Did Leave it to Beaver end just at the right time - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 12-04-2019, 03:57 PM

What I mean is that are we in agreement that the show was pretty much representative of the era of the Cold War and President Eisenhower and then John F. Kennedy plus the ‘innocent’ youth of the time? So when when John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas and then 2 months later the Beatles came along, the world was never the same. And America’s Leave It To Beaver (black and white) ideals were all but over too.

Scrabjan1 · 12-04-2019, 04:10 PM

I think the show ended at the right time. I’m glad they had season 6 because we got to see Eddie a lot in the last season. Jerry had pretty much grown out of his role and was rather embarrassing so the writers wrote for Wally and Eddie. The sheepdog, poor loser and autobiography episodes showed Beaver to be past his prime as well as those silly girls.

getsmartbeaver · 12-04-2019, 07:00 PM

Personally, I think it should have ended season 4. I thought the writing peaked season 2 and was pretty good season 1. 3 had a few odd decisions in plot choices, and 4 the scenarios for Beaver with how old Beaver and Jerry are still seemed believable. Seasons 5 and 6, on the other hand, did not. Maybe if season 4 had more Wally, Eddie and Lumpy-centric episodes, it could have gone out with a bang better that way than in season 6.

stevea · 12-05-2019, 09:19 AM

I'm not saying it should have ended after season 3, but the departure of Rusty Stevens (who wanted out and they let him) and Jeri Weil (who had outgrown her role) really marked a change. By the end of the 4th season, which was full of inconsistencies and gaffes, Mathers was starting his growth spurt.

On the other hand there were some notable later episodes, such as In The Soup, probably the best-known LITB episode. And a Connelly and Mosher script, Nobody Loves Me, took great advantage of Mathers' adolescence.

I agree that the show handled the later seasons fairly well, concentrating more on Wally and his group. With Beaver and the silly girls (and some of those silly scripts), instead of that they could have had him develop an early relationship with a girl, turning it into a slight problem for Ward and June to deal with.

MichaelMartinD · 12-09-2019, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMC

What I mean is that we we in agreement that the show was pretty much was representative of the era of the cold war and Presidents Eisenhower and then John F. Kennedy plus the ‘innocent’ youth of the time? So when when John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas and then 2 months later the Beatles came along, the world was never the same. And America’s Leave It To Beaver (black and white) ideals were all buy over too.

Yes, LITB ended just when it should have. It remains a perfect time capsule of the late 50s and early 60s. Any further seasons would have been overkill and we would probably, sixty years later, find ourselves having discussions like "Do you prefer the black and white or the color episodes of Leave It to Beaver?" (as is the case with The Andy Griffith Show).

As to the argument that everything changed after the Kennedy assassination and the Beatles, well...I was not alive then, but I strongly suspect that a lot of this is just back-formation and stuff that the media has made us believe about the 60s. Maybe people who were alive then can contribute to the discussion of how much did things really change from the mid-60s on?

PracTz · 12-09-2019, 01:32 PM

Oh, I definitely think the show ended at the right time (even taking off the table the impending tragedy of President Kennedy).

Beaver had gone from a cute kid who disliked girls to an awkward teen who LIKED girls but it seems few if any liked him back.

Wally had just graduated high school so, unless somehow they concocted a Mayfield College to keep him around, they'd have had to have him leave the area so who would Beaver had bantered with on the home front? And of course, that would have subtracted regular interactions with Eddie and Lumpy so that wouldn't have worked too well.

Ward and June were as conventional as ever but there had never really been any storylines with themselves as the focus instead of their sons' reactions to them and vice versa so it would have been awkward to have started doing those so late in the game.

1960'sTVfan · 12-09-2019, 02:43 PM

Yes I think Leave It To Beaver ended at about the right time, six seasons was just about right. And the best thing is, each season has 39 episodes, how awesome is that

. In seasons 5 and 6 when Beaver was growing out of childhood and entering that awkward in between stage, it was wise of the writers to create more stories that focused on Wally, this change didn't harm the series because Wally was a popular character anyway.

However, I believe the series has a continuity error with respect to the grades the two boys were in as the series went along. If I have it correct, in season 1 when the series began, Wally is said to be an 8th grader which would have made him a college freshman in season 6, but in season 6 Wally is actually a senior/12 grader in high school and preparing to graduate. So what happened to Wally? Did he flunk a grade along the way and have to repeat it?

It's the opposite with Beaver, in season 1 when the series began, he's said to be a 2nd grader which would have put him in the 7th grade in season 6. But in season 6, Beaver is actually an 8th grader preparing to graduate grammar school and enter high school. So what happened with Beaver? Did he do so well in school one year that he got double promoted and was allowed to skip a grade?

stevea · 12-09-2019, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelMartinD

Yes, LITB ended just when it should have. It remains a perfect time capsule of the late 50s and early 60s. Any further seasons would have been overkill and we would probably, sixty years later, find ourselves having discussions like "Do you prefer the black and white or the color episodes of Leave It to Beaver?" (as is the case with The Andy Griffith Show).

As to the argument that everything changed after the Kennedy assassination and the Beatles, well...I was not alive then, but I strongly suspect that a lot of this is just back-formation and stuff that the media has made us believe about the 60s. Maybe people who were alive then can contribute to the discussion of how much did things really change from the mid-60s on?

The Beatles and the general British Invasion in music were definitely a part of the so-called counter culture environment of the mid to late 60s. Although the assassination was a watershed event--and, like 9/11, everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing (I was sitting in my seventh grade classroom)--I don't think it contributed to this movement. The whole time was one of general upheaval and unrest, probably even a little worse than times are now. The world of TV was slow on the uptake, and caught up around 1970.

LITB was slated to go color the next season, so yes, that would have been a topic of discussion for sure. IIRC ABC wanted to renew but Connelly and Mosher pulled the plug, plus Mathers wanted out.

stevea · 12-09-2019, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

...I believe the series has a continuity error with respect to the grades the two boys were in as the series went along. If I have it correct, in season 1 when the series began, Wally is said to be an 8th grader which would have made him a college freshman in season 6, but in season 6 Wally is actually a senior/12 grader in high school and preparing to graduate. So what happened to Wally? Did he flunk a grade along the way and have to repeat it?

It's the opposite with Beaver, in season 1 when the series began, he's said to be a 2nd grader which would have put him in the 7th grade in season 6. But in season 6, Beaver is actually an 8th grader preparing to graduate grammar school and enter high school. So what happened with Beaver? Did he do so well in school one year that he got double promoted and was allowed to skip a grade?

Yes, Beaver was never in the seventh grade, and Wally would have been a senior in season 5, although I don't think his high school level was mentioned in the final two seasons.

In the season 4 Chuckie's Shoes episode shown today on MeTV, Ward made a comment about Wally being a junior in high school.

MichaelMartinD · 12-09-2019, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevea

The Beatles and the general British Invasion in music were definitely a part of the so-called counter culture environment of the mid to late 60s. Although the assassination was a watershed event--and, like 9/11, everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing (I was sitting in my seventh grade classroom)--I don't think it contributed to this movement. The whole time was one of general upheaval and unrest, probably even a little worse than times are now. The world of TV was slow on the uptake, and caught up around 1970.

Here is something I've always wondered: How pervasive was the counterculture? I mean, wasn't it limited to a pretty small contingent of the society? Did, say, people in a small town feel the effect of it at all?

stevea · 12-09-2019, 04:21 PM

Boys wore their hair longer and girls wore their skirts shorter. The counter culture was very highly publicized, and had a large influence in music. But affecting everyday people and their lives? It can be debated but I'd say not much--see first sentence.

Scrabjan1 · 12-09-2019, 05:30 PM

Also in another episode recently maybe Beaver’s IQ Wally says he’s a junior. So he was a junior in season 4.

stevea · 12-09-2019, 06:02 PM

In a late season 4 episode Wally mentions a water fountain the class of '62 is going to give the school. That's supposed to be his class, so he would be a senior in season 5.

At the beginning, S1, Beaver should have been a third grader and Wally a seventh grader. Then everything would have worked out right.

To make it worse, in Family Scrapbook, they were getting everything wrong on grades. They made a reference to the 'Spelled episode and said Beaver was in the first grade, and in the clip Wally makes a reference to him being in the second grade. Also a reference to the class picture being sixth grade, but it was fifth.

Grades in school were their worst continuity errors.

1960'sTVfan · 12-09-2019, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevea

At the beginning, S1, Beaver should have been grade 3 and Wally a freshman. Then everything would have worked out right.

It's correct that Beaver should have been a 3rd grader in season 1, but Wally in season 1 should actually have been a 7th grader in order for him to be a 12th grader/high school senior in season 6.

stevea · 12-09-2019, 07:59 PM

Thanks for correcting that! I'll edit the post.

12-04-2019, 03:57 PM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 126,555	Did Leave it to Beaver end just at the right time What I mean is that are we in agreement that the show was pretty much representative of the era of the Cold War and President Eisenhower and then John F. Kennedy plus the ‘innocent’ youth of the time? So when when John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas and then 2 months later the Beatles came along, the world was never the same. And America’s Leave It To Beaver (black and white) ideals were all but over too.
	Last edited by TMC; 03-21-2025 at 03:20 AM.

12-09-2019, 06:02 PM	#13
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,807	In a late season 4 episode Wally mentions a water fountain the class of '62 is going to give the school. That's supposed to be his class, so he would be a senior in season 5. At the beginning, S1, Beaver should have been a third grader and Wally a seventh grader. Then everything would have worked out right. To make it worse, in Family Scrapbook, they were getting everything wrong on grades. They made a reference to the 'Spelled episode and said Beaver was in the first grade, and in the clip Wally makes a reference to him being in the second grade. Also a reference to the class picture being sixth grade, but it was fifth. Grades in school were their worst continuity errors.
	Last edited by stevea; 12-09-2019 at 08:00 PM. Reason: corr. of grade

12-04-2019, 04:10 PM	#2
Scrabjan1 Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 27, 2013 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 3,521	I think the show ended at the right time. I’m glad they had season 6 because we got to see Eddie a lot in the last season. Jerry had pretty much grown out of his role and was rather embarrassing so the writers wrote for Wally and Eddie. The sheepdog, poor loser and autobiography episodes showed Beaver to be past his prime as well as those silly girls.

12-04-2019, 07:00 PM	#3
getsmartbeaver Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 07, 2014 Location: United States Posts: 133	Personally, I think it should have ended season 4. I thought the writing peaked season 2 and was pretty good season 1. 3 had a few odd decisions in plot choices, and 4 the scenarios for Beaver with how old Beaver and Jerry are still seemed believable. Seasons 5 and 6, on the other hand, did not. Maybe if season 4 had more Wally, Eddie and Lumpy-centric episodes, it could have gone out with a bang better that way than in season 6.

12-05-2019, 09:19 AM	#4
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,807	I'm not saying it should have ended after season 3, but the departure of Rusty Stevens (who wanted out and they let him) and Jeri Weil (who had outgrown her role) really marked a change. By the end of the 4th season, which was full of inconsistencies and gaffes, Mathers was starting his growth spurt. On the other hand there were some notable later episodes, such as In The Soup, probably the best-known LITB episode. And a Connelly and Mosher script, Nobody Loves Me, took great advantage of Mathers' adolescence. I agree that the show handled the later seasons fairly well, concentrating more on Wally and his group. With Beaver and the silly girls (and some of those silly scripts), instead of that they could have had him develop an early relationship with a girl, turning it into a slight problem for Ward and June to deal with.

12-09-2019, 01:32 PM	#6
PracTz Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 14, 2002 Location: United States of America [Happily Living in the 20th Century] Posts: 2,711	Oh, I definitely think the show ended at the right time (even taking off the table the impending tragedy of President Kennedy). Beaver had gone from a cute kid who disliked girls to an awkward teen who LIKED girls but it seems few if any liked him back. Wally had just graduated high school so, unless somehow they concocted a Mayfield College to keep him around, they'd have had to have him leave the area so who would Beaver had bantered with on the home front? And of course, that would have subtracted regular interactions with Eddie and Lumpy so that wouldn't have worked too well. Ward and June were as conventional as ever but there had never really been any storylines with themselves as the focus instead of their sons' reactions to them and vice versa so it would have been awkward to have started doing those so late in the game.

12-09-2019, 02:43 PM	#7
1960'sTVfan Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 30, 2009 Posts: 6,122	Yes I think Leave It To Beaver ended at about the right time, six seasons was just about right. And the best thing is, each season has 39 episodes, how awesome is that . In seasons 5 and 6 when Beaver was growing out of childhood and entering that awkward in between stage, it was wise of the writers to create more stories that focused on Wally, this change didn't harm the series because Wally was a popular character anyway. However, I believe the series has a continuity error with respect to the grades the two boys were in as the series went along. If I have it correct, in season 1 when the series began, Wally is said to be an 8th grader which would have made him a college freshman in season 6, but in season 6 Wally is actually a senior/12 grader in high school and preparing to graduate. So what happened to Wally? Did he flunk a grade along the way and have to repeat it? It's the opposite with Beaver, in season 1 when the series began, he's said to be a 2nd grader which would have put him in the 7th grade in season 6. But in season 6, Beaver is actually an 8th grader preparing to graduate grammar school and enter high school. So what happened with Beaver? Did he do so well in school one year that he got double promoted and was allowed to skip a grade?

12-09-2019, 04:21 PM	#11
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,807	Boys wore their hair longer and girls wore their skirts shorter. The counter culture was very highly publicized, and had a large influence in music. But affecting everyday people and their lives? It can be debated but I'd say not much--see first sentence.

12-09-2019, 05:30 PM	#12
Scrabjan1 Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 27, 2013 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 3,521	Also in another episode recently maybe Beaver’s IQ Wally says he’s a junior. So he was a junior in season 4.

12-09-2019, 07:59 PM	#15
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,807	Thanks for correcting that! I'll edit the post.