The strangest episode of LITB is "The Clothing Drive," the second to last new episode shown (on June 13, 1963).

This is the one where Beaver donates three of Ward's good suits to charity.

First of all, it's poorly written and directed, and the characters behave unlike themselves.

Secondly, it's obviously out of order. Beaver and Wally had already graduated, and all of a sudden, Beaver's back in school, with his teacher of the previous season (in other words, not Mrs. Rayburn).

The writer and director credited at the opening, to the best of my knowledge, never worked on any other episodes (thank goodness).

My theory is this show had been filmed the season before, was obviously substandard, and then was put aside. After the show was cancelled by ABC, the producers probably figured, "Why should we spend any more money than we need to?" and they pulled this episode out of the garbage and used it in the final season (saving it for second to last, when it really didn't matter any more).

I think this show was a chance for a new writer and director to show what they could do. They didn't do well (to put it mildly) and were never used again.

Anyway, it's a bizarre episode. It starts with Beaver and two of his little-seen friends (one of whom is unattractive and can't act ... the son of the director?) talking while they're walking around and up and down, and in circles. The director probably thought he was doing something innovative, but it's just irritating.

Through the whole show, the camera angles are odd. We see the kitchen, dining room, etc. from angles never seen on any other episode.

At one point, June cross examines Ward (like Perry Mason, as Wally points out), and it's totally out of character.

The whole episode hinges on Ward being a dummy and a goof, which is obviously out of character.

It's dull, unfunny, repetitious, and actually depressing. It's one thing for Beaver to be dumb (as he is in most episodes), but he seems to have had a lobotomy in this one. He wants to give away everyone's clothes so he can win some stupid plaque, which probably cost all of 50 cents in those days.

I think this episode should have been left in the garbage can. It's a bad way to end a series that was always so well written and acted. (And it was the end, because the last episode shown, the next week, was the "flashback" episode.)

Interesting points about "The Clothing Drive" Episode. I hadn't thought about the points made until I read the post. It definitely seems out of sequence and not as well done as other episodes. The director was a newcomer to the series (Charles Haas). One interesting bit of trivia, is the actor that played Beaver's friend Mike in that episode as well as "Tell it to Ella" is Tim Matheson, the comody actor who became a star in the 1978 college comody classic "Animal House."

Jack

Nice job of analyzing this episode. http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/smile.gif

This episode is definitely out of rotation, compared to when the show was first ran on network television. TV Land has come up with its own episode rotation for the show, and it follows no such similarity as to when it was originally shown on ABC. For some reason, TV Land likes to air one episode a lot later than it should have. As for "The Clothing Drive," this was episode #199 when it was shown on ABC. This would've been the fourth show into the sixth season. But TV Land has put it at #233, second to the last episode of the series. That's why you find it strange that Beaver is still in school and has one of his old teachers. Here is an example as to how the original schedule differs so much compared to TV Land's schedule:

TV Land's first five episodes:
1- Child Care
2 - Beaver Gets "Spelled"
3 - Captain Jack
4 - The Black Eye
5 - The Haircut

Original ABC Schedule:
1: Captain Jack
2: The Black Eye
3: Beaver gets ‘spelled
4: Water, anyone?
5: Wally’s girl trouble

See how much out of order everything is? I don't know if this is the syndicator's fault, or if this is TV Land's decision. I'd like to see some consistency, but often times, TV Land shows the episodes out of sequence.

Lukes42, thanks for the reply, but, unfortunately, you're incorrect in your information.

There seem to be two orders for sitcoms. One is the so-called "syndication order," which is usually the order in which the shows were filmed. This is NOT a good order to show the episodes in (or to watch them in), because filming order depended on many technical variables, such as availability of sets or guest stars.

The other is the "original Broadcast order," which is the order they were meant to be seen in the first place.

For years, most series have been shown in the incorrect (or syndication) order.

TV Land, for the most part (they make mistakes every now and then) is trying to show their series in the Original Broadcast Order.

Now, "The Clothing Drive" on "Leave It to Beaver" probably is in reality #199 in filming order. However, it was, as I said, originally shown second-to-last (on June 13, 1963), which would make it officially Episode #233, and this is the position in which TV Land showed it recently.

You may be wondering how I know the Original Broadcast Order of series. Well, I'll tell you.

I go to the library and look at old TV Guides on microfilm. I've made lists of the Original Broadcast Order of my favorite series. Maybe I need to get a life, but that's what I do.

I also have several TV Guides I've saved from when I was a kid, and I have the issue for the week of June 8, 1963, and sure enough, "The Clothing Drive" was the first-run episode of "Leave It to Beaver" that week. It was clearly "out of order," for reasons I've theorized on in my previous post.

By the way, I've recently discovered a superb website that lists the complete episode guides (with their original broadcast dates) for many series, and I recommend it highly. They also give the "production numbers," which I assume relate to the order the shows were filmed, and which resulted in the "syndication order" for many shows.

The website is TV Tome. The URL is simply www.tvtome.com. (http://www.tvtome.com.)

Do a search for Leave It to Beaver, and then click on Episode Listing ... you'll see that "The Clothing Drive" was originally shown when I said it was (and it really was!)

By the way, the first year of Leave It to Beaver was on CBS, not ABC. They canceled it due to low ratings, but it was picked up by ABC, which was a low rated network in those days. They kept it on for five more years, although it absolutely never got good ratings, just passable ones. Maybe it was too good?

Hmm, I guess you learn something new everyday, don't you? http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

First issue: I was aware that Leave It To Beaver was on CBS for its first season. But I said ABC because it was on ABC for 5 of its 6 seasons.

Second issue: Hmm, I was unaware that there was two orders that sitcoms run. Okay, I said it was TV Land's decision to run the episodes this way, but I was wrong. After I typed that fact I realized it couldn't have been TV Land, it was the syndicator.

Okay, I have one question. You mean to tell me that the current order TV Land is running the shows is the order the show was ran on network television, both on CBS and ABC? Then what is the order of the shows from the back of Irwyn Applebaum's LITB book "The World According to Beaver?" That has to be the original broadcast order, because they're all in the order they're supposed to be. Are you sure TV Land isn't running them in syndication order?

Sorry to sound so confused, because I am! Please shed some additional light on the subject so that next time, I won't sound like such a dufus. http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Thanks.

You're not a dufus at all ... I just recently learned all this junk myself ... I used to think the exact same things you did, which goes to show that we can't believe everything we read in books.

TV Land is ATTEMPTING to run the shows in the original broadcast order ... not just "Beaver," but also "I Love Lucy," "Beverly Hillbillies," etc. They've just recently started doing it this way.

They make some bizarre mistakes sometimes, such as showing "Child Care" (LITB) way too soon. I have no idea why that one was out of order. Also, they showed "Captain Jack" before "Beaver Gets 'Spelled'" -- that's the order they were filmed (I believe) but NOT the order they were originally shown.

I believe the order of the shows in the back of Applebaum's "The World According to Beaver" is the so-called syndication order, not the original broadcast order. Many books list episodes in that order, because that's the order in which the shows were shown for years (on local channels and Nick at Nite, etc).

I have puzzled long and hard over these so-called syndication orders. My best guess is that they're the order in which the shows were filmed, but NOT meant to be shown.

SOME books list episodes in the broadcast order -- most "I Love Lucy" books do it that way, and the "Andy Griffith Show" book did. MOST books use the syndication order, though.

If I'm not boring you, let me give you two examples where the syndication order just doesn't make sense, but Nick at Nite showed the series that way, anyway, and TV Land seems to be more on the ball (only time will tell).

"I Love Lucy"
In the Hollywood season (1954-55), there are two episodes which are basically a two-part story. These are:

May 2, 1955 Van Johnson episode, where Carolyn Appleby comes to visit. At the end, she tells Lucy she's going to stay for her big movie-star party (which Lucy was lying about). This was followed by:

May 9, 1955 Harpo Marx episode, which begins right where the preceding episode left off, with Lucy begging Ricky to get some movie stars to come up to their hotel room.

These episodes were FILMED in reverse order, for the very simple reason that Ray Bolger was supposed to appear in the first one, couldn't for some reason (illness?), and Lucy got her old friend Van Johnson to substitute -- however, he had previous commitments, so they couldn't film his episode until AFTER the Harpo Marx episode.

So, the syndication order (the order they were filmed) is totally wrong. And for YEARS Nick at Nite has shown these two episodes in reverse order, which makes no sense of the story line.

We'll know in a few months if TV Land finally corrects this error, and I believe they will.

"The Dick Van Dyke Show"
You know how this show would sometimes have flashbacks to when Rob was in the army, and Laura was a USO entertainer? Well, those episodes were filmed one after the other, so that they wouldn't have to take down and put up the army sets over and over. But, they were never meant to be SEEN one after the other. In fact, they originally were spread out over different seasons.

But, the syndication order (again, the order they were filmed) puts them all together in a row, and you end up seeing episodes which are somewhat repetitious (and they didn't seem so originally, when they were separated by weeks, or even months.)

As you can see, I've given this a great deal of thought. And, yes, I need to get a life, but that's the way it is.

To get back to the Applebaum book: You say "that has to be the original broadcast order, because they're all in the order they're supposed to be."

But, why do you say that? He just listed the syndication order, not the original broadcast order. And the original broadcast order is, in my opinion, the "order they're supposed to be." I agree with the author of the "Andy Griffith Show" book who called the original broadcast order the "final editing."

You have to trust me, and TV Tome (did you go there?) I don't know what else to say to convince you. I know it's hard to let go of cherished ideas and lists in books which you've often referenced, but I've done it many times! That's life, I guess.