A Waltons Thanksgiving is a TV movie that aired on The CW in 2022. Starring Bellamy Young, Teddy Sears, and Logan Shroyer, and narrated by Richard Thomas from the original series, it is a direct sequel to The Waltons Homecoming.
Almost a year after that fateful Christmas where John Walton Sr. decided to quit his job in the city and start a farm, the Walton family is scraping by, and now prepares for Thanksgiving. As the family matriarch Olivia frets over judging a pie contest in which her mother-in-law is a contestant and Erin, Mary Ellen, and Jason compete in a talent show, John Boy wrestles with his feelings for the pretty young librarian and little Elizabeth befriends a kind but sad little boy who will end up changing the family forever.
This film contains examples of:
- Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: John Boy had feelings for Maggie, but she went away to college and now he finds himself drawn to Edith, who took over Maggie's pack horse route.
- Adopted to the House: After he is beaten up and abandoned by Abner and Selma, poor Red walks six miles to reach the Waltons' farm, where John Sr. and Olivia immediately take him in.
- Betty and Veronica: John Boy is torn between his longstanding affection for Maggie, a pack horse librarian who's gone away to college, and Edith, who took over Maggie's route and who has made no secret of her feelings for John Boy. In this case, Maggie is the "Veronica", seemingly cold and distant but offering a promise of financial stability if John Boy stays true to her while she's away, whereas Edith is the "Betty", offering more immediate affections but not much in the way of financial prospects.
- Canon Character All Along: Red turns out to be this universe's version of Ben Walton.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Poor young Red lost his parents at an early age and spend years languishing in an orphanage. He was finally adopted by Abner and Selma, but they mistreat him and use him as cheap labor.
- Happily Adopted: At the end of the film, Red is adopted and becomes Benjamin Walton.
- Happily Married: John Sr. and Olivia have a rock-solid marriage. John's parents also seem pretty happy together, even if they bicker quite a bit.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Faced with the prospect that she might win the pie-eating contest because Olivia might feel pressured to give her a better score than she deserves, Grandma Walton elects to sabotage her own pie so that she can lose knowing that an objectively better pie won.
- Terms of Endangerment: While Grandma Walton's habit of calling Olivia "daughter" is mostly affectionate, it's also her way of pulling rank within the family. So naturally, when Grandma calls her "daughter" while saying that she trusts her to make the right call in the pie contest, Olivia takes it as a sign that Grandma will be displeased if she loses.
- Too Hungry to Be Polite: The Waltons quickly realize that things are not alright at home for Red when he finishes his food and then literally licks the plate clean.
