Hi everyone,

I hope you have all had a good week and are currently enjoying a relaxing weekend. How's the weather going? It's hard to believe that it's November already. Christmas is certainly coming very quickly. Which brings me to a new discussion point... what is your favourite Waltons Christmas episode? Why don't you write and tell us about it before Christmas actually arrives. We can then see which one is the most popular amongst us connoisseurs of The Waltons.

As promised, we now have a new site for our back issues of the Waltons Digests. I have transferred them over this week, and I think there is up to #42 or #43 on, so we are fairly current. I will eventually put one on each week, but they will be about 4 weeks behind, so stay on the list if you want the latest, up to date information. The new address is:

http://www.oocities.org/TelevisionCity/Set/4536/pastdigests.html

There is an index page which tells about the mailing list at:

http://www.oocities.org/TelevisionCity/Set/4536/index.html

This page, however, does not contain a link to the past digests. You will only find out about this if you join the mailing list. The index page is really just for anyone who is surfing. I have also added links to other Waltons sites on this page as well, so some of our mailing list members are there too. If you have a home page (any) or a Waltons related site that you would like me to list, please drop me a note and I can add it. As I said, it is really meant to be a site which publicizes our mailing list, so it looks fairly brief.

Now that this has been done, I intend to gradually do some more work to update my original Waltons site. Many of you have kindly sent me things to use on the page: photos, snippets, sound waves etc. and I will gradually begin adding some of these. My thanks to those of you who have taken the time to do this. It is greatly appreciated.

Well now it's over to your mail so until next time,

Goodnight everyone, Karen.

From Shirley B:

It looks to me, that I have started something when I mistakenly said that Mary Ellen was caught smoking in the basement. In regards to the building in which she was caught in, it was a tool shed. That brings me back to the time, that my brother caught my sister and I beside the house trying to smoke. I am pleased to report, that I am not a smoker, but my sister did become one.

Speaking of sisters, I have just learned last month, that I will be getting another nephew, due on St. Patrick's Day 1998. Wasn't there a time when Elizabeth caught Jeffery in the smokehouse smoking. Good night

KAREN'S COMMENT: Was the tool shed the place where John Boy put his printing press then? I seem to recall Jeffery being caught smoking too. Congratulations on your pending new arrival to the family. Wonderful news.

From Marca:

Hello everyone, It has been a long time since I wrote my last letter to the digest. My husband Alex and I were busy making the sound clips for Ralph's Waltons Homepage and we're preparing more. I know, that's not a very good excuse. ;-(

Because our broadcasting company stopped broadcasting 'The Waltons' some time ago I really didn't know what to write. But now I do. In the last few weeks I saw some Walton cast members in other shows. In the pilot of a new series called 'Orleans' with Larry (J.R. Ewing) Hagman I saw Ralph Waite. It was very strange to see him playing the bad guy. To make a long story short: in this episode he played a bad guy who sexually abused a girl and when she was an adult he eventually killed her.

He also talked with a funny accent, for example the word 'first' was pronounced as 'foist'. Wasn't that the same accent 'Archie Bunker' had, in 'All in the family' ?

I saw Mary Jackson in an episode of 'Fairy Tale Theatre' called 'The Snow Queen'. I only saw the last minutes of it but I immediately saw that it was 'Miss Emily'. She played the grandmother of Melissa Gilbert and they were dancing and singing. I hope they lived long and happy ever after ;-)

Last Saturday I saw to my surprise Ronnie Claire Edwards in an episode called 'Thine Own Self' of Star Trek - The Next Generation. In that episode she had an important role as a doctor or something like that. In The Next Generation you can also see Jonathan Frakes (Ashley Longworth Jr.) but I have never seen Jonathan in 'The Waltons'. It was very nice to see 'Ashley and CoraBeth' together in Star Trek.

Also I saw Michael O'Keefe (who played Erin's boyfriend 'Chad Marshall' in the episodes 'The Competition' and 'The Elopement') in an episode of MASH where he played a wounded soldier, of course.

Some months ago I saw Judy Norton in an episode of 'The Love Boat'. I wasn't really watching it, but I immediately recognized her voice.

To Arthur: I saw your extended version of the episode list on the Waltons Homepage. It is really wonderful. That must have been a lot of work.

I believe that the house where John-Boy had his printing press was sort of a barn first. I remember when Mary Ellen wanted the barn for her own bedroom? I can't remember which episode, does anyone know? By the way: does anybody know what happened with the newspaper -the Blue Ridge Chronicles- when John Boy left for New York? (And don't tell me Ralph continued it :-)).

Greetings, Marca.

KAREN'S COMMENT: It's good to hear from you again Marca. I had heard that Ralph Waite was in Orleans, but we haven't seen it out here yet. You certainly have been busy with your "Walton Watching". :-)

From Alex (Marca's husband):

Dear Waltons fans,

Because my wife likes The Waltons so much and because I like it more and more myself I wanted to add something new to all the other nice expressions: real voices and sounds from the series you can download and listen to from your own computer. In order to listen to it you must have a sound card in your computer and a "MP3 player" (a piece of software). I have recorded only 4 episodes and Marca pointed out the most interesting scenes to me. It's just an experiment and if anybody likes it we want to put more time in it to make more clips.

How to download and play it? At Ralph's main page (at http://www.the-waltons.com) you can press the button "Sound" and choose for the 3rd option (where our names are). Then you can make a choice from the episodes: The Nurse, The Quilting, The Test and The Boondoggle. If you hold the mouse cursor above the yellow-with-red areas and press the "right button" of your mouse you get a list with options from which you can choose the option "Save link as..". After this a window appears in which the name of the download file is already filled in at the right place. You just have to press the "Save" button to actually download and save the file in the default directory (or choose another directory first if you want and then press "Save"). On some pages there are more clips and you can save them all. Downloading and installing the MP3 player is also as easy as this. But explaining this goes too far I think. The person who installed your computer, internet browser and e-mail program perhaps can do this for you if you can't do it yourself. We hope everyone enjoys listening to it and let us know what you think of it.

Kind regards, Alex.

KAREN'S COMMENT: Thankyou so much for taking the time to do this for all Waltons fans Alex. It certainly adds another dimension. I'll have to give it a go but I'm not sure if we have this program on at present. Are you a Waltons fan yet?

GREETINGS FROM INDY,

Yes, now you see what I am talking about. They cut up everything. Regarding this current airing of the episodes in order, what a joke as they did not air, "THE SINNER."

Regarding the Christmas episode, it sounds like it might be, "MAMMAS BEST CHRISTMAS".

Regarding Marie's theory that they are cutting scenes for advertisements, that is the most stupid thing I have ever heard, THEY ARE DOING IT BECAUSE THEY PRACTICE CENSORSHIP AND ANYTHING THAT IS NOT CHRISTIAN IN NATURE, IS HISTORY, NOT ALLOWED, FORGET IT, IT'S NOT GOING TO BE INCLUDED IN THE EPISODE!

HAPPY WALTONING, IF YOU CAN ON THE CENSORSHIP CHANNEL!

Em.

KAREN'S COMMENT: I know that you feel very strongly about this, in fact I can SEE that you do! Have you written and expressed your anger to them? I would think that if you have, the only other thing you can do to show you annoyance is to take your business away from them. Not knowing about the channel because I am not there to see it, it does sound quite feasible that they are cutting scenes to be able to fit more ads in, rather than cutting out the non Christian bits. In fact, I would have thought that there was not a lot about the series that they might object to.

From Diana:

Hi, All! I am new to the list and am enjoying it SO much! I am so pleased to find so many others that love the Waltons! I have taken so much ribbing from my family over the years about my love for them, I was thinking I was such an oddball!! So glad to have found so many kindred spirits.

I have nearly all the episodes on tape from when WGN in Chicago ran them every morning in the 80's.

In response to Kim's comment about what Elizabeth said in "The Sinner"-- I watched the scene she mentioned and it was dubbed over in the version I have, too. However, to me, it looks like it was just the same words, only clearer. Elizabeth was so young at the time, and sometimes talked so fast, she was a little hard to understand.

This is just my opinion, and could certainly be wrong. However, Karen eluded to the possibility of censorship of some statements or ideas---this is a new thought for me, concerning the Walton's. I HAVE noticed some overdubbing in a few episodes and only thought it was poor editing! Can anyone give me some other instances of this or further evidence that this was ever done?? It is mind boggling to imagine anyone would tamper with a family oriented, beautiful show like the Waltons!

Enough for this time. Thanks for all the great info.

Diana in Illinois

KAREN'S COMMENT: Welcome Diana, it's always lovely to hear from our new members. Glad you're enjoying being a part of our "oddball" group. I think many of us would have had to put up with the comments you refer to. :-)

Watched the episode where there were a lot of old pictures that were supposedly the Scottish lady's (Mary McCrory ??) family which were, in fact, pictures of the Hamner family. As part of the commentary, Michael Learned said to watch for Earl Hamner making a cameo appearance. Guess what? I found him.

He was dancing with Mary at the hotel where she and Michael (her husband) had danced shortly after they were married. Earl had sideburns and a mustache one, but you couldn't mistake that impish, shy smile.

Hot diggetty.

Marilynn

Cleveland, OH

KAREN'S COMMENT: Well spotted Marilynn. The episode in question was The Journey, and have a look at the photos shown...they are of Earl's own family.

From Marie:

Kim: Your question about "The Sinner", in which Elizabeth's line has been dubbed over, is a good one for Mr. Hamner to answer. I know my little sister pronounced 'devil' with a 'B' instead of a 'V' at that age. Maybe Kami Colter had the same trouble.

Speaking of "The Sinner", my sources said it would be on October 20th at 7 p.m. but "The Townie" was on instead. Then a week later, it happened again. "The Scholar" was to be aired on October 27th at 7 p.m. but "The Journey" was on instead. I imagine this is because the Monday evening programs are advertised so heavily, they want to show the best ones. Since they started showing the episodes in order, "The Sinner" has been left out and the two mentioned above inserted. On Monday night, Michael Learned introduced "The Journey" as the first episode of the second season. So they must know they aren't showing them in order. The good news is that on Monday night, they didn't shrink the cast names at the end as much - they were still readable! Make that Great News!!

About the Waltons Christmas episode: Karen, I'm wondering if this person means "The Children's Carol" because Olivia questions her faith in light of the horrors of war and John saves the two English orphans from being run down by a plane then they find out that their mother is still alive.

Tammy: The Blue Ridge Chronicles, which is the newsletter of The Walton's Mountain Museum, has a very interesting three page article on Tony Becker in their Fall issue! It says he had a "recurring role on "Little House on the Prairie" but doesn't give his character's name. Karen's link to the Internet Movie Database might provide an answer. Little House is on the same time as The Waltons in the morning!

I think I've found the answer to one of my own questions - in what episode did Olivia talk to one of the girls in the basement? It's "The Portrait" which was on just last week. Erin and Olivia take jars of fruit down to store for the wintertime. Erin asks if she ever gets tired of doing the same things over and over. Livie answers that she does but "it's the sameness that makes the special things stand out." Then she says "Take this winter cactus. Every year at about this time, I bring it down here and it stays in the dark for a whole month." "It's being in the dark that makes it bloom. By Christmas, it will be glorious with color." Another good lesson about life.

Goodnight, everyone!

Marie

KAREN'S COMMENT: Maybe the Monday night episodes are those which are particularly memorable to the actor which is introducing it. I have wondered if the episode was A Children's Carol too as it certainly was a testing time for Olivia.

I hadn't thought to look for Tony Becker at the IMDB but I have posted an email to the Little House list. I haven't heard anything back yet so I imagine Amber, the person who runs the list, is fairly busy with school. I'll let you know when I hear anything. I've got a lot of LH episodes on video so if I spot him I can tell you too.

Another response about the Christmas episode: I believe the Christmas episode referred to above is called "The Children's Carol." It's the series' only Christmas episode where Olivia's faith is tested. However, the story does not focus on the Santa Claus myth at all. Actually, it focuses on Olivia's faith in God and her questions as to whether anyone is hearing her prayers. This doubt occurs as her family cares for two "orphaned" English children, whose have come to Waltons Mountain to escape the bombing of London during World War II. It's a powerful episode about faith and values. The episode is available on video, and I believe it can be purchased through the Walton's Mountain Museum.

KAREN'S COMMENT: Thanks for this. I believe that this could be the episode too. I will pass this on to the person concerned.