Waltons Reunion: Cast Discusses Memorable Episodes, How Show Changed Them

A Waltons reunion is giving fans a glimpse of character who remain popular despite being gone from television for more than three decades.

The Waltons television series, which ended in 1981, touched on sensitive social topics in a way that was still new to television. Though series like All In The Family delved into social issues like racism and economic disparity, few other shows were exploring such topics when The Waltons came onto television.

In a reunion on Good Morning America on Friday, the cast of The Waltons discussed some of their most memorable episodes.

The cast agreed that the episode where the family’s house burned down was one of the most moving, and not just for their characters.

“We all stood out in the yard and watched the house burn and sobbed. There was no acting,” Norton Taylor remembered.

At the reunion, cast members said the show had as much impact on them as it did on fans. Ralph Waite, who played John Sr., said he gave up drinking just before the show started and re-arranged his priorities.

“Somehow by doing this part, it reawakened my need for, and my responsibility for my family and my children,” Waite told INSP.

The cast of the show has come together several times in the past few years. In 2011 they appeared on the Today show for the 40th anniversary of the show’s debut. Stretching back a bit further, the cast reunited in 1993 for a Thanksgiving reunion movie, set in the 1960s.

The Waltons reunion wasn’t limited to Good Morning America. The cast of the show also turned up for a photo shoot in Entertainment Weekly.