What got you hooked on the show?

[Deleted]

At some point in our lives, all of us got to watch our very first episode. Whether that was back in 1972 when the show debuted on CBS, or 1971 the Homecoming or anytime after that....
What made you watch a 2nd episode after you watched the first one?
Was it a character you fell in love with (or liked very much)
Was it "Life in the 1930s"?
Was it a close knit family that attracted you?
Was it the religious aspect (Godly family)
Was it just life in the country with animals, horses?
Something else?

Share your thoughts with us.

[cinlou]

What made you watch a 2nd episode after you watched the first one?
My parents put the show on every Thursday night and I watched it with them.

Was it a character you fell in love with (or liked very much)
When I was a kid I loved Elizabeth and Jim Bob. They were around my age.

Was it "Life in the 1930s"?
The history of the Depression was more interesting when I became a teenager/young adult.

Was it a close knit family that attracted you?
I loved the family! No matter what happened, if you made a mistake or did something wrong, they still loved you and you definitely felt loved!

Was it the religious aspect (Godly family)
No. My family wasn't particularly religious.

Was it just life in the country with animals, horses?
I did like seeing the animals on television and the farm life.

[Deleted]

would say most of those points, but above all the family closeness

[goodnight]

I've always liked hearing stories about my mother or grandmother's childhoods, so that's why I liked it. My mom was born in 1942 and my grandma in 1921.

[patriciaanne]

Apr 8, 2016 10:39:43 GMT -5 cinlou said:

What made you watch a 2nd episode after you watched the first one?
My parents put the show on every Thursday night and I watched it with them.

Was it a character you fell in love with (or liked very much)
When I was a kid I loved Elizabeth and Jim Bob. They were around my age.

Was it "Life in the 1930s"?
The history of the Depression was more interesting when I became a teenager/young adult.

Was it a close knit family that attracted you?
I loved the family! No matter what happened, if you made a mistake or did something wrong, they still loved you and you definitely felt loved!

Was it the religious aspect (Godly family)
No. My family wasn't particularly religious.

Was it just life in the country with animals, horses?
I did like seeing the animals on television and the farm life.

All my life I wanted to live on a farm. So I was always attracted to stories about rural life. I was a kid trapped in NYC who belonged on a farm. I guess I was "trans-rural." With any luck I won't have to go to the city anymore--at all--ever!

[rabner59]

What got me hooked was the big family,I am from a big family so I loved that.Also I lived on a farm in the country had dogs chickens ,cows and pigs.We just lived in a different time I wish there was a show on today with the same values.

[tvlover]

It was the closeness of the family and the great storylines that got me hooked on the show. I just loved how close-knit they were. I started watching the show on Hallmark Channel after reading about it on Wikipedia, and I just fell in love with the show instantly.

[dave]

I was 8 when the show started, and I remember watching it with Grandma (Mom's Mom). She was what you would picture as a Grandma. She grew up near Elkins,WVa  during the Depression.so not only likeing the show, it was spending time with her.Later I grew to like that time in our country's history.

[Brenda]

I liked the show for many reasons, but I think one of the main reasons was that it gave me a glimpse into what life was like for my parents growing up. My dad was born in 1919 and grew up in a family of 6 children on a tobacco farm in eastern North Carolina. My mother was born in 1923, and she grew up on a farm in the hills of eastern Kentucky. There were 9 children in her family, and I believe her life growing up was more like The Waltons than my dad's family.  There was a small church next to their house that was built by her grandfather and was named for her great grandfather who was a preacher. Church was a very important part of their lives. Her parents also stressed education. They lived so far out in the country that there was no high school close enough for the older children in her family to attend, but her parents sent 2 of her sisters to a boarding school in Berea, Kentucky, so they could get a high school education. My mother did get to stay at home when she was in high school because by that time there was a school bus to the nearest town. Her family was poor, but like the Waltons, they were very close and cared for one another and helped out the neighbors whenever they could. My parents got married during WW2, so I appreciate the later episodes for that reason. My dad went off to fight in Europe while my mother stayed home and cared for their baby, my older brother, just as Cindy stayed home with baby Virginia when Ben went overseas. My mother's brother was killed in the war, which was made more real to me by the deaths of characters like G.W., Curt, and Tommy Satterfield.  So I guess The Waltons gave me an opportunity once a week to be transported back to my parents' early years, and that's what got me hooked on the show. 

[mothergoose]

I just started watching The Waltons in 2014, so I didn't grow up with the show. I like the simplicity of it. Life now is so complicated. Technology, while good in a lot of ways, is making us so disconnected with one another. There's so much choice, we can go on Amazon and have the choice of millions of goods to be delivered to our door. Nothing like going to Ike Godsey's country store and buying just necessities and engaging in some friendly talk with the other customers.

The wood, the beautiful, dark wood. That's when things were made with quality. We're so used to cheap plastic, we've forgotten how beautiful real wood is. When I see scenes of Boatwright University, I love looking at the wooden desks, wooden file cabinets.

Whenever I get tired of my over-scheduled, over-complicated, too-many-choices, too techy life, I turn on the Waltons.

[Shell]

I say because they were a close knit familt, always there for each other and worked hard. John was a hard working man who was protective of his family and Olivia was a loving wife and mother who taught her chilren right from wrong.

[AuntieEm]

I watched the show off and on during its original run, primarily during the first five seasons. My favorite character then was John Sr - thought he was so good looking 

Didn't really start watching it again until a few years ago. While flipping the channels one boring Sunday afternoon I happened upon the Waltons with commentary by Mr Hamner. Something clicked in my brain and was hooked from that moment on.

Aside from the great acting, the incredible music by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage reinforced that love.

[ForeverWaltons]

Apr 24, 2016 15:46:44 GMT -5 mothergoose said:

I just started watching The Waltons in 2014, so I didn't grow up with the show. I like the simplicity of it. Life now is so complicated. Technology, while good in a lot of ways, is making us so disconnected with one another. There's so much choice, we can go on Amazon and have the choice of millions of goods to be delivered to our door. Nothing like going to Ike Godsey's country store and buying just necessities and engaging in some friendly talk with the other customers.

The wood, the beautiful, dark wood. That's when things were made with quality. We're so used to cheap plastic, we've forgotten how beautiful real wood is. When I see scenes of Boatwright University, I love looking at the wooden desks, wooden file cabinets.

Whenever I get tired of my over-scheduled, over-complicated, too-many-choices, too techy life, I turn on the Waltons.

I agree with you. No more wooden school desks, no wooden display counters in stores, etc.

Do you remember the beautiful wood walls that was popular in houses in the 1960's? Our living room and den had walls like that in a house we lived in during the late sixties and early seventies. I was watching an episode of House Hunters on HGTV not long ago and one of the houses they looked at had that beautiful wood in the den. The woman started complaining about it and told her husband that they would have to paint it white and he agreed!!  NOOO! It's real wood - not paneling.

I love the library in Isis Ringrose's house. The walls and ceiling are all wood with wonderful wood trim plus built in wood book shelves. She is the lady that turned the hospital Earl Hamner was born in, into her private residence. She is gracious enough to open it for us fans the Saturday of Carolyn Grinnell's Walton Reunion every October.

[patriciaanne]

That's funny...I was raised that you never paint over wood. Then when I redid my bedroom a few years ago, I painted it a light pink and all of the woodwork white. It didn't look right with brown wood. I actually felt guilty! But it wasn't really nice wood like cherry or anything like that. It was probably just pine. And it looks good painted white.

[clyde]

I never watched the show during the 70s. One day, I think about 2011 or 2012, I saw it on INSP. Then I saw Ralph Waite - no kidding - I kept tuning in just to see those blue eyes. I wasn't viewing him as a Daddy figure either!