- Welcome back to another segment
of Behind the Scenes of The Waltons.
Today, I'm going to be talking about The Baldwins,
the recipe and our final episode "The Revel."
This episode was written by Scott Hamner
the son of Earl Hamner, who created the show
and directed by Harry Harris,
who probably directed more episodes of The Waltons
than any other director.
The Revel, was the very last episode that we filmed,
that was aired on the 9th season.
At the time we filmed this,
we didn't know it was going to be the last episode
we would film.
We didn't find out that the show was canceled
until we were on hiatus, between what would have been
our 9th and 10th season, had there been a 10th season.
We did come back the following year
and do three TV reunion movies.
And then it was 10 years later
before we did three more reunion movies.
The Baldwin sisters and their Papa's recipe
were first introduced in The Homecoming,
when John Boy along with Reverend Hawthorne Dooley
stopped by the Baldwins in search of gas
so that John Boy can continue his journey
to search for his daddy.
Here, Hawthorne played by the incredible Cleavon Little,
shares recipe with Miss Mamie, Miss Emily and John boy,
as they sing and celebrate the holiday spirit
before he breaks the news
that they need to find some gas.
Over the seasons the recipe was featured
in quite a number of episodes.
We saw various versions of the recipe machine.
We had different people, sometimes relatives
of the Baldwins, who came and hoped to somehow take
over control the recipe themselves.
Someone tried to blow up the recipe machine.
And there were different shysters who kind of came
through with visions of what, how they could benefit
and through greed, wanted to control the recipe.
But it never happened and it remained in control
of the Baldwin sisters throughout the entire episodes.
The recipe as some of you have noted
changed color over the seasons.
Sometimes it was sort of the pale yellow
or golden color, that would have been either lemonade
or water down tea, or perhaps some sort of juice.
In some cases, it was clear like a vodka or gin
and that would have been just water.
Initially, the only members of the family who
sampled the recipe were Grandpa, who really loved it.
And sometimes John might've had a nip here and there.
The children of course were too young
and Mama and Grandma were very much opposed
to the recipe in any way, shape or form.
In fact, hearkening back to The Homecoming,
Olivia was beside herself when she thought
that John Boy had brought recipe into the house
and actually apologized for her misunderstanding.
The recipe became synonymous with celebrations,
particularly ones that involved the Baldwin sisters.
It is a little hard to believe
that they actually didn't know
that this recipe they were making was a form of alcohol.
Did they really know, who knows?
But if they'd been sampling
since they were young and had never tasted real alcohol,
perhaps they just thought it made them feel better.
And I don't think they ever over imbibed.
And perhaps if they were sampling, as often as they were
they were pretty immune to its effects.
But we certainly saw samples of people
over the seasons getting quite tipsy from the recipe,
including the actress and the Reverend,
Reverend Fordwick when he inadvertently
had too much of the recipe.
So it was a bit of a downfall for some people
in certain scenes, but it was a lively part of the show.
And in this episode, 'The Revel',
it is somewhat of a focus of the episode,
because that Baldwin sisters are planning to have a reunion,
a high school reunion from their finishing school.
And they're inviting all of their former classmates.
And even the Truman's are going to be issued an invitation.
There was another episode where they wanted
to mail the recipe to the President.
I believe at that point it was President Roosevelt,
as a Christmas present.
Which of course couldn't be transported through the mail.
So this particular episode,
they're going to throw a big ball to celebrate.
And the recipe will be a main feature of the celebration.
The exterior of the Baldwins house was
on what we called Columbia Ranch.
It was kind of the Warner ranch.
It was just a few blocks from Warner Brothers main studio.
And there were various different exteriors on that lot,
as well as some sound stages.
So the Baldwins house was there.
The interior of the Baldwins,
you didn't see very many of those rooms.
Those were actually on Stage 26
where we did all of our main interiors.
All of the interior of
The Walton house was on stage 26
as was the interior of Ike Godsey store.
And later on, when the shed came into play
as a place that there were scenes,
that was also on Stage 26.
Needless to say, Stage 26 was a rather large stage.
In preparation for this ball that the Baldwin sisters
are going to throw, most of the Waltons get volunteered.
Mary Ellen gets volunteered to help make applesauce cake
from mama's recipe.
And then Elizabeth gets volunteered to help
make the invitations.
Ben and Jim Bob get volunteered to serve
as valets to park all of the cars.
So there's kind of some fun moments where
the siblings volunteer each other.
And of course the Baldwins are so grateful,
that we all feel that we can't back out from those promises.
We even let them use mama's sewing machine
so that they can create new ball gowns.
And as they are not quite as adept with the machine,
the sisters ended up, Mary Ellen and Erin end up helping.
And Elizabeth ended up helping them out
with getting their ball gowns made.
I can't believe the number of costume changes
that particularly the Baldwin sisters had in this episode.
Clearly it covered numbers of days.
And every time we saw them, they were in yet
another wonderful costume.
As it turns out, none of their guests are able
to attend their party and they find themselves alone
in their house, celebrating on their own.
However word has gotten around the community
that no one was there.
So everyone gathers together to help support these ladies
who have become such an important part of the community.
So in some ways, I think it was fitting
that the final episode that we aired and that we shot
involved this celebration that we all shared together
at the end of the episode and more dancing and a toast
of the recipe.
And so, in honor of the Baldwins,
the recipe and the Waltons,
I give you a toast.
Good night everybody.
Thanks for watching.