Was anyone here ever a faithful watcher of "The Waltons"?

[C.Ann]

Since I have the Hallmark channel back here at the lake this year, I've been watching/listening to The Waltons every afternoon.. They have 3 episodes - starting at 3 p.m. till 6 p.m. - then Little House On The Prairie comes on till 9 p.m..

Although I did enjoy The Waltons, I never watched it as faithfully as LHOTP.. Right now it seems that they are running the shows in the exact sequence that they originally aired - which as I said, I didn't follow closely.. So far John Boy has gone off to NY - Grandma had a stroke - Grandpa died - now John Boy is reporting on the war from somewhere - Mary Ellen is married, has John Curtis and her husband Curt has been killed in the war - and Mama has been diagnosed with TB and has been sent to a sanatorium to recuperate..

Now I know I'll find out the answer eventually - if I watch/listen every day - but let's face it, I'm too impatient for that and have other things to do as well..

So - I remember seeing a repeat a couple of years ago where Ben was married and he was trying to talk his wife into adopting because their only child (a daughter) had died.. (I think she was a toddler when she passed away..) I don't remember seeing the original episode of this tragedy and wonder if anyone else did.. If so, do you remember how old the little girl was -and what she died from? Illness? Accident?

Anyone know?

Thanks!

 

[low-key]

I havent watched it in years but I did love the show when it was on

 

[phorsenuf]

I was (and still am) a faithful watcher of the Waltons. The production company that produced it, Lorimar, are relatives of mine. Merv Adelson was married to my Grandmothers neice. After they divorced he went on to marry Barbara Walters.

Anyway, I don't believe the cause of death was ever an episode and I don't remember if it was ever really explained.

 

[Michelle67]

I used to watch that every week, but had no memory of that particular episode. I was curious, so I looked on a couple of sites...from what I see it looks like the episode you're remembering was actually a TV movie "reunion" thing after the series ended, and that the death itself was never part of an episode/movie and doesn't seem to have been really explained.

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

My parents Love, love, love The Waltons. They even visited Waltons Mountain Museum last year and have the coffee cup to prove it lol. I'll have to see if they know. They just went and visited the Andy Griffith museum this week and said that was pretty terrible. They also visited the Christmas Story House last year (notice a trend here?) and for vacation a long time ago they took us out to SD and we hit up a bunch of LHOTP sites on the way out.

 

[travelbug]

I used to watch that every week, but had no memory of that particular episode. I was curious, so I looked on a couple of sites...from what I see it looks like the episode you're remembering was actually a TV movie "reunion" thing after the series ended, and that the death itself was never part of an episode/movie and doesn't seem to have been really explained.

I've always enjoyed The Waltons, and I actually have the series on DVD. Michelle67 is right, that the death of Virginia (Ben & Cindy's daughter) isn't referenced until one of the reunion movies. It isn't explained though, just referenced. I don't remember which reunion movie in particular. One of these days I'll have to watch them again and find out, as I own the set of reunion movies too.

 

[eeyoremum]

I am a huge fan. I also know the answer to this. Some background first. Once the show went off the air they made a bunch of TV movies. The TV movies were great except they screwed with the time line too much.

In one of the TV movies we learn that Ben and Cindy's daughter Virginia died. There is no mention of them having a son, named Charles, who was born after the war. Cindy wants to adopt but Ben doesn't.

In the same episode we learn that Mary-Ellen, who could not have anymore children after a car accident, has two more children and her second husband is at war, I assume the Vietnam war. There is no mention of John Curtis at all.

I think they "did away" with the children born in the series because they moved the time frame to the 1960 and of course by they the Walton children would have been middle aged with grown children of their own.

It really was a disappointing end to a great series.

 

[dyna]

Funny my DD was to young to watch the original episodes but has been a fan of the Waltons since her teen years she is now 34 watches faithfully....never neverask her to do anything while the Waltons or LHOTP is on LOL

 

[Muushka]

While I didn't watch the series, I loved the Christmas special where John Boy went searching for his dad with the 2 old ladies who drank.
I loved that special!

 

[powellrj]

I am a huge fan. I also know the answer to this. Some background first. Once the show went off the air they made a bunch of TV movies. The TV movies were great except they screwed with the time line too much.

In one of the TV movies we learn that Ben and Cindy's daughter Virginia died. There is no mention of them having a son, named Charles, who was born after the war. Cindy wants to adopt but Ben doesn't.

In the same episode we learn that Mary-Ellen, who could not have anymore children after a car accident, has two more children and her second husband is at war, I assume the Vietnam war. There is no mention of John Curtis at all.

I think they "did away" with the children born in the series because they moved the time frame to the 1960 and of course by they the Walton children would have been middle aged with grown children of their own.

It really was a disappointing end to a great series.

I'm glad to know it wasn't just me, I kept wondering what happened to John Curtis and Virginia. It was like they never existed. I loved the shows, but hated the later movies.

 

[C.Ann]

I was (and still am) a faithful watcher of the Waltons. The production company that produced it, Lorimar, are relatives of mine. Merv Adelson was married to my Grandmothers neice. After they divorced he went on to marry Barbara Walters.

Anyway, I don't believe the cause of death was ever an episode and I don't remember if it was ever really explained.

Wow! That's pretty interesting.. The things you learn on the DIS..

I used to watch that every week, but had no memory of that particular episode. I was curious, so I looked on a couple of sites...from what I see it looks like the episode you're remembering was actually a TV movie "reunion" thing after the series ended, and that the death itself was never part of an episode/movie and doesn't seem to have been really explained.

You're right.. Now that you mention it, I do remember it was a reunion show..

I am a huge fan. I also know the answer to this. Some background first. Once the show went off the air they made a bunch of TV movies. The TV movies were great except they screwed with the time line too much.

In one of the TV movies we learn that Ben and Cindy's daughter Virginia died. There is no mention of them having a son, named Charles, who was born after the war. Cindy wants to adopt but Ben doesn't.

In the same episode we learn that Mary-Ellen, who could not have anymore children after a car accident, has two more children and her second husband is at war, I assume the Vietnam war. There is no mention of John Curtis at all.

I think they "did away" with the children born in the series because they moved the time frame to the 1960 and of course by they the Walton children would have been middle aged with grown children of their own.

It really was a disappointing end to a great series.

Thanks for explaining all of this - because I'm sure I would have ended up asking these questions later on down the road.. I don't remember Ben ever having a son - and I do remember Grandma going to live with Mary Ellen (who had 2 or 3 kids - none called John Curtis), and a husband with no name - LOL.. I don't think Mama ever came home from the sanatorium - did she?

Oh - and was the new house ever built on top of Waltons Mountain?

It's a shame that the reunions didn't stay true to form - would have made for a much more satisfying end to the show..

Thanks to all who took the time to reply and share..

 

[PixieDustandEeyore]

Im only 23 but they replayed all the episodes on vision TV recently and I loved watching every episode then the movies that they made in the 80s to see what became of everyone

I just like the story its wholesome. Though someone on these boards once tried to convince everyone the Waltons are evil and such it was amusing