President George H.W. Bush once said, "We are going to keep on trying to ... make American families a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons." The long-running family drama of which he spoke was based on a biographical novel by Earl Hamner Jr.; it launched with a telepic, 'The Homecoming: A Christmas Story,' and aired from 1972 to 1981.

Who knew a show about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression would be a bona fide hit? It turned out to be the slice of Americana the country was craving. Find out what John Boy, Olivia, Jim-Bob, Mary Ellen and the others been up to since they bade their TV audience a final goodnight. -- By Kristina Lopez