Waltons 1.9: The Ceremony

Airdate: 11/9/72

A Jewish family arrives from Nazi Germany, but the father, a professor at a university in Berlin, finds it difficult to adapt to a life free from danger and persecution. He demands that they absolve their identities as Jews, but his son, Paul, is disheartened to forego his upcoming Bar Mitzvah. Grandpa Walton goes to see the family, resolve all misunderstandings, allay their suspicions, and encourage them to honor and celebrate their heritage; the Waltons even host the boy’s Bar Mitzvah!

Part of the appeal of The Waltons was the way it seemed to exist in a nurturing nook, apart from the rest of the country, and indeed, the world. But it still let the outside in, one person or family at a time. In “The Ceremony” it confronts the reality of the rise of Nazism, and presages how that conflict will ultimately affect the future of the Waltons themselves. Some sensitive portrayals here, intensified, perhaps, by our knowledge of how dire things really were in Europe at the time, and how much worse they would get.

Ellen Geer, who portrays the wife, Eva, is the real-life daughter of Will Geer, who plays Grandpa Walton.

In this episode, the radio announcer reports on the recently enacted Nuremberg Laws, putting the time period at September 1935.

Waltons 1.8: The Boy from the CCC

Airdate: 11/2/72

A wayfaring stranger comes to Walton’s Mountain, and he’s hard-nosed, ill-mannered and something of a fish out of water. The Waltons (of course) take him in after his foot is injured, and learn that his name is Gino and that he has come from a place called Big Meadow. Peeling away his layers of sarcasm and resistance, they further discover his background: he is from a tenement in New York, lost both his parents as a child and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps. When he is caught stealing money, John calls the sheriff, but reconsiders after hearing the boy’s story and watching him console a grieving Elizabeth over the death of her pet raccoon.

Great performance by Broadway actor/composer Michael Rupert as the cynical Gino, who transcends street-smart stereotypes and adds a refreshing dose of irony to the show’s uber-reverential tone. His speech to Elizabeth in the barn rafters is piercingly emotional, and the episode gets extra points for invoking a New Deal program; heads up US History II students!

Waltons 1.7: The Sinner

Airdate: 10/26/72

Matthew Fordwick, a young, somewhat fanatical reverend, arrives at Walton’s Mountain with Miss Prissom (appropriately named!), a missionary he hopes to impress so he can work with her in Asia. The Waltons agree to put Matthew up for a few days, but his fire and brimstone approach to preaching doesn’t always sit well with John’s religious skepticism. When the reverend pays a visit to the Baldwin sisters, and gets drunk on their “recipe,” he is shunned and ostracized by the townsfolk as a sinner, and considers leaving the ministry. John and John Boy go with him to the service and remind everyone to “let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

I really enjoyed this one, particularly for its subtext of the nature of sin (as examined by John Boy) and the different ways one can approach religion (as shown through John and Olivia’s disparate viewpoints). The story is borrowed from one of the subplots of Spencer’s Mountain in which Wally Cox plays the new minister, who also gets drunk and hypocritically derided.

As most people know by now, John Ritter got his big break playing Reverent Matthew, and his performance (and final speech in particular) was so well received he appeared in future episodes. Another rising star alert: Richard Donner as Yancy, who later played the role of Exidor, Mork’s looney, schizophrenic friend on Mork and Mindy. 

I'm Back!!! Waltons 1.6: The Star

Let's call this one "Picking up where I left off!" Summer's here and it's time to get back to our favorite Virginian clan. Yes, were still in season one, but we'll be picking up the pace, and stay tuned as I feel another classic show may soon be blogged on the Rocket. Keep your ears pricked... 

The Waltons goes astral in this entry about a falling star and the havoc that ensues. Grandpa sees it as an omen of his own imminent death and refuses to get out of bed. Meanwhile the star (or more accurately, meteorite) has fallen through the room of the Baldwin sister’s house, narrowly missing their “recipe” still. When their cousin, Polonius, and his friend come to visit, they devise a plan to take away the still under the pretense that the star was a warning from above to stop moonshining. Grandpa gets a swift pep talk about living again, and goes to the Baldwin’s to set matters straight (and celebrate with a taste of the recipe).

Interesting, somewhat philosophical offering that benefits from two colorful supporting characters, Polonius and Colonel Henderson, who remind me a bit of the con artists in Huckleberry Finn. Ben Walton gets a moment in the spotlight with a subplot in which he competes in a school spelling bee, trying to distinguish himself in such a large family. Get used to it, kid!

Waltons 1.5: The Typewriter

Aspiring, budding writer John Boy pens a story met with high praise by his teacher, Miss Hunter, who recommends that he send it in to Collier’s magazine. When it is rejected because it isn’t typed, he secretly borrows a antique typewriter from the Baldwin sisters (secretly because his mother approves of nothing coming from the moonshining Baldwins). But Mary Ellen, who has started conducting a cash for junk side business for herself, sells the typewriter by mistake and goes through great pains to get it back.

That Mary Ellen! A tried and true TV staple: tracking down an item of utmost importance from one owner to the next. There’s some good acting here though, most notably from Richard Thomas when he frantically realizes his typewriter has been sold, and Judy Norton, who is wracked with guilt after discovering the same thing. By this point in the series, John Boy really takes his writing seriously, and will go to any length to get his works read, critiqued and published. Continuity mistake: Even though John Boy has the typewriter by episode’s end, we never see it again! Maybe he couldn’t afford the ink cartridges.