Leave It To Beaver - General Discussion

[chessiegal]

2 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Filmed out of sequence?

Yeah, but it just seemed so clumsy. They obviously shot the 1st scene after haircut, then the rest of the show has the flip hairdo.

[chessiegal]

By my calculation, we should be back to Season 1 next Tuesday. Hard to believe shows did 39 episodes per season.

I record the shows, and missed the 2 this morning because of a power outage in the middle of the night. While the power was only out about an hour, our internet and cable tv did not start up without my husband going under the house to reset the connection. By then, the shows were over. Boo.

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 7/27/2020 at 1:47 PM, icemiser69 said:

A week or so ago, I was watching the Eddie, the Businessman episode.  They talked about putting the ice cream in the refrigerator.   I don't know why they didn't say to put the ice cream in the freezer.  

Nice catch!  And with your screen name, it makes sense that you would catch that.

The great thing about the episode is the relationship between Eddie and Ward.  This was one time that Eddie needed an adult to believe in him, and Ward did believe in him.  It was a nice episode and it showed that Ken Osmond was a pretty good actor.

 

Edited July 28, 2020 by TheLastKidPicked

[Waterston Fan]

I wished Hugh Beaumont had directed more epiosdes because I think he was a good director and some episodes he did were good. 

 

[chessiegal]

Why is Wally the only one to have a desk to do his homework? lol.

I had to laugh at Beaver grabbing a carrot when he got home while June was making a salad, and her telling him no, it's too close to dinner for a snack. Really June? Most moms would be thrilled their child wanted a carrot, and I'm sorry, a carrot never ruined anyone's appetite.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

Whatever happened to Larry Mondello?

The actor's family moved to Philadelphia, ending his acting career.

[Waterston Fan]

16 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Don Juan Beaver, has to be one of the best episodes.  Beaver really acted like a jerk.  He had a date to the dance with Melinda, and then he tried to get her to dump him because he wanted to take Peggy (Veronica Cartwright) to the dance.  He ends up losing out on both of them, and stays home.  June and Ward should have forced Beaver to go to the dance and see the two girls having a good time without him.

Whitey Whitney didn't look like he belonged in the same grade as Beaver.  Whitey is so much shorter than the rest of Beaver's friends.

Whatever happened to Larry Mondello?

IIRC,  the Cleavers did move, but they couldn't have moved to another school district.  Eddie Haskell managed to be in the earlier episodes and the later ones.

Yeah Beaver did act like a jerk. I have to confess though, sometimes I think June is too nosy. 

I wish we could have seen the reaction of the two girls who never saw Beaver.. haha

[peacheslatour]

Quote

Yeah Beaver did act like a jerk. I have to confess though, sometimes I think June is too nosy. 

Isn't she? Those boys never had one iota of privacy. And she taught them zero life skills. Oh, sure they had to mow the lawn and paint some chairs but the only way they ever learned how to do laundry or mop the floor was to cover up their screw ups. Of course, why would they would they? Their wives would do all of that. Then surprise! The fifties ended, we got the Pill and women were in the work force in larger and larger numbers. Boy, I bet they were disappointed.

[Maverick]

 Wally would be fine.  I feel like he would have learned to take care of himself.    He was fairly self sufficient.  And even if couldn't--or didn't want to--he would have had no problem finding a woman wanting to play the doting housewife, 50s or not.  Beaver on the other hand...

[chessiegal]

Beaver not knowing that the high school would have kids from six different elementary schools was silly.

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 7/30/2020 at 11:22 AM, Maverick said:

 Wally would be fine.  I feel like he would have learned to take care of himself.    He was fairly self sufficient.  And even if couldn't--or didn't want to--he would have had no problem finding a woman wanting to play the doting housewife, 50s or not.  Beaver on the other hand...

 

28 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

Totally out of nowhere Beaver becomes Joe Studmuffin.   I don't understand that at all.

And if you watch Still the Beaver, you'll notice just how both of you are right.  Wally is a successful lawyer, and Beaver is, well he is still the Beaver.

 

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 7/29/2020 at 2:27 PM, icemiser69 said:

Whatever happened to Larry Mondello?

 

On 7/29/2020 at 3:17 PM, peacheslatour said:

The actor's family moved to Philadelphia, ending his acting career.

Larry Mondello was played by Rusty Stevens. 

When they were ramping up production for the movie Still the Beaver, they sent scouts out to Rusty Steven's house so they could invite him to play Larry in the movie.  They rang the doorbell and when Rusty's wife answered she said,  "You must have the wrong house.  No child actors live here."

By then Rusty was in the insurance business and never even mentioned to his wife that he played Larry Mondello!

 

 

Edited July 31, 2020 by TheLastKidPicked

[Waterston Fan]

20 minutes ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

 

Larry Mondello was played by Rusty Stevens. 

When they were ramping up production for the movie Still the Beaver, they sent scouts out to Rusty Steven's house so they could invite him to play Larry again in the movie.  They rang the doorbell and when Rusty's wife answered she said,  "You must have the wrong house.  No child actors live here."

By then Rusty was in the insurance business and never even mentioned to his wife that he played Larry Mondello!

 

 

I bet something happened, maybe the parents just got too much into the show business stuff and the producers took offense to that. As annoying as Larry was, I think I liked him out of all the trouble making friends Beaver. had. 

[chessiegal]

Today's second episode made no sense chronologically. We had Beaver graduate from elementary school last week. In the first episode he takes a six week bus tour of the US over summer break. Then in the second episode, the penultimate of the series, he's vying for a good citizenship award at Grant Ave. elementary school.

Keeping my fingers crossed I get to see the final episode and the first episode tomorrow. We have the tropical storm headed our way. Marine forecast for tomorrow morning is winds 40-50 knots, with gusts to 60. That's a recipe for power outages.

[Cobb Salad]

@chessiegal hope all works out well for you regarding the tropical storm.  FYI, If you miss the episodes tomorrow morning Leave it To Beaver streams free on Peacock.  The last episode is a clip show but the first one is amusing IMO.  

[chessiegal]

Thanks @Cobb Salad I haven't looked at Peacock since it launched. I'll have to check it out.

[chessiegal]

Well, we didn't .lose electricity, so I have the show. But they interrupted the finale show 2/3 of the way through to give a warning about tornadoes from Isaias!

ETA: And the premiere was nothing but weather. Geez. You have a channel for news, no need to interrupt MeTV. I just set up to record both MeTV channels we get in case they do something like that again. Off to Peacock to watch.

Edited August 4, 2020 by chessiegal

[Waterston Fan]

Sometimes I wished they would make this show in color or at least one episode. I just want to know what color that chair is that either Ward or June always sit in. 

I thought it was an okay last episode for LITB but I admit, I think the writers could have come up with a better last episode especially when they had some continuity issues. A few episodes ago, Wally graduated and Beaver is going to see America and then the last episode, the boys are doing their homework. Wait, what? 

[peacheslatour]

Quote

Sometimes I wished they would make this show in color or at least one episode. I just want to know what color that chair is that either Ward or June always sit in. 

The chinoiserie one? Me too.

[chessiegal]

I read the Captain Jack episode was supposed to be the first, but the show had trouble getting the toilet tank past the censors. That totally cracked me up.

[GreekGeek]

22 hours ago, Waterston Fan said:

 

I thought it was an okay last episode for LITB but I admit, I think the writers could have come up with a better last episode especially when they had some continuity issues. A few episodes ago, Wally graduated and Beaver is going to see America and then the last episode, the boys are doing their homework. Wait, what? 

I guess nobody imagined people would still be watching these shows years later and noticing continuity errors. 

Was this the first time a show had a definite finale? I don't know of any shows that ended before the early 60's besides I Love Lucy, which just stopped instead of concluding. "Family Scrapbook" was a bit of a cheat since there was obviously no one there taking the pictures at the time those events happened, but it was a nice look back. 

I'm glad we're back to the very earliest episodes now. 

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

I read the Captain Jack episode was supposed to be the first, but the show had trouble getting the toilet tank past the censors. That totally cracked me up.

Yes, it was apparently the first time a toilet was shown on TV, and they only showed the tank, not the seat.

I wondered about a couple of things in the episode: There's a housekeeper/cleaning lady named Minerva. Did she ever appear again? It seemed out of character for the Cleavers to have a maid. And the episode ended with the boys getting a dog from Ward and June, which they bought to compensate for the loss of Captain Jack. I don't remember a dog in any other episode. Was he just forgotten about, along with Minerva?

[chessiegal]

So, at the end of the black eye episode, Ward tells the boys they'll be eating by themselves because he and June are going out to eat. WTH? Several seasons later we have June and Ward agonizing over babysitters as a plotline in several episodes. Ward seems much angrier in these early episodes. And does Violet Rutherford disappear along with the puppy and Minerva?

[Maverick]

 No, Violet pops up here and there played by Veronica Cartwright.

 The dog never appears again.  There's at least one episode in later seasons about Beaver getting a pet.  

[GreekGeek]

On 8/5/2020 at 10:10 PM, chessiegal said:

Ward seems much angrier in these early episodes. 

On the other hand, in one of today's episodes, he was much more laid back than June about the boys fighting with each other.

Beaver was really clever in the episode about water selling. He was ahead of his time--who knew that bottled water would become big business! I thought it was ironic that Tooey's mom was upset that Beaver's little scheme could lead to "juvenile delinquency and Communism!" Selling water is about as capitalist as they come!

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 8/7/2020 at 7:40 PM, GreekGeek said:

Beaver was really clever in the episode about water selling. He was ahead of his time--who knew that bottled water would become big business! I thought it was ironic that Tooey's mom was upset that Beaver's little scheme could lead to "juvenile delinquency and Communism!" Selling water is about as capitalist as they come!

This was touched on by the writers in an interview.  It's hard to remember now, because we think back to the 1950's through the lens of TV shows such as Leave it to Beaver, I Love Lucy and Ozzie and Harriett.  But the 1950's were a scary time in a lot of ways.  The cold war was on and people were concerned.

So the writers felt a responsibility to present an idealized version of Americana.  A way to showcase to people,  "THIS is what we are fighting for.  This perfect suburban family raising wonderful boys who will grow up to be leaders in the future.  This family is why we need to stand up against Communism."

I'm not saying I agree or disagree, but it's interesting to watch the 1950's TV shows (including Leave it to Beaver) when you have that in the back of your mind.

 

[GreekGeek]

The dog from the “Captain Jack” episode (I assume it was the same dog) was mentioned in today’s episode where Beaver takes in a runaway chihuahua. Ward said that when the boys had a dog, they neglected him so much he had to be given away. That really struck me as clumsy writing and out of character for the boys. They took wonderful care of Captain Jack and Pancho the chihuahua. 

[chessiegal]

We've been enjoying Season 1. Such good stories. Jerry Mathers is such a cutie. My one beef with the writers is having Beaver mispronounce so many words, especially in the early episodes. The kid was in the 2nd grade, being raised by college educated parents. They have him speaking like a 3 or 4 year old.

[Cobb Salad]

14 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

We've been enjoying Season 1. Such good stories. Jerry Mathers is such a cutie. My one beef with the writers is having Beaver mispronounce so many words, especially in the early episodes. The kid was in the 2nd grade, being raised by college educated parents. They have him speaking like a 3 or 4 year old.

Yeah, I have an issue with the title of the first episode “Beaver Gets ‘Spelled’.  It’s ‘expelled’ - while it’s understandable he thinks he’s in trouble by the 2nd grade he should be able to pronounce the word, I know I did and I’m certain everyone here did.  I’ve watched all the episodes and prefer the ones that are past the mispronunciations although by the last season Beaver come across more like someone who should know better and behaves like an idiot.  

[peacheslatour]

On 8/27/2020 at 12:23 PM, icemiser69 said:

My problem with this series along with The Andy Griffith Show, is that too often the adults expect the worst out of their kids.  They draw conclusions without waiting for the facts to come in.   I could understand it on LITB with Lumpy Rutherford's and Eddie Haskell's parents.  Those two always seemed to get into trouble.

Andy and Ward were always willing to admit they'd been wrong but not until after they'd made an awful lot of assumptions first. I wonder what kind of kids they were.

Edited August 28, 2020 by peacheslatour

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 8/27/2020 at 1:23 PM, icemiser69 said:

My problem with this series along with The Andy Griffith Show, is that too often the adults expect the worst out of their kids.  They draw conclusions without waiting for the facts to come in.

 

23 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Andy and Ward were always willing to admit they's been wrong but not until after they'd made an awful lot of assumptions first. I wonder what kind of kids they were.

And Ward should know better.  Andy never really mentioned his parents, but Ward mentions a few times that his own father was pretty strict and this was one of the reasons he tried to be more understanding with his children.

 

[Magnumfangirl]

On 8/18/2020 at 1:18 PM, TheLastKidPicked said:

This was touched on by the writers in an interview.  It's hard to remember now, because we think back to the 1950's through the lens of TV shows such as Leave it to Beaver, I Love Lucy and Ozzie and Harriett.  But the 1950's were a scary time in a lot of ways.  The cold war was on and people were concerned.

So the writers felt a responsibility to present an idealized version of Americana.  A way to showcase to people,  "THIS is what we are fighting for.  This perfect suburban family raising wonderful boys who will grow up to be leaders in the future.  This family is why we need to stand up against Communism."

I'm not saying I agree or disagree, but it's interesting to watch the 1950's TV shows (including Leave it to Beaver) when you have that in the back of your mind.

 

Can you point me in the direction of this interview?  I would love to read it.  

[chessiegal]

It cracks me up that in Season 1 June and Ward leave Wally and the Beaver at home alone many times without giving a thought to a baby sitter, then in later seasons we have more than 1 plot line about whether they are old enough to be left at home without a sitter.

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 8/29/2020 at 9:58 AM, Magnumfangirl said:

Can you point me in the direction of this interview?  I would love to read it.  

This was one of those Sunday morning radio interviews where you can imagine a cold, gray morning when you have nothing better to do so you are listening to the radio while you clean house.

It was impressive how everybody in the show felt a real sense of responsibility to create the best show they possibly could.  Even in today's world, where you can freeze frame episodes 60 years later, the production values hold up well.

Here is a perfect example of them sweating the smallest details.  Mrs. Rayburn sent a letter to the Cleaver household.  The split second it was in the shot, they could have used any piece of paper that was laying around.  They could have even just ripped a page out of an old script and used it.

But they took the time to specifically write a letter and even have it signed Cornelia Rayburn.  Just for the benefit of a quick glance as Ward is reading it.

[chessiegal]

Well, in the episode where they are painting trash cans, when Beaver is on the tire swing, some shots have the whitewall of the tire to the front, and then in the next shot the whitewall is to the back. It goes back and forth throughout the scene. So that's one detail they missed or didn't bother to fix.

[peacheslatour]

59 minutes ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

This was one of those Sunday morning radio interviews where you can imagine a cold, gray morning when you have nothing better to do so you are listening to the radio while you clean house.

It was impressive how everybody in the show felt a real sense of responsibility to create the best show they possibly could.  Even in today's world, where you can freeze frame episodes 60 years later, the production values hold up well.

Here is a perfect example of them sweating the smallest details.  Mrs. Rayburn sent a letter to the Cleaver household.  The split second it was in the shot, they could have used any piece of paper that was laying around.  They could have even just ripped a page out of an old script and used it.

But they took the time to specifically write a letter and even have it signed Cornelia Rayburn.  Just for the benefit of a quick glance as Ward is reading it.

I read an interview years ago that they weren't going for big laughs. If something got too big of a laugh in the writers room, they would tone it down.

[Cobb Salad]

58 minutes ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

This was one of those Sunday morning radio interviews where you can imagine a cold, gray morning when you have nothing better to do so you are listening to the radio while you clean house.

It was impressive how everybody in the show felt a real sense of responsibility to create the best show they possibly could.  Even in today's world, where you can freeze frame episodes 60 years later, the production values hold up well.

Here is a perfect example of them sweating the smallest details.  Mrs. Rayburn sent a letter to the Cleaver household.  The split second it was in the shot, they could have used any piece of paper that was laying around.  They could have even just ripped a page out of an old script and used it.

But they took the time to specifically write a letter and even have it signed Cornelia Rayburn.  Just for the benefit of a quick glance as Ward is reading it.

For what I can make out in the screenshot the letter is a hoot.  I’m certain no one associated with the show imagined that years later we’d be able to actually read it.  That last sentence “I hope you can find a suitable explanation for Theodore’s ???? mindset” lol. 

[TheLastKidPicked]

3 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Well, in the episode where they are painting trash cans, when Beaver is on the tire swing, some shots have the whitewall of the tire to the front, and then in the next shot the whitewall is to the back. It goes back and forth throughout the scene. So that's one detail they missed or didn't bother to fix.

Nice catch!

Have any of you seen the "Nick at Night Classic Rewind?"  They point out errors exactly like the one Chessigal found.

My favorite one is on Brady Bunch.  The kids are jumping on the trampoline and the adults are cheering them on.  When Jan and Peter take their turn, you can hear Carol Brady say,  "Good job, Eve!  Great job Chris!"  Accidentally calling the kids by their real names instead of their character names.

 

[GreekGeek]

On 8/29/2020 at 5:09 PM, chessiegal said:

It cracks me up that in Season 1 June and Ward leave Wally and the Beaver at home alone many times without giving a thought to a baby sitter, then in later seasons we have more than 1 plot line about whether they are old enough to be left at home without a sitter.

Wally and Beaver not only stayed home alone, but in one very early episode, they were the baby sitters for a little girl who ended up locking herself in the bathroom. She announced she had to "go" by saying "I wanna see Mary Jane." So there was another episode where the bathroom was an important plot point!

[chessiegal]

Please tell me that Eddie Haskell's worst plot line was him teaching Beaver to say in Spanish that the little boy's face looked like a pig. That was awful and painful to watch.

[Waterston Fan]

The Visiting Aunts episode or Aunt and her friend... I hated this episode just because everyone had to suck up to June. It seemed like it would upset the aunts if the boys had other plans especially if the friends ended up coming over. Ouch... 

The only thing I like about the episode was the ending with the chat concerning Ward and the boys and then them and June.

I know it was to show that sometimes you can't do what you want to do and sometimes you have to make yourself unhappy to make others happy, as Ward said. 

[peacheslatour]

42 minutes ago, Waterston Fan said:

The Visiting Aunts episode or Aunt and her friend... I hated this episode just because everyone had to suck up to June. It seemed like it would upset the aunts if the boys had other plans especially if the friends ended up coming over. Ouch... 

The only thing I like about the episode was the ending with the chat concerning Ward and the boys and then them and June.

I know it was to show that sometimes you can't do what you want to do and sometimes you have to make yourself unhappy to make others happy, as Ward said. 

What bothered me the most was that they just showed up. One of the things I hated growing up was relatives just showing up at the door. One time I was home alone and I was taking a shower. My gran just walked in with a gaggle of distant relatives and was aghast when I refused to get out of the shower to "visit" with them. 

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 9/2/2020 at 6:59 AM, icemiser69 said:

Old smart ass Eddie Haskell is  some what likable.  Young asshole Eddie Haskell  has the most punchable face. 

 

On 9/4/2020 at 7:17 PM, chessiegal said:

Please tell me that Eddie Haskell's worst plot line was him teaching Beaver to say in Spanish that the little boy's face looked like a pig. That was awful and painful to watch.

You are right that there is a difference between young Eddie and older Eddie.

As time went on, the writers did a nice job of giving Eddie a backstory.  Once we began to see what motivated him, Eddie's became a much more enjoyable character.  

 

[peacheslatour]

49 minutes ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

 

You are right that there is a difference between young Eddie and older Eddie.

As time went on, the writers did a nice job of giving Eddie a backstory.  Once we began to see what motivated him, Eddie's became a much more enjoyable character.  

 

I liked the one where he rented a room and tried to act like he was a man about town and then we see how lonely and sad he was. Really added depth to his character.

[TheLastKidPicked]

15 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

I liked the one where he rented a room and tried to act like he was a man about town and then we see how lonely and sad he was. Really added depth to his character.

You have just summed up the Eddie Haskall character!

He is always putting on a front, but underneath is very insecure.

 

[Waterston Fan]

I just watched The Bus Ride episode and I liked it. Just got one question, did Wally really need to tell Ward about what happened in the end? Everything worked out but I would think the Cleavers didn't need to know about what happened and I would think the Peytons would not want to say anything to the Cleavers. 

[Waterston Fan]

Watched the episode of Beaver and Andy.  I thought it was a good episode and it does show that you shouldn't hide things from kids. 

If Beaver knew that Andy was a drunk, what do you think he would have done if Andy asked him for alcohol? 

[chessiegal]

Just watched Season 5 Ep. 1 (1961) and low and behold, Ryan O'Neal shows up. I didn't recognize him, but when I saw his name in the credits I went back and you can see a very young Ryan.

[peacheslatour]

24 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Just watched Season 5 Ep. 1 (1961) and low and behold, Ryan O'Neal shows up. I didn't recognize him, but when I saw his name in the credits I went back and you can see a very young Ryan.

Who did he play?

[chessiegal]

9 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Who did he play?

Tom - the husband married to the older sister of a girl Wally was going out with. Plot was Ward and June were worried Wally would think married life was grand. Of course, Wally goes to the young couple's house for dinner and hears them squabbling, so all is well.

[peacheslatour]

33 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Tom - the husband married to the older sister of a girl Wally was going out with. Plot was Ward and June were worried Wally would think married life was grand. Of course, Wally goes to the young couple's house for dinner and hears them squabbling, so all is well.

Oh, right. I remember that one. Wally thought it was all cool and very "adult" but then he saw the money troubles, the hassles of the husband's job and the grim slog of the wife and decided to go back to being a teenager.