Well, Tuesday on TV Land, both the last and first episodes of Leave It To Beaver aired. This is kind of a fitting and unique moment. http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/tv.gif

(EPISODE #234) At 4:00, you got to see the series end. You saw Wally, a grown man, ready to be on his own and begin college in the fall. Beaver was no longer the cute, little boy he once was. He was a young man, ready to start high school. Ward and June both matured and got older. Ward was much more gray, but considerably more laid back. June didn't have as young of an appearance as she did five years earlier. And there was much less interaction between Ward and June, less joking around. Much more seriousness to them. But this final episode was a fitting end to the series. I especially enjoyed the explanation as to why the name "Beaver" came to be. I also thought it was interesting to hear Beaver say Larry Mondello again. It was kind of good to hear again. http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/smile.gif

(EPISODE #1) Then at 4:30, you saw how it all begin. Captain Jack, the infamous "toilet tank" episode. Yes, they were all so much more younger. It's really amazing how much they changed in just six years, as characters. Beaver was a cute, curious little fellow. Wally had blondish hair! He still acted like the all-knowing brother, passing along little bits of information, helping Beaver along in his young life.

It really was a fun day to watch the show. This probably won't happen again, having both the first and last episodes airing. Now that TV Land has ran through the 234 episodes, it looks like they'll go through them again. So, let's enjoy the second go-around again. http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

"Captain Jack" was indeed the first episode filmed (at least, with the "new" Wally and Ward; the Wally and Ward of the pilot were replaced).

However, the infamous toilet got the show in trouble, and CBS (which ran the first season) at first didn't want to show it. So the first episode of "Leave It to Beaver" actually shown (on Friday, Oct. 4, 1957) was "Beaver Gets 'Spelled" (his version of the word "expelled.")

This means that the very first thing people saw was a closeup of little Judy Hensler reading about Mother and Father at the picnic. (I know this, 'cause TV Land showed it a few days ago :0) )

Actually, it was a pretty good episode to start with, 'cause Miss Canfield called Beaver "Theodore," and he said, "My name's Beaver!" so the folks at home watching this brand new series could see that this little boy was the Beaver of the title.

CBS decided America in the 1950s could stand seeing a toilet tank, so the second week, they showed "Captain Jack."

By the way, at the end of "Captain Jack," Ward and June give the boys a very cute puppy. What in the world happened to it? I hate to think it was hit by a car or something within one short week, 'cause by the next aired episode ("The Black Eye"), it was gone, never to be seen again!

God, to think they were that picky about showing a toilet. Now seeing a toilet in a tv show is really an everyday thing, among other things. Boy have times changed....