The Waltons

The Rumor - S6-E14

Visible crew/equipment: At the mill, when John tells Buck that Willie Brimmer might be at the Montgomery cabin with Jim-Bob, in the next closeup of John we see a billowy trail of cigarette smoke at the bottom right corner of the screen, but the only people standing there are Elizabeth, John, and Buck, and none are smoking. Presumably, it was someone offscreen smoking too close to the camera (similar to a mistake in 1978's "Halloween"). (00:26:05)

Super Grover

The Recluse - S6-E3

Visible crew/equipment: Near the end, while John is working alone in the mill Ben shows up, and when Ben asks, "Need some help," a crew member is hiding behind the stack of drawers, toward the right side of the screen. It's not Zeb or Easy or any family member. (00:46:30)

Super Grover

The Waltons mistake picture

The Move - S9-E8

Visible crew/equipment: While the family starts packing up their car with John's suitcases and boxes, right after John says, "I just don't want any kind of a big scene," a cluster of boom mics dip into view and stays there at the top of the screen, over Mary Ellen and Jason. Then in the closeup, as John agrees that they will all go see Olivia, a crew member wearing a blue shirt (with a front pocket) is visible in the vehicle's window reflection. (00:44:40)

Super Grover

The Waltons mistake picture

The First Day - S3-E2

Visible crew/equipment: After John finishes checking on John-Boy's car, when it cuts to the kids in the bathroom, note the vanity mirror's reflection. In between Mary Ellen's and Jason's reflections, we can see an older man wearing black glasses, yellow shirt, and blazer, who is standing outside the bathroom's doorway. We continue to see the reflection of this crew member in the mirror when Jim-Bob and Ben go at each other. (00:04:25)

Super Grover

The Waltons mistake picture

The Minstrel - S1-E15

Visible crew/equipment: When John-Boy falls off the ladder and breaks his wrist Zeb drives him to the doctor in the truck. During their drive we can see through the window behind them, and there's a crew member wearing a red shirt riding along in the back, as they drive past a parked 1970s station wagon. The camera and its operator are casting a shadow on Zeb as well. (00:18:25)

Super Grover

The Secret - S4-E16

Visible crew/equipment: After Jim-Bob finds out of the truth at the Hall of Records, when it cuts to Godsey's the two white tape marks are visible on the floor where Ike places the long grabber tool, as well as the two black tape marks where Esther and Ike will stand. (00:37:20)

Super Grover

The Rumor - S6-E14

Visible crew/equipment: After Zeb tells the girls that the old dog, Sam, just wants to find a place to die in peace and dignity, when it cuts to John and Willie working inside the mill a crew member (wearing a red, short sleeve shirt) is hiding, toward the right side of the screen. Then after the shot of the girls on the hill, at the start of the next shot as the truck drives up, a bit of camera equipment is visible at the top, right side of the screen. (00:43:00)

Super Grover

The Waltons mistake picture

The Silver Wings - S8-E11

Visible crew/equipment: When Jim-Bob delivers Betsy's mail she's washing her hair outside, and as she flips her wet hair back we can see the microphone under her halter top, while her arms are up. Then when she walks toward the cabin with Jim-Bob, the bulge of the mic transmitter is visible at the back of her shorts. (00:06:20)

Super Grover

The First Day - S3-E2

Visible crew/equipment: Near the start, when John walks out of the barn he decides to check on John-Boy's car so he sets the bucket down. Just as John walks beside his son's car, the reflection of the camera and camera operator wearing a baseball cap is visible on the windshield, as the dolly tracks backward. Even while John checks it, we can see the camera operator's baseball cap turning a few times in the reflection. (00:03:50)

Super Grover

The First Day - S3-E2

Visible crew/equipment: When John-Boy is on his way to Boatwright and Polly flags him down, just as John-Boy pulls over and then backs up, the reflection of the location's 9-light par bank lighting is visible on his car's windshield. (00:10:55)

Super Grover

The Legend - S1-E11

Visible crew/equipment: After Tip arrives in his automobile John introduces him to the family. Then, when Tip explains that he didn't know the ages or genders of John's children and gets the candy, the reflections of a crew member and the moving boom mic are visible on the hood's chrome surface facing the camera, as well as on the windshield. (00:09:30)

Super Grover

The Waltons mistake picture

The First Edition - S5-E1

Visible crew/equipment: When Judge Thornbury fails to convince John-Boy to kill the story on his car accident, Thornbury heads over to talk to John at the mill, and just as Zeb says, "Hiya, Judge," the boom mic pops up into view at the bottom of the screen. (00:17:40)

Super Grover

The Waltons mistake picture

The Boy from the CCC - S1-E9

Visible crew/equipment: After Jason tells John that he left word with Ike for the Sheriff, Elizabeth runs into the barn worried about Pete. Then Gino walks over to his T-mark (plastic type) on the dirt ground and a second T-mark (partially covered in dirt) is beside it. Soon, John-Boy walks over to that second T-mark as he glances down to presumably be certain he hits his mark. (00:32:55)

Super Grover

The Chicken Thief - S2-E6

Visible crew/equipment: After Esther scolds Zeb for falling asleep during the earlier sermon Ben tells John-Boy he wants to talk, and at the start of the next shot just as John walks to the truck, we can see black set equipment on wheels on the right side of the screen (in the next wide shot it's gone). (00:28:35)

Super Grover

The Waltons mistake picture

The Big Brother - S4-E19

Visible crew/equipment: After Muffin spends the night at the Walton house, while she and John-Boy are at the Rockfish bus station, when the bus pulls away the reflections of the camera, crew, and equipment are visible on passenger windows. Also, note, the Newport News bus has license plate number "T-3984" which has been used in previous episodes on other vehicles. (00:19:00)

Super Grover

The Heartbreaker - S5-E21

Factual error: When Elizabeth asks Zeb how Vanessa can be happy, Zeb has his old catalog with a bunch of flower seed packets on his lap, and as they both hold up the packets, particularly Elizabeth, the modern Universal Product Codes are at the back of the packets. The UPC did not exist until many years later. (00:10:05)

Super Grover

More mistakes in The Waltons

John Walton: I hate this draft job, Liv. I can't stand playing God to my neighbors' sons.

More quotes from The Waltons

The Outrage: Part 1 - S9-E1

Trivia: While everyone is at the table eating supper and talking, little John Curtis taps on John's shoulder, then John turns and asks "What?" John Curtis points to his pants and excitedly says, "I got new pants," and John says, "I see that. Who got you those? Your mommy?" Then John Curtis looks offscreen, away from the other actors on set, and replies, "No, from Pat," (no characters named Pat are on the show) and without missing a beat, John responds, "From Pat? Where does she live? On the next farm?" And John Curtis answers, "Yeah," amidst all the giggles we can hear, so John answers with a smirk, "Okay, good!" This is such a hilariously precious unscripted moment, and great they decided to leave it in the episode. (00:26:15)

Super Grover

More trivia for The Waltons

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.