Leave It To Beaver WAY ahead of its time! - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

FOL85NatandMrsGRock · 06-08-2006, 10:30 PM

Does anybody else here feel that a lot of the episodes had things that were not ordinarily mentioned in such a time as leave it to beaver? A lot of issues that were even facing teens were brought up. Does anybody here wish they had done certain episodes about certain things? If so what are they?

Here are some of the topics that they covered that i thought were pretty interesting!
Smoking
Alcoholism
Lying
Teen Drinking
Teen Marriage
Dating (like in "Box Office Attraction"
Fighting with Parents

And if I'm missing any up above, please include those too...

I just am usually surprised about how many things that leave it to beaver did that you would not ordinarily expect, especially considering that just 5 years prior I Love Lucy broke a landslide record of having a pregnancy in the plot lines becuase heaven forbid it was not even to be mentioned that married couples had sex! ha ha, but i think that this is part of the reason i like leave it ot beaver so much, becuase they went so beyond the time! I love it!

gilligan fanatic · 06-09-2006, 10:46 AM

In Jerry Mathers book he has a whole chapter about the lasting effect of the topics shown on the show, preety interesting

Jack1000 · 06-09-2006, 01:54 PM

Brilliant acting and great writing made the series this way,

LITB is one of the best parent/child interacting role models for TV that can be learned across genrations. It works wonders. There are only a couple of clunker episodes in the whole series. (i.e Beaver The Bunny, The Clothing Drive.) But almost every other one is great!

Forgot the title, but what is the one where Chopper visits and his parents are getting divorced? Barry Gordon played Chopper and gave a great performance. Was Chopper a friend of Beaver's from the old neighborhood? This may have been the first series to talk about divorce as well.

Jack

FOL85NatandMrsGRock · 06-09-2006, 06:12 PM

Yea, june even said that the box office girl might have been a divorcee, and ward just gave her this look, it was pretty funny, but i am sure you are right. this was definately the first series to talk about divorce, usually at that time divorce was quite hush hush. But getting to its end, i believe that it was starting to be around the 60's movement? Not sure, but i am certain that this series definately started a landslide!

craviola990 · 06-20-2006, 06:28 PM

No Joke! Alot of folks laugh at the Beav, but it really was way ahead of the time Although I'm a '50's TV junkie personally, if you line up an episode of the Beav with others from the time, and watch them all in a row, you'll see the Beav was much more relevant, etc. (Also being from the child's perspective with slang that NO adult would EVER use!) in many ways. Thanks, Christian

06-08-2006, 10:30 PM	#1
FOL85NatandMrsGRock The Lovable Sarah Senior Member Join Date: Nov 07, 2000 Location: Wisconsin (Same Place Charlotte's From and where That 70's Show takes place!) .... Wish I was in Mayfield USA! Posts: 1,770	Leave It To Beaver WAY ahead of its time! Does anybody else here feel that a lot of the episodes had things that were not ordinarily mentioned in such a time as leave it to beaver? A lot of issues that were even facing teens were brought up. Does anybody here wish they had done certain episodes about certain things? If so what are they? Here are some of the topics that they covered that i thought were pretty interesting! Smoking Alcoholism Lying Teen Drinking Teen Marriage Dating (like in "Box Office Attraction" Fighting with Parents And if I'm missing any up above, please include those too... I just am usually surprised about how many things that leave it to beaver did that you would not ordinarily expect, especially considering that just 5 years prior I Love Lucy broke a landslide record of having a pregnancy in the plot lines becuase heaven forbid it was not even to be mentioned that married couples had sex! ha ha, but i think that this is part of the reason i like leave it ot beaver so much, becuase they went so beyond the time! I love it!
	__________________ Lorelai: (on the phone to Luke) So where are you anyways? Luke: I'm somewhere near if I lived here I'd shoot myself Lorelai: Oh I hear it's lovely there this time of year Gilmore Girls Eric: This guy's no good, I'm telling you, I have a 5th sense about these things! Jack: You mean a 6th sense? Eric: No, that's smell! You gotta be lucky to get that one! Boy Meets World

06-09-2006, 10:46 AM	#2
gilligan fanatic Born to Be Bad Forum Fanatic Join Date: May 06, 2001 Location: down by the Lagoon Posts: 9,954	In Jerry Mathers book he has a whole chapter about the lasting effect of the topics shown on the show, preety interesting
	__________________ Matt Filmaf ~ Twitter ~ Last.FM

06-09-2006, 01:54 PM	#3
Jack1000 Member Senior Member Join Date: Dec 05, 2001 Posts: 2,055	Brilliant acting and great writing made the series this way, LITB is one of the best parent/child interacting role models for TV that can be learned across genrations. It works wonders. There are only a couple of clunker episodes in the whole series. (i.e Beaver The Bunny, The Clothing Drive.) But almost every other one is great! Forgot the title, but what is the one where Chopper visits and his parents are getting divorced? Barry Gordon played Chopper and gave a great performance. Was Chopper a friend of Beaver's from the old neighborhood? This may have been the first series to talk about divorce as well. Jack
	Last edited by Jack1000; 06-09-2006 at 11:39 PM.

06-09-2006, 06:12 PM	#4
FOL85NatandMrsGRock The Lovable Sarah Senior Member Join Date: Nov 07, 2000 Location: Wisconsin (Same Place Charlotte's From and where That 70's Show takes place!) .... Wish I was in Mayfield USA! Posts: 1,770	Yea, june even said that the box office girl might have been a divorcee, and ward just gave her this look, it was pretty funny, but i am sure you are right. this was definately the first series to talk about divorce, usually at that time divorce was quite hush hush. But getting to its end, i believe that it was starting to be around the 60's movement? Not sure, but i am certain that this series definately started a landslide!

06-20-2006, 06:28 PM	#5
craviola990 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Mar 10, 2006 Location: Auburn, WA Posts: 34	No Joke! Alot of folks laugh at the Beav, but it really was way ahead of the time Although I'm a '50's TV junkie personally, if you line up an episode of the Beav with others from the time, and watch them all in a row, you'll see the Beav was much more relevant, etc. (Also being from the child's perspective with slang that NO adult would EVER use!) in many ways. Thanks, Christian