2 l November
28 - December 4, 2021
Northeast Oregon TV Weekly
BY JAY BOBBIN
Richard Thomas narrates
“The Waltons’ Homecoming”
Sunday on The CW.
Richard Thomas has a
‘Waltons’ homecoming in
new CW movie
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Richard Thomas not only played eldest
son John-Boy on “The Waltons,” he also
wanted to do the show’s opening and closing
narration.
Now, a half-century later, he’s getting that
chance.
The actor returns to the franchise that
made him an Emmy-winning star as The
CW debuts the new movie “The Waltons’
Homecoming” Sunday, Nov. 28. A remake
of the film that became the pilot for the
beloved 1972-81 series about a close-knit
Depression-era mountain family, it lets
Thomas reprise the part of John-Boy, but as
the adult narrator ... the spot initially filled
by “The Waltons” creator and executive
producer Earl Hamner Jr.
“When I first read the script,” the amiable
Thomas recalls of the original production,
“and there were these beautiful narrations at
the beginning and the end, I was so excited.
I thought, ‘I can’t wait to read these.’ And
then I was told, ‘Actually, because he’s the
older John-Boy, Earl Hamner is going to
read those.’ But finally, it’s come full-circle,
and I’m really happy to have been invited to
the party.”
In “The Waltons’ Homecoming,” John-
Boy is portrayed by Logan Shroyer, alias
the teenage incarnation of Kevin Pearson
on NBC’s “This Is Us.” He happens to be a
friend of Thomas’ grandson, fortifying the
bond between the two actors as they share
an iconic role. “I knew what The Waltons’
was because I knew he was still recognized as
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John-Boy,” Shroyer explains. “I hadn’t really
seen any of the series, which I actually don’t
think is a bad thing. I think that kind of
helped me.”
While Shroyer arguably is the best-known
of the actors playing the younger family
members, the snowstorm-involving “The
Waltons’ Homecoming” also features Ben
Lawson and Bellamy Young (“Scandal”) as
parents John and Olivia, Rebecca Koon and
Alpha Trivette as the Walton grandparents,
and music veterans Marilyn McCoo and
Billy Davis Jr. as church personnel.
“If you’ve done a show or a movie that
they’re remaking, there’s always that first
moment of, ‘Oh, no, we’re history now,’ ”
Thomas reflects. “And then immediately
after that, there’s the feeling of, ‘Well, of
course. It makes perfect sense.’ And how
wonderful, because this is a classic, and
classics are destined to be reinvented and
done again for a new time. It’s kind of the
ultimate compliment.”
“The Homecoming: A Christmas Story”
was made as a one-shot 1971 film, but
CBS chief William S. Paley was impressed
enough by it to order the “Waltons” series
(still shown regularly on the Hallmark
Drama channel) from it. Thomas is gratified
to revisit it now in a different way, noting
the job “was easy for me to do, because
I have such profound feelings about that
show.”
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