Did Leave it to Beaver truly have the first formal series finale - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 02-06-2023, 03:52 AM

It's final episode ("Family Scrapbook" from 1963) is generally believed and accepted to be the first of its kind on American television. It was said to be the first time that a television show consciously produced a “final episode”.

But "Family Scrapbook" didn't really indicate a proper narrative end and sense of closure for the characters and for the story arc. It was more or less, a self aware clip show of moments from throughout the series to button it at the end.

stevea · 02-06-2023, 08:09 AM

Wow! There goes another supposition.

Torgo · 02-06-2023, 09:57 AM

Quoting random guy on reddit disproves the whole LITB finale theory obviously.

MichaelKeith · 02-07-2023, 01:51 PM

Good question. And I vote yes, particularly for its time. Back in the 50s, shows did not have finale's. LITB's final show was the first series finale in TV history. Certainly I Love Lucy did not have a finale to their half hour shows nor did they have one for the hour long Lucy/Desi Comedy Hour.

Little_stinker · 02-07-2023, 04:50 PM

if the Lucy Desi Comedy Hour last episode wasn't a formal ending, the fact that the title of the song that Edie Adams sang(That's All) was an indicator of the tone of the show, then the song can be construed as an ending sentiment.

cd637299 · 02-12-2023, 09:57 AM

Who’s to say if another season of LITB could have been on the horizon?

“Scrapbook” was a “cheater” show, just filling time with old clips (that BTW couldn’t have been seen at that time any other way). Gomer Pyle had an ep like that (Carter recalling to Slater how Pyle goofed, while Slater reminded him how Pyle saved the day, so to speak). I think Beverly Hillbillies had a mini-cheater early on with clips from the very first episode.

No reason to think that “Scrapbook” was total closure.

cd

stevea · 02-12-2023, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cd637299

Who’s to say if another season of LITB could have been on the horizon?

“Scrapbook” was a “cheater” show, just filling time with old clips (that BTW couldn’t have been seen at that time any other way). Gomer Pyle had an ep like that (Carter recalling to Slater how Pyle goofed, while Slater reminded him how Pyle saved the day, so to speak). I think Beverly Hillbillies had a mini-cheater early on with clips from the very first episode.

No reason to think that “Scrapbook” was total closure.

cd

I read somewhere that ABC wanted the show to go to a seventh season, and that they wanted it to go to color filming. That part is a little hard to believe, as ABC was doing very little (non-animated) color at the time (The Greatest Show on Earth, the 90 minute season of Wagon Train).

Connelly and Mosher ended the show, thinking it was a logical time to conclude it.

I agree, clip shows are and were common, and they definitely are "cheaters." I'm guessing they simply thought it was a good time to show clips, without the thought of it possibly being a first.

cd637299 · 02-12-2023, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevea

I read somewhere that ABC wanted the show to go to a seventh season, and that they wanted it to go to color filming. That part is a little hard to believe, as ABC was doing very little (non-animated) color at the time (The Greatest Show on Earth, the 90 minute season of Wagon Train).

Connelly and Mosher ended the show, thinking it was a logical time to conclude it.

I agree, clip shows are and were common, and they definitely are "cheaters." I'm guessing they simply thought it was a good time to show clips, without the thought of it possibly being a first.

I too find that going to color for a season 7 would be hard to believe, unless LITB was a smash hit. LITB’s ratings never cracked the top 20. I woulda believed “Ozzie and Harriet” would get a color nod first in 1963, given the tenure of the show and cast. O&H had to wait two more years.

I never saw The Greatest Show on Earth, although I was 4 years old at the time. I assume that the show was a spectacle unto itself.

Semi-OT……..”Top Cat” was produced in color, of course (1961-62), and The Jetsons was ABC’s first color show in Sept. 1962. However, reruns of “Top Cat” and “Bugs Bunny” went to Saturday mornings on ABC that very autumn. What I cannot figure out was that those shows were still being run on ABC in black and white. I wonder if there was a reasoning for that. Was ABC afraid that kids would pester the parents for a color TV? *shrug* ….. I surely didn’t, and I remember watching those TC shows on ABC, right after the game show “Make a Face.”

cd

stevea · 02-12-2023, 11:29 PM

ABC was an also-ran network for years, and I can't fathom why they bothered to show those two scripted shows in color, in 1963. Maybe a dabbling-in-it experiment, plus the producers footed the bill (??). But it's possible ABC was happy enough with Beaver's so-so ratings.

Both Top Cat and The Bugs Bunny Show are regrettable b/w prime time presentations. For the Bugs Bunny Show some of the bridging color animation was lost to the cutting room floor, eventually, rejected for CBS Saturday morning reruns. For TC all but a single episode of color credits were lost (that single episode used for every syndication episode), who knows why? (maybe they'd already spent big bucks re-producing the episode content in color?) The same happened with The Jetsons, but these were restored on Blu-Ray, finally using the original ABC network prints, which would not be possible for TC, since they were in black and white.

And don't get me going on the first two seasons of The Flintstones, please. Sorry, enough off-topic rambling!

02-06-2023, 03:52 AM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 126,305	Did Leave it to Beaver truly have the first formal series finale It's final episode ("Family Scrapbook" from 1963) is generally believed and accepted to be the first of its kind on American television. It was said to be the first time that a television show consciously produced a “final episode”. But "Family Scrapbook" didn't really indicate a proper narrative end and sense of closure for the characters and for the story arc. It was more or less, a self aware clip show of moments from throughout the series to button it at the end.

02-06-2023, 09:57 AM	#3
Torgo Omaha & Fritz Forum Star Join Date: Mar 06, 2004 Location: Oregon Posts: 19,033	Quoting random guy on reddit disproves the whole LITB finale theory obviously.
	__________________ "I'm going to go do something productive. I'm gonna go watch television." - Ray Peterson, The 'burbs "I am the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and Fries." - Stephen King "There's nothing wrong with G-rated movies, as long as there's lots of sex and violence." - Elvira

02-06-2023, 08:09 AM	#2
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,698	Wow! There goes another supposition.

02-07-2023, 01:51 PM	#4
MichaelKeith Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 01, 2007 Posts: 1,139	Good question. And I vote yes, particularly for its time. Back in the 50s, shows did not have finale's. LITB's final show was the first series finale in TV history. Certainly I Love Lucy did not have a finale to their half hour shows nor did they have one for the hour long Lucy/Desi Comedy Hour.

02-07-2023, 04:50 PM	#5
Little_stinker Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 19, 2018 Location: Illinois Posts: 315	if the Lucy Desi Comedy Hour last episode wasn't a formal ending, the fact that the title of the song that Edie Adams sang(That's All) was an indicator of the tone of the show, then the song can be construed as an ending sentiment.

02-12-2023, 09:57 AM	#6
cd637299 cd637299 Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 14, 2022 Location: South Florida Posts: 849	Who’s to say if another season of LITB could have been on the horizon? “Scrapbook” was a “cheater” show, just filling time with old clips (that BTW couldn’t have been seen at that time any other way). Gomer Pyle had an ep like that (Carter recalling to Slater how Pyle goofed, while Slater reminded him how Pyle saved the day, so to speak). I think Beverly Hillbillies had a mini-cheater early on with clips from the very first episode. No reason to think that “Scrapbook” was total closure. cd

02-12-2023, 11:29 PM	#9
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,698	ABC was an also-ran network for years, and I can't fathom why they bothered to show those two scripted shows in color, in 1963. Maybe a dabbling-in-it experiment, plus the producers footed the bill (??). But it's possible ABC was happy enough with Beaver's so-so ratings. Both Top Cat and The Bugs Bunny Show are regrettable b/w prime time presentations. For the Bugs Bunny Show some of the bridging color animation was lost to the cutting room floor, eventually, rejected for CBS Saturday morning reruns. For TC all but a single episode of color credits were lost (that single episode used for every syndication episode), who knows why? (maybe they'd already spent big bucks re-producing the episode content in color?) The same happened with The Jetsons, but these were restored on Blu-Ray, finally using the original ABC network prints, which would not be possible for TC, since they were in black and white. And don't get me going on the first two seasons of The Flintstones, please. Sorry, enough off-topic rambling!