Leave it to beaver
 

I find myself mystified by time gone by. Life so simple and dreams of life style going by. What wonderful parents Ward and June portray in make believe town of Mayfield. As with any sitcom certain supporting characters really make this show pop. Like Eddie Haskell, Lumpy, and lumpy's dad Fred. just like Steinfeld's Krammer, Neuman, George's dad. I've probably seen majority of these two sitcom's episode's over and over, but still find myself watching and laughing as if I seen them the first time. Evidently I'm not alone there still on after all these years!

My 8 year old grandson is so much like Eddie Haskell and he has never seen the show. Life did seem so simple and perfect back in the day.

When Ward would tell June that he was going The Club" I always thought that that was the height of upper- middle class. My folks did not belong to any club, and I had no reference point. Now I belong to a whole bunch--that that Cleavers!

I have been watching the entire Leave it to Beaver series from the beginning over the last few months on Netflix streaming. I am now in late season 5. In those days a season was 39 episodes, so the 5 seasons total 195. And there were far fewer commercials then so each episode is almost a full half hour.

Unfortunately, Netflix does not have the last season 6 so I don't know how I am going to finish.

Me TV on Comcast cable shows the beaver. My husband watches it everyday it's on at 8:00 am and the next episode shows at 8:30am Monday thru Friday.

I always got a kick of how Ward was always dressed up even while doing stuff around the house.

Did you know that Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond - current age 70) later became a cop with the LAPD? While serving he was wounded 3 times.

(Click here to view the full biography )

I did not know that!:shocked:

That was so cool! Thank you for sharing.

Life WAS simpler back then - especially when we were only 5 - 10 years old at the time. LOL

I was watching the recent episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee by Jerry Seinfeld, and he was describing a 1956 Corvette convertible:

"It is absolutely the essence of American futuristic positivism of the post-war society at that time. In the 1950s, people just didn't see anything that was bad. Everything, from the American perspective, looked like this car. Colorful, energetic, happy -- 'We've perfected life!'

It struck me as I was watching, because that seems to be the sociological consensus about the 50's, but is it true? I mean, we were kids. While it might have seemed pretty idyllic to us then, or even now in hazy retrospect, I wonder if our parents felt the same. I know mine certainly weren't anything like Ward and June, beginning with getting divorced.

Leave It To Beaver was the type of life that veterans desired for their families after WWII. Returning home to get on with their lives and live the good life. It was a time of prosperity and good feelings.

Something we kids were not aware of at that time. It was beautifully acted and portrayed an idyllic existence.

The golden age of television brings back such wonderful memories. :smiley:

It was true for me from 4 to 14 in a small Midwestern town in the fifties. Probably not so much for a black kid of the same age growing up in Mississippi or Alabama.

The fifties were wonderful in real life as well as on TV, a true golden age in America. I remember when cars first got wrap around single pane windshields, built in A/C and tail fins, 45 rpm records and a whole lot more. Things really started to go down hill in the mid sixties after SAT scores peaked in 1965.

I am glad I grew up when I did, mostly in the fifties.

Having traveled throughout the world as a child, I really didn't see the fifties as that idyllic, even in America. There was no question there was more of everything here but I really didn't see that people were all that happy. There was too much keeping up with the Joneses then. Racial discrimination was a fact of life. Women really were relegated to the kitchen. Television was a wonderful fantasy but rarely depicted life as lived by the vast majority.

Growing in a true country store in the 50's and 60's was the best. That was the time of new soft drinks, candy and ice cream every week. We lived over the store and I can still remember the day the Zenith TV was delivered!

Good point, Ed. So much of history is filtered through the eyes of and passed down by the white majority, as well as academic elites. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie Selma next month for another perspective. The book and movie The Help similarly provided different insights.

Good point, Ed. So much of history is filtered through the eyes of and passed down by the white majority, as well as academic elites"

So what are you saying everything written or made by the white majority is not the truth?


How did this turn Racial? So I mention TV show that involved white people now it RACIST! It's MAKE BELIEVE TV series and you had the option NOT to watch it if it was so Racial. Just Like Jefferson's, Cosby show, Andy Griffin show, ECT...these was also make believe TV shows.

So what makes you think the Movie truly what happen? WE believe what we want to regardless who written it down told story in there eyes.

It seems to me that the academic elites lean way to the left as does the mainstream media. Those are the the folks writing history, quite inaccurately I might add.

of course life for our parents was not as idyllic as portrayed but we were shielded from all the decadence in the world by shows which gave us an ideal to which to aspire....same with the Cosby show for black families....now, unfortunately, tv has become a quagmire of all the dregs of society, murder, adultery, drugs, etc....very little uplifting programming. writers of today could take a lesson from the shows of the past.

Even the new "happy shows" are so dumb. Thank goodness for reruns!

Beaver back on! Comcast channel 210, 3pm to 4pm week days.:a040:

Yes we did have great TV shows growing up. Also Dennis the Mennis, make room for daddy and my favorite the little rascals

When I was growing up I thought that all TV sitcoms were that way, very predictable. About as real as a Weekly Reader. They were neither funny or entertaining to me. All in the Family was a game changer. I felt like I knew those characters. In college that was the only show that people would gather in the dorm "living room?" to watch. It standing room only. The only other shows of Norman Lear's that I liked was Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and Fernwood Tonight. I thought they were game changers too.

Ha Ha Ha......."Take it easy on the beaver tonight Ward".........My favorite recollection of "Leave it to Beaver".

Netflix finally put up season 6 and I'm about halfway through.

Bill O'Reily interviews Eddi Haskel. click here


You will never guess what happened to Lumpy.

...

June to Ward-"Ward,don't you think we're being a little hard on the Beaver?"

I loved Andy Griffith. Little Opie was always learning a lesson from his Pa ! :)