Leave It To Beaver

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ABC (ended 1963)
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Show Summary

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Leave It to Beaver portrayed the iconic postwar American family: June the perfect housewife, Ward the dad (what did he do for a living, anyway? And why did he always wear a suit to dinner?), big brother Wally, and of course Theodore ("The Beaver"), the good-hearted kid whose adventures propelled the show. Leave It to Beaver debuted in October of 1957 on CBS. In the fall of 1958, CBS dropped the series. ABC picked it up and ran it for an additional 5 years. Few people know that Leave it to Beaver was the first American television show broadcast behind the Iron Curtain -- perhaps part of the reason for so many references to God, Sunday School, Breaking Bread, etc. In several episodes, there are subtle references to the Soviet Union. In episode #31 ( New doctor ): Wally, has a model plane. Look close, it,s a Russian bomber. With, the red star decals. In episode #119 ( Beaver's House Guest ), the two boys are wearing their camp sweatshirts. With the name Camp Chekov on it. Propaganda? Maybe. What the average American family was like in the 1950's? I don't think so. What ever, I guess it worked.''''The series focuses on Theodore Cleaver (Beaver). Beaver (who was 7 when the series began) is your basic everyday little boy who had a knack of getting himself into trouble at every turn. His older brother Wally, is just entering his teen years and often wonders out loud how Beaver could be so dumb to get himself into stupid situations. (Examples: getting himself locked in the principals office, letting the bathtub overflow, letting the washing machine overflow, getting his head stuck in a fence at the park, constantly losing things (cats, change, etc.) His parents are your everyday 1950's parents, June and Ward Cleaver, who do their best to understand and support Beaver and Wally as they grew up.''''Other characters were mostly friends of Wally and Beaver. Wally's friends included Lumpy Rutherford and the two-faced Eddie Haskell. Eddie was courteous to June and Ward but when the grown ups weren't around he was a bully to Beaver and his friends. Beaver's friends include Whitey Whitney, Gilbert Gates/Bates/Harrison (inconsistent last name), Larry Mondello and Richard Rickover. Beaver's teachers, Miss Canfield and later Miss Landers were seen frequently as well as Lumpy's father, played by Richard Deacon known for his role on The Dick Van Dyke Show.''''While most people lump in Leave it to Beaver with other family sitcoms, such as Father Knows Best, and The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, this series was truly an original, and very much ahead of its time. It showed the world through the eyes of a young boy, and sometimes dealt with rather controversial subjects. One episode ("Beaver and Andy") dealt frankly with the subject of alcoholism. Another episode ("Beaver's House Guest") showed how divorce can affect a child.''''In 1985, Leave It to Beaver was in a full blown revival after a 1983 reunion movie, Still the Beaver, when a spin-off series, with the title of the reunion movie, was proposed. It later begin airing in syndication under the title, The New Leave It to Beaver and starred all of the original cast members except Hugh Beaumont who died on May 14, 1982.''''First Telecast: October 4, 1957 Last Telecast: September 12, 1963''''Episodes: 234 B&W Episodes''+1 Unaired B&W Pilot Theme Song:''''"The Toy Parade" Written by: Melvyn Leonard, Mort Greene & Dave Kahn''''Spin-offs: The New Leave It to Beaver''''NOTE: All air dates have now been verified through TV Guide.''''CBS Broadcast History''''October 1957-March 1958----Fridays----7:30 p.m.''March-September 1958----Wednesdays----8:00 p.m.''''ABC Broadcast History''''October 1958-June 1959----Thursdays----7:30 p.m.''July-September 1959----Thursdays----9:00 p.m.''October 1959-September 1962----Saturdays----8:30 p.m.''September 1962-September 1963----Thursdays----8:30 p.m.''''Nielsen Ratings:''(Top 30 or Better)''''Never hit the top 30moreless
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Episode Guide

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S 6 :  Ep 39 Aired 6/20/63
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S 6 :  Ep 38 Aired 6/13/63
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S 6 :  Ep 37 Aired 6/6/63
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S 6 :  Ep 36 Aired 5/30/63
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S 6 :  Ep 35 Aired 5/23/63
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Leave It To Beaver News

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  • Happy Days Dad Tom Bosley Passes Away 7

    Happy Days Dad Tom Bosley Passes Away

    By Tim Surette, Oct 20, 2010

    ... Days after the death of Leave it to Beaver's Barbara Billingsley, TV has lost another famous parent. Tom Bosley, who played Howard Cunningham on Happy Days, has passed away in Palm Springs at the age of 83. [TMZ] ...… more

  • Beaver Mom Barbara Billingsley Passes Away 10

    Beaver Mom Barbara Billingsley Passes Away

    By Tim Surette, Oct 18, 2010

    ... A melancholy farewell to Barbara Billingsley, the original TV mom. Billingsley wore an apron and cooked meals for us as Leave it to Beaver's June Cleaver. She passed away at the age of 94 on Saturday morning. [NY Times]… more

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Fan Reviews (27)

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  • A classic show that will always remind us of how simple life was back in the early 50's and 60's

    10
    "Perfect"
    By mrogra2005, Jun 09, 2010 Report Abuse
    Leave It To Beaver was broadcast before I was born, but it shows how simple life was back in the late 50's, early 60's. Sure, they might of seemed corny, but what a breath of fresh air compared to shows today. Happy endings, funny
    situations, and nobody getting hurt or killed. I have been a fan for many years, and will continue to always love this show! I am glad that it has been revived by TV Land, and of course, it is being released on DVD. I hope that other generations will love it as much as we have!moreless

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  • The Cleaver family is your typical American family, with father Ward, mother June, older brother Wally and little Theodore, better known as "Beaver". It was shown from the eyes of the "Beaver"moreless

    8.4
    "Great"
    By drwoowoocl, Aug 29, 2007 Report Abuse
    Leave it to Beaver is one of those shows from the 50s that has a somewhat idealized vision of the American family. However, unlike Ozzie & Harriet and Father Knows Best, LITB was seen from the point of the view of the children and even the dialogue reflects that. While some of the plotlines are decidedly corny, there is something off the wall about some of the things Beaver does(Falling into a giant soup bowl, pushing a baby buggy across town, getting his head stuck in a fence), but they still feel realistic. And with the idealized family life of the Cleavers, it is hinted that maybe Eddie Haskells family life isnt exactly ideal. And even the scenes between Ward and June seem to ring true, though there are times that Wards little homilies to the kids get on my nerves. Still this is a show that looks better than it did when it first came on. Maybe it was ahead of its time in its own way.moreless

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  • Brothers Wally and Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver grow up in a home with caring parents June and Ward along with a number of recurring characters making up the town of Mayfield.

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By jbarafan, Jul 06, 2007 Report Abuse
    Sue me, I love this show, especially the earlier episodes. It did sometimes get wearing when Beaver still acted exactly the same at eleven or twelve as he had at six. I'm not sure if that was entirely Jerry Mathers or the way he was directed to act. At any rate, the creators were smart to let the show end when it did rather than allow the network to shoot it in color, which would have been a huge mistake. May the Beav live on in glorious black and white somewhere on our tv schedule forever.moreless

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  • Leave It To Beaver is a classic! Like the works of director David Lynch there is more to the series than meets the eye.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By jhrunion, Jan 28, 2007 Report Abuse
    Leave It To Beaver is a classic! Like the works of director David Lynch there is more to the series than meets the eye. In one episode Wally states he would like to become a tree surgeon. David Lynch's father was a tree surgeon in real life. There are several episodes of Leave It To Beaver where a character mentions bugs and/or exterminators. In one of Lynch's films, Blue Velvet, bugs are often shown and one character pretends to be an exterminator. In the LITB episode about the big fight (Beav vs. Violet), a kid speaks of another kid having gotten his ear torn off in the fight. In Blue Velvet, a detached ear is also featured. Hugh Beaumont played Ward Cleaver. In Blue Velvet, Kyle MacLachlan plays Jeffery Beaumont. Wally and Eddie became boy scouts on the series, Beav wanted to. In real life, David Lynch was an eagle scout. Larry Mondello's sister keeps a diary in one episode. Beav himself keeps a diary in another episode of the series. In Lynch's television series, Twin Peaks, a character named Laura Palmer kept a diary. Beav mentions a dead cat in one episode. In the art of David Lynch, dead, decaying animals are quite often featured. Wally and Beav are fascinated by fire in the Shadow Lake episode of LITB. Fire is a reoccurring theme in many of the director's films. Beav is intrigued by magic/magicians, hypnotism/hynotists. Lynch uses or refers to magic/magicians often in his work. Dreams are a very important element to the director's work. Beav has nightmares several times. Beav enjoys watching gory horror movies. David Lynch enjoys making movies filled with grotesque images. There are many more similarities between the series and the director's life/works...if you only look beneath the surface!moreless

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  • Its about the regular family that lived comfortably. Had two kids and two great parents.

    8.5
    "Great"
    By KEITHCONTI, Jan 15, 2007 Report Abuse
    Wally and "The Beaver" were great actors if you ask me. They made the show seem so real. You would watch it and think that you were watching a hidden video camera that was in the room. The two of them really made it seem like they were really related. The Father and Mother made the show so entertaining. The best was Wally's friend Eddie. He was the perfect suck up to Mrs. Cleaver. He would always complement her and suck up to her, she knew what was going on so he never got over on her and the parents knew he was bad news. As dumb as Eddie was he was a true friend to Wally and would mess around with Beaver a lot. Great show, and i agree it did become more popular when the reruns came on. Its on TV Land all the time now. It may have been on way before my time, but i still enjoy watching it and thinking about what life was back then.moreless

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