The Waltons

When John Boy learns that his stories need to be typed in order to be submitted to the various magazines to be published, he turns to the Baldwin sisters to see if he could borrow their father's antique typewriter. He then hides it out in the shed, where Mary Ellen soon finds it and accidentally sells it to the local junk man. After finding out what happened, they try to track it down before telling the sisters what happened.

When a meteorite falls through the roof of the Baldwin mansion and lands on the recipe machine, everyone on the mountain takes its arrival as a sign of different things: Grandpa thinks that it signals his upcoming death; Ben that he'll win an upcoming spelling bee; and the Baldwin sisters that they should no longer make their father's recipe. Upon learning of cousin Polonius Baldwin arrived and filling the Baldwin sisters heads of dismantling the recipe machine, Grandpa takes matters into his own hands and tells the sisters why their cousin is on the mountain.

A Jewish family moves to the mountain, looking to escape the persecution that forced them out of Germany. Wanting to maintain a low profile, Professor Mann tells his family that they will not practice their faith, much to the dismay of his son Paul, who was looking forward to celebrating his upcoming bar mitzvah.

Jason gets a lesson in life and death when his friend Seth is diagnosed with Leukemia and is given a short time to live. Jason then promises Seth that he learn to play the recorder that he is making his friend.

After a fellow student, a star football player on an athletic scholarship gets caught cheating, John Boy agrees to defend him in front of the university's honor guard so he can stay in school. At home, Jason catches Ben smoking and turns to Grandpa for advice on what to do about it.

When Grandpa has a heart attack and becomes depressed not long before his birthday, his family and friends set out to lift his spirits and restore his will to live.

Following the death of her mother, John's cousin Corabeth arrives on the mountain to visit family. It doesn't take long for Ike to fall in love, resulting in John working on setting the pair up. Meanwhile, John Boy arranges to have Erin's picture taken after she shares how left out she feels being a middle child.

Following the death of her husband, Cousin Olivia visits the family, looking for a way to grieve her unexpected loss. When Elizabeth's cat dies while delivering a litter of kittens not long after Olivia's arrival, the two young women turn to one another deal with their grief.

When Jim Bob starts to wonder if he was adopted by the family because of how everyone is making fun of his interests, he soon learns the truth surrounding his birth when he starts investigating what happened when he was born.

When a piece of mill equipment breaks and there's no money for John to fix it, Olivia decides to take a part-time job as a dressmaker to help pay the bills. When her designs are a hit with the wealthy women in town and she is given the opportunity to work full time, Olivia is thrilled at the prospect. However, it doesn't take long for her to start missing all the time she's missing to spend with her family and ultimately has to make a decision of what she wants to do. Meanwhile, Maude Gormley, a neighbor of the Walton's, is less than thrilled when her son made a decision for her to move into a retirement home without consulting her first.

Now that Mary Ellen is 17, Grandma takes it upon herself to keep the mountain tradition alive by hosting a quilting for her. As a result, Mary Ellen and Grandma stubbornly butt heads because Mary Ellen doesn't want to partake in the custom. John Boy soon makes her see how selfish she's been acting and gets her to participate in it.

As Erin begins a new job as a telephone operator with Fanny Tatum, a misdiagnosis by nursing student Mary Ellen results in Grandma ending up in the hospital, needing a lifesaving operation.

After losing his scholarship, Jason gets a job at the Dew Drop Inn, playing music at night to pay his tuition. He then gets an idea to visit the parents of his late friend Seth, in order to talk Red into getting back on stage for a benefit show. Meanwhile, after spending some time with the Walton family, Yancy Tucker works up the nerve to propose to his girlfriend, a barmaid at the Dew Drop.

When Mary Ellen announces her engagement to Dr. David Spencer, the family is surprised. On the day of their engagement party, they get an unexpected visitor: Dr. Curtis Willard, looking to take over the practice of Dr. Vance. Mary Ellen is soon hired by the new doctor to help him get acquainted with his new patients, and as a result begins to have doubts about her relationship with David. Elsewhere, Jim Bob begins a relationship with Mrs. Brimmer's niece, Patsy.

While the wedding preparations continue, Mary Ellen finally shares her hesitation to be married with David and as a result, calls things off. As the residents of Waltons Mountain fear that Dr. Willard ran off with the money raised from the hard luck dance, John Boy starts to investigate Curtis' past employment with a mining company and is able to track him down. Upon their arrival back on the Mountain, Mary Ellen and Curtis have a confrontation and ultimately get married by Rev. Fordwick.

John and Olivia are getting ready to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary and they're trying their best to surprise one another on the big day. Meanwhile, as the younger children wonder what to get their parents as a gift, Mary Ellen finds herself trying to stave off temptation when she goes back to work, only to discover her old fiancé is working at the same hospital as her.

Looking to learn more about her family's history, Verdie asks Jason for help. However, through the course of their investigation, they learn some painful truths about her grandfather and how he was born into slavery. Meanwhile, Elizabeth becomes a pen pal with a soldier from a nearby base.

Mary Ellen's plans to join Curt at Pearl Harbor are halted after Japan's attack on the Naval Base.

When the family discovers that the new owner of the Dew Drop Inn is an old girlfriend of John's, they worry that John will get tempted to start things back up with her again. Elizabeth, Cindy decide to open a canteen for the Soldiers at Camp Rockfish.

When a German POW escapes from a nearby camp and hides out on Walton's Mountain, he befriends Jeffrey, and in turn helps the boy find the true meaning of Christmas.

After an encounter with a GI, Ben is annoyed with what he feels to be preferential treatment in regards to being deferred in the draft to work at the mill. After getting into trouble with their respective families, Jeffrey and his friend Josh Foster get in trouble gambling. When Josh gets caught trying to steal their winnings out of Ike's store, Jeffrey starts to feel guilty when Josh has to deal with all the fallout.

While home on furlough, John Boy has a hard time trying to remember when he was shot down with his friend Stewart while flying over Belgium. Ike looks to John for help when he gets drafted by the Army.

When a Mexican-American paratrooper who Curt saved at Pearl Harbor arrives on the mountain to personally deliver a medal awarded to Curt, things get off to a rocky start when bigots start picking on him due to his heritage. While there, Mary Ellen helps him work through his anger and the pair become close. Meanwhile, Corabeth crosses paths with an old beau who is preparing to go overseas with his Army unit.

It's the end of the school year on Walton's Mountain and Jim Bob will be graduating. When teacher Corabeth informs him that as long as he passes an upcoming test, he'll have the highest grades in his class and will be the valedictorian. However, Jim Bob is less than thrilled the prospect of having to stand up and give a speech and contemplates failing on purpose so he won't have to. Then on graduation day, Corabeth panics when she can't find Jim Bob and his classmates, only to have a surprise when they eventually arrive in time to receive their diplomas.

When Ben returns home from the Pacific Theater, he throws John for a loop when he makes an announcement he would like to enroll in college to become an engineer instead of returning to work with his father at the mill. Later, John receives some news from Olivia that her health has taken a turn for the worse and contemplates selling the mill in order to be with her. Meanwhile, as Erin tries to enjoy her vacation, her boss JD is lost without her in the office and as a result, stops by the house on a daily basis to beg her to come back to work early.

Now that the war is over, a restless veteran finds his way to Walton's Mountain and soon befriends Maryellen and almost the rest of the Walton family. As Jonesy and Maryellen become smitten with one another and eventually talk about getting married, Maryellen is in for a surprise when a stranger arrives in town with some unsettling and surprising news about her husband Curt. Jason decides to buy the Dew Drop Inn and is overwhelmed by how much work is needed to reopen it.

As Mary Ellen travels to Florida to find out more about Curtis and why he chose not to return to the Mountain following what happened in Pearl Harbor, Jonesy decided to stay until she returns home and temporarily gets a job working at Pickett. When Erin finds out that J.D. makes Jonesy her boss, she angrily quits, leaving him to find out rather quickly that Jonesy isn't qualified for the job. As a result of the bind he's in Jonesy is able to talk J.D. into rehiring Erin and giving her a promotion and a raise after he realizes how important she is to the company.

On his way to Walton's Mountain, Cindy's father is in a car accident and dies. While going through his papers, Cindy soon discovers that she was adopted. With Ben's help, she embarks on a quest to find her birth mother in order to find out why she was put up for adoption.

Rose's old boyfriend, Stanley Perkins, comes back to Walton's Mountain with a few secrets: being fired from his old job causing him to have a nervous breakdown. As he attempts to settle in on the mountain, Stanley soon fears that a relapse will occur and contemplates returning to the hospital for treatment; only to be talked out of it by Rose and his new friends in town.

Looking for a teaching position at Boatwright University, John-Boy undertakes the job of selling the university's board of directors on starting a television program on campus. While working on his presentation, he gets inspiration from John Curtis. Meanwhile, Rose decides to go on a diet when her competition for Stanley's affections calls her out on her weight.

After finding an old love letter in Ike's belongings, Corabeth furiously accuses him of having an affair and demands a divorce. The Walton family then sets out to try and get the couple to sit down and work things out, only to take sides in laying the blame in the Godsey's problems. Meanwhile, it's Drew and Elizabeth's one year anniversary of dating, and as a result, Drew attempts to pressure her into spending the night with him.