- Welcome back to another segment
of "Behind the scenes of 'The Waltons'".
Today, I'm talking about the episode,
"The Roots" that introduced the character of Harley Foster.
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Early in the episode, all of the Waltons
are picking peaches and Harley and his son, Jody,
are also there picking peaches, as is Verdie Grant.
And this is the first time we are introduced
to these characters of Harley and Jody.
When they are standing in line to get their money,
interesting that the guy handing out the money keeps saying,
oh, and how much did you,
you probably ate more than you picked.
And when he gets to Mary Ellen, she's like,
no, I don't like peaches.
I happen to love peaches, so,
strictly a case of acting there.
The role of Harley Foster
was played by the incredible Hal Williams,
who you know from any number of other TV series.
I loved working with Hal. He's such a gentleman.
Such a wonderful actor, great sense of humor,
and just a very, very kind human being.
The role of Verdie Grant, of course,
was played by Lynn Hamilton.
And I could say all the same things about her.
Loved working with Lynn.
She was always bright and funny and generous and kind,
and so talented.
So it was always a treat for us
to have Hal and Lynn on set.
Although that is all on location
when we were out picking peaches,
when John offers to give Verdie and Harley and Jody
a lift in to town and they drop Verdie off at her place,
we are now back onto the back lot of Warner Brothers Studios
in what we called the Jungle Area.
I love how the kids are all riding in the back of the truck,
and I am sitting up leaning against
the back of the truck cab,
and literally have one foot over the side of the truck
with my foot resting on the running board.
And clearly, there was no concern
about any danger with the truck riding along like that.
However, usually we weren't going very fast,
so it actually was pretty safe,
but there were no additional safety precautions
ever taken in that truck when we're all sitting in the back.
But we did tend to hold on to the younger ones.
like particularly Kami.
Or if we had a guest that was small,
just to make sure that nobody fell out.
As they arrive at Verdie's place,
the radiator is overheating.
The engine's overheating.
And Verdie asks them all in to have lemonade
and John Boy figures that's an opportunity
to let the engine cool off.
So, we all go inside to have lemonade.
As we're leaving there, Verdie has John Boy stay back
for a moment and she actually asks him
if he might lend a hand to match making for her,
because she is interested in Harley and Jody.
Because the engine does catch on fire
and Harley helps get it going again,
they offer to feed dinner to Harley and Jody,
and then invite him to bunk down there at the house,
which he accepts the offer of.
Then, the next day, Verdie arrives
and says that the Baldwins, basically,
their car has broken down.
It's at Ike's.
They've told Ike to fix it. Ike cause not a mechanic.
And Verdie basically tells Harley that she let Ike know
that Harley is a mechanic
and that he's being offered a job to fix the Baldwins' car.
At this point in his life,
Harley is not interested in staying in one place.
He feels like the best possible life
is being on the road all the time, seeing new places,
new experiences, and he thinks this is the best education
for Jody as well.
I think Jody has been okay with that
until he meets the Waltons and he meets Verdie,
and then he has this feeling
that he'd really liked to stay in one place,
and perhaps have a sense of family.
Harley doesn't know quite how much
of a wish this is for Jody,
and he feels that they will be fine continuing on
on the road.
However Harley does agree to stay, for now,
to fix the Baldwins' car.
We see a number of cases of Verdie flirting with Harley.
And then at one point she invites him
to basically have a little picnic in the front yard
of the Waltons',
which just reminded me of scenes that I had
when Mary Ellen has a picnic with Eddie Ramirez
in the episode, "The Medal",
and when she has a picnic with Jonesy
in the episode, "The Whirlwind".
So, picnics were an item on "The Waltons",
and a way to further romance.
Jim Bob, Elizabeth, and Jody have brought back
to the Walton house a little sort of branch
off of a peach tree,
and they have planted it with the help of grandpa
in hopes that someday this will grow into a tree
and bear peaches.
Jody has become very attached to not just the idea
of this tree and seeing it grow,
but also what he feels being around the Walton children,
and all of the attention and affection
that he gets from Verdie as well.
So unlike Harley, who's ready to move on,
Jody really wants to stay.
I noticed a little continuity thing in this scene
where Olivia is feeding cookies to Jody.
When the camera is on Jody
and you see the cookies in front of him,
the cookies are on a plate.
When they shift to the shot of John and Olivia,
those cookies are in a bowl.
Somebody missed that one.
John is sending a letter to request payment
for a delivery of some services,
and he has Jody go down to Ike's to mail it for him.
That way Jody can also say hi to Harley,
who is working on some sort of a vehicle at Ike's.
Then Ike is offering Harley an advance payment on his work.
Harley says he will take that.
And then he leaves.
Ike goes outside to take care of something,
and all of that money is sitting there on the cash register,
just in plain view.
Harley has decided it's time to move on
because he has argued with Verdie.
Verdie has accused him of not being responsible for Jody
and not looking out for that child's best interests,
and that Harley is the one running from his responsibility.
that Jody can't read and write.
And what kind of a life will he have?
So Harley is upset and he's going to leave.
Before he can leave, Ike arrives
and basically says that the money
in the cash register is gone.
And Harley was the only one there.
Harley offers to turn out his pockets,
have his things searched.
In his pocket, all he has is the money that Ike gave him,
but then when he turns out his coat pockets,
in that pocket is the other money.
John Boy starts putting things together,
knowing that Jody was there as well.
And he goes and talks with Jody.
Jody confesses as John Boy talks to him,
that he basically thinks that if Harley
is accused of stealing,
that he will be put in prison.
And knowing that his father
talked about being stuck in one place as being in prison,
Jody has figured out that if his father is in prison,
then they won't be able to leave.
And in this way, Jody will be able to stay here
on Walton's Mountain.
He then goes in and confesses this to his father and John
and the sheriff, and so things get resolved.
Recognizing how important it is to Jody to stay,
Harley concedes on that point.
And then he goes back to Verdie's
and he basically apologizes
and admits that Verdie was right.
That he was running away from his responsibility
and that he is gonna stick around for a while.
And Verdie invites him to supper some time,
and Harley accepts.
And like the roots that Harley and Jody
are beginning to plant on Walton's Mountain.
so too is the little peach tree that Jim Bob and Elizabeth
and Jody planted beginning to take root
and sprout new fresh leaves,
indicating there will be a wonderful new future
for all of them.
That's what I have for you for this segment
of "Behind the scenes of 'The Waltons'".
I'll be back with more "Behind the scenes of 'The Waltons'"
and more "Ask Judy".
Thanks for watching.