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RIP Earl Hamner, Jr. - the original John Boy

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Vombatus, Mar 24, 2016.

  1. Vombatus

    Vombatus Well-Known Member

    Notable to us Virginians, Earl Hamner, Jr., creator of The Waltons, passed away today at 92. He modeled the character John Boy after himself.

    Goodnight, John Boy. RIP.
     
  2. Mr. Sunshine

    Mr. Sunshine Well-Known Member

    Just spent the past 30 minutes rearranging a Metro page to get that in the paper.
     
    Vombatus likes this.
  3. WriteThinking

    WriteThinking Well-Known Member

    "The Waltons" was a good show. Probably not many here would admit to watching it regularly, but it was a quality show, for nearly the entire nine years that it ran.
     
    Liut likes this.
  4. BDC99

    BDC99 Well-Known Member

    Good night Earl! RIP. They don't make shows like that anymore.
     
    Liut likes this.
  5. hondo

    hondo Well-Known Member

    Everyone should do themselves a favor and find his book that inspired the series, "Spencer's Mountain." (Don't know why they had to change the names). The kid in the book was named Clay-Boy. Lot of the other kids had the same name in the book and series. The book was superb. Will make you laugh and cry. Do not, however, bother with the Henry Fonda movie, "Spencer's Mountain." It sucked.
     
  6. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    "Spencer's Mountain," the movie, is worth a look for a few reasons: Fonda, Maureen O'Hara and a young Dan-O James MacArthur as Clay-Boy.
    The storyline is basically the proto-Waltons transplanted to Wyoming.

    It's a very strictly Sixties kind of movie, because Pa Spencer (Fonda)'s tendency to get falling down drunk in front of the kids and give Ma a few belts to straighten her out was treated as a running comic point.

    Obviously Hamner still had some work to do with the concept.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2016
  7. DanOregon

    DanOregon Well-Known Member

    You think about TV in the 70s and wonder how it ever got on TV. A family in depression-era Virginia? And yet, it was fantastic television.
     
    Liut and BDC99 like this.
  8. Riptide

    Riptide Well-Known Member

    Everyone watched his show. Every week.

    Good night, John Boy.
     
    HanSenSE likes this.
  9. SpeedTchr

    SpeedTchr Well-Known Member

    Well damn. I loved the Waltons. Never missed an episode. My grandfather refused to watch, said it reminded him of some really shitty times in the country.
     
    Liut likes this.
  10. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    I fucking hated the Waltons. Hated the fucking theme especially.

    My dad watched it religiously though.

    What the fuck is a John Boy anyway?

     
    Huggy likes this.
  11. SpeedTchr

    SpeedTchr Well-Known Member

    Love that theme song.
     
  12. DanOregon

    DanOregon Well-Known Member

    As a kid I remember watching the opening credits and thinking "They're all excited because they got a radio?"
     
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