I’m a huge fan of the show when I was younger I only started understanding the meaning of the show when I started getting older. I found out the reason why John Boy left the show. The actor that portrayed Richard Thomas only signed a 5 year contract with the show and he figured that portraying John Boy was too low brow for a big star like himself. I felt the show had 7 good seasons and sort of went downhill after that. Season 8 we lost the grandparents and the Mother was sent off with tuberculosis. I just found out the show should have only lasted 8 seasons. The father who I pretty much thought would be the last Walton standing. In Season 9 due to financial constraints fired the father played by Ralph Waite. If you ever watched the 9th season you would agree that they should have ended it after Season 8. The Waltons are a really good show too bad it ended really bad