Why Wally and Beaver had backstabbers as friends?

[GARFIELDKOOL]

Eddie
Lumpy
Larry
Gilbert
Whitey

These were all losers, people that only cared for themselves. Wally and Beaver would have better off being friends of each other. At least they had each other's backs. I'm surprised Wally and Beaver considered them as best friends!

[howilu]

One possibility would be that the producers didn't want the show to be too bland or to open up more situations for Wally and Beaver,

[frani]

i've always thought the friend thing was very interesting. They all had very poor choice in friends. Beaver with Larry, Wally with Eddie and Ward with Fred. Now, you have to allow Beaver whatever he does, because his character is that he is gullible and given to letting others lead him astray. But why on EARTH was Wally friends with Eddie, and heavens, why was Ward friends with Fred? Both Wally and Ward are portrayed as clear-thinking, logical beings who seem to have this tragic flaw in picking friends they are clearly superior to. Ward had more of an equal in say, Bill Boothby, or any of those other golf buddies, and Wally was better matched with Chester. Ward and Wally seemed to always deride Fred and Eddie. They were completely aware of their characters, so what was it that kept them friends? Was it charity, or some self-destructive thing?

Also, notice that June had NO friends. Not even one. Poor June. She should have had a neighbor she could have gone to or something. I wonder what that was about.

[GARFIELDKOOL]

Originally Posted by frani

i've always thought the friend thing was very interesting. They all had very poor choice in friends. Beaver with Larry, Wally with Eddie and Ward with Fred. Now, you have to allow Beaver whatever he does, because his character is that he is gullible and given to letting others lead him astray. But why on EARTH was Wally friends with Eddie, and heavens, why was Ward friends with Fred? Both Wally and Ward are portrayed as clear-thinking, logical beings who seem to have this tragic flaw in picking friends they are clearly superior to. Ward had more of an equal in say, Bill Boothby, or any of those other golf buddies, and Wally was better matched with Chester. Ward and Wally seemed to always deride Fred and Eddie. They were completely aware of their characters, so what was it that kept them friends? Was it charity, or some self-destructive thing?

Also, notice that June had NO friends. Not even one. Poor June. She should have had a neighbor she could have gone to or something. I wonder what that was about.

Yeah, that one thing I noticed too. Ward and June really didn't have a social life. Their whole conversation among one another was about Wally and Beaver.

[treky]

yea, I've noticed that. I wonder why that was?

[tdr]

The reason the friends Wally and Beaver had were selfish, conniving opportunists is, I believe, it obviously it takes those kind to create the situations that largely drive the plots. W&B were basically good, well-behaved kids who wanted to please their parents and not hurt anyone, et al. But stories in which nothing extraordinary happens are not very interesting, so to complicate things for the 'straight guys' are their friends, who also are the ones to compel W&B to do so many wrong things they wouldn't do without their over-eagerness to 'go along' and be thought of in their desired way; sort of a transferral of their earlier desire to be thought well of by their parents.

Nevertheless, in trying to deduce the undeclared circumstances of why Eddie, Lumpy, Larry, Gilbert, et al, as their friends... things do happen that put people together, not always, and certainly not always at first, as friends and it just turns out they grow on eacher other and become friends even though they would have considered that unlikely. I am from a family of 4 kids, having 2 younger brothers, and we happened to move next door to an 'only child' who was between the ages of my brothers, so they did a lot of things together, even though that neighbor was like a mean combination of Eddie [troublemaker], Gilbert [liar], and Judy [boorish snob]. He stole from them, committed vandalism and lied about it and blamed them, and he killed one of our cats by hanging him. Still, the animosity didn't last in those years and they would be 'friends' again sooner or later. Any amiable contact finally ended after he was prosecuted for breaking into our house when he was about 18. If that is a fair indicator, then the New Beaver is largely false in bringing back so many of those 2-faced 'friends' and having the relationships continue... but I suppose that's another topic.

And I don't agree with the contentions here that the Mr. & Mrs. Cleaver had no social life and that June had no friends. The reason it may appear that way is simply because the kids were the center of the action. Ward and June are there because obviously well-rounded kids do have parents who could set up a positive home life and continue to be their guides. It shouldn't be inferred from all we see that they didn't have 'normal' relationships and friends. It's not even true, as the post says it, that "June had no friends-- not even one." A few times we see her in a Mothers' Club meeting or hosting an afternoon tea, and more often she is just seen or talked about going to such activities as part of the plot, that she needs to be away for a little while, usually for something the boys do not want her to know about. And, of course, W&J even go away for a weekend a few times with another couple or a group. They definitely were not friendless.

[Sal]

There was one episode in which this topic is brought up by June in this following classic exchange:

June: "Ward, Eddie Haskell is Wally's best friend and Fred Rutherford is yours. What's wrong with this family?"

Ward:"Well dear, can Wally and I help it if we're humanitarians?"


That pretty much sums it all up rather nicely.

[frani]

Sal, that's really interesting. I LOVE that June said that. Do you remember which ep that was?

[Sal]

No I don't remember the actual episode but I'll keep an ear out as I'm watching the show this week to see when it shows up.

I copied it from the book "The World According To Beaver" and it suddenly came back to me while I was reading this thread.

[GARFIELDKOOL]

Eddie sucker punched Wally by some instigating cause by Lumpy.

Lumpy sabatoged Wally and Eddie's cars.

Larry refused to pay Beaver his money back.

Whitey talked Beaver into climbing into a billboard of soup.

Gilbert conned Beaver into making a face during a class picture snapshot.

These are what Wally and Weaver wanted as friends?

[Jack1000]

Originally Posted by tdr

The reason the friends Wally and Beaver had were selfish, conniving opportunists is, I believe, it obviously it takes those kind to create the situations that largely drive the plots. W&B were basically good, well-behaved kids who wanted to please their parents and not hurt anyone, et al. But stories in which nothing extraordinary happens are not very interesting, so to complicate things for the 'straight guys' are their friends, who also are the ones to compel W&B to do so many wrong things they wouldn't do without their over-eagerness to 'go along' and be thought of in their desired way; sort of a transferral of their earlier desire to be thought well of by their parents.

Nevertheless, in trying to deduce the undeclared circumstances of why Eddie, Lumpy, Larry, Gilbert, et al, as their friends... things do happen that put people together, not always, and certainly not always at first, as friends and it just turns out they grow on eacher other and become friends even though they would have considered that unlikely. I am from a family of 4 kids, having 2 younger brothers, and we happened to move next door to an 'only child' who was between the ages of my brothers, so they did a lot of things together, even though that neighbor was like a mean combination of Eddie [troublemaker], Gilbert [liar], and Judy [boorish snob]. He stole from them, committed vandalism and lied about it and blamed them, and he killed one of our cats by hanging him. Still, the animosity didn't last in those years and they would be 'friends' again sooner or later. Any amiable contact finally ended after he was prosecuted for breaking into our house when he was about 18. If that is a fair indicator, then the New Beaver is largely false in bringing back so many of those 2-faced 'friends' and having the relationships continue... but I suppose that's another topic.

And I don't agree with the contentions here that the Mr. & Mrs. Cleaver had no social life and that June had no friends. The reason it may appear that way is simply because the kids were the center of the action. Ward and June are there because obviously well-rounded kids do have parents who could set up a positive home life and continue to be their guides. It shouldn't be inferred from all we see that they didn't have 'normal' relationships and friends. It's not even true, as the post says it, that "June had no friends-- not even one." A few times we see her in a Mothers' Club meeting or hosting an afternoon tea, and more often she is just seen or talked about going to such activities as part of the plot, that she needs to be away for a little while, usually for something the boys do not want her to know about. And, of course, W&J even go away for a weekend a few times with another couple or a group. They definitely were not friendless.

Agree with the above,

Their controversal friends were needed to produce the great storylines. Without these friends, the show would not have been the success that it was. Also notice how the writers/producers ALWAYS kept Beaver very gullable and taking bad advice from the 2nd-8th grade. They needed that to keep the chemestry of the show synchronized with who Beaver was/is. Changing those behavior patters would have no longer made Beaver "The Beaver."

Jack

[jehobden]

Originally Posted by GARFIELDKOOL

Eddie sucker punched Wally by some instigating cause by Lumpy.

Lumpy sabatoged Wally and Eddie's cars.

Larry refused to pay Beaver his money back.

Whitey talked Beaver into climbing into a billboard of soup.

Gilbert conned Beaver into making a face during a class picture snapshot.

These are what Wally and Weaver wanted as friends?

Don't forget Richard, who broke a window then gave Beaver's name to the Police when he was caught running away from the scene.

[GARFIELDKOOL]

Originally Posted by jehobden

Don't forget Richard, who broke a window then gave Beaver's name to the Police when he was caught running away from the scene.

I would have listed Richard, but he wasn't a real regular. That incident you listed definitely qualifies. I forgot about that! Damn, did they ever have any decent friends that cared for others?!

[GCW]

Originally Posted by GARFIELDKOOL

Eddie sucker punched Wally by some instigating cause by Lumpy.

Lumpy sabatoged Wally and Eddie's cars.

Larry refused to pay Beaver his money back.

Whitey talked Beaver into climbing into a billboard of soup.

Gilbert conned Beaver into making a face during a class picture snapshot.

These are what Wally and Weaver wanted as friends?

That one about the class picture was really messed up. And Gilbert kept pushing Beaver to do it and Gilbert himself did not even make a face.

[tdr]

Originally Posted by GARFIELDKOOL

I would have listed Richard, but he wasn't a real regular. That incident you listed definitely qualifies. I forgot about that! Damn, did they ever have any decent friends that cared for others?!

Remember that in the first 2 seasons, 2 of Wally's best friends were Chester and Tooey, and they did not fit the pattern of Eddie, Larry, Gilbert/Richard, and Lumpy. Tooey was a little whacky, and his 'coke bottle' glasses were often a joke, but he wasn't the kind of troublemaker as Eddie and Lumpy. Chester was probably closest to the "decent...and cared for others" type; but we always read he wasn't interesting because he was "so much like Wally," only more sure of himself. Probably the biggest exception is "The Boat Builder" where Chester and Tooey talk Wally and Beaver into putting Beaver into that crazy boat. But anyway, it was Eddie and Lumpy who were funnier and got more audience response [mail], so they were the 2 it was decided to go with.

The reason I wrote Gilbert/Larry like that is because they were virtually the same character; talking Beaver into making a face in the class picture, sneaking his identiical jacket in and out of the house, giving Beaver's name as his own to the police, opening the emergency door to let him into the theater without paying,.....

Yeah, the show would have been much more dull without the more 'colorful' friends.