richard thomas

Time for 'The Waltons' fans to dust off those overalls: The kids are back! Tonight, all seven 'Waltons' children are expected to turn out for the 40th anniversary of the TV movie that started it all.

Jon Walmsley -- a.k.a. Jason Walton -- told NJ.com that tonight's screening of 'The Homecoming' in Jersey City, New Jersey marks their first complete reunion in 30 years.

Ahead of tonight's screening the cast members appeared on 'Today' and shared their memories of being on the show. Watch them talking to Matt Lauer after the jump. (Elizabeth looks exactly the same!)

Don't you just love it when life sort of imitates art?

Jon Hamm, who plays the chain smoking Don Draper on TV's 'Mad Men,' has been hired by Mercedes Benz as a pitchman for their car commercials, which will premiere during the Academy Awards.

This means, of course, that Mr. Hamm will replace actor Richard Thomas who has done the voiceover for Mercedes' car commercials for the last four years. Good night Jon-Boy.

The company's marketing VP Stephen Cannon called Hamm "a hot actor." That must have been one awkward audition.

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