John-Boy...No, Rather Clay-Boy...is Back

NPR interview: A Revised, Edgier Homecoming

Basically what they have done is base the play on the book, which was rougher (smoking and drinking and card playing are all mentioned, and there is some mild swearing); Hamner had to "pretty up" the story for television or I'm sure it would have garnered criticism. He's also using the actual names of the characters from the book, rather than having to change them like he did in 1971 because Warner Brothers still owned the rights to the Spencer family names after doing Spencer's Mountain in 1963.

(Ironically, the original Homecoming was a lot grittier story than the Waltons series it spawned.)

Earl Hamner sounds like Grandpa Walton these days, but then he is 83.