The Waltons — Season 3

Grandpa's sister-in-law and her family are being forced out of their home by the construction of The Blue Ridge Parkway. The Waltons go to their land to help defend the homestead. John-Boy is torn between his ideals and the family loyalty.

Everything seems to go wrong on John-Boy's first day at Boatwright University -- though he makes some new friends, he also leaves an important document at home, and becomes the butt of a cruel practical joke. He also learns about the difficulties of fitting into college life as a freshman beset by upperclassmen determined to make his life miserable. In the meantime, back at the Waltons' Mountain School, Jason hesitantly tries to fill John-Boy's shoes as the eldest of the remaining six Walton children.

John-Boy enters his mule, Blue, in a local race in which Grandpa was the last Walton to win. He finds himself in competition with one of his wealthy classmates, who not only enters a thoroughbred horse but also competes with him for the attention of a female student, Selina, the granddaughter of the race's sponsor. 

When the class guinea pig dies in his care, Jim-Bob can't get anyone to listen to his distress, so he runs away. John-Boy misses a lecture by a famous travel writer to help look for him, but a chance encounter puts a positive spin on the day for them.

John-Boy teaches Olivia to drive so she can fulfill a dream by taking an evening art class at college. She finds herself in a dilemma when young male teacher Joshua Williams becomes romantically attracted to her and makes advances during the class's field trip to a museum. He later comes to their home to apologize to her and John. Mary Ellen says she wants to be a nurse.

Mary Ellen is invited to a Boatwright dance by one of John-Boy's classmates. She buys a handbag from the local junk dealer and finds an amethyst ring inside it. Even though she knows who the handbag's owner is, she rationalizes borrowing the ring for the dance and returning it later. 

John-Boy tutors a football player for an important exam as he is at risk of losing his athletic scholarship. During the exam, John-Boy notices him glancing at his neighbor's test paper. The school's honor code and his good conscience demand that John-Boy, reluctantly, turn him in, but he successfully defends his friend against expulsion. Jason catches Ben smoking cigarettes and tells Grandpa, who sets out to teach Ben a lesson about the bad habit.

After losing money in the financial crash, the well to do and snobby Hanover family from New York City move to Walton's Mountain to take over their abandoned ancestral home. John and Olivia try to teach the idealistic Mr. Hanover and his wife farm living skills, but the spoiled and fresh children quickly make enemies with the Waltons and their friends. 

On a whim, John-Boy decides to enter a 7-day dance marathon after meeting Daisy, a young woman who also enters. Olivia is angry about him entering such a grueling event but eventually comes to terms with the fact that he is becoming an adult, responsible for taking care of himself. 

The publication of John Boy's book of short stories gives John-Boy a swelled head and overshadows Jason's debut as a musician. 

John-Boy gets a job reading to a young blind woman. The woman is hostile towards him and the world in general. She goes to Walton's Mountain and realizes she has much more for which to be thankful.

It's John's turn to become restless, deciding to take a job in a machine shop in Norfolk, 90 miles away, planning to return on weekends. This frustrates Olivia, and his absence is felt by the entire family, including John-Boy, who is encountering some academic problems at Boatwright. 

A neighbor who moved away five years earlier returns to his abandoned house, saying his wife will be coming soon. The Walton women and a friend clean up the house in anticipation of her return. But then the man's son arrives with the news that his mother died two years ago, and his father has not accepted this. Also, Elizabeth has an imaginary friend.

When Grandpa has a heart attack and becomes depressed not long before his birthday, his family and friends set out to lift his spirits and restore his will to live. 

Ben borrows John-Boy's car to take his girlfriend Nancy to a secret meeting with her mother, who left home several years ago. Nancy swears Ben to secrecy because she is afraid of her embittered father finding out. The good deed gets Ben into serious trouble when a joyrider temporarily steals the car and has a hit-and-run, and the victim records the license number. 

Following the death of her mother, John's cousin Corabeth arrives on the mountain to visit family. It doesn't take long for Ike to fall in love, resulting in John working on setting the pair up. Meanwhile, John-Boy arranges to have Erin's picture taken after she shares how left out she feels being a middle child.

John-Boy encounters a sassy but unprincipled girl whose selfish ways cause hard feelings and suspicion toward Danny, Jim-Bob's friend.

Grandpa and Grandma feel cut off and disrespected by the family and decide to move away to be caretakers of another farmhouse. Without Grandpa, John is forced to hire a millhand, who proves clumsy and incompetent. After the grandparents encounter problems with the malfunctioning cookstove, radio, clock, sink, and lacking transportation, Grandpa finally swallows his pride. He agrees that they can move back, to the relief of the family.

Wedding plans for the daughter of a friend go awry when the mountain custom of kidnapping the groom gets out of hand.

John wants to expand the mill and call it Walton and Sons, but Jason wants to study music. He tries to get a scholarship. John-Boy is told he should write a novel.

Grandpa wins first prize in the church raffle: a statue of a young woman, donated by the Baldwins. The statue is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's poem Annabel Lee, but bears a resemblance to Grandpa's old girlfriend. Grandma recognizes it, which causes strife. One of John-Boy's stories, a thinly veiled and somewhat unflattering portrayal of the Baldwins, has been accepted for publication. Still, he must decide if publishing it would be worth the hurt it would cause to Mamie and Emily.

Sally Ann Harper has eyes for Jason but Ben falls in love with her. Grandpa and John enter a billiard competition at Ike's store.

John and Olivia make plans for their 20th wedding anniversary, John-Boy falls in love with an older woman and decides to leave the mountain with her.

Things are looking up on the mountain, and the Waltons take a $500 bank loan to buy faster mill equipment. When Grandpa and then John fall ill, the family faces missed deadlines and may lose their home. John-Boy pushes himself and everyone else too hard, trying to keep up. Eventually, he and Jason decide they must give up their dreams of college to work and help the family until the community comes to their aid.