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Post by ransomr on Sept 28, 2020 17:18:01 GMT -5
At first I managed with the story line of TB but when she briefly came back and left to go to the RedCross it became more apparent to me that the “mom” was missing. It was too much! There were graduations, the boys went on to war, Virginia was born. And no word from the mom?? She didn’t even write or call!
It started to make me feel like the family was just falling apart. I realized that I didn’t mind so much that they replaced John-Boy because the story was important. If I could accept JB why not the mom?? It really was about 3 seasons that she was gone and in my opinion they should have replaced Olivia. I think the story line called for it , especially as we had to adjust to the losses of the grand parents.
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Post by Brenda on Sept 28, 2020 19:35:25 GMT -5
I don’t think it would work to bring in a different actress to replace Michael Learned as Olivia. Most people didn’t accept the new John Boy. Nothing against Robert Wightman, I think he did the best he could in a difficult situation, but he wasn’t John Boy. Richard Thomas was John Boy. Michael Learned was Olivia. I don’t think anyone could replace her. I think they did the best they could by bringing Rose in as a mother figure and having Mary Ellen as the oldest daughter taking on some of those responsibilities. It wasn’t ideal, but I think it was better than trying to replace Olivia.
It is natural for the viewers to miss John Boy, Olivia, Grandma, and Grandpa, because they are almost like family to us, but these are events that happen in real life. The oldest child grows up and moves away, the grandmother has a stroke, the grandpa dies, the mother gets sick and must go away for awhile. It’s natural for us to want things to stay the same, but that’s not how life is. So I think all these changes in the Walton family made them more realistic.
This is my opinion only. Others might disagree.
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Post by pinkbaker07 on Sept 28, 2020 19:58:08 GMT -5
I don't think the fans would have accepted a new Olivia. The show should have shown them getting mail or calls from her through.
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Post by Brenda on Sept 28, 2020 20:04:49 GMT -5
I agree pinkbaker07 . There were occasional calls, and John sometimes visited her and brought back news from her, but I think they should have included more of that. Things like a nice letter to Jim Bob on his graduation day and a baby gift for Virginia would show that she acknowledged those special events and wished she could be there with them. I’ve always thought they should have handled the John Boy situation the same way with frequent letters and phone calls instead of a new actor. |
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Post by goodnight on Sept 29, 2020 12:19:49 GMT -5
I agree pinkbaker07 . There were occasional calls, and John sometimes visited her and brought back news from her, but I think they should have included more of that. Things like a nice letter to Jim Bob on his graduation day and a baby gift for Virginia would show that she acknowledged those special events and wished she could be there with them. I’ve always thought they should have handled the John Boy situation the same way with frequent letters and phone calls instead of a new actor. But the thing is they didn't have her have a relapse of TB until practically the end of the show. This is the order of events the way I recall them: 1. She goes to the sanitorium somewhere in VA for the first time, latter half of season 7. 2. She comes back home for the first few episodes of season 8, that's where they find out JohnBoy is MIA. 3. When JohnBoy is found and brought back to US Army hospital, she is written back out of the show by saying she will stay with JohnBoy while he recovers and she continues with her Red Cross volunteer work. 4. JohnBoy recovers, comes back home for a few episodes and then along with all of his brothers after JimBob's graduation (which is right after the Normandy invasion in 1944, right?) returns to the military. Olivia is still working for the Red Cross. But Grandma made it to the Graduation. 5. All through the war and afterwards, she is still working for the Red Cross and doesn't have her relapse until the episode where Ben comes home from the Pacific. They have the character written as having to go to Arizona and John has to go with her (because Ralph Waite wants to leave the show). I don't know, perhaps when Michael Learned came back briefly in season 8, she was undecided. But after JohnBoy was recovered was when she should have had her relapse. They could have said she was in the hospital in VA until the episode where Ralph Waite wants to leave and then they could have written it that she was sent to Arizona and he went with her. The way it was written made it look like she abandoned her family for her volunteer work. In my opinion. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2020 13:34:42 GMT -5
They should have had an episode where Livy gets hit on the head and then suffers from amnesia. Then they could say she forgot about her former life and family.
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Post by rickking on Sept 29, 2020 14:28:09 GMT -5
I agree pinkbaker07 . There were occasional calls, and John sometimes visited her and brought back news from her, but I think they should have included more of that. Things like a nice letter to Jim Bob on his graduation day and a baby gift for Virginia would show that she acknowledged those special events and wished she could be there with them. I’ve always thought they should have handled the John Boy situation the same way with frequent letters and phone calls instead of a new actor. But the thing is they didn't have her have a relapse of TB until practically the end of the show. This is the order of events the way I recall them: 1. She goes to the sanitorium somewhere in VA for the first time, latter half of season 7. 2. She comes back home for the first few episodes of season 8, that's where they find out JohnBoy is MIA. 3. When JohnBoy is found and brought back to US Army hospital, she is written back out of the show by saying she will stay with JohnBoy while he recovers and she continues with her Red Cross volunteer work. 4. JohnBoy recovers, comes back home for a few episodes and then along with all of his brothers after JimBob's graduation (which is right after the Normandy invasion in 1944, right?) returns to the military. Olivia is still working for the Red Cross. But Grandma made it to the Graduation. 5. All through the war and afterwards, she is still working for the Red Cross and doesn't have her relapse until the episode where Ben comes home from the Pacific. They have the character written as having to go to Arizona and John has to go with her (because Ralph Waite wants to leave the show). I don't know, perhaps when Michael Learned came back briefly in season 8, she was undecided. But after JohnBoy was recovered was when she should have had her relapse. They could have said she was in the hospital in VA until the episode where Ralph Waite wants to leave and then they could have written it that she was sent to Arizona and he went with her. The way it was written made it look like she abandoned her family for her volunteer work. In my opinion. Having a different actress play Olivia would have been an unmitigated disaster. And I'll argue that having a different actor play John-Boy was in fact an unmitigated disaster.
One thing though, I don't think Ralph Waite wanted to leave the show. I heard they fired him to reduce the budget. And he came right back for the "10th season," the first three reunion movies.
I read somewhere that Michael Learned left because she couldn't deal with a new actor playing John-Boy. Her last episode was Robert Wightman's first episode. Judy Norton says that isn't true, but I did read it somewhere.
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Post by kelliekay on Sept 29, 2020 15:11:04 GMT -5
Michael Learned left to have her own show,"Nurse".
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Post by Brenda on Sept 29, 2020 15:29:40 GMT -5
Michael Learned left to have her own show,"Nurse". Maybe...but I think Nurse premiered a couple of years after she left The Waltons. She has said in interviews that she was getting bored with the character of Olivia, and she didn’t agree that they brought in another actor to replace Richard Thomas. She has also said that she later regretted leaving and that she probably would have stayed if she had known the show was going to be canceled after season 9. I was just thinking, if she didn’t like the new John Boy, I wonder what she would have thought of the new Curt! |
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Post by carol on Sept 29, 2020 15:33:02 GMT -5
I agree pinkbaker07 . There were occasional calls, and John sometimes visited her and brought back news from her, but I think they should have included more of that. Things like a nice letter to Jim Bob on his graduation day and a baby gift for Virginia would show that she acknowledged those special events and wished she could be there with them. I’ve always thought they should have handled the John Boy situation the same way with frequent letters and phone calls instead of a new actor. But the thing is they didn't have her have a relapse of TB until practically the end of the show. This is the order of events the way I recall them: 1. She goes to the sanitorium somewhere in VA for the first time, latter half of season 7. 2. She comes back home for the first few episodes of season 8, that's where they find out JohnBoy is MIA. 3. When JohnBoy is found and brought back to US Army hospital, she is written back out of the show by saying she will stay with JohnBoy while he recovers and she continues with her Red Cross volunteer work. 4. JohnBoy recovers, comes back home for a few episodes and then along with all of his brothers after JimBob's graduation (which is right after the Normandy invasion in 1944, right?) returns to the military. Olivia is still working for the Red Cross. But Grandma made it to the Graduation. 5. All through the war and afterwards, she is still working for the Red Cross and doesn't have her relapse until the episode where Ben comes home from the Pacific. They have the character written as having to go to Arizona and John has to go with her (because Ralph Waite wants to leave the show). I don't know, perhaps when Michael Learned came back briefly in season 8, she was undecided. But after JohnBoy was recovered was when she should have had her relapse. They could have said she was in the hospital in VA until the episode where Ralph Waite wants to leave and then they could have written it that she was sent to Arizona and he went with her. The way it was written made it look like she abandoned her family for her volunteer work. In my opinion. I heard that they wrote Ralph out due to budget cuts that it wasn't his decision to leave the show. |
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Post by carol on Sept 29, 2020 15:37:04 GMT -5
I don't think they could have replaced Olivia any more than they could have brought in someone else to play Grandpa after Will Geer died or someone to play Grandma after Ellen Corby had her stroke.
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Post by nedandres on Sept 30, 2020 0:29:56 GMT -5
Michael had already left the first time when it was announced that producers were bringing back the character of John Boy, so I wonder if that's part of the real reason. Unless she was privy to information that they were going to have a new actor portray him. This is my 1500th post.  |
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Post by nedandres on Oct 1, 2020 22:16:07 GMT -5
Replacing Michael as Olivia I do not think would have gone over well. But the series definitely took a down turn when she left.
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Post by Brenda on Oct 6, 2020 9:59:22 GMT -5
Kami posted this on Facebook this morning:
I receive many questions about why Michael left the show. Several reasons leap to mind. Starring on a TV series means an unpredictable schedule with very long days. In the early years this was especially hard on Michael because she had three sons at home. Before she came to The Waltons she had been a leading actress in the American Conservatory Theater. After she left the show she did plays on Broadway and across the US. I saw her as Mary Stuart and Stoppard's Hapgood. She's always amazing on stage. The collaborative experience of rehearsing a play and the immediate feedback of performing live can't really compare with television, where there scenes are filmed out of order, most of your time is spent waiting and sometimes you aren't sure anyone is really watching your performance, as the pressures of budget prioritize speed. If you think about it, it's understandable why our adult actors, who had come up in the theater, loved going back to the stage.
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Post by Easton on Oct 6, 2020 10:54:30 GMT -5
^ Thanks for that, and it's completely understandable. There really isn't any comparison between television (or movies) and live theatre. In theatre, no performance is ever the same, either for the performers or the audience. And that's why stage actors can perform the same role 2 or 3 times per day for years. There's nothing like immediate feedback.
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