244 replies to this topic

[Eegah]

The one true iconic sitcom of the '50s, like All in the Family for the '70s and Seinfeld for the '90s. "Ward, I'm worried about the Beaver."

[AmazingGrace]

I'll post. :) I love watching reruns of "Leave it to Beaver". Sure a lot of it is out of date, but it's still charming in it's own way. Although, the powers that be trying to ignore Jerry Mathers puberty was painful. But I like those older episodes for Wally, Eddie, and Lumpy.

It ended right before Kennedy's assassination and The Beatles arrival. I often wondered how the show would have went on if they stayed on the air awhile longer.

Sad news--Stanley Farfara(sp?) OD'd. You'll remember him as Whitey Whitney
and for you trivia buffs Steven Talbot aka Gilbert B/Gates* owns Salon.com.

*They changed his name.

Edited by AmazingGrace, Feb 20, 2005 @ 7:52 PM.

[Eegah]

My favorite episode is where Ward and June invite Miss Landers over for dinner. It perfectly captures a little kid realizing that his teacher is actually a real person just like him. Whitey's line "She has toes!" is a gem.

Another bit of cast info: Ken Osmond, who played the obnoxious brown noser Eddie Haskell was nothing like him in real life. In fact, he later became a member of the LAPD and was wounded in the line of duty.

[dustylil]

I was the same age as the Beaver when the show was first on (which means I am now in my late thirties) and we watched it every week at our house. I remember at the time thinking Beaver was as dumb as a post but I quite liked Wally, Eddie, Lumpy and the rest of the older kids. They seemed more interesting than other television teenagers.

[bodwod]

Oooh, I loved this one. All the sitcoms of the 80s that have been discussed lately have been favs of my tween and teen years but this one and "Flipper" were the absolute staples of my childhood. I have such great memories of watching these two shows with my Mum.

The episode that comes to mind for me is when Beaver and Wally had to sell bottles of disgusting smelling perfume to buy a movie projector or something. I think it was a fairly early episode.

"Leave it to Beaver" is coming out on DVD around the middle of the year. I'll be picking myself up a copy for nostalgia's sake.

BTW and apologies for being completely OT but where would I start a "Flipper" thread? It seems to go with all these shows but wasn't a sitcom.

[Eegah]

It seems like it would fit best in kids shows.

[AmazingGrace]

And don't forget when Beaver gets stuck in the cup of soup billboard. That's a classic. :)

[bodwod]

Of course, how could I forget that one. It even made it to the movie version.

It seems like it would fit best in kids shows.

Good point, Eegah, I'll wander over there. Thanks.

Edited by bodwod, Feb 20, 2005 @ 10:52 PM.

[cmkrcwi]

undefinedand for you trivia buffs Steven Talbot aka Gilbert B/Gates* owns Salon.com.

No, the guy who started SALON was David Talbot, Stephen's brother. Incidentally, their father was Lyle Talbot who starred in "Plan 9 From Outer Space". He also made a guest appearance on "Leave It To Beaver". He was in the episode where Beaver was the only boy at a birthday party, and ended up spending most of the party in the den with the birthday girl's father.

I always liked the episode where Beaver and Larry convince Benjy that Beaver has been turned into a rock.

[soccerfiesta]

Oh, happy day! Leave it to Beaver! I loved this show as a kid and watched the reruns constantly. I remember the one where Beaver sells perfume, too, and I especially liked the way at the end, after all his trouble, Beaver gets a really nice projector. Ward, however, is secretly pointing out to June the real projector that was supposed to be the prize, and of course it's a cheap piece of crap. I liked that because it showed how thoughtful Ward was, as well as having the touch of realism about how those sorts of mail-away prizes go.

[AmazingGrace]

cmkrcwi-I read that on another board. Thanks for giving the correct info.

Back to the Beaver: He and Larry Mondello were the best kid team ever. :)

[Tory]

I still get a laugh out of this show. Even though it's a bit dated regarding situations the kids got into, the parental humor is as fresh as ever. You just know Ward and June cringed inside every time Eddie came around. It always seemed that any trouble Beaver and Larry got into, was Larry's idea/fault. Sometimes Larry came out smelling like a rose and Beaver was left holding the bag.

Some favorite episodes - Beaver in the soup billboard, him getting his head caught in the fence, Wally buying the contraption to "un-pug" his nose, when Beaver got on the wrong train, and the little boy (Benjy?) Beaver and Wally were babysitting who locked himself in the bathroom. I liked Gus the fireman, too. He always gave little gems of wisdom.

I always wanted Ward to punch Fred Rutherford in the face. And I'm jealous of how tiny June's waist was!

[WhyTheLongFace]

It always seemed that any trouble Beaver and Larry got into, was Larry's idea/fault. Sometimes Larry came out smelling like a rose and Beaver was left holding the bag.

Yes. Precisely why I hated Larry. OK, maybe "hated" is too strong a word, I just thought he was a little sh*t. He was always like, "Hey Beaver, do this," then Beaver'd do it, get busted, and Larry'd be all, "You shouldn't'a done that, Beaver." And he was always eating an apple!

I actually didn't pay too much attention to this show as a kid, but now I try to catch it on TV Land whenever I can. I'll take an ep of LITB over any of the Still Standing's and According to Jim's of today. I even liked the ep's where Beaver's all growed up. And Mrs. LongFace couldn't stop drooling at the sight of high-school-grad Wally. "He's dreamy," she'd always say.

I used to always love when June would get upset at Wally for using improper language, which by today's standards, is nothing. Like June would say something complimentary about Beaver, and Wally would add, "Yeah, he can't help it if he's a screwball." Cue laughter.

[Eegah]

Yeah, it got a little painful there when the writers refused to allow Beaver to grow at all (Jerry Mathers was 14 in the show's final season!). At least later on there was something of an effort to push him into the background and the show became more Leave It To Wally. There were some good Wally-centric episodes early on too, my favorite being when he's frustrated that he doesn't have to shave and starts doing it anyway. I was totally that guy in high school, so it really rings true.

[AmazingGrace]

Gus and the net! Gus and the net! ;)

[lovelinus]

Best scene ever? The final season, Eddie's girlfriend is knitting him a sweater for his birthday and uses Wally as a model. Eddie thinks Wally is moving in on his girl so he and Lumpy sit outside her house in Lumpy's car, waiting for Wally to emerge. A very bored Lumpy slaps his hands back and forth over the steering wheel, singing "Zooooom, a-zoom, a-zoom-a-zoom-a-zoom."

[ChinkyGirl]

Heh. IIRC, Lumpy often sang stupid little songs like that outta nowhere. Loved when he would whine to Fred: "Dad-dy!!"

[hope829]

The episode I remember best - though I have no idea why! - is the one where Wally <sigh> gets a job at the lake as a lifeguard, but then the owner finds out he's too young so he has to hawk hotdogs instead. And the Cleavers and friends come up to see the lifeguard, and Wally is so embarrassed....

Was Wally in the New Leave It To Beaver shows (or "Still The Beaver"?)?

[indigo4]

Ooooooohhh -- Tony Dow was one of my first crushes (like dustylil I'm in my late 30s -- heh). I wanted to be Mary Ellen Rogers soooo bad. I still get hot watching him.

One of my favorite scenes is when Beaver gets ink on Wally's dinner jacket, which Wally was going to wear to a dance that night. Eddie Haskell "gets wise" to it, but saves the Beav by convincing Wally that they should stand out from the crowd by wearing sports coats instead.

[MelfrmMd]

I was watching the one where Beaver writes to the Dear Abby type columnist about how strict his bedtime was on a school night, thinking that she would agree with him to get Ward and June to let him stay out later, but in the end, she didn't. One of Beaver's friends looked familiar, but I just couldn't place him, so I looked in the end credits to see who he was.

Tim Matheson.

[AmazingGrace]

hope829-I believe so. I never saw that program, but I did read reviews of "The New Leave it to Beaver" on other websites. I think the one of the scenes in the pilot was June visiting Ward at the cemetery saying that she was worried about the Beaver.

Edited by AmazingGrace, Feb 27, 2005 @ 5:08 PM.

[bodwod]

Was Wally in the New Leave It To Beaver shows (or "Still The Beaver"?)?

They were pretty much all back for the New Leave it to Beaver shows. The original June, Wally, Beaver, Eddie and Lumpy. Also, two of Ken Osmond's real life sons played Eddie's sons on the show.

[jacobndiana]

Wasn't their one where Beaver has a hispanic friend and Eddie teaches him to say "you have a face like a pig"? And the one where one of the boys (can't remember, probably the Beaver) joins a ColumbiaHouse type deal and instead of paying it, just shoves the bills in the dresser.

My favorite of all time, though, is when Beaver loses his haircut money and decides to do it himself and there are clumps of bald spots! My 4 year old son got a hold of scissors (was supposed to be cutting paper) and while I was changing his sister, he gave himself a cut - thankfully, not as bad as the Beav.

Oh, and add me to the Tony Dow/Wally love train.

[lovelinus]

Also, two of Ken Osmond's real life sons played Eddie's sons on the show.

Speaking of which, does anyone else think that Justin Berfield, Reese on "Malcolm inthe Middle", looks like he could be the long-lost son of Ken Osmond? Maybe it's just the way Reese acts like a latter-day Eddie, but I really think he looks like him.

Just me? Ok then.

[Miss Crabtree]

The LITB scripts were as light as soufflés. Nothing on TV today can touch them. How underrated this show is.

The Cleaver house and June have to be the iconic perfect 1950s home and homemaker. Seriously, was that living room ever even slightly messy? And June never had a hair out of place.

I used to fixate on the glasses that Wally and Beav used for their milk. They were goblety--almost like wineglasses. I always figured milk must have tasted so much better in them.

[dustylil]

Yes, the Cleaver home was immaculate and I loved those milk glasses too. And the linen napkins! But did you ever notice that the boys never brushed their teeth after meals? They would ask to be excused, wipe their faces on those lovely napkins and then leave. All good boys and girls brushed their teeth after every meal in the fifties - I was always told it was the law.

[Monster Zero]

It ended right before Kennedy's assassination and The Beatles arrival. I often wondered how the show would have went on if they stayed on the air awhile longer.

It probably wouldn't be remembered today. Can you imagine Ward busting the Beaver's chops about wearing chops and having black friends? It would be just too extreme and I'm laughing about it right now....I'm so going to hell.

Another bit of cast info: Ken Osmond, who played the obnoxious brown noser Eddie Haskell was nothing like him in real life. In fact, he later became a member of the LAPD and was wounded in the line of duty.

Yeah, I read he was shot three times and nearly finished if his partner didn't take out the shooter with the butt of his handgun. What makes this worse is that I keep thinking 'Eat lead, Eddie Haskell!' and the Beaver being lead away in handcuffs.

I'm sorry, I just find it too fun to riff on the Beav. Everything seemed to be so darn perfect in their reality...yes, I am going to hell.

[Jillster]

I used to fixate on the glasses that Wally and Beav used for their milk. They were goblety--almost like wineglasses. I always figured milk must have tasted so much better in them.

I loved the dinnertime scenes. They ALWAYS had such a great dessert. A nice, big slice of cake or pie, and you know it was homemade. Ha! At our house, we were happy to get a few oreos. Dessert was only on occasion, definitely not an every night affair, and not served on the fancy china!

[ShiningBright]

I loved this show and grew up watching the repeats. I'd have to say the haircut episode is my favorite too. I love when the six-year-old Beaver tries to explain the barber to put his haircut on his "cab;" the club that Wally makes up to explain why he and the Beav have to wear caps; and when June squeals upon seeing her "baby's" hair.

I actually saw the garbage man episode on TV Land sometime in the past week. I hadn't seen that episode in years. Ward also learned that maybe he should spend more time with his boys.

No one's mentioned Judy Hensler. Supreme tattle-teller and know-it-all. The girl who played her always got it just right.

I caught a radio interview with Jerry Mathers a few years ago. He was promoting a psoriasis fundraiser (he has psoriasis). At the time, he was a single dad and had a high-school aged daughter. He said he and his daughter enjoyed watching "Gilmore Girls" together, which I thought was sweet.

Edited by ShiningBright, Mar 7, 2005 @ 9:22 PM.