John Boy becomes a writer/publisher covering everything from a local break-in to the destruction of the Hindenburg while Mary Ellen ties the knot in the fifth season of the popular dramatic series created by Earl Hamner, Jr. and starring Richard Thomas. The fifth season continued to be a strong one in terms of the quality of the scripts and the show had yet to jump the shark. Performances are strong and natural as with previous seasons and we get a parade of great guest stars during season five. ---

Image & Sound:

The transfers from Warner continue to be top notch with the budget for this set being devoted to only that. Flesh tones are natural and while the colors don't exactly pop, they're not supposed to either. The show retains its mixture of warm earthy tones that was a hallmark of the show's look when it originally aired. The series may have faded a tad it is always hard to tell with vintage shows since memory can play tricks on us but it looks better to me on DVD than it ever did during its original airing or in syndication. ***

Audio sounds fine with very little in the way of analog imperfections interfering with the crisp, clear dialogue from the series. ---

Warner pretty much exhausted whatever they were going to give to consumers with season one. I'm hoping that on the last season set we do get some retrospective featurettes and, perhaps, a commentary or two from some of the stars from the show. I'd love it if someone would dig around in the Warner library (heck, I'll do it for free if you're reading this WB) to dig out some promotional interviews, gag reels and any other footage that might have survived the years. ***

Heck "Warner Brothers" check with "John Gabbard" (The Web Site Owner) maybe he might have some Behind The Scenes from episodes of his old local TV show "Video Vision" that he could license to you for one of these sets. It would be worth it as Waltons fans haven't gotten much love beyond the series being released on DVD of late. ---

Final Words: