Column: Leaving the Beaver

I’ve recently started watching the old black-and-white comedy “Leave it to Beaver,” since it’s somewhat nostalgic for me. I used to watch the show when I was young, and it was, too. It seemed really funny at the time, and I thought it was probably very popular, as well. It turns out neither is true.

The TV show “Leave It To Beaver” aired from 1957 to 1963, the first season on CBS and the other five on ABC (more on this later). They made a total of 234 episodes, of which about four are actually funny (more on this, also). The focus of the sitcom was the Cleaver family, consisting of father Ward (Hugh Beaumont), mother June (Barbara Billingsley), older son Wally (Tony Dow) and Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver (Jerry Mathers).

Beaver was 7 years old when the series started, and Wally was 12. We watch them grow up in fictional Mayfield (there are 18 in the US) and encounter typical childhood problems, most of which are really boring. You could summarize the theme of the show as “kids get into trouble, try to hide it, but ultimately are found out.” Everyone’s supposed to learn a lesson from this. The kids don’t really seem to learn much, though, since they get into trouble again in the very next episode. The parents learn the same thing every time: how hard it is to be a parent “nowadays.”

Beaver is often called “stupid” or a “dope” for his ignorant actions. He and his best friend Larry Mondello (Rusty Stevens) are always getting in trouble. Larry, who’s not only stupid, but also fat, invariably encourages Beaver to do something obviously dumb, and Beaver, of course, complies. In various shows, they read Larry’s sister’s diary, take a go-kart illegally into the street, form a fictitious club with no members and bore holes into the side of the Cleaver garage. Many episodes have no plot other than “Beaver gets in trouble, hides it and gets caught.” When questioned why he did something clearly stupid, he always says, “Well, um …” He says “well” in virtually every episode, sometimes more than once.

Wally is at least somewhat intelligent; his problems tend to center around girls. As a male, I can pretty much relate to this. Since he’s already a teen when the show starts, his concerns are more “high school,” while Beaver’s tend to be “grade school.” However, he also has a stupid friend, Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond). Eddie’s actually more mean than stupid, always conniving to get others in trouble. For example, he teaches Beaver to say, “You have a face like a pig” in Spanish, to say to a Spanish-speaking friend. Former friend after that, needless to say.

The parents are a classic 1950’s couple, which is to say prudish and behind the times. Mother June, wearing pearls even when she’s scrubbing the toilet, is ridiculously overprotective. She wants to call the police if the boys are 10 minutes late and doesn’t want to let Wally drive even after he’s 16 and legal. She even refers to Beaver as her “baby.” Father Ward is always reliving his childhood and commenting on how things were so much tougher when he was young: “My father would’ve given me the belt!” June, of course, won’t allow any real discipline, which is probably why Beaver is such a mess.

As I mentioned, the plots tend to be thin. In one installment, Larry talks Beaver into smoking an ornamental pipe. The parents think it’s older brother Wally smoking, but eventually discover it’s really Beaver. That’s it! Pretty lame, I’d say. The few good episodes tend to involve guest stars who up the acting level somewhat, like Edgar Buchanan (Uncle Joe), who appears as an alligator expert and as Ward’s uncle a few times. Howard McNear (Floyd the Barber) also makes an appearance, fittingly, as a barber.

Somewhat surprisingly to me, the show wasn’t really popular, never reaching the Top 30 in ratings. That’s why CBS canceled it after just one season. In fairness, there was stiff TV competition at the time, like “Rin Tin Tin.” Beaten out by a dog! Of course, the dog was considerably smarter than Beaver. “Leave it to Beaver” ended when Jerry Mathers wanted to retire from acting and attend regular schools. It had gone downhill considerably by then, anyway, as Beaver was no longer young and cute.

So, if it wasn’t that popular, and I don’t think it’s very funny, why do I still watch it? Well, um …

Rob is a retired Southern Illinois University instructor who lives on his family's farm in Union County. His mother Joan, who is a nice person, lives in Cape Girardeau.