For those of you that saw what did you think of the pilot episode of LITB? I thought it was ok. Im glad they switched Wally. The Wally on the original series was much better looking and a better actor than other one I saw last night. Also Ward Im glad they switched even though the one last night was much younger. I don't think I ever saw the the Ward on the original series smoke I know he had a pipe but I never saw him smoke it that sets a good example. What did you think of the pilot?

I posted about this in another topic but I'll post here too...

I noticed some big differences in June in the pilot, and you know what? I liked that June better! Although I like the show as is, I really loved that June had some common sense in the pilot. Did you notice that June and Ward's attitude toward the kids almost seemed reversed? She was the one who understood the boys and reassured Ward that everything would be fine. I kinda liked that, I wish they would have kept that part of June with the new Ward being the same. They could both have understood the kids, right? I don't think lines like "Ward, do you really think the Beaver would have stayed in that tree forever?" added anything better to the show.

It also seemed so quiet without the laugh track!

I posted about this in another topic but I'll post here too...

I noticed some big differences in June in the pilot, and you know what? I liked that June better! Although I like the show as is, I really loved that June had some common sense in the pilot. Did you notice that June and Ward's attitude toward the kids almost seemed reversed? She was the one who understood the boys and reassured Ward that everything would be fine. I kinda liked that, I wish they would have kept that part of June with the new Ward being the same. They could both have understood the kids, right? I don't think lines like "Ward, do you really think the Beaver would have stayed in that tree forever?" added anything better to the show.

It also seemed so quiet without the laugh track!Yeah,I also noticed that without the laugh track,it seemed like a drama.And in some spots,bore a VERY strong resemblance to the latter Universal City Studios/new house episodes.For example:The Ward character was a lot calmer(didn't fly off the handle,)and was more like the Ward in the new house years.As far as that Frankie guy ,who was the model for the Eddie Haskell character,he wasn't very nice to either Wally and the Beaver,and I'm glad they changed the character to Eddie Haskell.Eddie Haskell ,although devious and sneaky,was sorta likable.The "Frankie"character,WASN'T.

I will say the actors who played Wally and Ward sure did resemble each other. They could have easily passed as true-life father and son. June seemed a bit different. It was indeed weird not having the laugh track. I wonder if that is how they intended the show to be or was the laugh track missing simply because it was the pilot?

I was shocked at how the man who ran the milk company went and implied that Wally and Beaver "conned" him into giving them a bike. That was so unrealistic. A man in charge of a company WOULD KNOW WHETHER THERE WAS A CONTEST OR NOT. And for him to go and tell the Cleavers in that manner was so rude and mean. He made it seem like the boys were con artists and held a gun to his head demanding a bike. :lol:

I enjoyed the story, but I didn't like Wally or Ward a lot. Guess I'm just prejudiced. ;) I'm really glad they changed actors.

I will say the actors who played Wally and Ward sure did resemble each other. They could have easily passed as true-life father and son. June seemed a bit different. It was indeed weird not having the laugh track. I wonder if that is how they intended the show to be or was the laugh track missing simply because it was the pilot?

I was shocked at how the man who ran the milk company went and implied that Wally and Beaver "conned" him into giving them a bike. That was so unrealistic. A man in charge of a company WOULD KNOW WHETHER THERE WAS A CONTEST OR NOT. And for him to go and tell the Cleavers in that manner was so rude and mean. He made it seem like the boys were con artists and held a gun to his head demanding a bike. :lol:Yeah,and it was good the way Wally and Beaver put him in his place.And it was nice that June saw the whole thing.She probably told Ward what the boys did,and if Ward had been there,he would have been proud of the boys.No wonder they got the bike after all.Ward and June must have REALLY been proud of the boys.And it's kind of strange:In the pilot,we didn't see a lot of Ward.Only June and the boys.Verdict:A pretty good pilot film.

Yeah,and it was good the way Wally and Beaver put him in his place.And it was nice that June saw the whole thing.
I thought it was strange that she stood there and let a couple of strangers grab Wally's arm like that, and see the Beaver kick him in the shins and never go over there and check on the situation. Boy those were different times, eh?

I also thought it was cute that Beaver liked Miss Sims the same way he liked Miss Canfield. The writers/producers must have liked that concept enough to keep it when "Miss Sims" stayed and became Miss Canfield. :)

I enjoyed the story, but I didn't like Wally or Ward a lot. Guess I'm just prejudiced. ;) I'm really glad they changed actors.

We watched it last night (recorded it to DVD) and frankly, the original Ward creeped all of us out, so I have to agree.

I can't remember ever seeing the pilot with the different actors, but after reading everyone's posts I'd sure like to see it.

I will say the actors who played Wally and Ward sure did resemble each other. They could have easily passed as true-life father and son. June seemed a bit different. It was indeed weird not having the laugh track. I wonder if that is how they intended the show to be or was the laugh track missing simply because it was the pilot?

I was shocked at how the man who ran the milk company went and implied that Wally and Beaver "conned" him into giving them a bike. That was so unrealistic. A man in charge of a company WOULD KNOW WHETHER THERE WAS A CONTEST OR NOT. And for him to go and tell the Cleavers in that manner was so rude and mean. He made it seem like the boys were con artists and held a gun to his head demanding a bike. :lol:
I agree it was weird without a laugh track it was like watching one of those old black and white films. Very strange.

I can't remember ever seeing the pilot with the different actors, but after reading everyone's posts I'd sure like to see it.
I think you can view it on the TVLand website.

I thought it was okay...

I liked Casey as the cannon/horse trader on TAGS than as Ward Cleaver...

Got the freakest eyes... LOL

Glad Tony came on as Wally and Hugh came on as Ward... :wave:

The kid that played Wally always looked bored, he never showed any expression on his face. I'm glad Tony Dow got casted as Wally, he was more interesting to watch.

I felt it was the Milk Company's goof and the boys should kept the bike. I always enjoy Joe Kearns. Good old Mr Wilson from Dennis the Menace. Diane Brewster was kept and her new role was Miss Canfield.

It was much better than the rest of the series. But im glad they got a new Wally and Ward.

I thought it was surprisingly good and had many of the good things about the series already in place. Just shows that main reason the series worked was it had great producers who really understood the show and its characters and choose everything and everybody with care. And then even tweaked it and made it better. It was a great first effort. Jerry Mathers was already a great little actor and could just about carry the show's appeal by himself. It looked great. That I really noticed. Here's a show fifty years old and it looked better and more professional than the one camera shows they shoot now. Maybe they didn't add the laugh track because it was a pilot but, whatever, they were smart enough to correct that mistake, too. Now they leave 'em off and think the feel of that dead air is hip. I didn't think the actors who played Ward, Wally, and Eddie were bad at all and yet they recast with actors who made the roles great. And even kept on Richard Deacon as a semi regular. I wish shows were as good and producers were as smart and talented as this now. It's no wonder this series worked so well. A very good pilot.