- Welcome back to another segment
of Behind the Scenes of the Waltons.
Today I'm gonna talk more about the filming of
a Walton Easter and a number of things that were different
by the time we got to shooting this,
our last Walton reunion special.
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By the time we got to filming this,
our last reunion special,
things had changed on the Warner Brothers lot.
So some of the locations that we always used
were still there.
Some of 'em had changed,
and the house itself was no longer on the back lot
of the Waltons, the Warner Brothers lot,
it had been moved.
At one point there had been a fire on the back lot
of the studio, the house exterior had burned.
They had then rebuilt it and we used that for
some of the reunions that we filmed.
But for this one, by the time we did this one
it had been moved to the Warner Ranch,
which is a couple blocks away.
So it was very interesting going over there to
film the exterior because it just seemed, it felt different.
You know, I walked into the set
and there were other logistics to the yard.
The yard wasn't as big in the front
and over towards where the barn was.
They did rebuild a barn and they created a mill area there
but that used to be where the old mill was.
And then of course, in later episodes the new mill was built
and that was off from the, you know,
to the other side of the house.
Whereas in this case,
on that lot there wasn't space over there.
It was just all like trees
or other sets or things like that.
So we couldn't use that area.
So we were working in a smaller, more condensed space
that we had available on this other lot.
So they just built out more of what had been the old mill
and created it as the only mill.
So when you see John and Ben
and Drew all working over there,
that was the only space we had.
On the front porch, the swing,
in pretty much all of the series
the swing faced sideways on the porch.
So when we had scenes, you know, if someone was sitting
on the porch and there was all the chairs,
we were all sort of facing each other.
In this instance, they have now changed the swing.
So it is facing forward and facing the front yard.
So when Drew and Elizabeth spend time sitting on that porch
and where they actually finally get engaged at the end,
towards the end of the episode, this is all on that porch
and that swing is facing forward.
The kitchen also had a number of differences
from when we shot the series.
Of course, we have advanced from the forties
into the sixties, nearly the seventies.
So the old wood burning stove is no longer there.
And we have what would've been a more modern stove
for the time period.
However, there used to be between the stove and the counter
and cabinets, a door that finally I figured must, you know,
we discovered that it was sort of a pantry area.
There's no door there anymore.
So the stove has been moved over
and sort of blocks where that wall space was.
And I think, you know the refrigerator looks newer,
things like that.
So the kitchen, the table, you know,
it's a different wooden table.
It isn't as rustic as the original table
that we used in the series.
I noticed when we were shooting towards the mill,
and you could see there was a tree, but it was kind of right
up against sort of almost the barn area.
And I went oh, I don't think there's a treehouse up there
'cause that of course, over by the mill was where
that wonderful tree was with the tire swing
and the treehouse.
A little later in the episode when Elizabeth
and John Boy have a scene in the treehouse,
you see John Boy come outta the house and come straight down
into the yard and the tree is now literally like
a ladder as opposed to climbing, you know,
climbing things on the, on the tree.
And the treehouse is now in a different tree
that didn't really exist in our front yard before.
So that was, that was certainly very different.
We were able to use parts of the back lot
because this is, a lot of it is Drucilla's pond.
So that aspect, that area.
And also when we see parts of town,
I mean there's different areas where,
where we do see sets that we used to work with in the past.
There's one point in a Drucilla's pond scene,
where I think it might have been at another location
because the Week's house,
you see a big sort of field behind them.
So I have a feeling wherever we went to shoot that
may have been a location where we were,
might have been Franklin Canyon,
might have been Frazier Park.
So they were able to utilize a different body of water
I think on a couple of occasions.
So that, but I'm not positive about that one.
When we go to the Baldwin's house,
the set is completely different.
Now we could imagine that,
I mean the Baldwin's house is a pretty good sized house,
so this just could be a different room
within the Baldwin's house.
But we were very used to that parlor area where
scenes always took place, where there was the fireplace
with the judge's picture over the fireplace, and the piano.
In this case you see an upright piano
sort of in the background as opposed to that grand piano
that used to be in their space.
So because that was always an interior set, you know,
I guess they decided that,
not to try to recreate that whole set,
perhaps even finding those pieces was difficult.
So they, we take a leap of faith that this is just
a different room in the Baldwin's house.
I do remember shooting that very early
sunrise service scene.
Although it is light,
it doesn't necessarily look like it's sunrise
when that sequence is seen.
But in order to have the kind of light they wanted,
I remember having a very early call and we were on location
so it meant really early to be transported to location.
And then, you know, so it was dark,
and you're like going into wardrobe and makeup and it's dark
and it's cold and, but it's a beautiful sequence.
So that sometimes is what happens and when they want those,
like literally if you want a sunrise shot
then it's gonna be very early
and everything needs to be completely set up
and they will have had to scouted
at another time to figure all that out.
And they always keep track of when's sunrise
and when's sunset.
But beautiful to have that open sense of nature
in that final service.
I believe the scene with John Boy and Verdie in town
was someplace on the Warner Brothers lot.
And then when Elizabeth and Erin have a scene
in sort of a little diner or whatever,
that was a set on Midwest where it was what we would call
a practical set where they were able to shoot actually in
that building where it was.
And then when they leave and they're looking across
at where Drew's girlfriend has walked off,
you see a piece of the gazebo
and you see what was actually the schoolhouse.
And then there's points where you see some of what was
the brick of Boatwright University.
So a lot of those, we were able to still utilize
familiar areas to me, but not necessarily having them
function the same way they did before.
Because clearly we used a different schoolhouse.
Although the exterior of the schoolhouse was the same
when we saw when Olivia was teaching,
when we got to the interior it was a different interior set
than what we would normally use.
And I don't know if that was an actual interior someplace
or whether it was on a sound stage.
I just don't remember 'cause I wasn't in those scenes.
It also appeared that when John Boy was in that cabin
and then a number of the kids come to help plan
the anniversary party that that was also a practical set.
For one thing you can hear a bit of echo in the dialogue
at one point.
So I think that was because of that space
and it just has that whole rustic feel.
And when you look outside,
it looks like the actual area outside
as opposed to a painted backdrop.
Now when we talk about the inconsistencies in continuity,
first off, it's supposed to be John
and Olivia's 40th anniversary,
and yet we're saying it's the moon landing,
which was July of 1969
and we're saying it's going to be Easter.
So that is immediately a "what?" You know I kept going back
and forth going am I misunderstanding this?
But that's what was said, so there we go.
And that John and Olivia, that timeline doesn't work,
because that would've meant that they were married in 1929
and the homecoming took place in 1933,
where we already had the seven children.
So none of that made any sense either.
So we were just asked to suspend belief
for a period of time.
Why they wanted to make it their 40th
instead of 50th anniversary I have no idea.
But there you go.
I think we loved the celebration regardless
of whether the timelines were accurate.
There were of course various different characters
that were unexplained in terms of their absence, you know.
We see Ben throughout, but we never see his wife Cindy.
And she's never mentioned.
We see Jason and his wife Toni,
but there's no mention of Jonesy or John Curtis,
although you see my two other children.
So there's different things like that
where people seem to be missing.
We did see Grandma, we saw Ellen Corby,
she made a couple of little appearances.
So it was great to have her,
just her presence there in the show, that felt right to us.
I've also been asked if the youngest of Jason
and Toni's children was
in fact their own real life daughter.
And yes, this is Jon's daughter.
That's what I have for you for this behind the scenes
more in depth look at the filming
and the locations and everything for a Walton Easter.
I'll be back with more behind the scenes of the Waltons
and more Ask Judy.
Thanks for watching.