Waltons 5.3: “The Comeback”

Airdate: 10/7/76

Two equally-weighted plots here. In the first, Jason’s scholarship is cancelled and he must may tuition payments on his own; to the disapproval of his mother and grandma, he takes a job at the Dew Drop Inn, a roadhouse bar, and uses the experience to coax country singer Red Turner (from “The Gift”) to return to music after the tragic death of his son. In the other story, Yancy Tucker asks to stay with the Waltons, claiming his house is now home to a skunk – they later find out he is hiding from Cissy Webster, a Dew Drop In waitress he proposed to but is now afraid of committing to. Facing the music, and the reality that marriage will require compromise on his part, he accepts his conjugal fate, and kisses his bachelorhood goodbye.

First appearance of the Dew Drop Inn is another Waltons milestone. Guest actor Merle Haggard is appropriately understated as Red Turner, a role he replaces Ken Swofford in, who played Red in episode 2.18: “The Gift.” (It’s certainly worth the price of admission to hear Merle sing at the end.)

Earl tells us that it is now sometime in 1937.