It's Christmas Eve, early 1930s on Walton's Mountain. As the family prepares for the holiday, they anxiously await Pa's return home from his job in the city some 50 miles away. He is late, and Ma and the grandparents hear on the radio a report of a bus accident that worries them. Oldest son John-Boy must step up to help grandfather cut down a Christmas tree, and upon learning the concern about Daddy sets out to find him.
| Directing | Fielder Cook | Director |
| Writing | Earl Hamner, Jr. | Teleplay |
| Writing | Earl Hamner, Jr. | Novel |
| Production | Robert L. Jacks | Producer |
| Production | Lee Rich | Executive Producer |
| Sound | Jerry Goldsmith | Original Music Composer |
| Camera | Earl Rath | Director of Photography |
| Editing | Gene Fowler Jr. | Editor |
| Editing | Marjorie Fowler | Editor |
| Production | Pam Polifroni | Casting |
| Art | Robert Emmet Smith | Production Design |
| Art | James Cane | Set Decoration |
| Costume & Make-Up | Robert Sidell | Makeup Artist |
| Costume & Make-Up | Dione Taylor | Hairstylist |
| Directing | Max Stein | Assistant Director |
| Sound | Harold Lewis | Sound Mixer |
| Costume & Make-Up | Robert Harris Jr. | Costumer |
| Costume & Make-Up | Betsy Cox | Costumer |
| Production | Edward O. Denault | Production Manager |
| Sound | Morton Stevens | Music Supervisor |
