Wally & Beav's Age Differential

[oldiesfan]

Wednesday evening (04/03/02) TV Land did a segue from the last episode to the first episode.

In the final few episodes of the series, Beaver is graduating from eighth grade and Wally from high school (in one scene Wally is putting his diploma on the wall). In episode number one it is stated that Beaver is in second grade and Wally in eighth.

Hmmm...six years apart at the start of the show but only four years apart at the end! I don't think it was documented that grades were either skipped or repeated--it must be that bizarre TV teenage aging process, I guess.

Wonder why Beav was still in Grant Ave. Grammar School in eighth grade...no junior high in Mayfield? And what's the deal with the principal (Mrs. Rayburn) teaching Beaver's class all day instead of "principal-ing"?

[tdr]

Copied from "Re: Ages of the Charaters" on pg. 4 ...

the ages of the Mayfield characters...in the episode during which Beaver tries to join the Scouts (like Wally, Eddie et al did), Wally and Eddie give their ages as "12 years old", and claim to be in the 8th grade...when Beaver gets to the front of the line, he says he's "8 and 3/4 years old" (i.e. almost 9) and in 2nd grade...How is it that the other kids are basically 3 years older than Beaver, but are 6 years ahead of him in school? Eight years old is normal for 2nd grade, but by the time you're in 8th grade you should be about 14...what happened here?

re: I did not see that particular ep this past weekend, but I recall Beaver saying he is "SEVEN and three-quarters." Anyway, I
thought most states were quite standard in that a student starts first grade based on Sept. 1 following his sixth birthday. (Though some exceptions have been allowed, including my sister, who was permitted to start early because her b-day is in early Sept.; also, students who switch from private school with early admission, to public.)

If that is the case, then Beaver being in the second grade at 7 3/4 is correct; but the older boys being in the eighth grade at 12 appears a year early. Were there, perhaps, differing rules about such things, considering the nation's birthrate should have slowed down quite a bit during WW2 (Wally's and Eddie's age indicates they were born in '45, and Ward was supposed to have been in the South Pacific during the war [don't read too much into this : )] ). My dad was also in the S.Pacific, and he was gone from '41 to '45 continuously. The point is, was the minimum age for starting school a year less around '50-'51 to help make room for all the original 'baby boomers' born in '46?

One other point. In season #1, Wally is in grade 8 and Beaver in grade 2. In the final season, #6, Wally is a h.s. senior and Beaver is in grade 8. Wally was not held back 2 grades in school. It seems Wally 'lost' a year and Beaver 'gained' a year. So I really don't see why they had to start the series run with the boys farther apart in age than was necessary-- and true, considering that TD is just 3 years older than JM. >>>

As to Mrs. Rayburn being the regular teacher, as well as the principal, I think that's just something where we are supposed to disregard its inauthenticity, just like as earlier Miss Landers taught Beaver's class in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. Beaver also had other teachers in the 5th and 6th seasons; Mr. Bailey and Mr. Thompson.

I also have thought that there is a junior high or intermediate school between elementray [grammar] school and high school, except in very small towns which only need one grammar school and one high school. Mayfied does not seem to be that small... especially since in "Beaver's Graduation" Wally says there are 6 grammar schools from which students graduate to Mayfield High. For what I know, some school districts perhaps did cut out the intermediate/junior high/middle school step, but not towns the size Mayfield is indicated to be.

[DarleneIllyria]

Originally posted by tdr
Copied from "Re: Ages of the Charaters" on pg. 4 ...
As to Mrs. Rayburn being the regular teacher, as well as the principal, I think that's just something where we are supposed to disregard its inauthenticity, just like as earlier Miss Landers taught Beaver's class in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. Beaver also had other teachers in the 5th and 6th seasons; Mr. Bailey and Mr. Thompson.

Look at Opie. Just how many years did he have Ms. Crump for a teacher? I think Opie was in 3rd or 4th grade when Ms Crump came, and then when the series ended he was still in Ms. Crump's class. Can anybody else think of this happening? Where one student has the same teacher throughout most of the series?

[Junie Bronson]

I'm glad someone else noticed the age difference. In one of the first shows, it's stated that Beav is in second grade and that Wally is in 8th grade. I was trying to figure out how the series ended with Beav in 8th and Wally in 12th. Everyone knows that Wally was bright, so he wouldn't have been held back. Lumpy was held back a year, but not Wally. It seems like Wally was a sophomore for a long time, while Beav was moving up the ladder. I have a feeling that the producers didn't want to have Wally move away to attend college, so it probably made more sense to have him age more slowly. Yes, I also found it odd that Wally and Eddie were 12 and in the 8th grade.

I didn't find it strange that Beav had Miss Landers for so many year or that Mrs. Rayburn the principal was also a teacher. I went to a school where I had a teacher for more than one year and my 8th grade teacher was also the principal.

[Angela Valentine]

Oh, thank God! This is the reason I came to this board in the first place. I was up for an hour the other night thinking about it. And imagine, if Wally was a sophmore for more than a year a two, how many years did Lumpy end up being in high school? He must have had tenure.

[Cashodeen]

Originally posted by Angela Valentine
Oh, thank God! This is the reason I came to this board in the first place. I was up for an hour the other night thinking about it. And imagine, if Wally was a sophmore for more than a year a two, how many years did Lumpy end up being in high school? He must have had tenure.

I don't know if the changing of Wally's grade happened during the middle of a season or if it was in between the seasons. TV Land is in the middle of season 4, and he's been said to be a junior, which means the inconsistency either doesn't start until later in 4 (where he backtracks to a sophomore) or until season 5, where he may be a junior again. Perhaps he does backtrack, since people are remembering him being a sophomore for a long time. I can't imagine him playing a sophomore in ever in season 5 and then moving to a senior in 6. I DON'T think that happens.

I think Lumpy was a sophomore in season 1. (Experts might have to correct me on this. I know he was said to be 15 in an epsiode.) So LITB showed Lumpy as a highschooler for at least 7 years! (6 seasons of LITB, and assuming he was a freshman the year before season 1.) If he was a freshman during season 1, then that still makes 6 years of hs. Poor guy!

Originally posted by tdr
If that is the case, then Beaver being in the second grade at 7 3/4 is correct; but the older boys being in the eighth grade at 12 appears a year early. Were there, perhaps, differing rules about such things, considering the nation's birthrate should have slowed down quite a bit during WW2 (Wally's and Eddie's age indicates they were born in '45, and Ward was supposed to have been in the South Pacific during the war [don't read too much into this : )] ). My dad was also in the S.Pacific, and he was gone from '41 to '45 continuously. The point is, was the minimum age for starting school a year less around '50-'51 to help make room for all the original 'baby boomers' born in '46?

My mother was born in Oct., 1957 and she began kindergarden at age 4. Her sister, born in Oct. 1945 did the same thing, so that would mean they'd have been 12 year olds in 8th grade, like Wally started out as. So I always thought beginning school at such a young age was typical for both decades. I never considered the WW2/baby boomer ideas. Interesting points.



I usually notice it when shows change the ages and grades of the kids. I figured that Beaver and Wally started out with grades 2 and 8 probably because they fit those ages best. Beaver certainly passed for a 2nd grader, rather than a 3rd or 4th grader. As for why Beaver was bumped up a grade, I'm not exactly sure. Certainly Wally stayed back so he wouldn't have to go to college, when they did the 6th season.

:wave: