# The Waltons (1972)

> A rural Virginia family of seven navigates the Great Depression and World War II together under one roof.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/4767

## Facts

- Seasons: 9
- Episodes: 210
- Episode runtime: 50 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, family
- Created by: Earl Hamner, Jr.
- Network: CBS
- Cast: Richard Thomas, Ralph Waite, Michael Learned, Ellen Corby, Will Geer, Jon Walmsley, Mary Elizabeth McDonough, David W. Harper
- TMDB rating: 7.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068149/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: warm, nostalgic, comforting, sincere, hopeful

## What critics say

Audiences broadly regard The Waltons as a warm, wholesome family drama whose gentle storytelling and moral lessons hold up across its run.

## Synopsis

The Waltons (1972-1981) is a United States network family drama series created by Earl Hamner, Jr. for CBS. Set in a rural Virginia mountain community, the show follows the large Walton household during the Great Depression and World War II. John Walton Sr. (Ralph Waite) and Olivia Walton (Michael Learned) hold together a crowded farmhouse of children and grandparents, with John Walton Jr. (Richard Thomas) and Esther Walton (Ellen Corby) among the principal figures. The engine of the series is ordinary daily struggle: money shortages, farm chores, schooling, illness, and the constant pressure of a world at war. Each episode is largely self-contained, built around a single family problem resolved by evening, and the nine-season run gives the characters room to grow across the years. Hamner's adult narrator frames the stories with reflective warmth. The tone is gentle, sincere and hopeful, rooted in a sense of shared sacrifice and faith. Fans of Little House on the Prairie and The Wonder Years will find resonance in its nostalgic small town family life, moral lessons, and comforting rhythm. It remains a landmark of wholesome television for viewers who want an uplifting, multigenerational watch.

## Shows like The Waltons

- [Roots: The Next Generations (1979)](https://ember.film/tv/12535)
- [Happy Days (1974)](https://ember.film/tv/3659)
- [Little House on the Prairie (1974)](https://ember.film/tv/1679)
- [The Brady Bunch (1969)](https://ember.film/tv/2015)
- [Little House on the Prairie (2005)](https://ember.film/tv/14649)
- [This Is Us (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/59097)
- [Leave It to Beaver (1957)](https://ember.film/tv/4872)
- [The Beverly Hillbillies (1962)](https://ember.film/tv/1822)
- [Roseanne (1988)](https://ember.film/tv/2571)
- [The Andy Griffith Show (1960)](https://ember.film/tv/93)

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