preppy-3 I was in junior high when this played on TV. I watched the first episode and was hooked. I found the characters believable, the stories involving and watched every single episode that aired. Even the acting was good--Ronny Cox and especially Francis Lee McCain where like the parents I never had (my real parents were OK though:)). The episode I remember vividly was when a hurricane hit and the family had a variety of crisis's to deal with. Also this had a VERY young Kristy McNichol (who replaced Frannie Michel) and hottie Vincent Van Patten. I loved the show but I never want to see it again. I'd probably find it boring and corny now...but I have the nice memories of it to remember.

silentdoug-1 I watched Apple's Way devotedly during it's deservedly-brief run. It aired an hour before Kung Fu with David Carradine, as I remember it, which made for a wonderful double-header of inanity. On the surface, the two shows might seem very different, but they were both informed by the same sort of lame Hollywood pseudo-philosophy. George Apple never put the chop-socky on anybody, but otherwise he wasn't much different from Kung Fu's Caine. Some reviewers mention a liberal bent to the this show. It wasn't so much that it was politically liberal. It was just that everyone in the show was what the English call a "wet". If George Apple had been president, he would have been Jimmy Carter, only without the steely resolve. The show was so bad, it was painful to watch sometimes, but it was like eating a habanero pepper -- when it was finally over, you got a rush of endorphins. I got a lot of pleasure from the thought that I wouldn't have to watch it again for another week. One episode in particular stuck in my memory. The little girl in the family had been pretending to be a witch and had cast a spell on her brother in revenge for some insult. As luck or the scriptwriter would have it, the boy was hit by a car while riding his bike and the girl thought it was because of her spell. Stricken with remorse that her brother was in the hospital, the girl tried to undo the spell. George walks into her bedroom to find her tearfully chanting some mumbo-jumbo to speed the boy's recovery. George hugs her to his bosom and explains tenderly that just saying words can't make things happen to anybody. In the very next scene, the whole family gathers in the living room, kneels down on the 70's style shag carpet, and prays to God for the little boy's life. But wait -- just saying words can't make things happen! It was unintentionally hilarious moments like that that made the show worth watching.

richard.fuller1 I remember this thing. It was 'Waltons' related. Earl Hamner had a hand in this show some way or he endorsed it, and yes, it came on Sunday nights.I wanted to watch it then, but couldn't, but I have since seen it on TVland and it was truly dreadful. Endless liberalistic views that are even worse now than they were then. Episodes involved the family protesting the tree being cut down by climbing up into it, the father bought a zoo (about a half dozen animals, but he called it a zoo) and the youngest boy, Eric Olsen, learned a valuable lesson about selling candy.Young Olsen seemed to have the most difficult time looking interested and cute when he often looked bored. The opening credit would involve the family gathering round a picnic table and Vincent Van Patten turning the crank on the ice cream maker with a big smile on his face.I've operated many of those hand cranked ice cream makers, and me nor my brothers and sisters were smiling like that!I would watch one or two episodes and there would be a scene with the husband and wife talking over some issue then the wife would proceed with "I'll tickle you if you don't. I'll tickle you if you don't."I guess that was supposed to be a happy loving couple. The notion that life was simpler or easier or freer is ridiculous, which many of those hippy protesters and commune livers soon learned. Gardening and livestock involved work, like pure manual labor. Think that it is anything else, and you are in for a surprise. The grandfather would only be added because the family wasn't winning ratings, so granpa was brought in to try to give it some life.The daughter that was replaced went from a Velma Dinkle looking girl to Kristy McNicol. Because the school newspaper wouldnt publish knobby kneed McNIcol's report, she was hollering censorship. Any time the family felt turned on, it seemed that insensitive fat cigar businessmen were responsible. This was the show, however, that made me realize that what we saw outside was not necessarily what was inside, as a newspaper article would show what was behind that windmill and it was all boards. Where was the house? I was learning that the exterior shots were done who knows how far away from interior shots.

consortpinguin "Apple's Way" was an enjoyable family show. Unfortunately it appeared on Sunday nights, the "Death Slot" and only lasted one season.It was a trend-defying series that focused on the family relationships of the Apples, who left Big-City life for a slower pace and a better environment for their children in rural Iowa. It struck a chord because the mood in America at that time was "malaise" after Vietnam, Watergate, gas lines, inflation, recession, drugs, and the overall erosion of family values. The parents wanted to give their children a more wholesome life without the peer pressures for sex, drugs, booze, and other temptations so popular at the time.Overall, I thought the parents succeeded. . The three Apple children made friends with their classmates and managed to have a good time down on the family farm. They grew up with a better attitude. Having the grandfather added another dimension, a frame of reference that the kids would not otherwise have had. In the days of double-digit inflation, they were astonished to hear of 25-cent movies and nickel ice cream cones. As a World War I veteran, he told them about patriotism at a time when our Vietnam misadventure soured nearly everyone on the military.The cast did a great job. Ronny Cox was perfect as the laid-back, patient father. Vincent van Patten came across very well as the teenage son trying to understand life. In one episode, Paul spends a lot of time playing tennis and falling in love with a young woman a few years older. The ending was sad.The episode I remember best sums it all up for me. Another family they knew in L.A. spends a week with the Apples and becomes quite fond of the less-stressful way of life. They even think about moving to Kansas to start over. On their last day, however, the father, a corporate VP, is needed back in the office. Although he tries to buy time with the President, the company sends a helicopter to bring him back. As he flies off, the rest of his family realizes that they are, unfortunately, captives of their wealthy urban lifestyle, and drive back home.I didn't watch it every week, but I enjoyed this sleeper of a show. It wasn't a hilarious comedy or a deep drama. With good scripts and acting, this show made a statement about life in the 1970s.