If Aunt Martha is all the way in Bellport (when Ward picks up phone he says long distance) how did she see the article about Beaver in the Mayfield paper? There would be no way.

I really think Judy acts like a perfect bi*ch when she recommends that they have the paper publish that Beaver is a big liar. I’m so surprised they don't get Judy after school in an alley and beat her up or make her life miserable. She has such a big mouth. She’s the one who wanted to put Beaver’s story in the paper.

Wait, I thought Aunt Martha lived in Riverside.

Wherever she lives, it has to be pretty far, not only because of the long distance call, but when she visited to give Beaver the Fallbrook beanie (I'm not sure in that episode why she came all the way to Mayfield), didn't they pick her up at the airport or the train station?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cdFuMgMkBM

The marching band came down along Main Street
The soldier blues fell in behind
I looked across and there I saw Beaver
Waiting to go and join the line

And with her head upon his shoulder
His young and lovely fiancée
From where I stood I saw she was cryin'
And through her tears I heard her say:

"Beaver, don't be a hero
Don't be a fool with your life
Beaver, don't be a hero
Come back and make me your wife"

And as Beaver started to go, she said
"Keep your pretty head low
Beaver, don't be a hero
Come back to me"

Sorry guys, I could not help myself. :happyface

Clever, Billy (or, should I say, Uncle Billy?)

Good old Aunt Mahthuh lived far enough away that the boys had to take a train in one episode to go see her.

As for big mouth Judy, even reading your account of her big mouth action made me laugh. This what makes the show funny, the things people say, esp. the kids, it's the way they think. We can't take the things even brats say seriously.;)

As big as Judy was, (she towered over all the boys) I not sure if anyone wanted to mess with her. She always came across as a bully to me.

Wait, I thought Aunt Martha lived in Riverside.

Wherever she lives, it has to be pretty far, not only because of the long distance call, but when she visited to give Beaver the Fallbrook beanie (I'm not sure in that episode why she came all the way to Mayfield), didn't they pick her up at the airport or the train station?

Didn't Aunt Martha also travel to Mayfield by plane in the short pants episode?

On the other hand Martha and her friend (who were misdirected) drove to Mayfield, when the boys missed their day at the carnival. They got there before lunch. Also didn't Ward drive and pick Beaver up at Martha's when Benji thought Beaver was turned into a rock?

Aunt Martha should have just moved to Mayfield.

Aunt Martha surely moved around. Get there by train or was it plane or maybe a two hour drive like as you said in Beaver the Magician and how they were misdirected in Visiting Aunts. I do recall she lived back east, Bellport and Riverside.

If she lived in Bellport in the fifth season, June could have insisted Wally and Beaver stop by to see her when they went to the amusement park. She could have had them wash their feet and change their socks (and administer smelling salts to Eddie) before they went home.

LOL

As big as Judy was, (she towered over all the boys) I not sure if anyone wanted to mess with her. She always came across as a bully to me.

I think that's why she was let go a little into the fourth season (I think she appeared only once). She shot up and towered over everyone.

They probably took a look at Karen Sue Trent's three appearances in season 3 (the first one, she was unnamed, in Beaver's Dance), and decided to make her a regular, to replace Jeri Weil. In another inconsistency, in one later episode (probably the one where she was going to move) Wally tells Beaver that he'd been sitting next to Penny in school for most of his life. Another interesting thing about Penny: in her last two appearances in season 3 (Beaver and Ivanhoe, Beaver's Team), her brother was part of the episode--when she became a regular, he was dropped, never to be seen or heard of again.

That’s right she had a brother then was an only child. She could be almost as obnoxious as Judy but not quite. I like how Larry’s baby brother disappeared but Larry’s older brother and sister were always talked about never seen. Whitey also had an older brother and older sister who had a baby. I guess that’s why Whitey’s mother and father were old like Mrs. Mondello.

Not quite as obnoxious as Judy is a great description. I could never see Beaver and Judy come even close to being friendly to each other, (like Beaver and Penny were, briefly) even if Judy had stayed on. Judy appeared to be friendly to him on School Bus, but that was only to get a copy of his letter to Mr. Crawford.

Also, IMO, parents of young kids in sitcoms of that era are always too old. Must have had to do with the pool of character actors that were available. Mrs. Mondello was the poster woman for that, as was discussed and lampooned extensively on an old thread.

I loved Madge Blake and really enjoyed her speaking voice. Easy on the ears. My aunt was told when she was accepted into the NY School for Dramatic Arts that her roles would be mostly as a character actress. Who knows she might have been another Madge Blake, Alice Pearce, Thelma Ritter, Imogene Coca, Elsa Lanchester, Nancy Culp, Agnes Moorehead or Mabel Albertson.

Oh yeah, Madge Blake was very enjoyable in any role she did. Probably she was best known as Mrs. Mondello, or maybe Aunt Harriet on Batman. Another highly used character actress of the era was Amzie Strickland...she was in countless shows...in I Love Lucy, at Don Loper's studio, Don even called her Amzie. Then there was Mary Wickes...what a hoot she was as Miss Cathcart on Dennis the Menace.

Now I'm picturing Nancy Kulp as Mrs. Mondello...

Here's a hodge-podge reaction to many of the interesting points covered here.

Speaking of Amzie, she's been showing up on a whole lot of shows I've watched recently. I don't look for her, she's just keeps popping up.

As for character actors, they are actors/actresses who worked more often than the actual "stars". One example amongst 100's, I'm sure, is Roy Barcroft, who always played a bad guy in western movies of cowboy stars (Roy Rogers, Bill Elliott, Gene Autry, you name it). He was 95% of the time always the main bad guy in all these different cowboy stars' movies. He was working almost constantly, while the star might have only worked several months of the year, guys like Barcroft worked all the time for everyone.

Judy was supposed to be one of those kids that always tells the teacher on you and tries to be teacher's pet. I never took her so seriously though as to think she was obnoxious, she was just a funny character, who was like kids we probably knew when we were little. I find her lines and actions funny rather than obnoxious.

And just for the record, Madge Blake is one of my very favorite character actresses. She was in so many of my favorite TV shows, Batman, The Real McCoys, blah blah, she was even in one of my not-favorite shows, Joey Bishop Show. She made that show enjoyable all by herself.

Oh, and just recently I saw another example of a really old guy, supposedly the father of a 4 year old, his wife was also grandma age. It's ridiculous how often you see this thing. What should be grandfather/grandmother roles are turned into newborn parent roles.:crazy:

Another character actor who was all over the place in that era was William Boyett. His main claim to fame was Highway Patrol, where he played second banana (in many episodes) to Broderick Crawford.

I would always recognize these actors but never knew their name. Amzie worked continuously especially in Andy Griffith. Loved Nancy Culp in a Lucy episode as a cockney. There is one character actress who I recognize and don’t know her name. She was a rather obnoxious woman most of the time and was on an episode of Munsters where she and her daughter go to Lily’s beauty salon. She was in Beverly Hillbillies too. Anyone know her name. Always loved the early seasons of Dennis and really liked Mary Wickes what a character she was always trying to catch a man. Some men I liked were Dabbs Greer, John Anderson, Royal Dano, Edgar Buchanan and my favorite, John Dehner.

If this is the same lady that played Lucy's boss at the candy factory, in the Job Switching episode, that is the lovely and talented Elvia Allman.

Another character actor that was in virtually every sitcom of that era, Charles Lane, was also in that Munsters episode.

I think Elvia Allman was best known for playing Selma Plout [sell my plout? :lol:] on Petticoat Junction. She was the second actress to play that role of Kate's [Bea Benederet's] nemesis.

I've read from more than one source that Jeri Weil [Judy] was dropped from the show because she was beginning to @grow@ when the class was still supposed to be in the 4th or 5th grade, and she refused suggestions that she use tight garments to 'flatten' her. To her credit (we would probably say today), she was overtly proud of her maturation, so... end of Judy Hensler.

As for Penny as her 'replacement,' I think they made her just different enough so that there wasn't a flood of letters slamming the 'fake Judy.' The Andy Griffith Show botched a similar thing after Don Knotts left, replacing his bumbling deputy role with Jack Burns and giving him material that woud be for Don Knotts' 'style.'

Thanks steve, yup that’s her. I forgot she played the candy factory boss. “Speed it up a little.” She was great in that part. Wonder why she was never in LITB like even Amzie was in Beaver Goes into Business when her check bounced. Ross Elliot was in my fav Lucy episode Vitameatavegamin as the director then was Mr. Foster in LITB. Wonder why Charles Lane who always played an old guy was never in Beaver. He had great parts in Lucy and love him as Lucy’s business manager. Can’t believe how many actors/actresses in Andy Griffith wound up in Beaver.

Charles Lane would have been good in a bit part, when Beaver was collecting for the community chest. "Beat it, kid!"

He was in virtually every other sitcom. He had several good roles in Bewitched, and played a great villain in Petticoat Junction. He also played the banker in the Lucy Show, and reportedly Lucy was upset with problems he had with his lines, so her old pal Gale Gordon replaced him in the second season.

Charles Lane, who lived to be 101, or 100, was also the grouchy old guy in Dennis the Menace, he played the grocery store owner. In an episode I like he throws a contest in the store where you keep all you can gather in 5 minutes, Mr. Wilson memorizes the store layout, works out mathematically the precise moment to enter the store, and naturally loses when Dennis enters in correctly. The Lane part that was funny was he re-arranges the store each time Wilson maps it out. Now, riddle me this, what was Charles Lane's name in Dennis the Menace? I can't think of it. Mr. ?? :confused:

Yes, Charles Lane was on the TV Land award show when he was around 99 or 100. Scrabjan knows DTM--I can't think of his name either...there was Mr. Dorfman the mailman, Mr. Crinky the newspaper man, Sgt. Mooney the cop...but wait I think Charles Lane had a drug store or variety store...there was a different guy who ran the grocery store and I can't think of his name either...in a later episode I think he was going to coach Dennis' baseball team.

The grocery store guy also saved the day when Wilson cut too many branches off the Christmas tree. Mr. Grocery Store Guy brought in another tree, and said he knew George would mess it up.

Ohh! You're right, it was MR. QUIGLEY! Played by the great Gildersleeve himself (2nd Gildy on radio, only Gildy on TV) Willard Waterman. He was the guy selling trees and running the grocery store. He's also one of my very favorite actors who was a perfect Gildy and he popped up in a lot of different shows and movies when you'd least expect him. He was the guy who ran the Hardware Store on Real McCoys and was great there with Walter Brennan.

Yes, Charles Lane ran the drug store, I still can't remember his name though.

Was it Finch? I suppose I could have researched it, but at my age, it's better to exercise my mind.

Finch sounds right, but I'm still not sure...

You and me both, I didn't want to look it up either, hoping the old brain would kick in the way it did on Quigley, yours kicked in with Finch. That's right it was Mr. Finch. Feel like we should have won something. Maybe a trip thru Finch's Drug Store to pick up a camera in our hammock. :lol:

I thought Lane was perfect as the crusty old drug store owner, Mr. Finch. How about when Dennis wanted to buy a fishing rod for his father and thought it was 35 cents instead of dollars. Later he pays with a confederate bill. I did know Mr. Quigley and loved how Beaver said his name. Anyway Charles Lane was so good as a disgruntled old man like in Lucy when he has 6 girls and winds up with triplets all girls.

Let’s not forget Mr. Merivale as the garden store/nursery owner played by Will Wright.

We've discussed this before, probably on the DTM forum, but I really liked that Miss Cathcart character. She's a crack up...and also Mrs. Elkins (Irene Tedrow, another well-used actress from the era, the "misdirected" lady from LITB). The Margaret character was well done also, one that's actually in the comic strip. They also developed the Seymour character well (and that kid actor played the part really well, for his age), and gave him some good interaction with John Wilson.

Yes, I don't think there's a show Will Wright wasn't in. Most memorable--the Andy Griffith Christmas episode. He was also another fireman (besides Mr. Gus) on early LITB, of course.

Yup he was the fireman in Child Care was it Pete? Also there was another fireman, Charlie in The Clubhouse when he gives Beaver money to advertise.