I did leave Walton's Mountain to live and work in New York City. I wrote more novels and raised a family of my own. Today, we live in California but no matter where I am, the call of a night bird, the rumble of a train crossing a trestle, the scent of crabapple, the lowing of a sleepy cow, can call me home again. In memory, I stand before that small white house, and I can still hear those sweet voices.

I've written before about the profound impact that The Waltons had on me when I was growing up (please click here to read my review for The Waltons: The Complete Fourth Season), so it's a melancholy experience I've had these past few days, watching The Waltons: The Complete Fifth Season. A season of profound change for the Walton family, this was the last year that Richard Thomas would appear as John-Boy, The Waltons' central character, and the focus of much of the show's dramatics. I watched this fifth season religiously back in 1976 when I learned that Thomas wouldn't be back, wondering how the producers would write him out. Once he left, I started to stray from the show, tuning in less and less regularly. Like any show that creates characters who become important (and almost real) in our lives, a missing cast member changes the dynamics, the feel of the series, creating a sense of loss in the viewer. With Thomas gone, even though the individual episodes stayed strong creatively, a large part of the show's heart, at least for me, was missing.

Watching The Waltons: The Complete Fifth Season this past week, I was struck at how long ago all this was (over thirty years), and how different TV looks today. A show like The Waltons, which at the time was considered one of the best dramatic series on television, looks positively quaint now. If it were submitted to the networks today, I suspect it wouldn't make it past the initial pitch. Gritty, turbulent plots, with coarse language, titillating nudity, and gore (CSI is a particularly rank example of the new "family" TV show) are of course, non-existent on Walton's Mountain. Character development and interpersonal dramatics are everything on The Waltons. People actually talk to each other, and for a solid forty-eight minutes, too. And what this loving family talks about, what they experience, has genuine meaning, genuine emotion, and it's valuable to the audience. It's expertly constructed entertainment that has some weight and purpose to it. Watching many of the TV shows that pass for ratings hits today, it's easy to feel depressed, and to conclude that maybe there really isn't a place anymore for a show like The Waltons. But when one realizes that millions of TV viewers still enjoy The Waltons on cable as well as on video and DVD, with families passing down their love of the show to new, younger viewers, it becomes clear that despite what know-nothing television executives profess, audiences haven't changed all that much - the programs have. And for the worse. Thankfully, there's still room for The Waltons.

Certainly the single biggest change to the series, the loss of Richard Thomas as John-Boy, comes at a critical time in the show's evolution. A massive ratings hit when it premiered (as well as a hit-killer, knocking the wildly successful The Flip Wilson Show right off the air), The Waltons was slowly but surely losing steam in the Nielsen's by this fifth season. With the Walton children getting older, young viewers grew up as well, and started to drift off to other shows. With the powerhouse addition of youth-oriented Welcome Back, Kotter to ABC's Thursday night line-up, it and rising series Barney Miller took a significant bite out of The Waltons's ratings. It would only enjoy one more season in the Top Twenty, before trailing off to its cancellation in 1981. With the charismatic Thomas leaving, the show would lose its main hook - the story of a young writer coming of age in rural Virginia. The show's creator and inspiration for the John-Boy character, Earl Hamner, Jr., was tied in closely with the actual show (he served as the narrator for each episode); when the public heard his voice each week, they knew the central impetus of the show originated with John-Boy. Thomas, a sensitive, accomplished actor, felt at the time that he needed to branch out and do other things after coming dangerously close to being typecast in the John-Boy role (he has since stated several times he wished he had stayed with the show). Wishing to pursue a movie career (he was excellent in James Bridges' September 30, 1955), Thomas' departure left the maturing series in a precarious spot.

Further unsettling loyal fans was the sudden real-life illness of actress Ellen Corby, who portrayed the crusty, quick-tempered Grandma Walton. Stricken with a debilitating stroke half-way through the production of this fifth year, the Grandma character disappeared from regular episodes (it was explained that her character was away in a hospital), only to return in the final episode of the sixth season. Her absence put a pall on the otherwise usually joyful play-acting of Will Geer's Grandpa character, and brought a sense of melancholy to the changing Walton family; with Geer dying after the end of the sixth season, viewers would never again see Grandpa and Grandma Walton spar and love each other in their deeply moving relationship. As well, the marriage of Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor) to Dr. Curtis Willard (Tom Bower) further challenged the notion of the insular Walton family unit. This marriage, which never really took off with the audience, was a sure sign that the producers were stuck with growing the aging child actors' characters - but at the peril of distancing viewers.

Fortunately, this fifth season of The Waltons had an abundance of strong episodes that stand alongside the very best of the series. Of special note this season, The Pony Cart, featuring a touching, masterful appearance by veteran character actress Beulah Bondi (It's a Wonderful Life) as Aunt Martha Corrine Walton, John's Crossroads, which gives Ralph Waite another chance to expand his quiet, commanding turn as John Walton, The Vigil, providing a nice showcase for Judy Norton-Taylor's talents, and The Long Night, with a beautifully modulated performance by Will Geer. The final episode of the season, The Achievement, where John-Boy goes off to New York after he learns his book will be published, is a bittersweet end to this fifth go-around. In one of many such scenes over the years on The Waltons, where characters sit on the front porch, at night, and share their innermost thoughts with family members, John-Boy tells of his wonder and sense of adventure at seeing New York City for the first time. It's a recognizable emotion that many of us from small towns and small beginnings can readily identify with - as well as with his apprehension and sadness at knowing a safe, secure part of his life is ending forever. These are dramatic effects that The Waltons, over its nine year run, excelled at achieving. With the final image of Thomas saying goodnight to the family he cherishes and loves, quietly, on his own outside of and apart from the house, The Waltons would never be the same again.

Here are the 24, one hour episodes of the double-sided five-disc box set, The Waltons: The Complete Fifth Season, as described on their slimcases:

DISC ONE: SIDE A

The First Edition
The Blue Ridge Chronicle is ready to publish its first edition, including a story about a local housebreaker: Ben.

The Vigil
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Nursing student Mary Ellen is sure she knows what ails Grandma.

The Comeback
A den of sin. That's what Olivia and Grandma think of the Dew Drop Inn, where Jason is the new piano man.

DISC ONE: SIDE B

The Baptism
Everyone's excited that a famous evangelical preacher is coming to town. Everyone, that is, except John.

The Fire Storm
Mein Kampf in The Blue Ridge Chronicle? Folks don't take kindly to John-Boy's attempts to educate them about current events.

The Nightwalker
What mysterious being stalks Walton's Mountain? Someone -- or something - has the town spooked.

DISC TWO: SIDE A

The Wedding: Parts 1 and 2
Change of name. The family is thrilled when Mary Ellen announces she will become Mrs. David Spencer. change of heart. Bride-to-be Mary Ellen seems more interested in the town's new doctor than in her fiance.

The Cloudburst
To a Walton, the land is like family. Will John-Boy sell a parcel to keep The Blue Ridge Chronicle publishing?

DISC TWO: SIDE B

The Great Motorcycle Race
Vrooom! Jim-Bob tinkers with Ike's old motorcycle, hoping to ride it to racing glory.

The Pony Cart
Martha Corinne Walton (Beulah Bondi) is one meddlesome houseguest, but her cantankerous ways mask a solemn secret.

The Best Christmas
Olivia hopes for "the best Christmas we ever had," but circumstances threaten to keep the Waltons apart.

DISC THREE: SIDE A

The Last Mustang
John-Boy becomes embroiled in the sheriff's election. Grandpa fights to free a captive mustang.

The Rebellion
Heaven help us: Grandma threatens to become a Methodist when she's asked to share organist duties at church.

The Ferris Wheel
Round and round and no way off. John-Boy suspects a buried memory is behind Elizabeth's nightmares about a Ferris wheel.

DISC THREE: SIDE B

The Elopement
Chad Marshall, the forestry student who once won Erin's heart, returns with plans to build a house and take a bride.

John's Crossroads
Tough times for Walton men: John's miserable in an office job. And Grandpa's lonely while Grandma's in a Charlottesville hospital.

The Career Girl
Erin graduates from high school. Now what? Unlike her older brothers and sister, she has no plan for her future.

DISC FOUR: SIDE A

The Hero
An Honor Day for World War I vets -- what a great idea. But ex-Doughboy Sheriff Bridges wants no part of it.

The Inferno
John-Boy wins a journalism prize: $25 and a trip to New Jersey to cover the landing of the Hindenburg.

DISC FOUR: SIDE B

The Heartbreaker
Jason falls -- hard -- for Curt's sister, an unhappily married woman who seems to take relationships lightly.

The Long Night
Grandpa pines for Grandma, still in the hospital. Then another female enters his life: Aimee, who pines for a grandpa of her own.

DISC FIVE:

The Hiding Place
The Baldwins' cousin visits from Germany. When John-Boy asks about Hitler, she dodges his questions.

The Go-Getter
Would you by a used car from this man? Commission-driven Ben fast-talks folks into buying clunkers.

The Achievement
"They're going to publish my book!" John-Boy leaves for New York and a career as an author.

The DVD:

The Video:
It truly saddens me to see the sorry state of some of the episodes in The Waltons: The Complete Fifth Season. Prints are grainy (which may come from overprinting as a result of the series' many reruns) and dirty, with scratches and overall damage. The Wedding, in particular, looks quite bad. Considering how beloved this show is to its fans, it's a shame not even a little effort was put into making The Waltons look at least as good as it did when it originally ran on network TV.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English mono soundtrack accurately reflects the original broadcast presentation. Close-captioning is available.

The Extras:
There are no extras for The Waltons: The Complete Fifth Season.

Final Thoughts:
A season of great change, The Waltons: The Complete Fifth Season is a bittersweet experience for loyal fans of the series. John-Boy leaves the show; Grandma becomes ill and leaves half-way through the season, and Mary Ellen gets married, further breaking up the cohesiveness of the Walton family. Fortunately, the writing this season is as strong as ever, and the excellent cast - down to every single actor in the large cast - excel in their finely-drawn characterizations. The Waltons: The Complete Fifth Season is another winning season from the single best dramatic series of the 1970s. I highly recommend The Waltons: The Complete Fifth Season, and eager await the release of Season Six.