It is 1933, during the Depression, and being Christmas Eve, the Walton family are in the midst of their Christmas preparations and hoping to celebrate it together. The problem is that there are many events which seem to prevent John Walton (Daddy) from arriving home to share this Christmas with his family. The majority of the film then has Olivia wishing and hoping that he will make it home, the children rushing to the door to see if the noises they hear are their Daddy, and John-Boy heading out into the snowy night to try to find him. Eventually Daddy walks through the door, and the first Walton Christmas "miracle" has occurred. We are also introduced to the little old ladies, the Baldwin sisters, the makers of bootleg whiskey, a venture that doesn't go down at all well with Olivia. We learn that John-Boy writes down all his secret thoughts, but tries to keep this from his parents, especially his father. He wants to go to University but feels that there is no way that his family could afford to send him.
When a young girl is left on the doorstep of the Walton's home, they take her in. Not Before learning she is deaf after taking her to the doctor. One night while the Walton family listen to the radio John boy takes matters into his own hands when Holly (the deaf girl) runs up to her room crying. He teaches her sign language...or really Sign spelling! This new skill comes in handy when the youngest of the Walton family gets locked by accident in a box in the Haunted House, which later turns out to be the house of which Holly lives!
A Carnival troupe comes to Walton's Mountain. When the manager absconds with the money, four members are stranded at the Walton house. They thank the Waltons with a private performance.
The Family cow, Chance gives birth to a healthy calf but John announces that it must be sold to make ends meet. Elizabeth and Jim Bob hide the Calf to save it. John relents and the family keeps the calf.
John Boy prepares to go on his first hunt and distress over taking an animals life. During the hunt he saves John's life from an attacking bear. Meanwhile Mary Ellen debates over a new dress or a baseball mitt.
John Boy borrows an antique typewriter from the Baldwin sisters so he can send a story to a magazine. Mary Ellen mistakenly sells it to a junk man, but through diligence, gets it back for her brother.
When a meteorite falls on the Baldwin's house, Zeb believes his time has come. The Baldwin sisters are hoaxed by their cousin until Zeb and John come to the rescue.
The Reverend Matthew Fordwick comes to Walton's Mountain and upsets the family with his strict and forceful preaching. He innocently samples "the recipe," and John helps him to be accepted within the community
Gino, a boy from the slums of New York City runs away from a CCC Camp and learns about trust and love from the Waltons.
A Jewish family, escaping refugees from Nazi Germany, come to Waltons Mountain for safety. Their 13 year old son loses respect for his father in the sons attempt to maintain his religious beliefs and practices.
John's old army buddy, Tip Harrison, tries to cover his lack of success with childish actions and comments culminating in an accidental fire and the shooting of reckless the family dog.
John-Boy's truck breaks down and he meets the author, A.J. Covington. John-Boy jeopardizes a timber contract badly needed by the family.
The Walton's distant cousins arrive on the mountain and immediately upset everyone's life by their shiftless dishonest ways.
The Baldwin sisters and The Recipe play a pivotal role in this story involving their unscrupulous scheming cousin, Homer Lee Baldwin.
Mary Ellen meets a traveling troubadour, Jamie and neglects her responsibilities of helping pick fruit.
When her car breaks down, the famous extravagant actress, Alvira Drummond finds herself stranded on Waltons Mountain. The Children, especially Mary Ellen, are fascinated by her "Hollywood" ways.
A young girls father objects to Miss Hunter's teaching Evolution. During a drunken rage he burns down the school and is killed in the fire.
John Boy falls in love with Jenny Pendleton who returns to Walton's Mountain. Jenny's father and new step-mother follow her to the mountain. Her father is killed in an auto accident and Jenny returns home with her step mother. John-Boy suffers his first lost love.
Olivia's uncle Cody Nelson comes to visit with the Waltons and finds love with a woman who has been divorced four times.
A gypsy family is stranded, but the leader refuses to accept help from the Waltons. His pride almost costs the life of his baby son.
It seems that the Waltons never officially registered the deed to Waltons Mountain. In order to help pay the legal fees, John-Boy leaves home for a job in the city. He meets new friends, gets mugged and earns a reward to help the family keep their home.
A neighbor lady, Verdie Grant asks John-Boy to teach her to read and write. He agrees to teach her as he helps Elizabeth. Things go wrong, however, and feelings get hurt.
Local blacksmith, Curtis Norton has John-Boy write letters to his bride-to-be. When she arrives on Walton's Mountain, life and Curtis are much different than she expected. Meanwhile, Olivia is feeling new pangs for freedom and something "different" in her life.
John-Boy's friend Sarah sees him as a way to escape her "trapped" life with her demanding mother. When John-Boy rejects her advances, she runs off and plans to elope with a townie.
The entire family suffers a crisis when Olivia is stricken with polio. Dr Vance prescribes the accepted treatment, but Olivia does not get better. John-Boy learns of a new treatment practiced by sister Kenny and the family tries it to success in time for the Easter service.
Maggie McKenzie would like to see the ocean once more. John-Boy takes her but must miss an important dance. Grandpa helps the children save an injured bird. Earl Hamner makes his only appearance in the series as Maggie's husband. The director of this episode, Harry Harris, who would eventually direct almost 50 episodes, was nominated for an Emmy award.
John-Boy heads for a mountain retreat and finds an old school mate who is expecting.The baby arrives with John-Boy's help. The mule, Blue makes his first appearance in this episode.
The family struggles with financial crisis and the electricity is turned off. Grandpa sets out to raise some money but tells no one about his plans. Grandma becomes angry and Grandpa moves out. The bill is paid and the angry grandparents make-up at a barn dance.
A wealthy widow, Mrs Clayborne, accuses John Walton of stealing antiques while working in her mansion. John needed new tires and he hocks his wedding ring to buy them. He refuses to tell anyone where the money came from. The mystery is finally solved when the Clayborne son admits to selling the goblets to raise money for his family.
Harley Foster and his son Jodie are introduced to the series. Harley roams the countryside doing odd jobs. Jodie has had no formal education. Verdie Grant takes a strong liking to Harley and eventually persuades him to stay on Walton's Mountain.
John-Boy accidentally sees a family friend, Yancy Tucker, stealing chickens and must decide whether to turn him in to the sheriff. Yancy has been helping poor friends but is arrested and charged with shooting the chicken's owner. All is resolved when the owner admits to falling and shooting himself.
The Country Fair has come to Walton's Mountain. Grandma has entered a quilt in the competition. Ben sells a pig for the greased pig contest and Olivia's old suitor, now politician, visits the fair.
Hobart Shank a teen-age orphan returns to the Walton home while John attempts to get him a contract as a professional baseball pitcher. He breaks his arm after falling out of the tree house losing his chance at fame.
John-Boy secures a position of rent collector for a hated landlord while Erin, who is disappointed by her knight in shining armor, nurses an orphaned fawn back to health.
Thanksgiving time on Walton's Mountain means a turkey shoot, a school play about early settlers, and the big meal. One year it also included a rekindled love affair and a life-threatening accident. John-Boy anticipates a visit from his girlfriend and is pending a college scholarship exam. He has an accident in the sawmill and his vision is blurred. He is unable to finish his test and eventually must undergo surgery.
An inexperienced but brilliant young sub teacher wreaks havoc in the Walton's Mountain School. Because of her insecurity, she refuses advice from anyone until Olivia steps in.
Grandma finds out she has inherited $250 and decides to share her wealth. Mary Ellen experiments with being a blond and uses Jim-Bob as a test case.
An air mail pilot, due to engine trouble, lands his plane in the Walton's meadow. With the help of John, the plane is repaired and Olivia receives a surprise birthday gift, a plane ride!
John-Boy experiences a heart ache because Miss Hunter, his teacher, starts dating Reverend Fordwick.
Grandma's 68th birthday is here and the 2 faces of age are keenly felt by her as Grandma is confronted by old age. Mary Ellen, now 14 years old, poses an impossible barrier between her and a college student who lays claim to her heart.
Olivia and John go on a late honeymoon at Virginia Beach while John-Boy & Marcia Woolery try to come to an understanding in their relationship.
An investor talks John into selling the mountain as a tour center. John thinks it over but realizes what the home means to the rest of his family and turns the ofter down.
Jason learns one of life's hardest lessons: the death of a close friend. Seth Turner learns he has only one year to live because he has a fatal disease.
Olivia finds out she is pregnant and the children set out to make her and the baby a variety of presents. Elizabeth is jealous because she thinks because she is the youngest that her Mom will not love her the same way or will never have any more time for her. In the end Olivia loses the baby
The Waltons bring home an 8 year boy named Stevie who is an orphan so he can experience a family setting. Stevie meets Curtis Norton a blacksmith and an immediate bond occurs. Curtis and his wife take in the boy.
The Children get a Ouija board from Ike. Olivia and Grandma have misgivings about the children playing with it and speaking to it's spirits.
John-Boy gets ready to graduate from high school in a new suit. When the cow dies John-Boy returns the suit and gets his money back and uses the money to buy another cow. John-Boy graduates in Grandpa's old suit.
A traveling salesman named George Reed talks Olivia into buying a 5 foot collection of books called The Harvard Classics. George uses the down payment to buy his daughter a doll.
When John-Boy starts college and needs a car to travel to and from college, he makes a deal with Hyder Rudge. John-Boy works at the Rudge home for the car. Hyder hides the auto and refuses to sell to John-Boy because the car belonged to Hyder's dead son.
Aunt Martha Corinnie Walton's home is in danger by the right-of-way for The Blue Ridge Parkway. All of the Walton clan comes to her aid and try and stop the contractor. During a skirmish with the contractor and deputies, John-Boy gets shot.
During John-Boy's 1st day at Boatwright he encounters a variety of new challenges. Back at the Walton home, Jason feels the need to be the oldest and excel at school like John-Boy. All of the other children object to Jason's attitude
John-Boy enters Blue the family mule in the annual cross-country race & tries to win Selena Linville's affections.Grandpa had won that race years before
Now that John-Boy is at College, Jim Bob feels small and alone. He brings home a guinea pig, a mascot at school. During the night the little creature dies but the rest of the family are too busy with their own activities to spend time with him. Sad and alone after burying it in the woods, Jim Bob runs away.
Olivia enrolls herself in art class at night and her teacher makes romantic advances.Mary Ellen says she wants to be a nurse
Mary Ellen buys a purse. At home she finds there's a pretty amethyst ring inside which she decides to wear at the dance, but she and Erin keep the finding of the ring a secret.
Ben learns the hazards of smoking. John-Boy sticks up for a fellow student who violates Boatwright's honor code during a history exam. There were extenuating circumstances
A New York family who is dysfunctional moves to Walton's Mountain. They end up causing havoc in the Walton's household and they move back to New York City
In Scottsville John-Boy enters a dance marathon with Daisy Garner, a total stranger. It starts out fun but quickly becomes a drudgery until Olivia comes to the rescue.
John-Boy finds out that a collection of his short stories will be published and Jason secures a job with Bobby Bigelow and the Haystack Gang.
John-Boy gets a job reading to a young blind woman. The woman is hostile towards him and the world in general. She goes to Walton's Mountain and realizes she has much more for which to be thankful.
John seeks work in a Norfolk shipyard because he feels that life has passed by him but he soon realizes that the family needs him at home and he really wants to be there.
Zeb's old friend returns to Walton's Mountain without his wife. The Walton's learn that she died earlier but he will not acknowledge her passing.
Grandpa has a heart attack and seems to be unresponsive to treatment. The family try to cheer him up, and against doctor's orders, move him to a tent outside so he can communicate with nature
Ben goes to Charlottesville to take a young girl to meet her mother and borrows John-Boy's truck without his permission. The truck is involved in a hit and run unknown to Ben.
Corabeth Walton, a cousin of the Waltons, comes for an unannounced extended visit. Ike Godsey is instantly taken with her and they quickly marry. Erin enters the Jefferson County Sweetheart Contest.
John-Boy encounters a sassy but unprincipled girl whose selfish ways cause hard feelings and suspicion toward Danny, Jim Bob's friend.
Grandpa and Grandma become angry with the family and move out to care for a friend's house.Everybody soon realizes that their place is back home
Wedding plans for the daughter of a friend go awry when the mountain custom of kidnapping the groom get out of hand
John wants to expand the mill and call it Walton and Sons,Jason wants to study music and he tries for a scholarship
Godsey's store has a raffle of a statue and Grandpa wins the statue - a dead ringer that looks like one of Grandpa's girlfriend prior to Grandma. John-Boy writes a story of a failed romance between Miss Emily and Ashley Longworth
Sally Ann Harper has eyes for Jason but Ben falls in love with her. Grandpa and John enter a billiard competition at Ike's store
John and Olivia make plans for their 20 th wedding anniversary, John-Boy falls in love with a older woman and decides to leave the mountain with her
John decides to expand his business by building a new mill. To meet a deadline for a big order, John works day and night & gets pneumonia. While he's in the hostipal his friends finish the mill, but he loses the big contract.
Reverend Fordwick asks John-Boy to deliver the Sunday sermon, and Miss Hunter asks Olivia to act as the substitute teacher. It proves to be an interesting experience for both as Reverend Fordwick and Miss Hunter plan their wedding and honeymoon
John-Boy's Dean asks him to take care of a 16 year old genius college student for the weekend. It seems that Lyle is wonderful with science and math, but woefully lacking when it comes to dealing with people.
Young prize fighter James Travis Clark from Richmond arrives on Walton's Mountain looking for work. He lives in the Walton's barn while training for his next fight. Grandma and Olivia are upset with the whole idea until they find out that James is a minister.
Father and son struggle with personal crisis: John approaches his 25-year high school reunion regretting he is not a greater success; and John-Boy fears he will never be able to make a living as a writer.
Porter Sims, a reporter from New York, comes to get material for a guide book on Virginia. John-Boy takes him to see the Baldwin sisters who allow him to look through the late Judge Baldwin's private papers. These reveal that their father was accused of treason for harboring Yankee soldiers during the Civil War. Deeply shocked and hurt, they decide not to leave their house ever again.
Jason is attending Klineberg Conservatory while playing with the Haystack Gang & the Sunrise Gospeleers. He is not doing too well and decides to slow down. John-Boy takes a new job in Boatwright's library.
John-Boy is doing a story on a female wing-walker who is performing at the local fair. He invites her to stay at the Walton home. Jim Bob is soon madley in love with the flyer. Maude Gormley gives Mytrle the goat to the Waltons.
A handsome forestry student name Chad Marshall arrives on Walton's Mountain. Both Erin and Mary Ellen are smitten and a competition delelops between them. Each is sure that she is the chosen one. Mary Ellen realizes that it is Erin thats truly in love.
John-Boy's old girlfriend Marica Woolery returns to Walton's Mountain with her fiance to sell some inherited property. She plans to invest the money in her fiance's proposed business. John-Boy exposes the fiance as a braggart and not in love with Marcia. Olivia subs. A student obtain a pair of much needed eye glasses.
Olivia Hill, Olivia's young cousin, returns to Walton's Mountain to grieve the sudden death of her husband. The family attempts to cheer her up. It does not work until Elizabeth's cat, Calico, gives birth to kittens.
John-Boy renews his friendship with A.J. Covington who is working with a movie company. The Walton family intently follows the abdication of King Edward while following the activities of a movie company fliming on Walton's Mountain.
Vera Walton has left her husband Wade and moves into the Walton home. Wade has been abusive and is running moonshine. John gives Wade a job at the mill to help the young couple get on their feet and get back together.
As Mary Ellen nervously awaites word on her acceptance to nursing school, the rest of the Waltons prepares surprise good-bye gifts. Mary Ellen is accepted, but she needs more work in math and science and ends up studying with John-Boy and Miss Nora Taylor, the county nurse.
Ben gets angry and leaves home at the same time Grandpa and John enter a competition with another lumber mill for the big contract. Without knowing, Ben goes to work for the other firm. Grandpa devises a clever scheme to get their lumber to market first.
Olivia and the two youngest children, Jim-Bob and Elizabeth, go up on Walton's Mountain and become lost. They experience many challenges. Jim-Bob saves the day using woodsman skills taught to him by Grandpa.
Jim-Bob thinks he was adopted. He searchs his birth records and finds out he's a twin. Jim-Bob's twin brother died at birth.
Grandpa enjoys telling tales of his days with Teddy Roosevelt in the Spanish Amercian War, but he balks about attending a reunion of the Rough Riders. Ben decides to go into to business trapping and selling animal skins.
The Walton's house is nearly destroyed by fire and the children must live temporarily with friends. John-Boy has a difficult time to begin the task of rewriting his lost novel.
John-Boy meets up with a runaway girl named Muffin who's 12 years old. Muffin tells him that she was abused and is trying to find her mother. John-Boy takes her home and she fools everyone but Grandpa.
Olivia gets a job as a dress maker.She does very well & soon she gets full time work.She is pleased with the attention but realizes she wants too be home more than at work .Maude Gormley is put in an old folks home and loses her zest for life
A quilting is to announce that a woman is of marrying age. Grandma is determined to have one for her granddaughter Mary Ellen who is just as determined not to participate in what she considers an insulting custom.
Esther wants to save an old house from being torn down. Grandpa wants the contract to destroy it for the old wood. They both argue until Zeb realizes that house holds sentimental memories for grandma.
John-Boy sure trys to raise the down payment for an old printing press to publish his own newspaper
Selena Linville comes back to Walton's Mountain & lights a fire under John-Boy to go to Spain & write all about Rebel cause
The first edition of The Blue Ridge Chronicle is published by John-Boy. He publishes a story about Ben and it makes his mother mad.
Mary Ellen, aspring nurse, makes a diagnosis about Grandma's illness which almost costs Grandma her life.
Jason gets news that his scholarship has been cancelled. Jason begins to hang out at the Dew Drop Inn. He is trying to interest Red Turner, a musician, into making a come back since his son's death.
John refuses to visit the tent meeting or get baptised, even with the presence of a famous evangelist.
John-Boy tries to keep the community updated about the news in Europe sohe decides to print excerpts about Hitler's Mein Kampf in his paper. A great outcry ensues and the town is torn apart over the issue of publishing unfavorable items in the Blue Ridge Chronicle.
A unknown person prowls through the night on Walton's Mountain. Godsey's Hall is open up by Ike Godsey & Jason decides to have a dance for the community
Mary Ellen surprises her parents saying that she and Dr. David Spencer are getting married. At the same time the family makes preparations, Dr. Curt Willard arrives and complicates matters.
John-Boy sells his Meadow to a mining company to meet payments on his printing press. Ike and Corabeth follow suit. What everybody doesn't know is that the company plans to strip mine which will ruin the land.
Jim-Bob fixes up Ike's old motorcyle & he enters a motorcyle race. The Godsey's want to adopt a baby but instead adopt a young girl named Aimee
Auntie Martha Corrine Walton comes to Walton's Mountain to visit and soon interupts everybody's life. She and Ben make an old fashioned pony cart and she comes to the realization that she is about to die.
The 11 members of the Walton family are together for Christmas This would be the last time that all of the Waltons would be together
The Waltons are emersed in a controversial election for sheriff and Grandpa fights to release a wild mustang that he says was caught on Walton property.
Corabeth gives Olivia a permanent that turns out badly. Grandma is up against a new competition for playing the church organ.
Elizabeth has nightmares of an unknown experience of being stuck on the very top of a ferris wheel. Ben starts to seriously worry about his height.
Erin's 1st love, Chad Marshall, comes back and asks Erin to be his wife. She agrees but John emphatically says no so Erin and Chad run off to elope.
John goes to Charlottesville and applies for an office job. He finds it impossible to work under the harsh direction of the office manager.
Erin's graduation from high school seems to be very painful because Erin has no firm plans for the future or any career.
John-Boy acts on a suggestion of Grandma's and oranizes a memorial to the Jefferson County Doughboys of WWI. Sheriff Ed Bridges , the decorated hero, shows little interest.
John-Boy goes to Lakehurst New Jersey to travel to cover the landing of Hindenburg and is deeply affected by its crash. Curt tries to figure out how to have more private time with Mary Ellen.
Jason falls in love with Vanessa, Curt's sister, who left her husband so she could become a singer. John-Boy begins to publish sections of his novel in the newspaper.
Grandpa says he going to bring Grandma home from the hosptal. When the Doctors say no, Grandpa causes a scene and is told not to come back. Aimee Godsey asks Zeb to be her Grandpa.
The Baldwin's niece, Hillary Von Kleist, comes for a visit from Vienna. Jason joins the National Guard over Olivia's objections.
A hot headed Ben has a falling out with John and Ben takes a job as a used car salesman . Ben seems a natural until the family questions some of his sales techniques.
John-Boy goes to New York City after waiting weeks without word on his novel. It pays off and John-Boy talks to an editor who agrees to publish his novel. John-Boy comes back home and tells them the good news. He also tells the family he is moving to New York City.
A young minister comes and causes some uneasiness within the congregation
Strange foorprints & a stringer of catfish lead the Waltons to find 12 year old Josh a runaway in the barn hiding.He attaches himself to John immediately
Jason and Fern Lockwood,a recluse who shares his love of music but she is timid and finds life threatening . Ben goes to Norfolk and looks for work and comes back home to help an overworked father
An old man, his grandson,and two Indians come to Walton's Mountain saying there are sacred burial grounds where the barn is built.
The Waltons have an encounter with a strange English girl while on a small vacation at the Baldwin sister's beach cottage. Ben stays home alone expecting to live the life of a carefree bachelor.
After Erin says no to the marriage proposal of G.W. Haines, he joins the Army. Erin visits G.W. at Camp Lee Army Base despite her father's reluctance.
Mary Ellen Gives birth to the Waltons 1 st grandchild a boy name John Curtis Williard
GW Haines is in the army. Dies at camp. He left a will, where he left his land to Erin. She is hurt at the loss.
Soldiers practice war at Drusilla's pond. Corabeth teaches a tap dance routine to Elizabeth and Aimee. They put on a show.
Jim-Bob meets a boy who is on his way to join the Air Corps, but the boy never actually leaves. Turns out he is a runaway. Meanwhile, Elizabeth misses Grandma, and thus builds a grandmotherly relationship with Maude Gormley.
Two British children, separated from their parents due to the war, come to stay with the Baldwins. Jason is not sure he can fight in the war. Jim-Bob uses a short-wave radio and makes an amazing connection on that 1940 Christmas morning.
Feeling old and restless, Olivia visits her Aunt Kate in her home town. Jim-Bob wants to get a job but needs both parents to sign a permission slip.
The Waltons have one remaining payment on their mortgage. John and the family rush to complete one big lumber job to pay it off. As they celebrate, Ike Godsey faces financial trouble. The Waltons help Ike.
Members of Flossie Brimmer's family visit the mountain. The community does not welcome them due to their German accent. Elizabeth starts a rumor about them.
Ben and Jim-Bob get on each other's nerves. They end up dating each other's girlfriends. Meanwhile, Mamie Baldwin sees a rose bush dying and thinks it means she will die. Grandpa finds a way to help her feel young again.
Jason practices his music for a town festival. He finds Josh, Verdie's son, plays the horn. They practice together. The festival organizers do not want Josh. Elizabeth and Aimee Godsey compete for the same boy.
John and Olivia celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. Mary Ellen and Curtis begin to feel the stain of separation due to the war.
Jason helps Verdie research her family tree. They find people who knew her family. Elizabeth starts writing to a soldier at Camp Lee, pretending she is 18 years old. Sends Erin's picture as her own.
Elizabeth falls while standing on top of a wood pile. Fractures her leg. Doctors doubt her ability to walk ever again.
John-Boy returns to Walton's Mountain to write about the failing economy and lack of jobs. He talks Mr Guthrie into opening the old mine. As the menfolk are in the mine, it collapses. John makes a decision about working at a defense plant.
John-Boy proposes to Daisy and she says yes. Daisy reconnects with her mother and learns some surprising news. Mary Ellen and Aimee open a lemonade stand. Grandpa finds a way to increase sales.
Grandma returns from the hospital but the family does not let her do anything. (Ellen Colby recovered enough from her stoke to return to the series.) An overweight boy is interested in Elizabeth. (This is Will Geer's last episode.)
Everybody mourns the death of Grandpa Zeb and Flossie Brimmer. John struggles hard to fill a huge lumber contract and Mary Ellen & Erin move to Charlottesville and they get an apartment.
Jim-Bob meets the Baldwin's cousin, a young girl who is in a convent preparing to become a nun. Ben hires a mill hand who turns out to be an alcoholic.
Boone Walton comes back to Walton's mountain and gets in trouble with the law. Boone gets released in Jason's custody. Daisy Garner also comes back to Walton's Mountain to visit. She and John-Boy never married.
Mary Ellen gets prescription drugs and abuses them in order to study long hours for her Nurse's exam. Cissy Tucker Yancy Tucker's wife has had enough and she puts her foot down.
Just before Elizabeth's 13th birthday, she becomes reluctant to grow up and creates a poltergeist. Jason starts a new job as a radio talk show host giving advice to the lovelorn.
Erin is both attracted and repelled by a brooding artist who is here from Paris. As part of a war-time mural on the wall of an old house the artist asks to paint Erin's portrait.
Jim-Bob tries to teach Elizabeth to drive. Corabeth 's drinking problem becomes severe and Elizabeth has to drive Aimee and Corabeth home.
Ester Verdie's daughter comes back to Walton's Mountain disillusioned over having a college degree & unable to land a meaningful job. Erin helps her find a job at J.D. Pickett's plant.
Grandma's ex-boyfriend comes calling on Grandma much to the horror of Elizabeth. Jim-Bob persuades Yancy Tucker to make fuel in his still instead of moonshine.
Christmas 1941. Mary Ellen says she will be going to be with Curt in Hawaii. News from Pearl Harbor comes and the Waltons are told that Curt is dead.
Elizabeth falls in love with the minister when he is forced out of the parsonage by a skunk. Erin is helping the Baldwin sisters write their memoirs and Erin finds a ring that was left by Ashley Longworth.
Ben talks the townspeople into opening an auto court against John's advice. Yancy Tucker goes into business for himself.
Jason has second thoughts about joining the military service and considers becoming a Conscientious Objector much to Ben's dismay. Jim-Bob gets a military tattoo.
Mike Paxton, John-Boy's old friend, is confined to a wheel chair and believes there is no hope for the future. Through the help of the family, he comes out of his shell.
John and Olivia are both tired so Olivia suggests a trip, but the vacation does not help Olivia. Olivia sees a doctor and is told she has TB and must go to a sanitarium.
After a car jack slips and falls and Jim-Bob escapes serious injury, Jim-Bob decides to become a minister.
Ben enters a casual picture of Erin in a contest where she wins 1st prize. She finds herself the center of attention and the official pin-up girl of Camp Lee to John's dismay.
Ike has a heart attack because of the pressures and shortages of war-time shop-keeping. The Walton children pitch in and help keep Ike's store open in his absence.
Ashley Longworth Jr, who bears striking resemblance to his dad, comes to the Baldwin home and is courted by Miss Emily and Erin.
Ben comes home in the middle of the night with his new wife Cindy and they set up housekeeping in the shed. The early years of marriage aren't easy until Grandma steps in.
Cally May, John's ex-girlfriend, comes to Walton's mountain and buys the Dew Drop Inn. John and Olivia's kids try to protect John from Cally May's attention. Ike, Cindy and Elizabeth turn Godsey's hall into a canteen for soldiers from Camp Rockfish.
Jim-Bob can not join the Air Corps because he fails the eye exam. Jim-Bob decides to run off and join the Army.
Jason tries desperately with his music professor to meet the course's requirements of an original composition. He composes Appalachian Portrait while he plans the piece.
John serves on the local draft board. A young soldier he drafted has been killed and the boy's Dad threatens John & Jim-Bob. The family receives word that John-Boy is missing in action.
The family members all seem involved in the war effort. John helps with the draft board. A soldier who signed up because of John is killed in the war, and the father wants to take revenge. Bad news about John-Boy.
Rose arrives for a visit which is extended with Serena and Jeffery, her grandchildren. Jim-Bob and Ike Godsey build an air raid siren big enough for Richmond.
Mary Ellen subs as the county nurse. John tries to prove to the army that he really did graduate from high school. John can not find his diploma so he takes another test.
Olivia says the mountain needs a day nursery for children of defense plant workers. Corabeth thinks that Ike has a girlfriend when she sees Rose teaching him to dance.
The film company comes to Walton's Mountain and Pickett plant is used for a war-time documentary. Erin is convinced by the director that she has potential in Hollywood.
A publisher asks permission from John and Olivia about printing the new book that John-Boy wrote in Europe. Jeff does not want Reckless put to sleep after Reckless becomes sick.
Ashley Longworth Jr. comes back and asks Erin to be his wife. She has some serious doubts after he says he has lost his faith in God.
Olivia searches for a soldier's wife at the request from the Red Cross. The soldier's wife won't answer her husband's letters. Corabeth expects an inheritance.
To be near John-Boy who is in a coma, Olivia joins the Red Cross. Rose plans the big Thanksgiving dinner. John and Olivia spend Thanksgiving in Richmond Hospital with John-Boy.
Jim-Bob meets Betsy, a married woman and falls in love with her while delivering her a package.
All of Jefferson County watched with wonder when Mary Ellen and Erin decide to venture even farther into a mans world.
There's an escapee from a POW camp in North Carolina hiding on Walton's Mountain and he is befriended by Jeffrey. They ask him in on Christmas Eve.
Cindy gets a book from Corabeth on how to be the perfect wife and Cindy resolves to cater to Ben's every need. Jeffrey takes home a cat and names her Harold, until the cat gives birth to kittens.
There's a recruit working for Jason's company who is Jewish. He tells how his grandfather was arrested and killed by German soldiers in Warsaw.
Hazel Lamphere, the new school teacher, comes to Walton's Mountain and Elizabeth is immediately attached to her. Virginia is born to Cindy and Ben.
Josh and Jeffrey break into Godsey's store and are in trouble with the law. After being humiliated by a solider in uniform, Ben decides to enlist.
Zadoc Walton, Zeb's cousin, arrives to keep a 21 year old promise and makes a surprising contribution to Boatwright University.
Mamie Baldwin makes it through a difficult operation with Grandma's help.
When John's equipment breaks down and Jim-Bob breaks his, John decides maybe he has had enough. Jeffrey builds himself a soapbox car sponsored by Godsey's store.
Rose's ex-boyfriend Stanley Perkins arrives on Waltons Mountain and he makes a re-acquaintance with Rose.
John-Boy returns home physically cured but he still suffers from a loss of memory. Ike gets arrested for draft evasion because he ignores a letter from the Army.
Mary Ellen receives a medal that was awarded to Curtis after he died. A former friend of Corabeth visits; he and Corabeth begin to see each other. Ike is concerned.
Jim-Bob graduates as class valedictorian and Erin finds out that Ashley Longsworth Jr married a girl in London. The Walton boys join the War.
The real-life 'John-Boy Walton' (Earl Hamner, Jr.), whose voice-overs narrated "The Waltons" televison series for nearly a decade makes a special appearance as himself and the On-Screen Narrator in this 2-hour special. This drama and quasi-documentary is built around a new story informally titled "Grandma's Birthday" and features many flashback scenes and highlights from the TV series. The family plans a surprise birthday party for Grandma Esther Walton and puts together a photo album of precious photographs as a gift for her to unwrap at the party. The narrator walks in and out of scenes as if he were invisible or perhaps as the ghost of an absent John-Boy. Historical black-and-white footage from the Great Depression and Dust Bowl era is inserted within the special as a very brief documentary. Actress Ellen Corby's triumph over a stroke in real life is celebrated using flashbacks of her TV role as Grandma overcoming a similar stroke. By having the actors say good-night to one another around the supper table while using their real-life first names, a touching tribute is paid to the late Will Geer (a.k.a. Grandpa) who began the tradition of saying Grace at the same table. Other special treats include Mr. Hamner introducing the Walton-children cast members to their real-life counterparts (the Hamner siblings) via a cross-country split screen. We also get to travel on-location to the narrator's real-life hometown of Schuyler, Virginia, to enjoy the beauty of nature in the snow-covered foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the Rockfish River. Mr. Hamner pays respects at his daddy's grave site, and he even treats the viewers to a trip to his boyhood home on Tree Top Loop where he interviews the woman who inspired the character of Olivia Walton, his very own mother -- Doris Hamner.
Harley Foster and John have a delivery out of town. They have to deal with prejudice first hand when Harley gets arrested for an old crime. John goes and sees President Roosevelt for a pardon.
Cont for part 1
Mary Ellen feels inadequate as a nurse to help Mountain folk. Against the Dean's advice, Mary Ellen applies for medical school.
With the war drawing to a close, Jason and a young man in his squad deal with the question of killing. Ike and Corabeth face problems with the Ration Board.
Cindy has bad dreams about Ben, who becomes a POW. John-Boy falls in love with a french girl in Paris who runs a book shop.
Jim-Bob's ex-girlfriend comes to Walton's Mountain saying that Jim-Bon is the father of her baby. In the Pacific, Ben is still a POW.
Ben is taken on an unexpected trip by his captor who turns Ben in to the American forces. Toni is seriously courted by Jason.
Ben comes home from the war and tells John he wants to study engineering. The long awaited vacation that Erin plans to go on is interrupted. John tells the his family he has to take Olivia to Arizona to the sanitarium.
Mary Ellen agrees to marry Jonesey but finds out that Curt might very well be alive. The Dew Drop Inn is reopened by Jason.
Mary Ellen finds out that Curt is still alive. He is living in Florida but is quite the different person from the man she remembers. J.D. asks Erin to come back to work by begging Erin.
Cindy's father gets killed and Cindy finds out she is adopted when she goes through some old papers. Cindy goes to find her Mother. Elizabeth and Drew have problems.
Jim-Bob and Jody get discharged from the service. They celebrate and they decide to open up a garage. The Baldwin sisters get forced to close their recipe machine until they discover their Grandfather's still in a secret room.
Stanley Perkins comes again and eventually says he is suffering from a nervous break down. Because of a new singer at The Dew Drop Inn that pays too much attention to Toni, Jason has problems. Rose gives Stanley a gold watch.
Tom Marshall, the new minister, comes to Walton's Mountain and shakes up the congregation. Toni moves into the Baldwin's home and she tells the family she's Jewish. Toni and Jason decide to get married.
Orma Lee, Corabeth's twin sister, arrives to see Ike when Corabeth is away. Elizabeth goes to Arizona to see Olivia and John because she feels lonely.
The Waltons help a woman who's husband beats her when he is drunk. Jim-Bob decides he will make a fortune by investing in war surplus.
John-Boy comes home to ponder his future and he ends up doing a TV show for Boatwright University. Rose is given a run for her money by Zuleika Dunbar over the affection of Stanley.
Corabeth finds Ike's old love letters and files for a divorce. Drew wants to spend a romantic night with Elizabeth.
Rose cancels her wedding to Stanley because she hides a heart condition. Cindy realizes that she would rather stay home than work in the shop.
A member of a influential family named Paul Matthews Northridge brings mystery & romance to Erin.
A 14 year old girl is promised marriage in mountain tradition. Mary Ellen interferes and the bride-groom kidnaps Elizabeth to get his bride back. Octavia, an eccentric cousin of the Baldwins, is treated to a visit by him.
John-Boy comes back home after he hits upon hard times when he is in New York pursuing his writing career. The Baldwin sisters send out invitations for the lavish ball and the invitations are returned. The Waltons save the day for the Baldwins.
Erin Walton is considering marrying her boyfriend Paul. Her old boyfriend, Ashley, who left her to marry someone else but is recently widowed, would like to get Erin back, but Paul is not going to give her up so easily. Then there's Mary Ellen's boyfriend, Jonesy, who is a veterinarian trying to establish a practice, but nobody thinks he is competent. And Ben, who has been minding the lumber business while their father is with their ailing mother in Arizona, is having some problems and everybody's worried that he's digging himself a hole that he might not get out of.
Mary Ellen marries Jonesy but they don't exactly have a good start. While on their honeymoon, she suffers an accident that leaves her unable to bear children. She then shuts everyone, even Jonesy, out. She then decides to go to the one person who could understand what she's going through, her mother, who is in Arizona recuperating.
Third Waltons reunion movie has most of the family split up on the days approaching Thanksgiving, c. 1946. But most of the family begins to arrive at Walton's Mountain beginning with John-Boy recovering from a case of writers block in New York followed by Jason now a struggling musician as well as John Walton who tries to get everyone together for the special event for Elizabeth, while newlyweds Erin and Paul plan to move out of the Walton homestead.
Fourth Waltons reunion TV movie is now set in the 1960s which has John-Boy still living in New York, trying to persuade his fiancée to marry him. Meanwhile, Ben and Cindy's daughter, Virginia, has died and Cindy is finding life very lonely without her. She tells Ben that she would dearly love to adopt another baby, but Ben feels that it is not a good idea. Also Ben is arguing with his father about their lumber company for he wants to buy a new truck, but John keeps insisting that they can't afford it. Elsewhere, Erin now has three children and is separated from Paul. Her decision to start seeing another man causes some indignation among the other Walton family members. Ike and Corabeth become grandparents when Aimee has a little baby daughter, while Elizabeth returns from Europe and reunites with Drew, her old beau.
The fifth Waltons TV movie is set in 1964 has John-Boy Walton planning his wedding to Janet Gilchrist, the editor of a New York fashion magazine and the daughter of a diplomat. The two of them plan a small wedding and he invites the family and friends from Walton's Mountain to come to New York for the celebration. But Janet's Aunt Flo has other ideas and begins to take over their wedding preparations. Added to the wedding plan stress, John-Boy is also trying to write an article about his Grandma, but decides that he needs to go home to escape the wedding preparations, as well as to reunite with his Grandmother and fill in some gaps leaving Janet in New York trying to prevent her wedding from getting out of hand. But she too leaves the city and heads for Walton's Mountain to plan their wedding there. Meanwhile, Olivia has decided that the time is right for her to return to school and she enrolls in a class at Boatwright University. Being a married woman, with a family, returning to study makes her lecturer wonder why she is there and he makes her time in his class very difficult. Also, John has his problems when he's been elected as a County Supervisor and the lumber company which he and Ben run stands to profit if he votes for a proposed subdivision to go ahead. By this time Elizabeth's boyfriend Drew is also working at the mill and Jason's very pregnant wife Toni goes through a series of false alarms as her due date draws near.
The sixth Waltons reunion movie is set in 1969 and features John-Boy as a TV news anchor in New York in the throes of writing a new book. He and a very pregnant Janet are making plans to return to Walton's Mountain for the celebration of John and Olivia's 40th wedding anniversary. Accompanying them to see the place John-Boy lived as a child is Aurora, a Time magazine photographer, who is doing a story on John-Boy. Meanwhile, Elizabeth arrives back from her travels and announces to Drew, who is still working at the mill with Ben, that she is back to stay. She is very upset to find that Drew did not wait for her, and that he has a new girlfriend. Also, problems arise for John-Boy and Janet because the longer John-Boy stays on the mountain, the more he becomes convinced that he would like to settle down there, raise his family, and continue with his writing whereas Janet wants to stay in New York.
John Boy and his family prepare for John Sr. homecoming to spend Christmas together, but after a storm comes in the way, John Boy has to find his father and the journey through it will change his life forever. A remake of The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (1971).
The Walton family enthusiastically prepares for the annual Harvest Festival Fair on Walton's Mountain in 1934, but a young boy's arrival dramatically changes their lives.
