History Series / TheWaltons

* ConscienceMakesYouGoBack: In "The Five Foot Shelf", a struggling door-to-door book seller named George Reed convinces Olivia and John-Boy to buy an entire fifty volume stack of books in downpayment, with a promise to deliver the rest of the volumes in upcoming weeks. Driven by homesickness, desperation and loneliness, Reed secretly doesn't intend to honor the deal and opts to use the Waltons' downpayment to buy an expensive doll for his daughter on her seventh birthday. In the end, however, Reed decides to return the doll and the Waltons' money out of guilt, with the Waltons forgiving him in return by renewing their deal.

* MistakenForThief: In "The Theft", John Walton Sr. is accused of stealing some fancy silver from an affluent family after doing some handyman work for them. The episode even teases this as it shows him admiring the silver tea kettle while alone and then cuts to him in the big city, buying new tires for his truck. Previously, the family had been going through an extremely rough patch. While the rest of the family doesn't think he stole the silver, his acting strangely uncooperative in telling them where he got the influx of money makes them uncomfortable. It eventually comes out that the affluent family's son has sold several items behind his mother's back in an attempt to keep the secretly broke family's lifestyle intact. As for where John got the money and why he was uncomfortable bringing up where he got it? He was ashamed that he had to pawn his wedding band off to pay for the truck repairs.

* Foreshadowing: In the TV movie, John-Boy asks Grandpa Walton if the the family had any paper deed for their ownership of the mountain. With Grandpa's somewhat non-committal answer, it's not surprising that this was picked up for an episode in the first season, where the family has to go to court

** "Grandma Comes Home" is this in hindsight, since it was the final appearance of Will Geer as Zebulon; both in real life and within the show, he died shortly afterward.

** Ashley Longworth Jr. consistently tried to court Erin, but he pulled a [[DearJohnLetter Dear Joan letter]] on her. Ironically, it backfired on him when his lover suddenly died (perhaps as karmic punishment for spurning Erin) and ''he'' was on the receiving end of the curse instead of Erin.

** This is how Harvey Foster (himself a widower) ends up with Verdie Grant.

* ExiledToTheCouch: In one episode, Esther does this to Zeb when she gets the impression that he's cheating on her with the Baldwin sisters after learning that he spent an entire day in their company without informing anyone, and refuses to hear his explanation even though it turns out to be just a misunderstanding as Zeb was doing jobs for the sisters to help pay for the family's electric bill. Not one to take undeserved punishment, Zeb angrily storms out of the house in protest and ends up spending the night in Ike's store, where John-Boy finds him asleep on the pool table the next morning.

* ExiledToTheCouch: In one episode, Esther does this to Zeb when she gets the impression that he's cheating on her with the Baldwin sisters after learning that he spent an entire day in their company without informing anyone, though it turns out to be a misunderstanding as Zeb was just doing jobs for the sisters to help pay for the family's electric bill. Not one to take undeserved punishment, Zeb angrily storms out of the house in protest and ends up spending the night in Ike's store, where John-Boy finds him asleep on the pool table the next morning.

* ExiledToTheCouch: In one episode, Esther does this to Zeb when she gets the impression that he's cheating on her after learning that he spent the entire day driving around with the Baldwin sisters without informing her, though it turns out to be a misunderstanding as Zeb was just doing jobs for the sisters to help pay for the family's electric bill. Not one to take unjust punishment, Zeb angrily storms out of the house in protest and ends up spending the night in Ike's store, where John-Boy finds him the next morning, still asleep on the pool table.

* ExiledToTheCouch: In one episode, Esther does this to Zeb when she gets the impression that he's cheating on her after learning that he spent the entire day driving around with the Baldwin sisters without telling anyone, though it turns out to be a misunderstanding as Zeb was just doing jobs for the sisters to help pay for the family's electric bill. Not one to take unjust punishment, Zeb angrily storms out of the house in protest and ends up spending the night in Ike's store, where John-Boy finds him the next morning, still asleep on the pool table.

* {{Expy}}: The addition of pretentious and gossipy cousin Corabeth as Ike's new wife seemed to serve no other purpose than to make her and Ike the Walton's Mountain versions of Harriet and Nels Oleson of ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie'' (which had premiered a year before Corabeth's introduction). The show's producers saw this and tried to avoid making her tyrannical like Harriet, and rationalized her behavior as a pained desire to enjoy the finer things in life and high society while stuck in the humdrum boonies.
** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Thankfully, while snobbish, Corabeth is never portrayed as being spiteful; she frequently really does mean well, and is not above apologizing when she realizes that her behavior is wrong. Also, unlike Harriet Oleson, Corabeth is often shown to learn from her mistakes instead of suffering AesopAmnesia.

* NotWhatItLooksLike: "The Ceremony" is full of this, as various accidents and unintended incidents cause the newly-arrived German family to live in fear every day... because they're Jews who have just fled Germany in the face of the rising Nazis, and they're paranoid of having it happen again.

The remarkable thing is that this series debuted on CBS right in the middle of that network's notorious [[UsefulNotes/TheRuralPurge Rural Purge]], the period from 1968 through 1973 in which shows like ''Series/TheBeverlyHillbillies'' and ''Series/GreenAcres'' were cancelled en masse for not appealing to desirable audience demographics. Instead of dying a quick death against ''Series/TheModSquad'' and ''The Flip Wilson Show'' as it was expected to do, ''The Waltons'' soon killed ''them'' and continued for a successful nine-year run. Some have therefore called it the lone survivor of the Rural Purge. The show and its cast also picked up several UsefulNotes/{{Emmy Award}}s and a Peabody.

Series creator Earl Hamner Jr. based the premise on his own childhood experiences, which he had previously mined for the 1961 novel ''Spencer's Mountain'' (itself adapted as a 1963 film starring Creator/HenryFonda and Creator/MaureenOHara). Prior to the actual series, CBS aired a 1971 MadeForTVMovie called ''The Homecoming: A Christmas Story'', which featured Creator/PatriciaNeal as Olivia Walton, Andrew Duggan as John Walton Sr., and Creator/EdgarBergen as Grandpa; these roles would be re-cast for the series (and the movie hadn't been intended as a pilot; a series was only proposed after the favorable critical and audience reaction to the movie). A few more TV-movie reunions brought the cast back together after the series ended and followed the characters into the postwar years, such as the 1993 Thanksgiving movie, which centers around the assassination of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy. In 2021, Creator/TheCW aired [[Film/TheWaltonsHomecoming a remake]] of ''The Homecoming'' to coincide with the original's fiftieth anniversary, narrated by original John-Boy actor Creator/RichardThomas and starring Creator/BellamyYoung as Olivia. After the success of that movie, the CW produced a sequel, ''Film/AWaltonsThanksgiving'', in 2022.

This was the first series to come from Creator/{{Lorimar}} Productions, which went on to produce such popular shows as ''Series/EightIsEnough'', ''Series/{{Dallas}}'', ''Series/KnotsLanding'', ''Falcon Crest'', and half of Creator/{{ABC}}'s ''[=TGIF=]'' lineup.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Episode 19, "The Gypsies", centers on a Romani family who claim to live by an "ask for nothing and take nothing" philosophy, and they demonstrate this by rudely refusing aid from others whenever it's offered. Only the "ask for nothing" part holds true, however, because the story opens with them breaking into the Baldwins' house while the sisters are out of town, where they proceed to not only help themselves to the Baldwins' comforts, but also steal from their food and wine supplies. Their hypocrisy is further proven when, shortly after camping right outside the Waltons' home and smugly telling their hosts that they don't need anything, Olivia catches them consuming water from her family's faucet without even the basic courtesy to ''ask'' permission first.

* RoguishRomani: Defied to an extent in Episode 19, where a family of Romani are invited by the Waltons to camp out on their land. They refuse to accept ''anything'' from the Waltons even if it means going hungry, and it's not until their baby is near death that they allow Esther to tend to him. Ultimately more of a downplayed case, however, because while they're not straight-up malicious, these Romani are shown to be [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocrites]] who do resort to underhanded means of survival, namely by invading people's homes when the residents aren't around to steal from their food supplies. It's also evident that their pretense of self-sufficiency stems not so much from genuine belief, but because it hurts their pride to seek aid from those who are likely to view them with prejudice and/or bigotry, and because of their own prejudiced ideas towards non-Romani people.

* BrutalHonesty: Grandma Esther is a kind and compassionate soul underneath her stern demeanor, but she also never minces her words when stating her disapproval towards people being stupid. For example, in "The Gypsies", Esther mocks a Romani family for their stubborn refusal to accept help even as they're about to starve and their youngest child is ailing, rightfully pointing out that they're just ignorant fools clinging to nothing but their empty pride in the face of misery and impending death.
* CallBack: In the very first episode Mary Ellen has a bird's nest for the Christmas tree, and that same nest is seen again in "Day of Infamy."

* BrutalHonesty: Grandma Esther is a kind and compassionate soul underneath her stern demeanor, but she also never minces her words when stating her disapproval towards people being stupid. For example, in "The Gypsies", Esther mocks a Romani family for their stubborn refusal to accept help when it is kindly offered, rightfully pointing out that they're just ignorant fools clinging to nothing but their empty pride in the face of starvation, sickness, and impending death.

* BrutalHonesty: Grandma Esther is a kind and compassionate soul underneath her stern demeanor, but she also never minces her words when stating her disapproval of people and their foolish ways. For example, in "The Gypsies", Esther mocks a Romani family for their stubborn refusal to accept help when it is kindly offered, rightfully pointing out that they have nothing but empty pride and ignorance in the face of starvation, sickness, and impending death.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Episode 19, "The Gypsies", centers on a Romani family who claim to live by an "ask for nothing and take nothing" philosophy, demonstrating this by rudely refusing aid from others whenever it's offered. And yet, the story opens with them breaking into the Baldwins' house while the sisters are out of town, where they proceed to not only help themselves to the Baldwins' comforts, but also steal from their food and wine supplies. Their hypocrisy is further proven when, shortly after camping right outside the Waltons' home and smugly telling their hosts that they don't need anything, Olivia catches them consuming water from her family's faucet without even ''asking'' for permission first.

* BrutalHonesty: Grandma Esther is a kind and compassionate soul underneath her stern demeanor, but she also never minces her words when stating her disapproval of people and their foolish ways. For example, in "The Gypsies", Esther mocks a Romani family for their stubborn refusal to accept help when it is kindly offered, rightfully pointing out that their self-pride and reliance on "mystical solutions" are nothing but empty hogwash in the face of starvation, sickness, and impending death.

* RoguishRomani: Defied to an extent in Episode 19, where a family of Romani have to camp out on the Waltons' land. They're so used to being accused of thievery and thrown out that they won't accept ''anything'' from the Waltons, even if it means going hungry. It's not until their baby is near death that they allow Esther to tend to him, and they only accept food after [[DebtDetester saving the Waltons' chickens from a fox]]. Ultimately more of a downplayed case, however, because while they're not straight-up malicious, these Romani are shown to be [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocrites]] who do resort to underhanded means of survival, namely by invading people's homes while the residents aren't around to steal from their food supplies and other consumables (like firewood). It's evident that their pretense of self-sufficiency stems not so much from genuine belief, but more so because it hurts their pride to openly seek or accept aid from non-Romani people, many of whom would look down on them.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Episode 19, "The Gypsies", centers on a Romani family who claim to live by an "ask for nothing and take nothing" philosophy, demonstrating this by rudely refusing the Waltons' generosity whenever it is offered. And yet, the story opens with them breaking into the Baldwins' house while the sisters are out of town, where they proceed to not only help themselves to the Baldwins' stored firewood, but also steal from their food and wine supplies, albeit in small portions to avoid landing themselves in hot water when Sheriff Bridges arrives to inspect the premises for obvious signs of thievery.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Episode 19, "The Gypsies", centers on a Romani family who claim to live by an "ask for nothing and take nothing" philosophy, demonstrating this by rudely refusing the Waltons' generosity whenever it is offered. And yet, the story opens with them literally breaking into the Baldwins' house while the sisters are away and stealing from their food and wine supplies, albeit in small portions to avoid landing themselves in hot water when Sheriff Bridges arrives to inspect the premises for obvious signs of thievery.

* RoguishRomani: Defied to an extent in Episode 19, where a family of Romani have to camp out on the Waltons' land. They're so used to being accused of thievery and thrown out that they won't accept ''anything'' from the Waltons, even if it means going hungry. It's not until their baby is near death that they allow Esther to tend to him, and they only accept food after [[DebtDetester saving the Waltons' chickens from a fox]]. Ultimately more of a downplayed case, however, because while they're not straight-up malicious, these Romani are shown to be [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocrites]] who do resort to underhanded means of survival, namely by invading people's homes while the residents aren't around and stealing from their food supplies.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Episode 19, "The Gypsies", centers on a Romani family who claim to live by an "ask for nothing and take nothing" philosophy, demonstrating this by rudely refusing the Waltons' generosity whenever it is offered. And yet, the story opens with them literally breaking into the Baldwins' house while the sisters are away and stealing from their food and wine supplies, albeit in small portions so to avoid landing themselves in hot water when Sheriff Bridges arrives to inspect the premises for obvious signs of thievery.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Episode 19, "The Gypsies", centers on a Romani family who claim to live by an "ask for nothing and take nothing" philosophy, demonstrating this by rudely refusing the Waltons' generosity whenever it is offered. And yet, the story opens with them literally breaking into the Baldwins' house while the sisters are away and stealing from their food and wine supplies.

** The reliable Sheriff Ep Bridges is about as honest and incorruptible as a local county official can get. A lifelong family friend of the Waltons, he can always be counted on to uphold justice within his jurisdiction with dignity, fairness and respect, whether it's through settling disputes, helping the innocent, or punishing the guilty.