The third season of the Waltons continues the tradition of meaningful family entertainment. Just like the first two seasons, there are wonderful episodes in this season as well, with extensive character development in the children, John and Olivia Walton, and of course the trials of aging in Zeb and Esther Walton. The family members are so real, the plots so interesting, and the acting so excellent, that one forgets that this is a show. It is so engrossing, it is like watching a real live family.
The biggest disappointment for me is the quality of the reproduction. The first two seasons displayed superb video reproduction. The color is vivid, the film is scratch and blotch-free, and the sound quality is clear. Unfortunately, the third season episodes show none of these quality markers. My version shows scratches, blotches, poor faded color, and an inferior sound track. Much to my disappointment, the quality is not any better than taping the shows off the television. To produce the episodes without cleaning up the scratches and imperfections is uncharacteristic of the Walton tradition. The Waltons is a show known for its quality, and here are reproductions that fall far short of acceptable quality standards.
While it is nice to have the third season on DVD, viewing the episodes in this shoddy condition is a major drawback. I hope the producers of this series clean up their act and clean up their tapes before producing season four.
Jim Konedog Koenig