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Post by Easton on Apr 18, 2020 13:11:55 GMT -5
There were a number of preachers on Walton's Mountain but only 4 'regular' ministers. (I'm not considering Miss Prissom, Rev. Henshaw, or Rev. Bradshaw, but you may discuss them if you wish.)
Rev. Matthew Fordwick (John Ritter) - Rev. Fordwick appeared in 18 episodes from 1972 to 1976. He got married and left the Mountain with his wife, Rosemary, when John Ritter got his own series, 'Three's Company'.
Rev. Henry 'Hank' Buchanan (Peter Fox) - Hank appeared in 9 episodes from 1977 to 1978. He did return to Walton's Mountain in 2 movies, 'A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion' (1992) and 'A Walton Wedding' (1995). In both movies, Peter portrayed Rev. Mosely.
Rev. Andrew 'Andy' March (Sean Roche) - Andy appeared in only one episode in 1978. Sean's acting credits are far outweighed by his writing and producing credits, mainly in children's entertainment. I guess being 'skunked' didn't hurt his career too badly.
Rev. Tom Marshall (Kip Niven) - Rev. Marshall appeared in 4 episodes from 1979 to 1981 when The Waltons finally went off the air.
Hank Buchanan is easily my favourite. I grew up Baptist and still consider myself Baptist and our church had a young minister who was very much like Hank. He was progressive and as popular as Hank. He preached in casual clothes: jeans or shorts, patterned shirts, and comfortable shoes, including sneakers.
He was the minister of our church for a number of years but the minister who came after him leaned more to the Southern Baptist side. Within a month, the congregation had dwindled to almost nothing and the church simply couldn't recover. It was closed for quite some time before it was bought and rezoned as commercial property. The stained glass windows were kept intact but the steeple was removed. Google streetview shows that, in 2009, the building was an antique shop. I don't know what it is now or if it is even still standing. But the memories of it are still in my head.
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Post by willie on Apr 18, 2020 13:31:02 GMT -5
Grew up a Heathen. Still am. John Ritter for the win of course.  |
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Post by AuntieEm on Apr 18, 2020 14:19:01 GMT -5
While I'd have to pick Rev Fordwick, I enjoyed the scene when Rev Hank gave John Boy a ride to the house when he came back to visit. Funny conversation between the two.
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Post by Kyle on Apr 18, 2020 20:34:14 GMT -5
Reverend Marshall was also in two of the three NBC TV movies in 1982.
I liked John Ritter best.
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Post by Easton on Apr 18, 2020 21:27:07 GMT -5
^ Thanks. I missed that in Kip's IMDb listing.
I've not seen the movie.
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Post by Brenda on Apr 19, 2020 6:31:36 GMT -5
A couple of days ago, I watched the Season 4 episode The Fighter, about a prize fighter, James, who came to Waltons Mountain to build a country church for the black community. James was played by actor Cleavon Little who played Hawthorne Dooley in The Homecoming. Hawthorne Dooley was the preacher who led the black parishioners in the Christmas Eve service at their church. So it seems Waltons Mountain already had a country church and a preacher for the black community. 🤷🏻♀️
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Post by JessicaGirlSpy on Apr 19, 2020 9:25:59 GMT -5
We're Baptist. It's a tie between Fordwick and Buchanan.
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Post by jaydub87 on Feb 24, 2023 16:55:15 GMT -5
Ran across this thread when I was looking for some other info on Peter Fox on Google. He’s my favorite. Fordwick was a little too up tight for my tastes.
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Post by Easton on Feb 24, 2023 18:25:55 GMT -5
Hank Buchanan was my favourite, too. He reminded me of a minister at my church when I was younger back in the 60s and early 70s. I was born and raised Baptist and he (I can't remember his name) was the youngest minister the church ever had. It took a lot of the older parishioners a few months to get used to him. I remember he started preaching in the summer and there was no air conditioning and we couldn't open the windows. There were ceiling fans, though. Anyway, the minister held his first service dressed in a white, short-sleeved shirt (with his collar), a pair of shorts, sandals, and socks.
Many of the older people thought they had made a big mistake hiring him and the younger people thought, "Yes! He's one of us!"
Within a week or so, people came to church dressed more casually and much, much cooler.
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Post by goodnight on Feb 24, 2023 19:54:59 GMT -5
In the episode where Jim-Bob briefly considers becoming a preacher, there was an older preacher at the church that he went to talk to.
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Post by Kyle on Feb 25, 2023 7:30:37 GMT -5
And there was Rev. Caldwell, the Methodist minister who refused to marry Erin and Chad Marshall.
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Post by pinkbaker07 on Feb 25, 2023 21:37:02 GMT -5
I liked Rev Fordwick. Hank seems a little progressive for the time period of being a preacher. No self respecting Baptist preacher would have brought Marcia to an event
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Post by patriciaanne on Feb 28, 2023 19:43:10 GMT -5
Hank Buchanan was my favourite, too. He reminded me of a minister at my church when I was younger back in the 60s and early 70s. I was born and raised Baptist and he (I can't remember his name) was the youngest minister the church ever had. It took a lot of the older parishioners a few months to get used to him. I remember he started preaching in the summer and there was no air conditioning and we couldn't open the windows. There were ceiling fans, though. Anyway, the minister held his first service dressed in a white, short-sleeved shirt (with his collar), a pair of shorts, sandals, and socks.
Many of the older people thought they had made a big mistake hiring him and the younger people thought, "Yes! He's one of us!"
Within a week or so, people came to church dressed more casually and much, much cooler.
Well to paraphrase Daddy Walton, "God must understand about the heat, considering he made hell out of it." 😄 I have no idea what that word is going to look like when I press the post button. I have a feeling it won't get past the censor. But it rhymes with yell. 😉 |
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Post by patriciaanne on Feb 28, 2023 19:43:52 GMT -5
^^^Looks like it wasn't censored
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Post by Easton on Mar 1, 2023 10:38:08 GMT -5
Fordwick was very traditional, but the three who followed after John Ritter were much more progressive, with Hank Buchanan being the most progressive of all, and I think that was due to hiring Peter Fox to portray him. I also think that it was intentional in order to add spice to The Waltons. Peter was more suited to being the centrefold in a Playgirl magazine than as a preacher standing behind the pulpit, but in the first episode in which he appeared, both Erin and Corabeth swooned over him, as did Olivia who managed to disguise her true feelings. Perhaps it's considered improper for a pastor to be showing chest hair(?)
People from any generation were not used to 'hunky' pastors. As a pastor, it's the mental attitude that matters, not the body. Before The Waltons, nobody had a problem with pretty nuns: Sally Field and Julie Andrews, for instance. Even in The Waltons (The Calling), Mary Francis Conover (Stacey Nelkin) was a very pretty young lady.
And Marsha Woolery was mentioned accompanying Hank to the Walton home. That was the only episode in which Marsha dressed the way she did. Does anyone know if that was even a fashion during the Depression?
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