- Welcome back to another segment
of "Behind the Scenes of the Waltons."
Today, I have more of my recent chat with Mary McDonough.
If you're enjoying these, please do hit Like and Subscribe.
So are there storylines that you wish Erin had had?
- Oh,
yes, I wish that she would've been like a career woman
and you know, which kind of happened later.
I wish that she, you know
would have married Ashley later on
as we go on.
You know, we can write "Fan Girl" episodes, right?
(laughing)
And have it end how we did.
No, I think that by the end of it,
like Erin was pretty, was much more full bodied
than she was.
She just went through so many different, you know
romances and that, you know, to define her,
I wish that she would've, kind of come into her own.
Although I think that the audience probably would say
that she did.
So it does feel kind of full circle.
- Good, good.
Was there ever a point, I know I went to Earl Hamner
at one point after Curt had been killed off
and I, you know, was back in the house
and I was mostly just kind of hanging out
with John Curtis and pouring coffee.
And there was a point where I went to him,
I went, you know, Earl early on this character
of Mary Ellen was like so rich and full,
and she wasn't going to just, in her opinion,
have an ordinary life.
She wasn't just gonna be a wife and a mother and stay home.
She wanted to become a nurse.
She wanted to do something impactful in life,
and now I feel like the character's mostly kind of fallen
into this other pattern,
and it was the only time I ever had that kind of
a conversation and it was the only time I remember
that shortly after that, they decided to have Mary Ellen
go back to school and to become a doctor,
so I really appreciated that I had,
Was given that opportunity story wise.
So, did you ever have anything like that?
- The only time I had it, a real big thought about something
and really kind of pushed back on something was when Erin
of course, it was about a boy, when she said,
"Wow, oh, wow."
And Audrey Hamner, who was the real Erin,
I had not met her until after the show was over,
and so I always, and I said to the director
and I said, "She just wouldn't, can she just not do this?"
Can she just not say this?
It's so
girly and can she just be more mature
and just she can say, but it was like,
"Oh wow. Oh, wow."
And I just had the hardest time.
I can't even really say it now,
(laughing)
without mocking it.
And I got huge pushback,
especially from our assistant director
who pulled me behind and said,
"Don't ever, ever question anything."
And I felt really scolded and shamed.
And I just felt that I didn't have any value
and I didn't have any, and my input would never be heard
and I would just get in trouble,
which is kind of what happened.
And so I did it.
And then when I, when I met Audrey Hamner
the first time, I said,
"You know, is there anything that Erin did?"
She said, "I never, ever, ever would've said,
"Wow, oh, wow,' over a boy."
(both laughing)
I said, "Yay! I didn't wanna do it.
"I'm so sorry."
(laughing)
So somehow instinctually, I knew, but a lot of times
we weren't listened to.
- Yeah, yeah, no we weren't.
But, you know, I know,
I recognize now how fast they were trying to move
and how difficult it was,
and the pressures in later seasons
that they were getting from the network.
Early on we didn't have that kind of, my sense was
that the producers and the creative team had more input
and we had more opportunity to make little adjustments
and stuff like that and then later on it became everything.
Every little word had to be approved.
Every little change had to be approved.
Somebody had to come down, it had to be approved.
Every line through the network, network was just
getting more hands on with everything.
Storylines, I remember Michael being really upset
about some episode where she felt they had watered
the story down too much with the,
I believe it was the,
with the young woman who was assaulted, you know?
- Ah.
- And, and Michael felt like it backed off
from it then that they were afraid to really talk
about what happened.
And she felt that the original - What happened, yeah.
Version of the script had been stronger,
and by the time it went through rewrites,
it was really
watered down. - Interesting.
So what that was about, I don't really know.
I just remember hearing that,
that she was not happy about that.
And I expect, you know, there were restrictions
and things that they felt, you know, they couldn't,
whether it was the sponsors,
whether it was the network,
whether it was...
- Look at and you know, you and I have talked
about this, but our hair, the image, the look, right?
Because I remember, so I was,
we were filming the engagement thing with Paul Northridge
out at the lake, but we had, and what had happened was
we were filming at the house and we were losing the light,
they were rushing.
And I, they didn't have time to put my hair
which I had a lot of hair then,
and the rollers into this thing.
And so I was like, look, I had - wearing a hat,
and I had to run out of the house,
and so I just put my hair up in the hat,
and there were and we just filmed it.
So when then they saw the dailies
and everybody came back like,
"No, no, no, no, no.(chuckling)
"That is not how this is gonna happen."
Because whatever, how she left the house
is how she meets Paul
and he asked her to marry him (chuckling)
and she can't do it in that hat.
(laughing)
What happened?
I had, my hair was curled, you know,
beyond, beyond as we always had this hair, right?
And we got out in - to film in Frazier Park,
was out in the woods where I first run into Paul
for the picnic, right, and I have to come in with the,
get out of the car
and come in with the hat on, but they had my hair curled
and it was all underneath, like,
(screaming)
(Judy laughing)
And so I get out and I have to take off the hat
and do this.
(laughing)
- A shampoo commercial
- It was like a shampoo commercial, so dumb.
And so I'm sure the viewers, you know,
I will look for the comments after this,
let me know that you remember this.
So I take off the hat and this massive amount
of curled hair just comes flowing down.
So I look beautiful to get proposed to
- Huh.
- Always about what you look like.
It was all about the looks, it wasn't about.
- Yeah. but it was really odd.
I thought it was really strange
that they let us have those very eighties hairstyles
you know, those really Farrah cuts
when it was so not period.
I was like, I don't know why they let us get away with that.
- They should have curled our bangs.
We should've had curly bangs. - I hear people say
you know, as a nurse, I should have had my hair up
in a bun all the time.
It's like, absolutely. - Yeah.
But, you know, they...
- It's Hollywoodland, it's TV.
Right?
And I understand - We got to be the pretty
Waltons now.
(chuckling)
- Right?
And we were, we were pretty.
And so why not?
And the network just probably wanted to take advantage
of what we look like now
because we weren't little kids anymore.
So, and I understand
that they didn't want her to get proposed to in this hat
but it was just so ridiculous that I had to.
- So funny.
- And I couldn't even fit my hair up in this
and I had to take it off immediately
so I could look a certain way.
So, there was just the silliness.
So, yeah, yeah.
But you know, the whole thing about this show
and us even talking about it now,
you're doing this great series of interviews,
is that it was just, you know, it was life changing for me.
I mean, I have you as my sister.
How lucky am I, right?
I mean, it's such a gift.
And 50 years later, who would've ever thought
that I would be sitting in Texas,
well that's another story, but, and you would be
in California
and we would be sitting here, you know, having tea,
and having this lovely conversation,
and just have this enduring, loving friendship,
and sisterhood, so much later.
And to me, it's just such, it's just such a blessing.
I just feel so lucky.
- Thank you. Me too.
- I love you, sister.
- Aw, me too.
I mean, when I was watching The Pinup
and I was giving you, Mary Ellen was giving Erin advice
and I found myself (Mary chuckling)
thinking, wondering if you ever felt like I gave you advice
'cause I just felt like I was so in my own little world
but you and I did probably more together outside of the show
than I did with anyone else. - We did.
- We went on a cruise together.
- The cruise, I would go see you do theater.
You came, see me do theater.
I mean, we just, we shared a lot of stuff together 'cause.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, we came closest in age by that point,
and you were the other girl.
Kami was too young still for me.
I feel like as the series went on, I was the closest to you.
So I'm hoping
I gave you good advice - And I looked up to you
at some point. - so much.
You did.
You always, you kidding me?
You still give me good advice
which I am always grateful for.
And then I think, you know, there was that we,
when we first started, like I looked up to you.
Like you were, "Oh I just wanna be like Judy.
"Oh, she's so cool.
"She's so smart.
"She's so hip.
"She's a tomboy.
"She's the best."
It was like, I just wanted to be just like you,
and I was too young at that point, you know
'cause you were 13 and I was, you know, ugh.
And then, I was - Yeah, I was same age as
Eric and Jon.
- Eric and Jon, the older ones
but I was too old to be with Kami and David.
So I really was the middle child for a while
in my own family and in the Walton family.
And then as we got older, of course,
we immediately were kind of like much more similar
and we've stayed that way forever and ever.
You know, one of my favorite scenes, you know,
and that was where they thought, "Oh, she could be funny."
So then they started to try and write funny for her to do,
it's like, oh, it was where you're dunking my head.
- Oh, uh huh.
- Washing my hair to go on a date with the, you know,
that you're supposed to be going out on,
that Mary Ellen's supposed to be going out on,
and I have the robe on
and you're pushing my hair,
and that scene was so much fun.
That was like, that's one of my favorite scenes
'cause it's so un-Walton like.
- Yeah.
- You know?
And then all of a sudden then there was like,
oh wait, let's write kooky things for Erin to do.
Let's put her to a southern belle dress
and have her serve tea to JD Pickett.
Like, what?
- Yeah.
I've had people ask about working with Lewis Arquette
and you know. - Oh my gosh.
He was amazing.
He was a pro.
So amazing.
And I just remember sitting around the set
and him talking about his family 'cause he had a large,
he had a lot of kids and oh, he was just so great.
If I could only have been smart enough back then
to have asked the right questions and learned so much more
from him, you know, I just feel like all,
I was just dancing as fast as I could to try and keep up.
And I wish that I had learned so much more
from everybody who was so incredible
that we got to work with.
- Yeah, I wish that too.
I just didn't realize who some of these people were
and their,
- I know.
- their pedigree when we worked with 'em
and so many missed opportunities, but.
- I know, I know, but Hey,
we have this - We were kids.
incredible gift and this wonderful,
like a separate life that we got handed
and we're really, really lucky.
- Yeah.
- You know?
- And your life since.
I mean you've become this wonderful writer.
Your book's just, I'm like, so in awe, whenever
I'm like,
"She can really write. (Mary chuckling)
"How does she do that?" (chuckling)
- It's hard. How does she write
a sentence like that?
- That's my office right back there.
I am finishing, I'm trying to finish my fourth book.
My third novel, in that room.
I've been sitting in there for years.
Hopefully they'll get done.
But yeah, I know, it's hard
but I have so many more things I wanna do in this one.
This one's a really hard one
but it's also very personal and deep and stuff.
So, yeah. I know.
I know.
We learned, you know, I don't know,
to do so many things because of being on the show, I think.
We had a lot of good influences.
- Yeah, so I know you continued and did a lot of acting
after the show in theater and TV and then into the writing,
and are there other aspects of your life
you'd like people to know about or you'd like to share?
- Oh, well, so I mean, I love doing
"The New Adventures of Old Christine"
cause I was a reoccurring character, Mrs. Wilhoite, on that.
And that was so fun.
And the thing about doing comedy,
a comedy show, is that you don't ever have to cry.
(laughing)
I was like, "Wait, I don't, I don't have to cry
"on this show?"
But almost every other drama show
that I've ever done, I've had to cry.
From writing, I think people know that I'm a certified
life coach and that I do public speaking,
and I love working to help people.
And because I, like I said before, I felt so alone.
And so now it's like, I can share all
of those experiences and it's incredibly rewarding.
And to know that so many people feel exactly
the same way I do and that we are not alone,
and if we just open up and talk and share,
that we will find people who have common experiences.
When I wrote my first book, Richard said,
"Why didn't you tell us what was going on with you?"
Well I was kind of trained not to.
It didn't seem safe.
- Yeah.
- To talk about it.
And everybody else was so accomplished.
I had never acted before.
I was just supposed to just be a professional
and act like a grown up and do it.
So, so I have that,
and then I'll come and do another one
of these with you when my, when I finish this fourth book.
'Cause I'm really excited. - I would love that.
Yeah.
- At the light at the end of the tunnel with it.
And it's a mother/daughter story, so.
- Oh.
- Yeah.
Yeah. - So sweet.
Yeah.
- Well tell people where they can find you
and find all your wonderful work.
- Well, I'm on Facebook and Marymcdonough.com is my website.
And people can always write to me
through my website and I have a lot on there
about my books and coaching and you know, and everything.
Yeah.
- Well thank you for being in my life for 50 years.
- Oh my gosh.
I love you so much. - Maybe we have 50 more.
- Yes. 50 more.
- And it's been,
- Oh sister.
- such a treat to have you as a guest on my show.
I really appreciate it,
and I know all of the viewers out there will as well.
- Thank you for joining us for this special segment
of "Behind The Scenes of the Waltons" with Mary McDonough.
I really appreciate her being my guest.
I'll be back with more
"Behind The Scenes of the Waltons"
and more "Ask Judy."
Thanks for watching.