The Homecoming(1971) Patricia Neal & Richard Thomas (Replay of DEC 2020 episode)

Book Vs Movie: “<i>The Homecoming: A Christmas Story”</i> (1971)<br />The Basis of the Waltons TV Series Started as a TV Movie!<br /><br />The Margos decided to get into the Depression-era holiday spirit with a look at “<i>The Homecoming: A Christmas Story</i>,” which was written by author &amp; creator of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068149/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Waltons</a> TV series--<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Hamner_Jr." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Earl Hamner, Jr. </a> Hamner has a fascinating career as a writer with several scripts of “The Twilight Zone” including the famous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bewitchin%27_Pool" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> The Bewitchin’ Poo</a>l, (the very last episode of the original American series.) He also created the 80s TV nighttime soap <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081858/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Falcon Crest</a>!) In between, he wrote the 1961 novel Spencer’s Mountain, which became a movie starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O’Hara as Clay and Olivia Spencer. They play a couple living in the Grand Teton Mountains in Wyoming, and their eldest son “Clay-Boy” is set to become the first in his family to go to college. Ten years later, he wrote “The Homecoming,” which told a similar story with a twist--the Walton family was based in the Blue Ridge mountains during the depression. The TV movie was on December 19, 1971, in the U.S. and was such a big hit--it was immediately turned into a TV series. Hamner narrated every episode, which ran for almost ten years, and started the phrase “goodnight John-Boy!” In this episode, the Margos talk about the author, his original novella, and the 1971 TV movie, and try to decide which we like better. Have a listen! In this ep the Margos discuss:<br /><ul><li>The interesting life of Earl Hamner, Jr.</li><li>The casting of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0623658/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Patricia Neal<