Beaver on TV

[jehobden]

I just saw a rerun of one of my favorite Season 6 eps, "Beaver on TV". This ep was chock full of lots of contemporary references to people like Bennett Cerf and Jackie Kennedy and to tv shows of that time (and still today in 1 case), like Captain Kangaroo, Mickey Mouse Club, Meet the Press (still going strong after 60 years!), and best of all, Rod Serling's Twilight Zone. It was appropriate for Gilbert to make that reference, as Stephen Talbot made 2 appearances on that show himself. I just found out not long ago, probably from a earlier post to this board, that John Jacobs, who played the "Teenage Forum" moderator, was in fact the late Chuck Barris and Barry-Enright announcer better known as Johnny Jacobs. When he says "Welcome to Teenage Forum!", I can imagine the same voice saying "Here come the newlyweds!". Also the director was played by Jack Smith, who hosted shows like "You Asked for It" (both in the 50s and 80s) and played the game show host "Jack Smith" when Aunt Bee won all her prizes in California on The Andy Griffith Show.

[JudgeGarth]

The theme song for 'Teenage Forum' was called 'The Golden West' and was used on other Universal/Revue shows such as 'The Virginian' where it was speeded up and played in saloons.

[Jack1000]

Originally Posted by jehobden

I just saw a rerun of one of my favorite Season 6 eps, "Beaver on TV". This ep was chock full of lots of contemporary references to people like Bennett Cerf and Jackie Kennedy and to tv shows of that time (and still today in 1 case), like Captain Kangaroo, Mickey Mouse Club, Meet the Press (still going strong after 60 years!), and best of all, Rod Serling's Twilight Zone. It was appropriate for Gilbert to make that reference, as Stephen Talbot made 2 appearances on that show himself. I just found out not long ago, probably from a earlier post to this board, that John Jacobs, who played the "Teenage Forum" moderator, was in fact the late Chuck Barris and Barry-Enright announcer better known as Johnny Jacobs. When he says "Welcome to Teenage Forum!", I can imagine the same voice saying "Here come the newlyweds!". Also the director was played by Jack Smith, who hosted shows like "You Asked for It" (both in the 50s and 80s) and played the game show host "Jack Smith" when Aunt Bee won all her prizes in California on The Andy Griffith Show.

Where are the references to Bennett Cerf and Jackie Kennedy? Gilbert's Twilight Zone reference was great because it drew the viewers into creating an awareness of other popular shows at the time.

Jack

[jehobden]

Originally Posted by Jack1000

Where are the references to Bennett Cerf and Jackie Kennedy? Gilbert's Twilight Zone reference was great because it drew the viewers into creating an awareness of other popular shows at the time.

Jack

Wally mentioned Bennett Cerf at one point hoping that Beaver wouldn't come off like Bennett Cerf on the "Teenage Forum" panel. And Jackie Kennedy was mentioned by one of Beaver's classmates after he came back from the show but they didn't see him on tv. This kid, most likely Gilbert, said something along the lines of "Mrs. Rayburn hasn't been this mad since Angela Valentine showed up at school wearing that Jackie Kennedy wig!".

[jehobden]

Originally Posted by JudgeGarth

The theme song for 'Teenage Forum' was called 'The Golden West' and was used on other Universal/Revue shows such as 'The Virginian' where it was speeded up and played in saloons.

Another musical cue used in this episode, just after Ward & Fred Rutherford watch "Teenage Forum" but don't see Beaver as expected, was the Revue/Universal cue that is heard along w/ the letters-dropping-into-line logo at the end of all Season 5 & 6 LitB eps. I always liked this closing and am disappointed that The Munsters used a static logo w/ a variation on the same tune instead.