Older Beaver is Creepy

[Fatty Corpusel]

Hi everyone,

I love Leave it to Beaver when Beav is a little kid.

When he is a pre teen or whatever he gives me the absolute creeps!

I'd like to slap that stupid Gilbert across the face. Such a trouble maker.

I didn't know that Hugh B was a minister!

[Kristina]

He was so cute when he was little but I like him - regardless. I thought he grew up handsome too.

[DarleneIllyria]

Opie and Beaver were pretty much the same. Both cute as little kids, but when that grow spurt pops up then they both act kind of on the dorky side. I think I can explain that though. Beaver was supposed to be what a 12 year old boy, and they still had him getting into situations that an 8 year old would get into. I'm glad the later years focused on Wally, while the early years focused on Beaver. I think that made the scale kind of balance out.

[lukes42]

I think Beaver was the creapiest during the 5th season. He was in that inbetween stage of boyhood and manhood, and his voice had just changed, so he sounded kind of weird. Plus, as Jenny was saying, he was still portrayed as a little boy, when he certainly was not (do you remember the Bunny episode? Ouch.). The 6th season was a little better for the Beaver, as the writers finally came to their senses and wrote more grown-up stories for the Beav. But, for the most part, the last two seasons (especially the last) mostly focused on Wally, so it definitely helped to even things out. But I still like the latter epsiodes just as much as the early ones. Each episode has its own flavor, and each one is just as special as the next. :)

[DarleneIllyria]

I always use Diff'rent Strokes for an example. Let's look at Gary Coleman from DS. Gary was getting on up their in the teen years and they still made him do stuff that a 11 or 12 year old would do, when Gary was actually 16 or 17. Here comes Sam. They introduce Sam and Maggie and Mr. Drummond gets married to Maggie. This at least relieved some of the tension of staying forever young for Gary, but the Sam & Maggie years tend to be the low spots of the series.

Since Ward and June were still married, I just couldn't imagine the writers throwing a plot where June finds out that she's pregnant. Maybe they didn't try that because of the censorships. It was the best thing to do to focus more on Wally during the later years.

[lukes42]

Originally posted by Jenny
Since Ward and June were still married, I just couldn't imagine the writers throwing a plot where June finds out that she's pregnant.

LOL! Oh, could you imagine? It just wouldn't be the same show we've grown to love. But it's been done time and time again with other show. A classic example is My Three Sons. The show just get so sappy after Rob and Steve get married. Then they add all these children and new characters, and is a big free-for-all! The show quickly loses its character from the earlier seasons. Leave It To Beaver certainly isn't like that. They ended it at the right time, and at the right note, too. :)

[DarleneIllyria]

Originally posted by lukes42
They ended it at the right time, and at the right note, too. :)


I agree with that. Along with the June and pregnancy thing, I couldn't imagine seeing Wally and the gang actually going to college. You have the episodes that leads to the departure of Wally going to college, but I couldn't imagine seeing Wally and Eddie in college. Part of me thinks it would be humourous to see Eddie Haskell and Lumpy in college, but the other half agrees that they ended it when the clock struck.

That is one thing I'm proud of with Beaver. They didn't milk the thing dry. I think the writers and the actors knew that it was time to let it die decently, instead of making a parody of it and it being canceled 2 years later.

[Tap Dancer]

I don't think he's creepy. I think he was going through an awkward period like everyone does. The only thing I found strange was how long it took him to finally become interested in girls (or "gurrrls," as Beaver would say). LOL