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Post by flossieskid on Nov 20, 2021 6:04:09 GMT -5
I know I have only been on the Forum for less than a year, so perhaps this issue has been discussed before, so forgive me if I have duplicated a former topic.
Is it just me, or did any of the Walton siblings have any close friends? I guess when you have 6 siblings, there may not be room for a lot of other people in the house. We know for sure there was no more room left at the dining room table!!
I guess during the Depression, people had to use their children to tend their farms and family businesses and kids had to stay close by and may not have had the chance to develop friendships. The Waltons went to school, but never seemed to have any friends. Why was that, do you think? Plus, it is true the Walton kids couldn’t just call an Uber and bip down the mountain to the local town arcade! Not much to do at Ike’s store, after school, right?
But, aren’t friends an important part of everyone’s life and the growth of each of us? How we develop and cultivate our acquaintances and close friends teach us all how to interact with our own family, classmates, boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses, in-laws, co-workers and even bosses.
Sometimes, early friends become lifelong treasures in our lives. I remember the wonderful Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton song, “You Can’t Make New Old Friends”. But nothing hurts worse than a special friend ending a long term friendship over a total misunderstanding or some minor angry words. I guess the same thing can happen in families. I know far too many people that no longer speak to their parents or siblings due to political differences, bad memories from their childhood or minor slights between family members or affronts to in-laws.
Because of the way I was raised and also being married to a psychiatrist, I have always tried to help our kids “fix” any friendship: confront the problem, deal with the issue and push through to a resolution that will restore the friendship. But, as I get older, I sadly realize that sometimes we must say goodbye to friendships that no longer work for us. It can seem devastating to think a person we have known for decades or maybe our whole life is no longer “nurturing” the friendship and only we are doing all the work to keep it alive.
We must be firm in our belief that to HAVE a friend you must BE a friend. Don’t allow yourself to be devalued. If you are always the one reaching out to your friends, or they forget when important things are happening in your life or, most telling, they don’t call, text or email unless they are responding to YOU, perhaps it is time to realize they aren’t really your friend. It is hard but, don’t you deserve better? When that happens, then try to apply the philosophy of Dr.Seuss: “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” But it still can hurt your heart. Sorry - I’ll get off my soapbox now!
The Walton Family were blessed to have 3 generations living under the same roof and Grandpa, Grandma, John and Olivia were always there for all the Walton children to help them through any problem they faced. People say we all have 2 families: the one we are born into and the one we make with the dear friends we value and hold close. But, if the Waltons didn’t have any friends, wouldn’t they forever have missed out on that wonderful extended family experience? There is no guarantee that your family will remain your friends for life, so having quality friends is so important.
I know there was a movie on The Waltons about a Thanksgiving holiday, but I can’t remember if they had a special episode every year like most series do? At least we know The Waltons wouldn’t be like so many families that get into huge arguments around the Thanksgiving table regarding : politics, the economy, religion, manners and the decline of civilization as we know it because of social media! Of course, we all know the only REAL, IMPORTANT issue that should be discussed at the Thanksgiving table is whether whole cranberries or canned are the best!?!?
Maybe I am overthinking this and just have to remember there were 11 immediate cast members and the show was only one hour! Heck, maybe if they did have their friendships explored on the show, then Flossie Brimmer would never have had ANY air time and all those great residuals would have never made their way into my bank account!!
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Post by Easton on Nov 20, 2021 10:09:47 GMT -5
The best way to see 'friends' in The Waltons is to look at the classroom at school. There weren't that many students and they covered a great range of ages and grades. There weren't that many kids to be friends with and they must have been spread out all over the place, far enough away that you couldn't really drop by for a visit or a game of tag.
I grew up in a small town (1,200 pop.) which had a school which was a combined grade school and high school. It wasn't very big and about half the students were bussed in from rural areas. I had friends in school from those areas, but it was to far away to visit them outside of school. I suspect the Waltons Mountain School was much the same. The kids simply lived too far away.
There were a number of families in my neighbourhood with dozens of kids within a 5-minute walk of each other, but I was good friends with only 2 or 3 of them and we would visit each other quite regularly.
There weren't that many recurring friends in The Waltons: Marcia Woolery, Martha Rose Coverdale, and G.W. Haynes were about the only regulars and they were more romantic interests than friends. A few friends such as Seth and Clarence showed up from time to time, but most of the others were episodic appearances and, for the most part, temporary love interests.
They gave Elizabeth an imaginary friend (she had more animal friends than people friends), but they brought in Aimee Godsey to be a real friend for Elizabeth who lived in easy walking distance. But then they sent her away to a private school and started to change the character. (I think Ike was a wuss for not putting his foot down and preventing Corabeth to send Aimee away.) I truly don't understand what the producers were thinking. Doing that to Elizabeth and Aimee, I think, was a crime.
I'm sure the Walton kids had friends, but they simply lived too far away from each other.
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Post by patriciaanne on Nov 20, 2021 17:27:52 GMT -5
I think in large, rural families -- especially back then -- you were mostly friends with your siblings. Families likely had only one car and no one was worried about things like, "Let's drive little Suzy over to Mary's house for a playdate."
I do believe they had friends at school. I know in one of the episodes when Olivia has a miscarriage, she knocks on the door of Mrs. Breckenridge, who recognizes Olivia and tells her that her daughter, Nancy, is friends with Erin.
So I think it's implied that they do have friends even though we don't see them on screen much. I, too, would prefer to see Flossie Brimmer on the screen than a bunch of other kids. And I don't even get residual checks. 😁🤣
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Post by ellaroo on Nov 20, 2021 17:42:52 GMT -5
I've noticed in alot of family shows, the kids almost never have at least one close-knit friend they've been with for however many years the series goes on. That would've been alot for the producers to handle especially with seven kids raging from different age groups. I'm sure the Walton siblings had friends from school but we never got to actually see the interactions between them. We can only imagine using the magic of fanfiction  I'd say the closest we got to an almost stable friendship was with Elizabeth and Aimee, which could've been more developed. Instead, the producers were kind of indecisive on what to do with Aimee all together. |
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Post by carol on Nov 20, 2021 22:11:13 GMT -5
The best way to see 'friends' in The Waltons is to look at the classroom at school. There weren't that many students and they covered a great range of ages and grades. There weren't that many kids to be friends with and they must have been spread out all over the place, far enough away that you couldn't really drop by for a visit or a game of tag. I grew up in a small town (1,200 pop.) which had a school which was a combined grade school and high school. It wasn't very big and about half the students were bussed in from rural areas. I had friends in school from those areas, but it was to far away to visit them outside of school. I suspect the Waltons Mountain School was much the same. The kids simply lived too far away. There were a number of families in my neighbourhood with dozens of kids within a 5-minute walk of each other, but I was good friends with only 2 or 3 of them and we would visit each other quite regularly. There weren't that many recurring friends in The Waltons: Marcia Woolery, Martha Rose Coverdale, and G.W. Haynes were about the only regulars and they were more romantic interests than friends. A few friends such as Seth and Clarence showed up from time to time, but most of the others were episodic appearances and, for the most part, temporary love interests. They gave Elizabeth an imaginary friend (she had more animal friends than people friends), but they brought in Aimee Godsey to be a real friend for Elizabeth who lived in easy walking distance. But then they sent her away to a private school and started to change the character. (I think Ike was a wuss for not putting his foot down and preventing Corabeth to send Aimee away.) I truly don't understand what the producers were thinking. Doing that to Elizabeth and Aimee, I think, was a crime. I'm sure the Walton kids had friends, but they simply lived too far away from each other.
Aimee was written out of the show because Rachel Longaker 's parents moved to Maryland. I presume her father's job was the reason for the move. I don't understand why they just couldn't recast the part right away. I also never understood why in the 80's reunion movies they made Aimee 3 or 4 years older than Elizabeth when in the series they were the same age as stated by Cora Beth in the episode where they adopted Aimee. |
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Post by Brenda on Nov 20, 2021 22:49:23 GMT -5
I think the Walton children did have friends, but we don’t see them on a regular basis, likely because there were already so many characters just in the family. There were often characters who showed up on episodes, and even though we as viewers had never seen or heard of them, the implication was that the character was actually one of their friends. We had never seen Sarah Jane Simmons until she showed up in “The Townie” episode, but I remember Olivia saying something like she had been like part of their family for over a year. She was obviously a good friend to the Walton children. When Verdi’s daughter Esther arrived for a visit, we had never seen her before, but apparently she and Erin had been friends. I think the young woman Laurie in “The Victims” had been a friend of Erin’s too. Elizabeth invited a group of friends to her slumber party. (I’m not sure they were still her friends after that party though!). Jason had a friendship with Seth. They were the same age and had a common interest in music. Marcia Woolery, Martha Rose Coverdale, and G.W. Haines seemed to be the only friends who appeared on several episodes. And of course Aimee Godsey and Elizabeth were good friends. I seem to remember someone saying that Aimee left The Waltons because her family moved from the L.A. area.
Edited to add: I didn’t see Carol’s comment about Aimee moving to Maryland until after I posted mine.
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Post by Brenda on Nov 20, 2021 23:03:58 GMT -5
I've noticed in alot of family shows, the kids almost never have at least one close-knit friend they've been with for however many years the series goes on. That would've been alot for the producers to handle especially with seven kids raging from different age groups. I'm sure the Walton siblings had friends from school but we never got to actually see the interactions between them. We can only imagine using the magic of fanfiction I'd say the closest we got to an almost stable friendship was with Elizabeth and Aimee, which could've been more developed. Instead, the producers were kind of indecisive on what to do with Aimee all together. I agree that in most shows about families, the children seldom have friends who are long term. There is at least one exception to that. I am an avid watcher of Leave it to Beaver, and Wally and Beaver do have several good friends that lasted for years. Often the role of their friends was to get them into some kind of trouble. That show probably wouldn’t have been successful without classic characters like Larry Mondello, Whitey Whitney, Lumpy Rutherford, and Eddie Haskell. Edited to add: I couldn’t leave out Judy Hensler. I think we all had a Judy Hensler in our class in elementary school. Judy even has her own Wikipedia page: Judy Hensler  |
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Post by Easton on Nov 21, 2021 8:56:39 GMT -5
^ The difference with Leave It to Beaver is that the show was about the kids and not about the family (or parents). The show pivoted around Wally and The Beaver. Ward and June were practically guest stars.
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Post by flossieskid on Nov 21, 2021 17:41:01 GMT -5
Thank you to all those who posted to discuss the Waltons’ friendships. Now that I can look ahead on the upcoming episodes on my TIVO and the Inspire Network I can see all those shows everyone referenced.
As I have mentioned before, it was hard for me to watch The Waltons after my Mom died in 1977. I am sure there were so many wonderful shows that I missed. Inspire Network seems to rotate the years and the shows during that time so it is only on year 2. But, I will keep my eye out for those upcoming episodes!
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Post by Easton on Nov 21, 2021 18:42:53 GMT -5
^ My station cycles The Waltons as well. We're currently in Season 3 and tomorrow's episode is the dance marathon.
A little story about The Waltons on VisionTV. The Waltons have been playing almost continuously each weekday at 5 PM for over 20 years. Back in the mid to late 2000s, Vision took them off the air and replace them with (I believe) Ironside with Raymond Burr. They did one cycle of his episodes and began a second run, but the Walton fans' reactions were such that Vision removed Ironside and put The Waltons back on. They've been on each weekday, still at 5 PM since then. They show the Thanksgiving episode at our Thanksgiving in October and the Christmas episodes at Christmas. Funnily enough, though, they have never shown the Easter episode where Olivia gets polio. I've never seen that episode.
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Post by carol on Nov 21, 2021 19:46:29 GMT -5
I've noticed in alot of family shows, the kids almost never have at least one close-knit friend they've been with for however many years the series goes on. That would've been alot for the producers to handle especially with seven kids raging from different age groups. I'm sure the Walton siblings had friends from school but we never got to actually see the interactions between them. We can only imagine using the magic of fanfiction I'd say the closest we got to an almost stable friendship was with Elizabeth and Aimee, which could've been more developed. Instead, the producers were kind of indecisive on what to do with Aimee all together. I agree that in most shows about families, the children seldom have friends who are long term. There is at least one exception to that. I am an avid watcher of Leave it to Beaver, and Wally and Beaver do have several good friends that lasted for years. Often the role of their friends was to get them into some kind of trouble. That show probably wouldn’t have been successful without classic characters like Larry Mondello, Whitey Whitney, Lumpy Rutherford, and Eddie Haskell. Edited to add: I couldn’t leave out Judy Hensler. I think we all had a Judy Hensler in our class in elementary school. Judy even has her own Wikipedia page: Judy Hensler Dennis The Menace had Tommy and Margaret. I think Tommy appeared more than Margaret though. |
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Post by Easton on Nov 21, 2021 20:44:59 GMT -5
^ You're right. According to IMDb, Billy 'Tommy' Booth appeared in 110 episodes while Jeannie 'Margaret' Russell appeared in only 34.
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Post by flossieskid on Nov 22, 2021 3:25:22 GMT -5
Easton, it’s funny you said “Ironside” replaced The Waltons and then was removed due to viewers’ displeasure. My Dad was on 3 or 4 episodes of “Ironside” and went as far back as one episode of “Perry Mason”. He said Raymond Burr was a great guy and always welcomed my Dad back with much enthusiasm. They knew each other for decades. But, residuals weren’t secured by SAG until the ‘60’s and I think my Dad’s appearance in Perry Mason was in the late ‘50’s. But I am just as thrilled as everyone the Waltons were requested to reappear - so many more shows to see my Mom.
Carol - your memory about childhood friends on TV shows is very impressive! I thought my TV knowledge is excellent, but you surpass me by a mile!
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Post by carol on Nov 22, 2021 22:12:26 GMT -5
Easton, it’s funny you said “Ironside” replaced The Waltons and then was removed due to viewers’ displeasure. My Dad was on 3 or 4 episodes of “Ironside” and went as far back as one episode of “Perry Mason”. He said Raymond Burr was a great guy and always welcomed my Dad back with much enthusiasm. They knew each other for decades. But, residuals weren’t secured by SAG until the ‘60’s and I think my Dad’s appearance in Perry Mason was in the late ‘50’s. But I am just as thrilled as everyone the Waltons were requested to reappear - so many more shows to see my Mom. Carol - your memory about childhood friends on TV shows is very impressive! I thought my TV knowledge is excellent, but you surpass me by a mile! I confess I had to look it up on Internet Movie Database to be sure. I haven't actually seen an episode of Dennis The Menace in probably 30 years. I wasn't even born yet when it originally ran on TV. I came along two years after it went off the air. I watch The Andy Griffith Show reruns and Opie has friends appear from time to time. One of them is Keith Thibideaux who played Little Ricky on I Love Lucy. |
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Post by patriciaanne on Nov 23, 2021 0:42:17 GMT -5
Easton, it’s funny you said “Ironside” replaced The Waltons and then was removed due to viewers’ displeasure. My Dad was on 3 or 4 episodes of “Ironside” and went as far back as one episode of “Perry Mason”. He said Raymond Burr was a great guy and always welcomed my Dad back with much enthusiasm. They knew each other for decades. But, residuals weren’t secured by SAG until the ‘60’s and I think my Dad’s appearance in Perry Mason was in the late ‘50’s. But I am just as thrilled as everyone the Waltons were requested to reappear - so many more shows to see my Mom. Carol - your memory about childhood friends on TV shows is very impressive! I thought my TV knowledge is excellent, but you surpass me by a mile! I confess I had to look it up on Internet Movie Database to be sure. I haven't actually seen an episode of Dennis The Menace in probably 30 years. I wasn't even born yet when it originally ran on TV. I came along two years after it went off the air. I watch The Andy Griffith Show reruns and Opie has friends appear from time to time. One of them is Keith Thibideaux who played Little Ricky on I Love Lucy. Yes!!! I love seeing him on the show!!! Sometimes I catch one of the framed prints that used to be in the Ricardo's apartment in Andy's house. That's how I figured out (and later confirmed) that it was filmed at Desilu. |
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