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The Waltons: Season 01
Running Time: 60 min.

Introduced to viewers in the 1971 TV movie The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, the Walton family of Jefferson County, VA, began showing up on a weekly basis as The Waltons had its first season. In the middle of the Great Depression (1934 or thereabouts), the Waltons, headed by dad John (Ralph Waite) and mom Olivia (Michael Learned), manage to keep home and hearth together with income from the lumber mill run by John and his father Zeb (Will Geer), better known as Grandpa to the seven Walton youngsters. Grandpa of course lives on Walton mountain with the rest of the brood, as does his wife Esther (Ellen Corby, aka "Grandma"). The season's episodes are narrated by series creator Earl Hamner Jr., who recalls the events through the eyes of the Walton's oldest son John-Boy (Richard Thomas), a high-school student who aspires to be a writer. The remaining Walton kids include Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor), Jim-Bob (David W. Harper), Elizabeth (Kami Cotler), Jason (Jon Walmsley), Erin (Mary Beth McDonough), and Ben (Eric Scott). Among the other regulars introduced during the series' freshman season are the Reverend Matthew Fordwick (John Ritter), who makes his first appearance in the episode titled "The Sinner;" schoolteacher Rosemary Hunter (Mariclare Costello), not yet Mrs. Fordwick; and storekeeper Ike Godsey (Joe Conley), Sheriff Bridges (John Crawford), town gossips Mamie and Emily Baldwin (Helen Kleeb, Mary Jackson), and the Walton's black neighbor Verdie Grant (Lynn Hamilton). In the opening episode "The Foundling," the Waltons briefly take care of a little deaf girl. In subsequent episodes, the kids try to hide the family calf when John decides to sell it, John-Boy has a crisis of conscience when he goes on his first hunt, the family wins the confidence of a tough street kid who has run away from a nearby CCC camp, a group of Jewish refugees show up on Walton's Mountain after fleeing Nazis, Mary Ellen is smitten by a wandering troubador, schoolteacher Miss Hunter risks her job by teaching Evolution, and Sissy Spacek guest stars as a troubled young girl who tries to trap John-Boy into marriage. In the two-episode season finale "The Easter Story," the family is plunged into despair when Olivia Walton is stricken with polio. All Movie Guide

The Waltons: Season 01 Cast and Crew:

Ralph Waite - (John Walton)

Michael Learned - (Olivia Walton)

Will Geer - (Grandpa Walton)

Ellen Corby - (Grandma Walton)

Richard Thomas - (John-Boy Walton)

Judy Norton-Taylor - (Mary Ellen Walton)

David W. Harper - (Jim-Bob Walton)

Kami Cotler - (Elizabeth Walton)

Jon Walmsley - (Jason Walton)

Mary McDonough - (Erin Walton)

Eric Scott - (Ben Walton)

The Waltons: Season 01 Episodes:
The Waltons: An Easter Story, Part 1
The Waltons: The Hunt
The Waltons: The Love Story
The Waltons: The Scholar
The Waltons: The Townie
The Waltons: The Foundling
The Waltons: The Carnival
The Waltons: The Calf
The Waltons: The Typewriter
The Waltons: The Star
The Waltons: The Sinner
The Waltons: The Boy From the C.C.C.
The Waltons: The Ceremony
The Waltons: The Legend
The Waltons: The Literary Man
The Waltons: The Dust Bowl Cousins
The Waltons: The Reunion
The Waltons: The Minstrel
The Waltons: The Actress
The Waltons: The Fire
The Waltons: The Courtship
The Waltons: The Gypsies
The Waltons: The Deed
The Waltons: The Bicycle

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