There's only one John Boy

[runhard]

I'm watching The Waiting on Hallmark the episode that dealt with the return of John Boy as well as preparing us for the eventual departure of Olivia. It's been awhile since I've seen this episode but as much as I try I still have a hard time seeing Robert Wightman as John Boy. I do admire the fact he would take the role on that says a lot about him as an actor or as they say it's a very hard act to follow. Really it's a no win situation but what were Earl, the writers and producers to do they couldn't just never have John Boy never appear again. Maybe the reason some of us feel this way is that John Boy Walton is maybe one of the most iconic characters in television history and let's face it as great an actor as Richard Thomas is he'll always be remembered as John Boy Walton.

[applesaucecakemama]

I think if there was a poll asking people about who played John Boy the best a huge majority would say Richard Thomas. It almost isn't fair. Richard Thomas originated the role of John Boy and he in a sense perfected it. Anyone from Robert Wightman to Logan Shroyer it is no comparison. 

The writers of The Waltons were at a rock and a hard place, they had this iconic character and in many ways John Boy was the central character who told the story in the series. They were not going to let him just die off or disappear. Robert Wightman was the best option and although he was no Richard Thomas, he still kept the character going. 

[Brenda]

I’ve said this before in other threads on this forum. After Richard Thomas left the show, they could have kept John Boy “alive” as an integral part of the family by mentioning him in every episode. They could receive a letter from him and read it aloud. He could call them on the phone. His picture could be in a prominent place in the house, and it could be shown often. They could even recall events in his life and show flashback scenes of previous episodes. To me that would have been the better way to continue to make John Boy a main character without him actually being there in person. Nothing against Robert Wightman, but he just wasn’t John Boy.

[AR15]

Brenda, I've often thought the same thing. Despite bringing in Robert Wightman, John-Boy still feels pretty absent from everybody's lives. He's there when something related to him is happening, but then still absent from other people's weddings and so forth. He could even have played a big role in certain episodes, where he insight from a letter is very valuable, or something like that. I've seen other shows do episodes about a character who doesn't even appear in-person and they've worked great. That kind of thing should have been happening regularly after Richard Thomas left.

No disrespect to Robert Wightman, as I am probably one of his biggest fans here, but his introduction didn't really make John-Boy feel a part of the show again. First, he's in a coma for ages - then he's suddenly awake later, but nobody really ever makes a fuss about the fact that he's regained consciousness after so long, Ben just casually goes to visit him. Then he's often not at the mountain anyway after he recovers.

I think people would like his version of the character more if he was given more chance to stand on his own two feet. Being introduced in a coma is probably the weakest first impression you could possible give someone, then he's in so few episodes you have to wonder why he was even there. It feels like executive meddling and a lack of harmony behind the scenes - one party insisting on a recast John-Boy in order for the series to continue, the other party then minimising the role as much as possible because they didn't think the recasting would work, then it becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy because he's rarely given anything to do.

Either go down the direction of "John-Boy is in a coma, so that's why we aren't seeing him anymore" or "John-Boy is back and part of the family again" but instead they walked a weird middle ground and most of all it makes me feel sorry for Robert Wightman.

[missyou123]

I loved Robert Wightman’s version of John-Boy and was very happy when I heard Earl Hammer say Wightman’s version was more like him. I don’t think they gave him a fair chance. When Thomas played John-Boy he was a main character but when Wightman took over they pushed the character in the background and that was terrible. I truly believe Wightman could have brought that character up to speed but he wasn’t allowed. I would want him for my big brother any day as opposed to Thomas. 

The audacity of him to leave the show when he did and come back for the movies. Once the part was given to Wightman it should have remained with him. Behaviors like this in any situation rub me the wrong way. I think we can all assume that it didn’t sit well with Wightman either considering he hasn’t attended any of the Walton functions. I wish he would because I would love to see him but I can easily understand why he doesn’t. I know he did a few movies afterwards but after that it’s like he fell off the face of the earth. If anyone ever hears anything about him like a site that he uses, please share it. He needs to know he has fans. 

Thomas did a good job in the early seasons but then became very arrogant and in my opinion disrespectful. He just started yelling and having what appeared to be temper tantrums. Broke my heart when he yelled at his Dad. I’m surprised they even allowed that on a family show and John just stood there humbly. 

Forgive me for ranting but things like this upset me. I like to see people treated fairly.