Did Beaver Swear?

[JaneTVFan]

I turned on LITB tonight late in the episode and caught Beaver confessing to his mother at the dinner table that he had gotten in trouble for saying a "bad word" at school. Did anyone hear what he said? I'd love to know what was considered a bad word on LITB circa 1961.

[DarleneIllyria]

Okay, if I remember correctly (didn't see the episode tonight, but I've seen it before) Beaver and a group of friends are arguing and Beaver says a curse word, the school bell rings and it blocks out the curse word. Unfortunately, Ms. Landers is coming out of the room when Beaver says the curse word and she hears him.

Even though it was the early 60s, can you imagine if the censors let him say the curse word and everybody in tvland could hear it? I wonder if they originally wrote it that way? Beaver saying 'damn' or something and the censors pitched a fit about it, and the only way they could do the episode was have the bell ring at the exact same time Beaver said the word?

[JaneTVFan]

Thanks for the explanation. Even if the bell drowned out what he said, that's still would have been a pretty bold thing for them to do back in those days. There seem to be a number of episodes that seem groundbreaking for that time, like about divorce, alcoholism, SWEARING. I've never seen any of those topics dealt with in any way on other shows of that period. I'm sorry I missed Beaver's cursing scene today. I wonder if you could read his lips? :)

Originally posted by Jenny
Okay, if I remember correctly (didn't see the episode tonight, but I've seen it before) Beaver and a group of friends are arguing and Beaver says a curse word, the school bell rings and it blocks out the curse word. Unfortunately, Ms. Landers is coming out of the room when Beaver says the curse word and she hears him.

Even though it was the early 60s, can you imagine if the censors let him say the curse word and everybody in tvland could hear it? I wonder if they originally wrote it that way? Beaver saying 'damn' or something and the censors pitched a fit about it, and the only way they could do the episode was have the bell ring at the exact same time Beaver said the word?

[FOL85NatandMrsGRock]

:lol: i just about fell off of my rocker laughing at the whole situation, and i don't think he was saying hell or damn or anythign like that, he was calling some bully who knocked him over a real big *school bell* isn't that funny!?!?!?!?!?!


Toodles! :rock:

[frani]

You know, when I was a kid (I'm a few years younger than Jerry Mathers) I couldn't even call someone a louse without getting in trouble. You couldn't say "damn" or "hell" and bitch or bastard would have been scandalous. And to have it heard by a woman teacher would have made it even worse. So I'm sure he didn't say anything that terrible. Just the times.

[FOL85NatandMrsGRock]

yea, cuz i guess barbara would get mad at frank bank when he would swear, he didn't thinks he could hear it probably, so what about sh*t or f*ck? what happened if you say those? cuz you know the f-word is pretty bad now, i wonder what it would have been back then!!!!

[BBF]

I taped this episode last year and when this topic came up it started bothering me what he said, so I watched the tape and I watched that part several times to see if I could make out what he might have said by reading his lips. I know he probably didn't even say anything because he knew it would be beeped out by the bell, but if you watch really close, it looks as though he's calling the bully a Jackass! Not so bad these days, but in Grammar school in 1961, it was probably horrendous!

[Artfiore1]

Hi all,
Yes, Beaver called the kid a name. He said, "You're a . . . ", and then the schoolbell rang and conveniently drowned out the rest.

Whatever it was, the audience was supposed to get the impression that it was something REALLY, REALLY bad. 'Cause Miss Landers, who showed up at just the right moment, was mortified! She wrote a note for Beaver to take home to his parents! And, Wally later told Beaver that he *definitely* couldn't tell his mother what the word was, and he wasn't even sure he could tell his father what it was!

But, you never know what kids back then considerd bad, or what grownups back then considered bad for kids to say. I remember once in first grade (1963-'64) my teacher, a nun, asking me, "Is that your bum leg?" (meaning the one I had fractured the previous summer). I practically went into shock, because this nun had used such a dirty word ("bum").

Later,
Art

[JaneTVFan]

Originally posted by BeaversBiggestFan
I taped this episode last year and when this topic came up it started bothering me what he said, so I watched the tape and I watched that part several times to see if I could make out what he might have said by reading his lips. I know he probably didn't even say anything because he knew it would be beeped out by the bell, but if you watch really close, it looks as though he's calling the bully a Jackass! Not so bad these days, but in Grammar school in 1961, it was probably horrendous!

I remember hearing Darrin call someone a jackass on Bewitched once and I was shocked. Of course, there can be a difference between jackass and ass. Jackass is understood to mean either a male donkey or a stupid or obnoxious person, whereas an ass can be a male donkey, it can be a stupid or obnoxious person, or it can also be, well, an ass, as in the region of the body where the digestive process ends, generally considered a vulgar term when used in that sense.

[JaneTVFan]

Originally posted by Artfiore1
But, you never know what kids back then considerd bad, or what grownups back then considered bad for kids to say.

Yeah, that reminds me of the time when Marcia called one of her friends a stinker. Mom's reaction (paraphrasing): "Marcia! You know I don't allow that word to be used in this house."

[JaneTVFan]

Originally posted by JaneTVFan


Yeah, that reminds me of the time when Marcia called one of her friends a stinker. Mom's reaction (paraphrasing): "Marcia! You know I don't allow that word to be used in this house."

BTW, that's Marcia Brady I was referring to.

[HaskellGirl]

There's a really funny scene in a later episode when Beaver is mad at Wally. I think its the episode where Wally gets to go to the baseball game with Ward because there's only 2 tickets and Gilbert convinces Beaver that the older sibling always gets his/her way. Anyway, Wally is talking to June about it and says something like:

"Today I saw Beaver walking home from school and I offered him a ride, and he told me to-"

June is shocked and asks, "To what?!"

"Um, he said he'd rather walk."

Its SUCH a hilarious scene, because you can only imagine what Beaver told Wally to do. I think its smart of them to leave the swear words out because then its left up to your imagination.

[FOL85NatandMrsGRock]

HAHAH!!!! I can't wait to see that scene!! i think there was another scene were wally and beaver were reading out of a book and beaver said that wally was reading becuase there were a lot of words in there that his teacher said he should not say, but then june or ward or both of them just laughed, wouldn't you think that wally shouldn't be saying it either???

[bktFan]

Oh, he probably called him a bastard or something. Imagine Beaver even knowing that word!!!

[Jack1000]

LOL! Great thread about "Beaver's Bad Word!" I always thought that it might have been something like "Jackass" or "A**hole" but if you watch his lips, it appears that 'Ass" is part of the mystery word! LOL!

Ok! Only Jerry Mathers knows for sure! So somebody needs to ask him what the word was! If he actually said a word, or just "mouthed" it! This question definitely has an answer!

Jack

[FOL85NatandMrsGRock]

i wonder if he got scolded for mouthing the word or if they actually said, mouth some dirty word, haha!

[Tap Dancer]

I got into trouble for saying the word "ass" in fifth grade. I didn't know the teacher was right behind me when I said it... LOL :nonono:

[Artfiore1]

Tap Dancer,
That's funny -- when I was in the fifth grade, I got in trouble for drawing a picture of somebody's "ass." I got yelled at by the teacher. The girl who snitched on me to the teacher eventually became a politician in town and then died . . . too young.





Later,
Art