Has anyone noticed how different the Cleavers are in the earlier eps? I don't just mean that they are younger, but they are so much more relaxed and "mussed up" Ward and June still seem "in love" and make jokes with each other and kiss and even hint at making love? They barely seem to know each other in the last season. Ward is much more "hands on" with the boys, helping them build things and June is a lot more active. The last season, she just sits around shucking peas.

The season that is on now, it must be the second, is mostly concerned with the things little boys get into, building clubhouses unlike later where the emphasis is more on how you behave in society. The last couple of seasons seem to be much more about teaching moral lessons. I like the later eps because they deal with girl problems and such, but really the Cleavers are so "starched" by then. Ward is always in his suit. He never hangs out with the boys like he does in the earlier eps.

Eddie Haskell is a lot different, too. I guess he hadn't been fully developed at that point or maybe he was just too young. In the earlier eps, he is little more than a wise guy who gets Beaver in trouble. Later on, he still gets Beaver in trouble, but Eddie shows his softer, more vulnerable side on occasion, which makes him likeable.

Anyway, just some thoughts.:wave:

Yeah, I especially know what you mean about Eddie. And June and Ward realy didn't have muvh to do with eachother in the last seasons, it was all about Wally and Beaver. But I'm not quite sure what you mean about the "making love to eachother" I've never noticed anything like that. Anyway, I don't see how Ward could do that with someone like June. (She's a total airhead.)

What I meant by making love is that you really get the feeling that they do get intimate at times. One ep, June is knitting a sweater for Poncho, the little dog, and Ward thinks she might be knitting cause she's pregnant. Another ep has them sitting in the living with no lights, due to some electrical thing and they actually embrace as if it might lead to something more. They also hug and kiss each other goodbye. In the later eps, he just gives her an occasional peck on the cheek.

And i thought she was very pretty in the earlier eps. And I don't know about her as an airhead. I mean, she was involved with the things housewives in the fifties and early sixties were involved with -- the women's club, the pta, and such. We often see her reading. What sitcom moms do that nowadays?

i don't really think that ward was less intimate with june in the later episodes. but maybe im wrong.
i do like the later episodes better because i think ward does an exceptional job of parenting the boys as they get older. he knows when to leave them alone. i also think the writing was much better because they couldn't rely on beaver's cuteness anymore

I just notice that the earlier episodes are a lot funnier than the later ones. In the earlier ones ward and june are much funnier than they are in the later ones, especially June. June isnt very funny in the later ones, she seems a lot more serious. I kinda noticed the thing about how they act more in love in the earlier ones.
Oh yeah, and I don't think June is an airhead. I like June. I think she's a cool mom. I do see what you mean though, she seems like she can't handle the boys problems, Ward has to do it.

Yeah, Ward seems to be more emotional in the earlier episodes. In the later episodes he seems to be more to the point. June also seems less of an interest in the later episodes. But the biggest difference and most obvious is that Beaver and Wally get closer in age as the show goes on.

it did seem that wally grew up quite fast throughout the series! becuase one minute you think he's like 11 years old, and the next minute he's talking about this crush on a girl he has and how's he's 13... I really do not think that somebody who has an interest in girls would be so "stupid" about some of the things that wally tries to pull! he comes up with teh weirdest solutions/ideas... i think i even remember reading an article from when the series first started about how jerry mathers thought that wally was to old to be thinking of such stupid things... if you know what i mean. But as of right now in the series, i love how june and ward sometimes haggle sarcastic thoughts back and forth.

I.E.
June: ward, did i really look like this? (looking at old pics of herself)
Ward: yes, but i overlooked it and married you anyways...
June: (slams the trunk closed)

also later in that episode
Ward: (laughign) That's me...
June: Yes i know, but i married you anyways...

I always love those snide cracks they give eachother during this season, i don't really remember much of hte later seasons, so i'll take your word about how the cracks stop, i'll be sad to see that go though!

And i kinda remember the poncho episode, but i do not remember ward thinking she might be pregnant, did they actually use the word pregnant, or did ward just say, are you having a baby? That's kinda funny how they point out that he thinks she's pregnant, because then you are right about them being intimate... but if you can tell me exactly what they say, that'd be awsome, cuz it's going to be a while before they come around to that again! :)

Toodles! :wave:

It's not that Ward directly asks her if she's pregnant (in the Poncho ep) it's just that she's knitting a little sweater (for Poncho) and Ward asks her what she's doing and when she sees it's a little sweater he looks concerened and when June laughs and says "Oh it's for Poncho" Ward looks relieved. It's a comic thing they did in early sitcoms. Ricky and Lucy did that a lot, too. It's just a small thing, but it indicated an intimacy, that the sweater might be because of a pregnancy.

hehe, how cute! :)