This is Cleavon Little's second appearance in "The Waltons"; his first was in "The Waltons"' pilot TV-movie "The Homecoming" as the preacher.
Cleavon Little's character name in the 1971 Homecoming TV movie was Hawthorne Dooley.
One of the rare times that a Walton (John) says "come in" to someone knocking at the front door (Virdie) rather than instantly opening the door.