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Post by mauro43 on Jan 9, 2011 4:25:21 GMT -5
Hi everybody,
I've been watching one episode of "The Waltons" every day (in Italy only the first seasons have been aired, so I bought them all in DVD). Yesterday night I watched the episode "The Medal" (Season 8, Episode 23) and I got very surprised when I saw Mary Ellen kissing Sergent Eddie Ramirez with... her open mouth! If you watch it carefully, I think it happens at least two times: the first after they have a "joking fight" on the mountain, and the second in the final scene.
Perhaps it is the fist time I saw that: usually in movies there are plenty of "innocent kisses" on the lips, but this time I think that there is.. something more ! I found it very strange, especially in The Waltons, where everything is so ... "pure", and innocent.
What do you think about that?
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Post by dfnmeows44 on Jan 9, 2011 12:18:12 GMT -5
As you know earlier in the episode Sgt Ramierez played a Spanish song that Ben and Cindy loved . He was then asked what the words mean and he said it was very passionate so he did not want to embarrass Mary Ellen whom he called Maria Elena. Mary Ellen wants to show Sgt Ramirez how to refrain from blowing his fuse so she starts with uno, dos, tres,,,,, Arrividerci
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Post by Marilyn on Jan 9, 2011 16:33:00 GMT -5
I noticed that too mauro43 and was a little disappointed.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2011 20:27:28 GMT -5
Here is my spin on the kiss. By the time the last few seasons of the Walton's were on the air, other shows were showing couples rolling around in the sheets together. The Walton's were hurting for ratings and the world was changing. The number one show in 1980 was Dallas. Ratings people, it was all about the ratings.
An open kiss was mild compared to what Mr. Hamner was writing for his other show, Falcon Crest.
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Post by Marilyn on Jan 9, 2011 22:48:10 GMT -5
Falcon Crest was quite different from Walton's Mountain. ;D A little open mouth with Liv and John is okay, but BIG open mouth from one of the kids was just uncomfortable.
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bucky
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Post by bucky on Jan 10, 2011 21:40:03 GMT -5
I noticed the same thing in the two-parter with Mary-Ellen and fiancee David when they picnic with Curt and the nurse. It was startling to this viewer, but I suspect had more to do with Judy Norton than M-E. Was this around the time she married?
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Post by mauro43 on Jan 11, 2011 4:15:15 GMT -5
You know, maybe it is the "Judy Norton-Taylor's style" acting boldly... I did some research on the web, and I discovered that she even posed naked for Playboy (!) in 1985!! Perhaps we all should keep separate actors and their roles, but if I had been the director of such episodes I would have cut/redone those scenes.
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Post by ncwaltonsfan on Jan 11, 2011 10:27:58 GMT -5
I thought about the Playboy pose also. But remember Mary Ellen was the more rebellious Walton,often questioning conventionally held ideas. I imagine Judy and Mary Ellen are alike in many ways.
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Post by AR15 on Jan 11, 2011 15:01:40 GMT -5
The things that John-Boy (or Clay-Boy as he's called in the book) does in the Spencer's Mountain book are far worse than an open mouth kiss!
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Post by Marilyn on Jan 11, 2011 16:00:15 GMT -5
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bucky
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Post by bucky on Jan 11, 2011 18:47:08 GMT -5
John-Boy was always quite circumspect in his kisses though. I thought Richard Thomas played that part of his character quite charmingly.
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Post by davidm on Jan 17, 2011 18:56:21 GMT -5
The Playboy pose was not typical of Judy though. She said she did it hoping to undo her goody two shoe image hoping to get acting parts. She was typecast as a sweet girl and found it impossible to get other parts. She has said many times since that she wish she had never done the Playboy pose, that it was a big mistake. If you think about it all of the kids found it impossible to get other acting jobs. Richard Thomas gave an interview, I think in 2005, stating it was difficult for him to get other roles for some time. That's why he left the show to begin with, he didn't want to be stereotyped. Season 8 the Walton's family was not intact as it once was. Mamma was gone, grandpa died, grandma was gone and an invalid, Daddy wasn't around so much. The kids were doing a lot of things that they wouldn't consider doing before. I think Mary Ellen said it best in the episode (I think from season 9) where the church was in disrepair and a new vicar came in to get the church going again. Mary Ellen said that with their parents and grandparents gone they really let their spiritual life fall to pieces and it was time to get back to church and get their spiritual lives back on track. So while the open mouth kiss was something you might not expect in The Waltons, considering the circumstances I'm not surprised.
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Post by dfnmeows44 on Jan 18, 2011 18:46:35 GMT -5
They repeated The Woman last night and Johnboy did kiss Miss Bennett but very properly. It was in no way passionate.
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Post by Marilyn on Jan 18, 2011 20:38:32 GMT -5
The opening mountain shots were the most beautiful shots they have ever shown on the Waltons. There was a beautiful haze going through the valley....
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Post by AR15 on Jan 19, 2011 16:20:57 GMT -5
I actually thought the most explicit scene in The Waltons was John-Boy and Grandpa's nude bathing in The Heritage.
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