Missing Jim-Bob

[Deleted]

I've often wondered why there was no sign of Jim-Bob in The Substitute". Does anyone have an answer to this please.

[JeriJet]

Sept 18, 2018 12:35:30 GMT -5 @josephzebulon said:

I've often wondered why there was no sign of Jim-Bob in The Substitute". Does anyone have an answer to this please.

Not every child was in every episode.... don't think there was an actual "reason" for Jim-Bob not appearing in "The Substitute" --but undoubtedly kept the budget down, as well as keeping Harper's hours down to please those keeping track of child-labor law requirements.

[Deleted]

Sept 18, 2018 12:56:02 GMT -5 JeriJet said:

Sept 18, 2018 12:35:30 GMT -5 @josephzebulon said:

I've often wondered why there was no sign of Jim-Bob in The Substitute". Does anyone have an answer to this please.

Not every child was in every episode.... don't think there was an actual "reason" for Jim-Bob not appearing in "The Substitute" --but undoubtedly kept the budget down, as well as keeping Harper's hours down to please those keeping track of child-labor law requirements.

 There is one possibility during the time of filming that episode he could have been ill with something. The only person who can answer my question is David himself.

[Kyle]

The Brady Bunch used to do this in its early years - they would deliberately have a child missing occasionally in order to keep the budget down. Later on, they discontinued the practice.

[goodnight]

I seem to recall an episode of Little House on the Prairie that Melissa Gilbert wasn't in. It was the one where one of the Ingalls neighbors died after he fell off the roof of his house. I guess he had internal bleeding and by the time Doc Baker got to him it was too late. Or I think maybe it was he wouldn't let the Dr. examine him when it could have helped because he was there to see the wife who had already lost more than one baby. Doc Baker gives up his practice. But anyway, I seem to recall that Melissa Anderson and the twins playing Carrie were in it, but not Melissa Gilbert in just that one episode.

[JeriJet]

I'm at a loss to understand why some think that regular characters must appear in each and every episode !! 
It's a grind to work on a weekly series.... sometimes folks need time off to accomplish personal tasks, or simply want to take a break/vacation....

[nedandres]

Agreed. For the record, Jim-Bob is also missing on the photo for the first Waltons Christmas Album, which was released in 1974. On the back is a small photo of David Harper, and a caption that says he was fishing when the picture was taken. David himself says that is not true, but he didn't recall exactly why he missed the photo session!
Acting is like any job, and sometimes other commitments may make it impossible to be in every show.

[sambda]

There's a large matrix/grid/graph/table thing I compiled here: waltons.steve-p.org/waltonsmatrix.gif

This shows all the recurring characters and which episodes they appeared in. Hopefully it's much more accurate than IMDB, which has mistakes all over the place.

C means "credited but does not appear"
U means "uncredited"

So, David Harper skipped on:
The Journey
The Substitute
The Outrage (both parts)
The Pledge

[awesomemixtape10]

This is Jim-Bob we r talking about...he was probably wandering around the mountain and nobody noticed

[nedandres]

Haha. ‘‘Tis true, ‘tis true!!!

[Kyle]

Sept 18, 2018 18:09:09 GMT -5 goodnight said:

I seem to recall an episode of Little House on the Prairie that Melissa Gilbert wasn't in. It was the one where one of the Ingalls neighbors died after he fell off the roof of his house. I guess he had internal bleeding and by the time Doc Baker got to him it was too late. Or I think maybe it was he wouldn't let the Dr. examine him when it could have helped because he was there to see the wife who had already lost more than one baby. Doc Baker gives up his practice.

One of my favorite LHOTP outtakes is when Doc Baker somberly announces that some guest character has died, and Rev. Alden says, “Well, you’ve killed another one.” And then everybody starts cracking up.

[RebeccaLee]

Did he miss more than some of the other kids?

[Deleted]

Sept 20, 2018 14:58:45 GMT -5 sambda said:

There's a large matrix/grid/graph/table thing I compiled here: waltons.steve-p.org/waltonsmatrix.gif

This shows all the recurring characters and which episodes they appeared in. Hopefully it's much more accurate than IMDB, which has mistakes all over the place.

C means "credited but does not appear"
U means "uncredited"

So, David Harper skipped on:
The Journey
The Substitute
The Outrage (both parts)
The Pledge

Could you please tell me what the colors are meant to represent.

[sambda]

Oct 19, 2018 17:17:46 GMT -5 @josephzebulon said:

Sept 20, 2018 14:58:45 GMT -5 sambda said:

There's a large matrix/grid/graph/table thing I compiled here: waltons.steve-p.org/waltonsmatrix.gif

This shows all the recurring characters and which episodes they appeared in. Hopefully it's much more accurate than IMDB, which has mistakes all over the place.

C means "credited but does not appear"
U means "uncredited"

So, David Harper skipped on:
The Journey
The Substitute
The Outrage (both parts)
The Pledge

Could you please tell me what the colors are meant to represent.

Hi - they are arbitrary, and just to tell the seasons apart.

[Zedxclon]

Sept 20, 2018 14:58:45 GMT -5 sambda said:

There's a large matrix/grid/graph/table thing I compiled here: waltons.steve-p.org/waltonsmatrix.gif

This shows all the recurring characters and which episodes they appeared in. Hopefully it's much more accurate than IMDB, which has mistakes all over the place.

C means "credited but does not appear"
U means "uncredited"

So, David Harper skipped on:
The Journey
The Substitute
The Outrage (both parts)
The Pledge

That's a really amazing grid you've created!