The Waltons: The Complete First Season

In 1972, series such as All in the Family, Maude, and M*A*S*H were anything but comfort television, but viewers hungry for old-fashioned family values could still take refuge on Walton Mountain. Earning five Emmy Awards (including Best Dramatic Series) in its inaugural year, The Waltons (1972-1981)--inspired by Earl Hamner Jr.'s novel The Homecoming--was a Depression-era drama that extolled the virtues of family ties, hard work, self-reliance, responsibility, and "small, honest things." Ralph Waite and Michael Learned, as John and Olivia, headed the extended Walton clan, which included Ellen Corby and Will Geer as plain-speaking, no-nonsense Grandma and Grandpa, and the series' breakout star, Richard Thomas, as aspiring writer John-Boy, whose reminiscences framed each episode. Although life is relatively idyllic on Walton Mountain, the family does suffer its share of crises (most dramatically, Olivia's polio in the two-hour "The Easter Story"), and outsiders from "the world beyond our mountain"--while initially greeted with excitement--are usually revealed to be flawed characters, as in "The Legend," about John's feckless former army buddy, and "The Literary Man," in which John-Boy falls under the spellbinding influence of an author. Paving the way for Little House on the Prairie (which shares this series' unabashed sincerity), The Waltons debuts on DVD in a first-season, 24-episode, five-disc boxed set that boasts solid transfers but no extras. Highly recommended. (D. Liebenson)