Richard Thomas, who played John Boy Walton, addresses 'The Waltons' snubs in a lot of classic TV retrospectives. Thomas has a theory that 'The Waltons' embarrasses the industry, but he knows the truth about the impact the show made.
The Waltons has had fans since it premiered in 1971. Many of them tuned in to see The CW’s new movie The Waltons’ Homecoming in 2021 and A Waltons Thanksgiving a year later. Richard Thomas, who played John Boy Walton on the original series, played himself in the new film. Thomas introduced and narrated The Waltons’ Homecoming to pass the torch to the new family.
Thomas was on a Zoom panel with the cast and producer of The Waltons’ Homecomingon Nov. 10, 2021. Asked about the lack of inclusion of the original series in a lot of Best of TV lists, Thomas has a compelling theory as to why The Waltons may be snubbed.
Richard Thomas suspects ‘The Waltons’ embarrasses modern Hollywood
Ever since prestige TV took over, dark, edgy shows like The Sopranosand Breaking Badbecame the cause celebre. The Waltons were a wholesome family living in the Great Depression. Thomas knows people appreciate that, even if it’s not “cool” anymore.
“I think sometimes the industry gets a little embarrassed by that, by that point of view, by the simple openness and the love that underpins all that,” Thomas said. “It’s sometimes a little easier to go to the dark, funny place, which I do myself all the time, so I completely understand it.”
Maybe John Boy Walton wasn’t precocious enough
Thomas reminded reporters that The Waltons was acclaimed and popular in the ’70s. It continues to be, even if it doesn’t make headlines anymore.
“Well, it got the attention it deserved at the time it was made. And I hope for the same kind of response now. It’s a really, really good question, it’s a very interesting one. When retrospectives are done, The Waltons is frequently mentioned, but more often than not, the sitcoms get a lot, a lot more play. Sometimes it’s hard to look at our good side. It’s a lot more fun to enjoy the cynicisms and the way we look at ourselves more objectively that happens in comedy. I think The Waltons was aspirational. Well, of course this isn’t the way people always are, but this is certainly the way we wish we could be.”
Richard Thomas, 11/10/21 press conference
‘The Waltons’ had tough competition
Thomas takes the long term success of The Waltons with humility. He knew it wasn’t a sure thing when he was playing John Boy Walton as a child.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4ZE2eZZjew&t=4s
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“It was kind of a miracle and a mystery,” Thomas said. “Certainly the last thing any of us expected was that it would be embraced the way it was. I think our competition on Thursday night was Flip Wilson and Mod Squad, which were hugely popular shows, and terrific shows for people. I think we premiered in 34th place and finished the season in first. It was just this steady climb. The critical community certainly came, went to bat for us.”
The Waltons stood out in the TV landscape then as much as it does now.
“There was no other show like it,” Thomas said. “It wasn’t a different version of something else. It was just about a normal family struggling to survive, and people could identify with that. If they wanted to have that experience, there was only one place they could go just to see us. Different members of the family called each other to the television. Sometimes, in some households kids discovered it and started watching with their parents. Older people started watching it and wanted their children to watch. So gradually the demographic of the family came together to watch the show. And it was a such a hard time at that time, the 1970s. There was so much conflict. There was so much division. It was so much fear and cynicism and it was a comfort. It was just a comfort.”
As the oldest son of Olivia and John Walton, John-Boy was an integral part of the Depression-era family drama. But after spending much of his early 20s portraying the bookish would-be writer, Thomas felt it was time to do something different. “In the infinite wisdom of a 26-year-old I decided it was time to move on,...
When Richard was in his 30s, he was diagnosed with cochlear otosclerosis. It is a condition which is primarily a bone disorder that affects the bones of the middle ear. Because of the condition, Richard lost 50% of his hearing and wears hearing aids.
In March 1977, Thomas left the series and his role was taken over by Robert Wightman. However, Thomas returned to the role in three Waltons TV movies in the 1990s, including A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion in 1993.
The actors playing Ben and Cindy Walton both happily married but still became inseparable. One of the earliest appearances of Cindy Brunson Walton comes in one of the most emotional episodes of The Waltons, an episode called "Founders' Day."
The cast has remained close over the years. Learned described them as "my second family." "We spent more time together shooting the show than we did with our own families," she said. "So of course, we became close.
Served in the United States Marine Corps. He was physically healthy and active until contracting pneumonia, which caused his death at age 85. His problems with alcohol began when his 9-year-old daughter, Sharon, passed away.
The announcement shocked fans, but the network's decision came after The Waltons had spent years on a gradual descent from the top of the TV ratings. The show had dipped from No. 2 in its second season, down to the nation's No. 42 show by its ninth.
The love stories carried over behind the scenes. Ma and Pa Walton — Ralph Waite and Michael Learned — quietly fell on love on set. And remember Jason and Toni, who we just mentioned in the prior paragraph? Well, actors Jon Walmsley and Lisa Harrison tied the knot in real life in 1979!
On The Waltons, he dealt with his real injury by walking with a cane. In The Waltons fifth season episode "The First Edition," John-Boy walks with a cane, and what many fans may not realize is that the actor Richard Thomas was acting through a real injury while filming.
John-Boy then turned his attention to reporting news instead and gained a steady means of living once more, but would one day have to break the news of the John F. Kennedy assassination. It was in this profession that he finally found the love of his life in the form of Janet, and they eventually married.
The role of Olivia stopped having room for growth. "Eight years is a long time to be doing the same thing. If I didn't push myself to make a move to get out and try something else, I never would," she said. "All the exploration work on the character had been done.
He eventually becomes a war correspondent, writing for the Stars and Stripes. For a while, some fear that he has vanished, but he returns to Walton's Mountain in the end. In the last season of the show, John-Boy sets out to New York to discuss his book draft with an editor.
It seems that after The Waltons, the twins went back to normal life and never acted again, which Norton said was basically all the twins were hired to do on the show anyway. "I think it says a lot about the energy that we all had for real working with the young twins who played John Curtis," Norton said.
Played by Tom Bower in the episodes leading up to the December 7, 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor. Curt comes to the community to replace Dr. Vance, and quickly falls in love with Mary Ellen and marries her. Curt leaves the town when called up to service in the years preceding World War 2.
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