It's a lot of fun. The approach of the book is that it explains that the producers sought scripts by major writers of the day and then gives a synopsis and chunks of dialogue using Beaver, Wally, and so on. The more you know about the authors that are parodied the more you'll like it. I just read that the 30th anniversary edition has some new entries.
The coffee cup episode. Classic. And the rollercoaster one. Always loved the repartee between Beaver & Gus in any episode.
I recently discovered the entire series is available on TUBI which I get on Roku. The past week I put up a friend who came down with his 10-year-old grandson for a bit of the Florida sun. We went to a ballgame the first day and that night I put on both episodes. And every morning after that and every night after that the kid's first words were, "Can we watch Leave It To Beaver?" He had fallen in love with the show. We watched first season eps that came out the year Grandpa was born and a few from the second. I let him pick out ones that the title had caught his fancy.
We had to explain to him why it was funny that Beaver got a black eye from a girl and why you could never punch a girl. And what a barrel hoop was. And what brown-noser i.e. Eddie Haskell means. Otherwise, a dress and pearls around the house be damned, this kid who is in an accelerated school class and has probably been on a computer since he was 2 and to me has a touch of ADD absolutely loves the way Theodore talks to his brother, their parents and how he and the rest of the kids talk to each other. And then there's crazy Fred Rutherford and his son Lumpy.
The 3rd generation is discovering what the 1st one knew all along! Wonder how his folks will react when he insists they watch LITB...
"Wally's Weekend Job" - remember when Eddie Haskell and Lumpy Rutherford play a practical joke on Wally when Lumpy imitates Mary Ellen Rogers' father for an order of ice cream, and when an angry Mr. Rogers tells off Wally, and he drops the cartons of ice cream after he throws him out of the house. When he finds out that Eddie and Lumpy were behind the noke, he gets his revenge by pouring melted ice cream on top of Lumpy's head and messes up Eddie's sweater with the melted ice cream.
"The Yard Birds" - my favorite scene is when Mr. Hill confronts Ward Cleaver about the trash that Eddie and Lumpy dumped on his vacant lot.
"Wally's Practical Joke" - highlight is when Eddie imitates Julie Foster on the telephone in order to lure Lumpy to get out of his house so he can drive his car so he can get stuck (of course, the joke backfires when he steps on the accelerator and his rear axle is pulled out, courtesy Ward's tow chain).
Pete Rugolo contributed a nifty variation of the show’s theme in the show’s final season, including a wonderful sax-driven bit that played over the credits just before an episode began.
That last season also had a few lines of dialogue in which Ward and June would reference then-president JFK...oh, those final poignant months of 1963.
Paul Smith scored some episodes for the sixth and final season too.
No love for the "You Drive Me Ape You Big Gorilla" episode?
Oh yes, and Beaver should have learned the value of a dollar after throwing his allowance away on some stupid records (the episode was titled "Beaver Joins A Record Club").
I think the Beav and his goofy friends sneak into a Stanley Kubrick movie in one episode. Correct me if I'm wrong..
The episode was "Uncle Billy's Visit". Interestingly, both Hugh Beaumont (Ward Cleaver) and Edgar Buchanan (Uncle Billy) were reunited in an episode of "Petticoat Junction" where Beaumont plays a male suitor of Kate Bradley, and Buchanan was playing Uncle Joe Carson at the time (ironically, Buchanan appeared on an season one episode of "Leave It To Beaver" titled "Captain Jack").
I think the Beav and his goofy friends sneak into a Stanley Kubrick movie in one episode. Correct me if I'm wrong..
The theater manager in that episode was William Woodson, who narrated the main title sequences for "The Invaders" and "The Odd Couple" and the openings for the miniseries "The Winds Of War".
What about the annoying Fred Rutherford from the office? I remember one episode where Fred had been invited to a "society" wedding and Ward and June weren't, and Fred kept rubbing it in. This was the episode where Wally and Eddie work as parking valets at that wedding.
Were Ward and Fred at the same level at work, or was one more senior than the other? Imagine if Fred were your boss! I would quit for sure!
One of my all-time favorite shows. I probably watched every episode multiple times as a kid (reruns, of course) and loved every one, but one that still stands out today is "Sweatshirt Monsters."
The Beav and pals buy these unthinkably grotesque cartoon monster sweatshirts planning to wear them to school on the same day, but Beaver's parents forbid him to wear it so he sneaks it out of the house only to discover upon arrival that his friends chickened out and left their own sweatshirts at home. Beav gets busted for his brazen act of rebellion and suffers the disappointment of Ward and June.
I loved how Wally was always threatening Beav that, "Dad's gonna slug ya"... as if Ward Cleaver ever hit one of his kids in his life. He was the most level headed father ever.
Yes, my friend's grandson (and I) got a kick every time Wally talked about Beaver or someone else getting "clobbered."
One of my all-time favorite shows. I probably watched every episode multiple times as a kid (reruns, of course) and loved every one, but one that still stands out today is "Sweatshirt Monsters."
Hey that was pretty good. Enjoyed how all the other kids's parents gave it to 'em. It is an amazing thing to consider the seriousness of the "offense" with respect to today's school environment.
To that end, I was flipping through the seasons and came upon a familiar face. Yep, it was Barry Gordon's. Turns out he was 11 and a couple years away from his Broadway role opposite Jason Robards, Jr. in A Thousand Clowns when he appeared as "Beaver's House Guest." So I put it on and oh my, could not believe it aired in 1960 because it dealt with divorce. Whoa, and in this series? Yes. And tastefully so. I was stunned. And moved.
The series dealt with divorce, alcoholism, and the class system.
For the latter Beaver and Wally befriend two brothers whose parents own the local trash dump or something like that. June is politely concerned--her concerns are vague.
She changes her mind at the end but I don't recall the details. I'll have to rewatch.
I don't think race was ever addressed on the series.
It was lightweight. From 1958. And only time a black person was mentioned it was when Eddie references Cassius Clay in “Summer in Alaska.”
And an African American maid (played by Kim Hamilton) was seen in the sixth and final season episode "The Parking Attandents" also the same season "Ticket To Alaska" was from.
The time Judy Hensler — I believe it was the episode where Beaver got his head stuck in the iron fence — introduced Beaver: “This is Beaver. He sits in the dumb row.” — left me in stitches.
I can still see the dumb row in my 4th grade class and all the kids who sat in it.
