A Waltons Thanksgiving

source: A Waltons Thanksgiving

I watched the Christmas one, in either fall of 2020 or 2021. I can't recall. I had this one on my dvr for two months, trying to figure out if I should watch it. I finally did, and I regret it. It was horrible. The acting was atrocious. The plot was so dumb, after an hour, I was like, this still has an hour left! The whole thing with Livvie being too afraid to judge grandma's pie was ridiculous. I really did not understand why this was such an Earth shattering thing. Just judge the pies, and make a decision, if she wins she wins. I couldn't understand why it was such a big deal. And yes, I watched the entire original Walton's series in my life on re-runs. This just made no sense to me at all. I just do not think Ellen Corby's grandma would have cared this much about a pie. Oh and then there's a subplot with a kid who's being abused, and he's in foster care, and the Walton's adopt him and surprise, it's the missing Ben. I don't think I will subject myself to anymore of these films. But who knows, I'm a sucker for nostalgia.

Most awful waste of time I've had in years, had to try 3 times to get through this. Now they have a nice house and grandparents don't live with them? MaryEllen likes to sing, since when? Olivia an entirely different person. Pa calls them "walnuts"? Elizabeth less mature and more babyish than she was. Erin, whiney and pathetic. Who would take this family to heart? None of us and story so crazy, forced, without the Waltons' heart. This was pointless since the movies are still fairly current. Making me go on and on to fill in required characters to say this is just bad, and waste of time, yours and mine.

All the reviewers who say that Grandma Walton would NEVER use the recipe in baking haven't faithfully watched the original series. She most certainly did use it as her secret ingredient. That being said the new movies aren't faithful to the original series, but it is still enjoyable to watch. They have one less Walton kid but the original series also had one less kid than the Hamner family. It isn't an exact retelling but I don't think it supposed to be. I look at it as more of a re-imagining of the series. The characters are different but the spirit is there. I have watched every episode of the Waltons and every subsequent movie and find the new shows as enjoyable to watch as the original.

I grew up on the Waltons and this completely new cast was not relatable as the Waltons. I had high hopes with the way the show started out with the original John BOY. I thought it would be a show on his family carrying on the traditions he grew up with on the mountain not a redo of something that had already been done. Turned it off after 20 minutes. I'd rather watch a rerun of the original thana pooly made remake. If it's not broke don't try to fix it. The Waltons were good and wholesome. When you watched the original cast, it drew you in. You wanted to be a part of their family. It always made you want to be a better person.

Everything about this special wrong based on the original series. The period piece was all wrong for the children, the parents and the area were so far off from the original premise of the Earl Hamner's masterpiece. I see that many people see this as a good old fashion wholesome television, but if you'd seen the original cast and understood the messages they were conveying, you'd understand that this version of the series is way off. The real Walton's were dirt poor struggling with almost every aspect of life. This one shows a family with far more wealth than they really had and far more levity than shown. The casting of the characters was poor and the acting portrayed a view of perfect people rather than country folk. We watched the entire episode but wouldn't put this in any category with the original series and I'm shocked that Richard Thomas would associate the Waltons name with this rendition.

Where is feisty, Baptist Grandma? She put Recipie in her pie? That's not Ester Walton. Where is the real Ben, the other feisty Walton? The dynamic between grandpa and grandma is WAY off. I like the idea of showing the struggles of the depression era rural America. I just don't sense that here. The family just doesn't act anything like how they should be. Not even close. Mary Ellen is not the strong bull headed girl we know. John-Boy is not that know it all big brother that would annoy Mary Ellen. Grandpa and Grandma are pretty much absent. Their bickering was what made that show so great. It's a nice try but it's just not quite right.

I gave this a fair shot. Even though I watched the Christmas episode and wasn't that impressed. I absolutely love the original The Waltons series and still watch it today. So I was excited to have more of the Walton family and company. Until I watched it and it didn't really even feel like The Waltons. There is none of the original charm and authenticity that made me love the original so much. The costumes are wrong- they feel entirely too modern. Like someone playing dress up rather than a costume department. The acting feels stiff and forced. It's like the actors know nothing about the characters or the time period. Again, there's something decidedly modern in the way they interact and behave. I'm also not sure why they're all putting on accents when no one really had much of one in the original. I might be able to overlook that, but they're bad accents, too. The dialogue is average at best- and that's being generous. Admittedly, some of the dialogue from the original show was a bit on the nose and cheesy at times, but it never felt overwhelmingly so. Because I believed the actors and their characters. They felt authentic. Not only is this dialogue corny, but it has a very modern flair to it. Certain turns of phrase and the way in which the lines are delivered feel off. The biggest offender I can remember here is when John-Boy is listing off everyone entering in competitions at the fair. If I only heard the dialogue, I wouldn't guess this was meant to be taking place in 1934. I think the casting is off, too. I've seen a number of these actors in other things and they're not bad actors. They just don't really fit here. Again, they don't feel authentic. Olivia, John, Grandma, and Grandpa all especially feel wrong. Olivia especially has none of the maternal, soft but stern qualities that she had in the series. John, Grandma, and Grandpa also feel like entirely different characters. No matter who played these characters or how they played them, I don't think I'd ever find them comparable to the original. But I can say that they could certainly be played better and do a little more justice to who came before. And the supporting characters are all wrong, too. I won't go too far into that but all I needed to hear was the Baldwin sisters actually referring to 'the recipe' as moonshine to know that someone hadn't really done their homework as far as characterization goes. Obviously a remake isn't going to be exactly like the original, nor should it be. But there are some that are worse than others. I would have to say this is one of the worse ones. Even the Christmas special was better and I didn't particularly care for that. Bottom line- nothing feels authentic and there is not even a hint of the original charm. All the same, it is a feel good, wholesome movie and I do appreciate that. It's almost better to just pretend this is unrelated to The Waltons many know and love. It's not a bad movie on its own, but it's a poor representation of the original characters and series.

What a pleasant change from so much of what we are seeing on TV today; family entertainment that has you relating to the characters, laughing with them and rooting for them. It has been wonderfully cast with genuine relationships and a treat and to see Richard Thomas introduce the family of which he was such big part and for him to be giving such strong support to this movie. This is not simply a reproduction of a Walton's episode but a new story that does not disappoint in delivering the same emotions that made the Walton's family so important to so many. Looking forward to seeing more and to adding this movie to our family's annual traditions.

Firstly, I am so sad that *this* is what caused me to create an account. Secondly, Hiiiiiiii. Huge fan of 1920s films to present. I'm an X-er, so right off the bat, you either have no notion what this "the Waltons" are, or YOU KNOW and are either being silent or adjusting for time. Either way, YOU ARE WRONG AND INCONSISTENT. B 1974. Glorious time; grandparents being b.1908-12, parents b. 1934-1938, and older siblings beginning in 1959, one year after parents were married. Also of note; I grew up in a religious household, I would wager mainly because my 4xAncestors settled a church, to which everyone in my family belonged (lol, until me! I lived abroad and also a very far away big city). I watched 14:12 minutes of this program. About 3 minutes in (and, given the introduction from the original John-Boy (Thomas) and the Theme Song, this led me to believe that maybe it would have SOME similarities between the 1970s program to the 2022 massacre. I was sorely wrong. This is an atrocity. Who is writing this, AND, more importantly, WHO is directing THIS? At this point, I am VEHEMENTLY CHASTISING the wardrobe department. I'm sorry, 1:14 (yes, one minute, 14 seconds), a character (of which might prove to be VERY consequential), pops out from the back of a traveling van and says his red hair is why no one will a adopt him. YES, the red hair is most certainly a reason no one with this wonderful and beautiful mane was adopted for many, many years, -- my mind is on something else. WARDROBE MISMANAGEMENT. NO ONE. I repeat, NO ONE, has bluer-than-blue overalls. The newness of the blue is so NEW and BRIGHT, it causes saturation of the colors that surround it. YES. THIS THIS THIS was my breaking point. The original Waltons AT LEAST had wardrobes that LOOKED like they were from 30-40 years prior. This particular construct gave up at what was available in 2020s, and the wardrobe department or that which checks the believability of the time period -- needs to reassess their life choices. I'm sad about this. I wanted to LURVE IT. Instead, I am switching movies to something a little more consistent with the time period they are projecting and wanting you to believe.