Weather on Waltons Mtn

[JeriJet]

In his Halloween thread, markb mentions the fact that there were few episodes covering holidays..... I have often wondered about that -- especially since during those last few years, the writers seem to have had trouble coming up with themes.

Along these lines, I also wonder why there were so few weather-related episodes. So much could be done with winter weather in particular -- both the hardships and the wonder. Trouble with the saw mill, running out of stored vegetables/fruits, lack of fish, harsh walks to school and Ike's, needing enough warm clothing, car/truck problems, roof leaks, furnace problems, neighbors needing help, and on and on..... They could have done a whole episode about maple sugaring!!

Also, it hardly ever rained (!) which could cause problems -- not necessarily serious but at least a bad hair day !! I don't remember a drought, either.....

Putting the idealism of the show aside, I wonder why more wasn't written about such daily hardships.... How could it be that they ever ran out of "themes"

[ez]

i wish you were one of the writers jerijet your idea's sound like they would of been some great episodes.

[Deleted]

The worst weather they had that I can remember is The Best Christmas where they had snow and the tempratures(sp)went below freezing. Miss Fannie and Jo Ellen were trapped in their car when it slid off an icy road and went down in the pond. John Boy and Harley went down in the water to get them out. Fannie and Jo Ellen had frost bite. They did have hot weather in The Sinner. You would think being up in the mountains, they would have long and cold winters.

[bmcgill]

I bet the cost of setting up scenes like that was probably a lot to do with it. Probably a lot of what they used in different scenes, Warner Brothers already had there but I also bet that a lot had to be built. If I'm not wrong, the school and the church I think is the same building. School on one side, church on the other.

[Marilyn]

Remember when Fannie Tatum drove off the bridge in the winter and ended up in the pond with a little kid? Good scene, but funny because there were slabs of styrofoam floating around, supposed to be ice. Also when Harley and John Boy went into that freezing water, I didn't see any gasps or big eyes like we see up here in the north when you go through the ice!

[markb]

Great post jerrijet, haven't really thought about it before but I think you're right that the weather would have been a constant concern. Think of how miserable it would have been to cut wood out in the middle of winter, or operate the mill even. On the show, the weather is always sunny and they're in the shirtsleeves as if they were in California (which I guess they were).

I think bmcgill is on to something with the cost factor. I bet that entered into the picture more than many realize. It was a successful show for sure, but must have been expensive and they probably had a budget to think about. That probably explains why, as Marilyn hilariously points out, they had styrofoam ice in the best christmas episode!

I am sure there are a few episodes where weather was at least a background factor. Some rain storms, etc. But I can't think of any at the moment.

Fun post!

[michelle]

Reading this thread, two episodes about weather came to my mind. The first is The Baptism when John is struck by lightning out at the mill and Livy, John-Boy and Jason run to him. John winds up lying on the sofa surrounded by the family and finally agrees with Livy to go to church. The second is The Venture. It is raining and John is working at the mill. Livy gets up from the bed and goes to see John at the mill and finds him lying on the floor. John winds up in the hospital.

[JeriJet]

Well, I've got to think about the cost factor a bit..... Can't see how COLD would affect the cost. Snow, possibly, but just cold, no..... Actually, with snow, they could probably get away with just a few appropriate stock films. I think the show did a fairly good job with specific weather-related incidents.... I was thinking, however, mainly of day-to-day struggles.....

Also trying to remember tv back in the 70's -- network tv still had sponsors, right? And other commercial advertising? I think there was much more money available then, compared to the way it works today (where there are so many "pay" cable stations attracting people away from the networks, and networks struggle to come up with sponsors)..... I also don't think actors were paid the huge salaries they are today.

(Aside: if actors, musicians, and professional sports players didn't command such high salaries today, there would be a wider range of film, concerts, and sports available !!! It amazes me that any of these people actually think they are worth the grossly inflated, huge bucks....)

It would be neat if we could get budget info about the show -- how much was each actor paid per episode, etc. !!! The majority of the players came to the show with limited acting credentials, and it probably took a while to get their salary levels up a little. Maybe because of rising actor salaries there was less money available for WRITERS in the later years !!!!!

So, where are we now? Any ideas for other storylines which could have been used?

[ericscott]

Hey Everyone-

Great Subject!! . We would start filming every year in May for the September shows so by the end of summer we were doing the "winter" shows. By January we were doing the spring and summer shows. In the first season finale "The Easter Story" you will notice they took all the leaves off of the main trees around the house set plus put "snow" on the ground. Since Southern California is mostly evergreen, this is not something they could do to the entire area plus when we would get to the summer shows , the leaves couldn't be put back on!! And also as mentioned, the cost to tweak nature is very expensive.

The final thought is : you want the shows to move through the character development, we already had alot of distractions, kids, animals, large cast and the concern would be, are we getting away from what the show is based on which is relationships.

i feel the balance was successful.

Great spending time with alot of you last week, look forward to having more of it in December.

Eric Scott

[dagmargermany]

Dear Eric,

thank you for all the infos about the show ! It was a great pleasure for Manfred and me meeting you and your family at this wonderful reunion in Virginia. Unfortunately I doubt that I can afford a second visit to the U.S. in December . I wish I could ...

Hopefully next year again .

[JeriJet]

Thanks for the info, Eric.... great to hear from you!

Man, oh, man -- too bad they couldn't make a zillion winter episodes while the leaves were off the trees.....

I agree that the balance was VERY successful Just thought that when the writers seemed to be running out of ideas, late in the series, perhaps they could have used some weather-related themes. There doesn't have to be a depression to suffer from cold weather..... and relationships would certainly come into play.....

Yikes -- I just lost my power for almost four days and the temp went down to 26 degrees in October !!! It was fun (?) feeding my dog under two comforters! A whole episode could be made out of my (and others') trials and tribulations !!!

[dfnmeows44]

The Baldwin sisters complained about the heat during The Revalation episode which from the other topics being discussed---The Blitz on in London---took place in mid-August 1940.

[michelle]

Three more episodes come to mind in which rain played a part. Those episodes are The Honeymoon, The Intruders and The Burn-Out.

[River]

It was the same on Little House on the Prairie. For people residing in MN, they sure didn't wear much clothing...ie. coats, sweaters. I am watching the Christmas at Plum Creek and they are all bundled up, but there are only a few episodes where they are dealing with the winter weather. As the series progresses they get further from the winter weather. Mainly the weather on these shows are temperate due to the fact they are shooting in CA.
Now that I think about it, the same is true for Dr. Quinn. Only a few episodes where the cast is wearing coats, sweaters, shawls, etc. Also rarely do we see snow on the ground. It must be a nightmare trying to recreate snow and winterlike scenary especially in Southern CAl.

[JeriJet]

Yeah, but ya don't need snow..... just winter clothing.....