The Waltons

The Waltons shelter a deaf girl left on their porch by her mother because her father insists on institutionalizing her. While they search for her family, they start teaching her sign language, which she uses to help Elizabeth when an emergency arises.

A traveling carnival comes to Walton's Mountain, but the children choose to sacrifice the money they had saved for it so that Grandma can replace her broken glasses. When the troupe becomes stranded by their dishonest ringmaster, John and Olivia allow them to stay in their barn, and the family is rewarded with a private show.

The Waltons' cow gives birth to a bull calf, which John decides must be sold for truck repair money, much to his children's disappointment. John buys the calf back after he learns the buyer plans to butcher rather than breed it.

John-Boy is anxious to prove himself on a turkey hunt with his father and two friends but finds he can't shoot a turkey, which he equates with premeditated murder. However, he has no trouble killing a bear when it attacks his father.

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.

A meteorite crashes through the roof of the Baldwin sisters' "Recipe" room, which they take as some kind of sign from their dead Papa. Grandpa takes it as a sign of his impending death; Ben takes it as a sign he will win the fourth grade spelling bee. Cousin Polonius Baldwin at first plans to exploit the meteorite for financial gain, then tries to steal their "Recipe machine".

A young preacher comes to Walton's Mountain fresh from seminary, where he has learned the currently popular fire and brimstone style of preaching. He happens to be a Baldwin relative, and after a visit, succumbs to the effects of their "Recipe". His tee-totaler church superior fires him, but after he humbly apologizes to John-Boy for his hypocrisy, Grandpa and John convince the congregation to look at the forgiving side of the gospel and accept him.

A troubled teenager from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, whose father was murdered by a gangster, runs away from the Civilian Conservation Corps to Walton's Mountain. The Waltons take him in and teach him that he can trust some people, and he doesn't have to fight for everything he gets.

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.

John's World War I buddy visits. After he accidentally sets off a grass fire, for which Jason is blamed, and wounds the family dog on a hunting trip, John discovers his friend has not been able to put away the horrors of the war and continue with his life.

When John-Boy meets a writer passing through Walton's Mountain, he impulsively asks him to come home to meet his family. Staying a few days and helping in the mill for his room and board, the writer fills John-Boy's head with tales of travels and stories about famous authors he has known. When John-Boy's interest in these tales causes him to shirk his duties at the mill, he begins to question whether he should abandon his own writing aspirations and concentrate on his duty to his family.

John's cousin, her husband and children seek refuge in Walton's Mountain after losing their Kansas farm to the Dust Bowl, but her husband has developed a bad attitude toward misfortune. He has taught their son that the world owes them something. They shoplift from Godsey's store, and stay longer than expected. The son makes advances to Mary Ellen and fights with John-Boy before their departure.

The Baldwin sisters plan to hold a family reunion when their cousin Homer visits, but Homer runs off with their batch of over 100 jars of the "Recipe" intended for the reunion, planning to sell it in Charlottesville. Then, all of their invitations are returned because the intended recipients are either dead or moved away. The Waltons make up for the failed reunion with a family visit to cheer the disappointed sisters.

The Waltons have a contract to pick an apple orchard, but Mary Ellen shirks it to listen to a traveling musician who convinces her that her dreams are more important than her responsibilities.

Famous stage and screen actress Alvira Drummond is invited to stay at the Walton home after her car breaks down in Walton's Mountain. Contrary to the front she puts up; she is out of work and money after her agent, tired of dealing with her "prima donna" attitude. After she learns a humbling lesson, the Waltons help her regain her confidence, then organize a town performance to help her raise money for a train ticket back to New York.

A young girl's father objects to Miss Hunter's teaching Evolution. During a drunken rage he burns down the school and is killed in the fire.

Jenny Pendleton runs away from her father and stepmother, back to her deserted house on Walton's Mountain. Jenny and John-Boy meet and fall deeply in love, but she is soon traumatized by her father's sudden accidental death and ultimately moves away with the stepmother.

Olivia's uncle Cody visits from Cincinnati. He is a bachelor and a bank accountant, near retirement but put out of work by the bank closings. They attempt to cheer him up by introducing him to a lively, spirited local widow, who charms him and he begins to court her. He is discouraged after learning of her four marriages (two divorces and two deaths), but when he hears good news about the banks, he finally resolves to ask her to marry him.

A gypsy family is stranded by a broken wagon during a thunderstorm and break into the temporarily unoccupied Baldwin house for shelter. Despite hostility from others in the community, the Waltons allow them to camp on their property while Grandma tends their sick baby.

When a lumber company tries to claim the Mountain, the family discovers that their ancestors never filed for legal title to their land. They must raise $200 to obtain the deed, and the entire family tries to chip in. Against his father's wishes, John-Boy decides to take time off from school to work in Wheeling. 

When Verdie Grant learns her daughter is graduating from college, she feels embarrassed by the fact that she never learned to read or write. She asks John-Boy to teach her, on the condition that he keeps it a secret.

Local blacksmith Curtis Norton has John-Boy write letters to his prospective bride. When she arrives on Walton's Mountain, life and Curtis are much different than she expected. Meanwhile, Olivia is feeling new pangs for freedom and something "different" in her life.

John-Boy's friend Sarah sees him as a way to escape her "trapped" life with her demanding mother. When John-Boy rejects her advances, she runs off and plans to elope with a townie.

The entire family suffers a crisis when Olivia is stricken with polio. Dr. Vance prescribes the accepted treatment, but Olivia does not get better. John-Boy learns of a new treatment practiced by Sister Kenny and the family tries it to heal Olivia in time for the Easter service.