh. I can be in the worst mood but a laugh from Grandpa can leave me with a smile. It's so jolly and contagious. I also loved his sense of humor and his gentlemanly nature. His relationship and respect for nature and animals is exquisite, reminding us about what's important in life.

I too love his relationship with Grandma and doubt there has been better chemistry between two people (Will Geer and Ellen Corby) in TV history. (She reminds me of my own Gram whom I miss very much.)

I think his stature is part of his charm. Tall and sturdy like an old oak, yet soft and huggable like a teddy bear. I just want to hug him!

Through his charm, gentility, and appreciation of nature (the land and the ladies!), he is a lot like my Great-grandfather, "Granddaddy". Unfortunately I don't remember very much about him but, like Grandpa Walton, he too was loved by everyone around him. (Actually thinking about it now, I think he died in 1978 also.)

Goodnight Everyone,

Larissa

KAREN'S COMMENT: You are so right Larissa, I want to hug him too. He does seem to have been a very tall strong man...I'm often surprised by how tall he seems on TV. He just about dwarfs Ellen Corby. It would be interesting to hear how she got along with him.

Hi list!

Two quick items:

First, yesterday, April 26, was Lynn Hamilton's Birthday. I heard this on the radio and when they announced it, they said she played "Donna" on Sanford and Son. Although I'm a big Sanford and Son fan, I always forget that "Verdie" from the Waltons and "Donna" from Sanford and Son are one and the same person! Their characters are similar in some ways, but different in others and I always miss any connection. I guess that's a sure sign of a really good actor. I also like the way the Waltons show dealt with the issue of race. They were usually very up front about the inequality existing in those times. We can't forget that, although they were the "good ol' days" for some, they were rife with tension for others. I think the show points this out in a very compelling way, yet not "in your face." Although the Walton family is very close to Verdie and her family, we are constantly reminded that they are hamstrung in their relationship because of "the way things are about those sorts of things." Here's to a nice job of handling a sensitive issue by the producers and a Happy Birthday to a fine actress who added new dimensions to the show! (By the way, the broadcast I heard didn't mention her age -- a true lady!)

Second (and I rambled too long on the first), let's not be TOO hard on the Family Channel. I guess they did edit some episodes and chose not to air certain others, but without FAM, we would not have seen the shows at all over the past few years. I also think they've done an excellent job promoting the show and filming and adding new introductory segments with Earl Hamner, Michael Learned, and others. So, here's to the Family Channel for bringing the Waltons back to all of us and, for the most part, doing a fine job.

That's all!

G'nite everybody,

Marty.

KAREN'S COMMENT: Thanks for the reminder about Lynn Hamilton's birthday. She made Verdie a wonderful character. I also watched The Scholar this week and was struck by the pride which she gave to Verdie. She would have had a hard life bringing up her five children with no husband.

Good evening Karen!

I just finished watching the first episode to air on TNN this evening, "The Hunt". I noticed a couple of things that struck me as odd. John referred to his father as "Papa" in a conversation with John Boy. I thought he always called him "Pa". Also, they called Reckless a boy, but doesn't Reckless give birth to puppies in a later episode? Maybe I'm mistaken.

One other thing - John calls John Boy "Sprocket" in this episode, and said it was a nickname given to John Boy as a baby by Charles Snead. Funny, but I've never heard it used again in any other episode! Has anybody else ever heard it?

My prayers go out for Arthur - I know going to the hospital isn't fun. My husband Doug has had eleven surgeries in the past four years, to try and repair broken bones from a car accident. He had finally gotten a bone in his leg to heal last July, only to fall at work again this January and break it in another spot. This Thursday he undergoes what we hope will be his last operation. Then in few weeks, I will be having my gall bladder removed, but that will be minor compared with Arthur having his heart worked on!

One last note - I ordered a copy of the Walton's special from WVPT, but haven't received it yet. I'll let you know what I think soon after viewing it. Have you ordered a copy? I didn't want to wait until if and when it was aired on our local PBS station.

Thanks again for all your work putting the digests together.

Good night,

Robin

KAREN'S COMMENT: Apart from this episode, I haven't heard of John Boy being called Sprockett either. I hadn't noticed "Papa" though...I'll have to watch it again and find it. I did feel that this episode may have been a bit "stiff" so to speak though. As if the actors were all still finding their feet.

I haven't ordered a copy yet. Perhaps there was more demand than they had thought for the video. Could you email and find out? I would think that about 28 days or so would be a reasonable waiting time.

Hi Karen,

I haven't seen any other Waltons interviews on TNN yet, but I will keep an eye out for them.

I forgot to mention that the actress who played Verdie, had a role on Sanford and Son... she played Fred Sanford's girlfriend in the series.

Do you know if anyone has any information about Robert Wightman?

Thank you Karen! Have a good week.

Silvia

KAREN'S COMMENT: I'll see what I can find out about Robert Wightman for next week Silvia.

Hi, Karen,

I've enjoyed reading your Waltons Digests, and think you're doing a great job.

Today, I watched an episode of PROFILER which I'd taped from last week, and found that Michael Learned appeared on the show as the heroine, Sam's, mother-in-law. According to the previews, she's also in this week's episode, which screens in Sydney on Wednesday evenings at 9.30pm, Channel 7. I'm not sure if the days and the times are the same in Melbourne. Although Michael Learned has quite a few wrinkles around her eyes, she still looks great for her age!

I thought this information might interest any other Australian Waltons' fans.

Bye for now,

Warm wishes,

Trisha

KAREN'S COMMENT: Thanks Trisha, I don't watch Profiler, but I did catch a bit of Michael Learned (as special guest star) on the show last week. I was watching Blue Heelers and they showed a promo. We don't seem to be all that far behind the States in this show. She does look good for her age...it was the hair that struck me. She is so light now!

Hi Everyone,

I'm glad to see that TNN is broadcasting The Waltons episodes without deleting any scenes for commercials. I look forward to enjoying all those scenes that have probably not been televised since the original run on CBS. The films also look much better than they have in years.

While this is good news indeed, I was amazed to discover that the owner of the series has apparently added some high-tech digital speed enhancement during the film transfer so that a full-length TNN episode runs approximately 6 minutes shorter than the original release (i.e., the version now available on Warner Home Video).

I suspected that something wasn't quite right with "The Hunt" during the broadcast on Monday afternoon, so I timed the home video version of the episode with the TNN version I recorded Monday evening. The results were startling: the non-commercial video version runs 50 minutes, while the TNN version, without commercials and with all scenes intact, runs 44 minutes. That allows for 16 minutes of commercials and promotions during the hour.

The easiest way to confirm this for yourself is to compare a TNN version with a home video version of the truck-and-radio opening sequence of the current first season. Using such a familiar opening, it's easy to verify that nothing has been edited out of the TNN version, yet it runs about 1:27 compared to the home video's 1:38. Listen also to the music. While the opening theme is not playing at a higher pitch on TNN, it is indeed playing at a faster tempo.

As an audio engineer, I'm aware that current digital technology can alter the tempo of a recording without altering the pitch. Thus, all the characters' voices sound just right on TNN. However, they're all speaking about 10% faster. Check out the pacing of Earl Hamner's introductions and closings.

Visually, the faster speed is noticeable only occasionally, such as when it seems that someone is walking or running just a little too quickly, or when John-Boy is writing in his journal just a little faster than usual. I also noticed it several times in "The Foundling." The truck and its passengers sometimes bounced along the dirt roads with a Keystone Cop effect.

I want to emphasize that I'm very happy that the episodes are now restored to the writers' original visions, and I'm relieved that I seldom notice the changes in speed. But I'm somewhat disappointed that TNN has apparently chosen to modify the integrity of such a wonderful body of work in order to add six additional minutes of commercials to its bottom line.

Alan

KAREN'S COMMENT: Good heavens! This all sounds very technical, but certainly interesting. I had no idea that this could be done. Six minutes shorter, out of a 50 minutes drama does seem to be a lot though. Has anyone else found this noticeable?

Hi Karen...just thought I would check in with you...you were lamenting not getting too many poetry entries, and I felt so bad! I actually sat down last week, and took a crack at it a few times, but I am afraid the creative juices just weren't flowing!! It's so hard with two little ones, and everything else, to find the time! You know how it is. I'm sure some more entries will come in, and I look forward to reading them on the home page.

I just saw the episode where Mary Ellen discovers Curt is not dead, and travels to see him. Such a strange episode, I remember others commenting on it in the past. I wonder why they decided to do that. I did like the actor who played Curt, though...I wonder why the first Curt couldn't make it. I guess it had been a good couple of years since he had been "killed off" the show, though.

Well, anyway, just a short hello to you and everyone. Love the digests, keep 'em coming!!

Julie, Bronx, NY

KAREN'S COMMENT: John Boy got writer's block too, Julie, and I'm sure Earl Hamner did at times, so I think you're excused Julie. Even I, who ramble on each week, sometimes wonder what on earth I'm going to say to you all. :-) Good question...why didn't the original Curt appear in this episode? Maybe he didn't like the storyline either!

Hello Everyone,

As I was reading the newspaper today, I came across an article that I thought I would share with the group. It was about a man named John Orr who is charged with quite a few counts of arson in Southern California. It is a very strange story because Mr. Orr is (or was) a firefighter and nationally recognized arson expert. As I was reading about this man and all the bad things he is said to have done, one thing really caught my eye. It seems that he has been charged with setting the blaze that burned down the original Walton's Set in Burbank. Not only that, but the twist to the story is that he was a Glendale fire captain at the time and conducted the initial investigation of the blaze. I guess that truth really is stranger than fiction. Does anyone know any more about that fire or any other details. This was only a short article in my paper and really did not go into detail. Thanks for listening.... and Karen " Keep up the good work"

Logan in Richmond VA

KAREN'S COMMENT: We certainly have some intriguing mail this week. I remember someone on the list wrote about a fire burning the original Waltons set. You might find the letter if you browse through the old digests. What set have they been using for the latest movies though?