Hi everyone,

I wonder if many of you had a chance to check out the Waltons Forum and noticed the message I added there during the week. I had a few anxious inquiries when the digest was late being sent. Was I alright? Well the simple answer to that is that I was fine. I had a lot of trouble sending email last weekend, and on Monday as well. I'm not sure where the fault was, but the email kept starting to go through, but would get to the same name each time, then stop. Easy, I thought...I'd just delete that name, then send that one on later. Finally I discovered that I had to delete anyone whose address was "prodigy.net". Once I had removed all of these, the others went through with no problems.

So...my apologies for the delay. I'm not sure where the fault was, it may have been my ISP (which has been playing up) but I don't think it was. All prodigy.net people had their digest sent out on Tuesday morning. I hope everyone did get theirs. Please let me know if you didn't. We've been going for nearly 18 months now, with very few problems so we really can't complain. There's 250 people on the list, and it's certainly a lot of addresses to go through.

I hope this one goes through OK this week. Have a great week everyone.

Goodnight all,

Karen.

P.S. For those of you who are catching up on digests, I added some more to the "vaults" during the week. We're up to 36 I think.

THE WALTONS: THE UNOFFICIAL HOME PAGE http://www.oocities.org/TelevisionCity/2792/walton1.htm

THE WALTONS MAILING LIST and PAST DIGESTS http://www.oocities.org/TelevisionCity/Set/4536/index.html

Hello from Geri Ann in Phoenix, Arizona!

I have a question about the family dog, Reckless. In the early seasons, Reckless is definitely a boy. Then later in the series, suddenly Reckless is a girl, and even has puppies! (Fathered by Yancy Tucker's hound, I believe.) I've never been able to figure this out! At first I thought the first Reckless died and the family got another dog and named her Reckless after the first dog. But in the episode where Reckless does die, and Jeffrey is heartbroken, I seem to recall the family making comments that would indicate this was the same Reckless they'd had all along.

So did the writers just space out and forget Reckless had been a boy earlier in the series? It sure seemed goofy to suddenly have Reckless go from being a he to being a she!

KAREN'S COMMENT: I feel as though we may have talked about this before, but I can't remember. Can someone refresh my memory and clear up Geri Ann's questions please? I'm fairly sure you're right Geri Ann.

Hello Karen!!!

It has been along time since I have written but I have been reading faithfully. I have been and am still very ill I have a severe kidney ailment and have undergone 2 surgeries already to try to save one of my kidney's with another one scheduled!!! My point is to say that my Walton friends have been here for me every step of the way. They have sustained me through some very rough times. Just as the show has brought joy to me while I am recuperating at home!!! I want to take the time to Thank each and everyone for all there prayers, love and encouragement.

I could not have made it without them!!

The shows have been touching lately too!!! Anyway thanks for the digest and thanks for all those wonderful fans out there who have brought me a lot of joy!! and to all those out there who have been praying for me... and you all know who you are... THANK YOU and GOD BLESS.

Scott

KAREN'S COMMENT: Goodness Scott, it sounds like you've been going through a really rough time too. I'm glad that we have been able to help you a bit. When is more surgery scheduled?

Hiya,

First, I just wanted to say how much I'm enjoying the Digest, & it's especially nice to see other fans form the UK, like myself.

I must also share, especially with the other UK fans, the joy of receiving a copy of the audiotape of The Homecoming read by Richard Thomas. This is only available from the States, but I ordered it via the Internet bookseller Amazon. it is excellent, though it is strange that nearly all the names are different-Jon Boy is Clay boy, after his father, the grandparents are Homer & Ida (or Ira), the children's names are-as much as I can remember-Patty cake (for Elizabeth), Luke, Becky (for Mary-Ellen), Luke, John, Shirley & one I can't remember. Ike Godsey turns up as a balding individual who runs the disreputable pool hall & restaurant "where no women or children go". Even the Baldwin sisters are present under different names. Only Olivia retains her first name & Ep Bridges is still the sheriff. Its a lovely story, & Richard Thomas reads it so well, even singing in a very good voice, some Christmas music. Its very evocative & is a lovely addition to a Waltons collection.

I love being able to share these thoughts with other fans of, in my opinion, the best TV series ever made, & wish you all well.

Kester

KAREN'S COMMENT: Sounds like a good thing to add to your Waltons Christmas list.

Hello fellow Walton fans!

I must admit that when I didn't receive my digest yesterday I was deeply disappointed. Seems like I have more time to read it on Sundays! Any way I was told I was going through withdrawal! Can't wait to attend the reunion this weekend. Joe and I are eagerly awaiting our honeymoon in the mountains! By the way why do they call it a honeymoon anyway? Remember when Olivia and John tried to go on a honeymoon? Puts a smile on my face.

By the way....we are thinking about taking the kids to the reunion next year. Do you think they would enjoy it or should we go another time? They keep asking me about Walton's mountain!

Cindy

KAREN'S COMMENT: By the time you get this one Cindy, you will probably be back from the reunion. How did it go? Good question...why do they call it a honeymoon? Hope you enjoyed yourselves.

Hi Karen,

I think I have a few answers for the various questions posed in the last couple of digests. Regarding the "teasers" at the beginning of the shows, these started with the season beginning in the fall of 1976. During this first season they were pulled exactly from the show. Starting the next season, however, it seems that the teasers were either recorded specially for this purpose or they were outtakes. They seemed to try harder to grab the audience.

One in particular that Larissa noted was in "The Recluse". It showed Grandpa telling the fellow that picked him up hitch-hiking that John had kicked him out. I'm sure TNN didn't pull the scenes as I remember noticing this years ago. This leads to the question about TNN cutting the goodnight scene from The Go-Getter. I tape the shows every day at noon and the goodnight scene was there. Maybe the people that missed it were watching the evening airing. Since I didn't see that airing I don't know if it was cut or not. If it was, they probably just went to commercial too early. It's too bad they missed it as it was hilarious.

Up until the end of The Achievement, Jeff Cotler played the part of "Little Boy" in The Graduation, "B. C. Graddy, Jr." in The Prophecy and "Fester" in The Go-Getter. Also Michael McDonough played the part of "Boyd" in The Fledgling and "Joe" in The First Edition and Eileen McDonough played the part of "Patsy Brimmer" in The Great Motorcycle Race and The Hero. There were also numerous bit parts played by people with the same last names as members of the crew such as Michael McGreevey who played "Hobie Shank" in The Braggart. A Michael McGreevey (the same man?) also edited The Substitute. So you see there was a lot of nepotism going on with the series.

I've been keeping track (my wife thinks I've gone over the brink) of the credits of all of the shows in a database since it began airing on TNN and I hope to add it to my web page soon (searchable hopefully) if I can figure out how to do it.

Thanks and goodnight Karen,

Rob

KAREN'S COMMENT: A Walton's Database sounds just like something we need to answer all our questions Rob. Please let us know when it's up and running. I received my copy of "A Waltons Legacy" the other day and noticed that Kami mentioned her brother "Jeffrey". I got the impression that he must not be very much younger than Kami.

This is in response to Larissa's comments about the teasers at the beginning of each episode in Season 6, and how they are not shown in the show itself. I've noticed this as well, and most recently the episode where Erin turns down G.W.'s proposal, they show a scene at the beginning (before the opening) of John cracking a table leg in half in anger over Erin wanting to go to the army base. This scene was not a part of the show.

Our thoughts are that these scenes are not cut out by TNN, but were filmed separately, or were scenes edited out of the show itself and used as the previews. In The Seashore, there is a scene in the show where Jim-Bob finds the oar and shows his father, but it is different from the teaser scene. Jim-Bob is on the sand and shows the oar to those who are up on the balcony, whereas in the teaser John is walking along the sand when Jim-Bob approaches him with the oar.

It just seems to be a strange coincidence that the teaser scenes always seem to be cut out of the main show. It will be interesting though to watch the shows on a different channel and see if they are included.

Lindy

KAREN'S COMMENT: The point about the teasers is not one that I'd noticed before but I will look out for in future.

Hello Karen. I've been enjoying these past digests especially (not that I haven't enjoyed all of them so far but there seem to be so many new members - it's all so interesting). When one comes in, I get a cup of tea and then settle in for a nice read. (I don't know how you find the time to do all of them.)

I was watching "The Grandchild Part 2" on TNN today. After Mary-Ellen had her baby, Olivia asked if anyone had told John Boy but, for some reason, no one asked if anyone had told Esther Walton. Did TNN edit that part or did the writers forget about poor Grandma in the hospital?

Are we still at Season 4 for the favorite episodes theme? Mine is "The Breakdown". The stress and tension that Jason was under made the characters more human to me. It never seemed to me that the children did enough sibling fighting. I also laughed when Grandpa and John teased Jason for staying out all night with a girl and he responded by being embarrassed and quickly explaining that he spent the night on the girl's porch.

My least favorite was "The Wingwalker". When Bobbie Strom revealed her painful past to John Boy, he backed away from her. I could have shaken him for doing that.

If we're at Season 5 for favorites, I'd like to say that mine is "The Pony Cart". It was very well written and acted. I enjoy the character of Martha Corinne. She's not an easy person to live with at all but her inner strength is amazing. I got teary at her death scene.

Thank you again, Karen, for these digests. They're wonderful.

Kim W

KAREN'S COMMENT: Thank you for telling us about your favorites Kim. Actually we sort of came to a bit of a close with the talking points when I wasn't getting a lot of replies coming in. However things seem to have picked up again now. I love The Breakdown too, but then I like Jason a lot as well. :-) I noticed that Jon Walmsley commented about The Gift as being one of his favorites too. Doesn't he have good taste? Actually it was interesting to hear about the episodes the actors commented on. More about that next week.

Hi again everyone,

While I was reading last weeks digest the entry of Baz from Surrey England inspired me to suggest a conversation topic for the digest. Baz said she would look closely at the house to see how each room was set out etc. Something I too confess to doing.

I thought a good topic would be to find out what ideas of the "Walton Home" have we adopted or would like to adopt in our own homes, or those of us not able to do so, what ideas from the Waltons home would we have if we could. I was rather taken in by the kitchen table benches and seeing as my Grandmother gave me a very old pine kitchen table I thought it would be nice to have the benches for seats. I also found a store here in Newcastle Australia that sells quilts, which are not too expensive.

Again thanks Karen as always for all your work with this digest and to everyone who reads them and contributes, it makes this a unique and special part of the cyber world.

Kaz from Australia

KAREN'S COMMENT: Hi Kaz, I hope things are OK in your part of the country. Yes, it's a good discussion point I think. I rather liked the long table too. I also love the front porch! What about other people?

Hello to everyone on the digest list :)

I've always enjoyed the Waltons. It's nice to know others are still interested in the show & its life lessons. I'm on holiday, and just watched some of the movies I have on tape. "The Thanksgiving Story" (Jenny Pendleton, John Boy's sweetheart comes home) & "The Easter Story" (Olivia contracts Polio) both beautifully acted & so human, *sniffle*. I've never seen the original movie "The Homecoming" is it a must see? (does it fill in any gaps?)

Does anyone remember watching Michael Learned in Nurse?...

Lastly, if anyone has a chance to see live Shakespeare performed by Geer family at the Will Geer Memorial theatre, it's an absolute must! I saw "Richard The Third" a couple of years ago I LOVED it. Will Geer's Spirit lives on. I used to watch Ellen Geer in Beauty & The Beast back in the 80's (as Mary, tunnel-dweller).

Anyway *phew* it's goodnight from me! *wave*

Tori

KAREN'S COMMENT: Welcome Tori...you are our first person to join from New Zealand!

Dear Fellow Walton Fans,

I hope that everyone had a good week. Our weather has really be fluctuating out here in San Mateo County, California. Earlier this week it was in the 80's and today it is around 50 degrees outside!

This week I watched the episode when G.W. Haines is killed in an accident while in the service. This episode breaks my heart. The scene where he waves good-bye to his parents for the last time, and when he races down the hill to see them and his horse, this is absolutely heart-wrenching.

I wish the show hadn't done this. I think G.W. would have been a wonderful husband for Erin and a fine character to revolve some episodes around. Why didn't they make him a regular character like Ike Godsey, for example?

I was wondering what other digest members' opinions are of the G.W. Haines character?

I surely wish that I could attend the Waltons Reunion this weekend! I just know that all of you who will be attending will have a wonderful time.

Goodnight everyone,

Silvia

KAREN'S COMMENT: The episode you mention is a really sad one. G.W. really didn't get a lot of chances to develop as a character did he?

Hello again. Just finished watching "The Battle of Drucillas pond" What a great episode. What Grandpa did for Olivia was unreal. He is such a good hearted man. Grandpa always looks out for the feelings of others. That is why he is my favorite Walton. Have a good week.

Mike

KAREN'S COMMENT: Grandpa was a wonderful character.

Good evening all,

Last night my husband and I were watching "The Battle of Drucilla's Pond", and Doug asked what I thought was a good question. Were the paintings done by Olivia actually done by Michael Learned? If they used Jon Walmsley's musical talents so much in the show, mightn't they have also used hers? Wouldn't it be great to find one of those paintings today?

Looking forward to this week's digest,

Robin

KAREN'S COMMENT: Good question Robin. Does Michael paint?

Hi Karen, I hope this finds every one well and happy. I really enjoyed the Waltons last night. Even though it was kind of sad. There won't be too many more show with Will Geer on them.

Does any one know for sure what their planning to show on Thanksgiving for the Waltons. When it was first talked about I thought they were going to show only the hour ones they have, but a couple of weeks ago there was Mary Ellen's wedding. I hope they show the one where Olivia gets polio. It been along time since I have seen that. I would like to know so I can make sure I GOT ENOUGH TAPES TO TAPE ON. Well got to go good night all.

Nancy

KAREN'S COMMENT: Is there any definite news about the Thanksgiving Special Showing? You won't be the only one racing out to buy tapes Nancy. How I wish I could see them too.