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Interviews
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The following interviews were produced by the Archive of American Television. The video below features seven people who share their experiences and involvement with the production of The Waltons. The original unedited interviews have been organized and combined here into a linear story structure.

The folowing people appear:

Creator/Writer/Producer, Earl Hamner; Executive Producer, Lee Rich; CBS Executive, Fred Silverman; Directors, Jack Shea, Robert Butler, Ralph Senensky and writer Dorothy Fontana.

 
 

 

 
 

Table of Contents

  0:00:00
0:05:37
0:13:05
0:26:36
0:29:17
0:32:32
0:37:09
0:38:52
0:39:45
0:42:21
0:43:03
0:46:06
1:06:45
1:09:57
1:14:33
1:17:26
1:26:38
1:29:01
1:36:46

1:48:52
1:49:32
1:52:13
1:57:17
2:04:50
2:05:44
2:08:05

The formation of Lorimar Productions

Reflecting on Spenser's Mountain

Producing The Homecoming
The Waltons
beating the odds
CBS pushes for Emmy Awards
Casting the characters
Characters based on the Hamner family
Where the Walton name came from
How The Homecoming was received
How the series differed from the movie
Why certain lead roles were recast
Earl Hamner reflects on each member of the cast
Narrating the voice of a middle aged John-Boy
Earl Hamner on Producing The Waltons
The process of producing an episode
Jack Shea's recollections as a director
Dorothy Fontana on writing for the show
Robert Butler on directing The Waltons
Ralph Senensky on directing "The Gift", "The Conflict", "The Pony Cart", "The Marathon" and "Grandma Comes Home"
Where the "Goodnight" tradition came from
How the Hamner family received the show
How the show was received by audiences and critics
How cast changes were handled

The series coming to an end

The movie specials

Lee Rich and Earl Hamner reflect on their favorite episodes



The original interviews can be found here.

 
 

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