<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> External links </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> www.the-waltons.com </Td> </Tr> <P> The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain and a 1963 film of the same name, about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II . </P> <P> The television movie The Homecoming: A Christmas Story was broadcast on December 19, 1971 . Based on its success, the CBS television network ordered one season of episodes based on the same characters and that became the television series The Waltons . Beginning in September 1972, the series subsequently aired on CBS for nine seasons . After the series was canceled by CBS in 1981, NBC aired three television movie sequels in 1982, with three more in the 1990s on CBS . The Waltons was produced by Lorimar Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution in syndication . </P>

What time period was the waltons set in
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