โThe Waltonsโ Star Judy Norton Reveals Details About One of the Showโs ๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ฅ Episodes

Halloween is only days away. That means it is a perfect time to watch some of the ๐ค๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐ฅ episodes of your favorite shows. And, according to one of the stars of โThe Waltons,โ an episode from the second season of the show is perfect ๐ค๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐ช viewing.
That star is Judy Norton. She played Mary Ellen โ the oldest of the Walton daughters โ in the beloved family drama. The now 63-year-old actress talked about this ๐ค๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐ช episode of the series during a recent installment of her YouTube series, โBehind the Scenes of โThe Waltons.โโ
This ๐ค๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐ช episode is titled โThe ๐พ๐๐ ๐ค๐ฅ Story.โ According to Norton, this episode was written by Nigel McKeand. The director of this episode is someone who is very familiar to fans of the show โ Ralph Waite. He, of course, played John Walton.
This episode of โThe Waltonsโ is quite different from a typical episode of the series. It also puts the family member in a situation that is very unusual.
โThis episode is a little ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ and a little ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ฃ,โ Judy Norton explained. โIt all centers around, basically, a Ouija board. They call it a spirit board. And when the Waltons end up bringing home this spirit board, they go down a very ๐๐๐ฃ๐ , interesting, and questionable path in ๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐๐ค of what theyโre โ what they believe in, how ๐ค๐ฆ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ค they are, whether or not itโs possible to stay in contact with people who have ๐ก๐๐ค๐ค๐๐ on. So, it raises all those questions. But it is an apt Halloween special for us.โ
The spirit board that is at the center of this episode came to the Waltonsโ home thanks to shopkeeper Ike. He insisted that John Boy take it home with him in order to keep the Baldwin sisters from coming into his store to use it. Once the board arrived at their home, the Walton children asked it questions.
One Star of โThe Waltonsโ Directed the Showโs Halloween Special
One thing about this episode ofย โThe Waltonsโย that stands out to Judy Norton isย Ralph Waiteโsย work as a director.
โI could really feel Ralphโs hand in this episode. He really liked to create realistic settings and have real life happening,โ Norton also shared. โSo early on at this dinner table scene, he has created a circumstance where multiple conversations are going on.โ
The dinner scene in this episode also stands out to Norton because of the camera angle Waite chose to use. In this case, Waite decided that watching the family have dinner from outside the kitchen window was the shot he wanted.
โSo, he did some really interesting camera choices within this episode, and this was one of them,โย Judy Nortonย also shared.
There is another shot from this episode that is memorable for the Mary Ellen actress thanks to Ralph Waiteโs skill as a director. This scene took place in the barn and showed the children using the spirit board.
โ(Ralph) chose to shoot (this scene) from above,โ Judy Norton also said. โThis reminded me of the shot in โThe Homecomingโ when we were in the barn and we were cracking walnuts for mamaโs applesauce cake and the camera shot the circle of the children from above.โ