Why did Hugh Beaumont and Tony Dow each miss 1 episode?

[happyskunky]

Why were Hugh Beaumont and Tony Dow each not cast in one Leave it to Beaver episode of out the 235 made?

I'm trying to find out what the real life reasons were and if the reasons were mentioned on the show as to why they were not home or in just one episode each.

[icecream]

I didn't know that. I assumed the 4 regulars were in every episode.

[Jack1000]

Originally Posted by happyskunky

Why were Hugh Beaumont and Tony Dow each not cast in one Leave it to Beaver episode of out the 235 made?

I'm trying to find out what the real life reasons were and if the reasons were mentioned on the show as to why they were not home or in just one episode each.

Welcome!

Can you provide the names of the episode in question? I am a pretty good Beaver trivia guy and I can't remember the episodes in question!

I don't know the active months' shooting schedules that were used on Beaver, or the break time they got during any months of not shooting. I can say that during the course of the series, they did have to postpone a week of shooting, because Jerry was sick. I don't know in what season this occurred, or the episode that they were filming that got pushed back because of this.

I know that Hugh was EXTREMELY family oriented and for the run of the series, just about every weekend he would fly home to see his family in the Midwest. I think Minnesota, but not sure, and than the following Monday, would have to be back at the "Beaver" studio to begin the walk through of the episode they were doing that week.

The cast would get their scripts on Friday, and have the weekend to practice them at home. On Monday, they would do a run through and study crew reactions to lines and scenes. Jerry said that the crew was very receptive to any suggestions made and both he and Tony had very good input that was well-received. Everyone was a good contributer. Than Tuesday, they would do the script in sort of like a final draft form. Draft staging and blocking usually began on Wednesday. On Thursday, the cast and crew would do preparation for the final shoot. Tony said that lines that got too big a laugh were revised. The belief was that Joe Connelly and/or Bob Mosher did not want to have such a strong reaction from laughing too hard, that the next line of important dialog might be missed. By Friday they had that final form, and got their new script to learn for the following week.

At any rate, this was hard for Hugh to keep up with working on the show and traveling back and forth. I think Jerry said that at the end of the second season, he almost had to be replaced because of the traveling stress. But somehow, they worked it out! So there might have been an episode that maybe did not focus on Hugh as part of the main story, so maybe they gave him a break for that week. Or maybe Hugh was sick, or had some other commitment.

Not sure why Tony missed an episode. It could have been for health reasons or commitments as well. I don't have much info on that. The details above are from an interview with Jerry.

Jack

[jrobinson45abc]

If that 235 count includes the pilot film, "It's a Small World," then there is your answer--both Ward and Wally were played by different actors in that "episode" and then replaced by Beaumont and Dow.

[Zinc2]

Hugh and Tony are not part of the pilot "It's a Small World" televised months before the Leave It To Beaver series started October 4, 1957. When included in series information, "It's a Small World" is referred to as Season 1, Episode 0.

After It's A Small World aired, the writers felt Casey Adams wasn't right for the part of Ward Cleaver and Paul Sullivan grew too much to play Wally before filming began for the series so both were replaced.

I too have heard Jerry was sick during a filming week and also don't know which one. The script schedule Jack 1000 mentioned is one I have heard too.

Hugh Beaumont and his family lived during the school year in the Los Angeles area. The family only spent the summers at their lake cabin near Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Over the years they had two cabins, the first was a very rustic one on Clubhouse Lake. The second cabin was on an island on Lake Wabana, closer to Grand Rapids, MN. It is this property Beaumont retired to. Today, the locals call the island Beaumont Island, although another family now owns it.

Mrs. Beaumont (now Kathryn Adams Doty) was a school teacher and later a psychotherapist and could arrange her schedule so the family could go to their MN property during the summers. Hugh also took jobs accordingly before LITB to have time at the cabin. During the LITB run he had weeks off during the summer. In the June, 1958 Ladies Home Journal article about the Beaumont family, Hugh states how important the quiet north woods time is to him and his family. Kathryn Adams Doty does the same in her 2008 memoirs, "Becoming the Mother of Me".

Two occurances happened that may point to Hugh Beaumont's leaving for Minnesota at the end of a LITB season. I have no proof for this, just the way things appear. In Season 3, the last episode, "Beaver's Team" there are two times where Hugh Beaumont's voice is not his. This is an outside scene where Hugh is talking to Tony and Hugh's voice must not have recorded well. During editing it was probably noticed but Hugh (I'm thinking) was already gone and unavailable to re-record it, so somebody had to voice it over. You can see and hear the scene---it is easily searched online as "This is not Hugh Beaumont's voice".

The second occurance is in Season 4, again the last episode, "Substitute Father". This is the episode where Ward goes to St. Louis and Wally steps in when Beaver says a bad word and has to report to Miss Landers with a parent. Hugh's in this episode, but just to say goodbye to the family as the episode opens. It has the highest number production code, so it appears to be the last made for Season 4. The writers may have given Beaumont the last episode before the summer break his shortest filming sequence so he could leave with his family for Minnesota.

[jehobden]

As has been stated here, there were 234 episodes produced over 6 seasons, which adds up to 39 episodes for each, so Hugh & Wally only missed the original pilot.

Similar to Hugh B. for Substitute Father, Alan Alda missed most of the last M*A*S*H episode produced for S6, "Temporary Duty", and it was explained by having him & 1 of the 4077 nurses transferred to the 8063 in place of a different doctor & nurse. George Lindsey, who played that doctor, stated in his bio that Alan Alda did not appear in his episode, so Alda was nowhere near the set when most of its filming was done.

[MickeyMac]

In season 4 in the episode where Beaver swears at Gilbert, Hugh Beaumont is not in that episode. The storyline explained he was away on business.

As far as I know Tony Dow was in every episode.

[Jack1000]

Originally Posted by MickeyMac

In season 4 in the episode where Beaver swears at Gilbert, Hugh Beaumont is not in that episode. The storyline explained he was away on business.

As far as I know Tony Dow was in every episode.

Wasn't that actually Beaver who swears at a kid name Arthur who trips him as the bell rings in the school hal? Ms. Landers hears what Beaver said, and Wally being the man of the house in Ward's absence eventually goes down to the school as Beaver's substitute father. The episode is called, "Substitute Father."

I recall Hugh in this episode, only to say goodbye to the family as he leaves for a business trip and tell Wally that he expects him to be responsible and help around the house in his father's absence.

Jack

[Zinc2]

That is the episode I was referring to. The exchange between Ward and Wally outside the front door, although short---is poignant and an important part of the story.

Yes, Arthur does the tripping and Beaver the swearing. Richard and Gilbert are just bystanders. Arthur's part is so small, the actor doesn't even show up on the closing credits.

Check out the bow tie on the cab driver in the early scene with Hugh and Tony. It looks like hard plastic! This is also a rare moment when Hugh wears a hat and coat.

[MickeyMac]

I guess I'll have to re watch this episode.

[Scrabjan1]

Originally Posted by Zinc2

That is the episode I was referring to. The exchange between Ward and Wally outside the front door, although short---is poignant and an important part of the story.

Yes, Arthur does the tripping and Beaver the swearing. Richard and Gilbert are just bystanders. Arthur's part is so small, the actor doesn't even show up on the closing credits.

Check out the bow tie on the cab driver in the early scene with Hugh and Tony. It looks like hard plastic! This is also a rare moment when Hugh wears a hat and coat.

Name the other 4 times we see Ward in a hat.

[Zinc2]

Let's see...
Besides "Substitute Father", Ward has a hat (and overcoat again) in "The Garage Painters". He isn't seen wearing it, but just shakes the rain off as he comes in the front door. Ward wears his fishing hat in "Happy Weekend".

Donning a cast-off hat that may or may not be his in "Beaver's Accordion" and Beaver's beanie slap dashed on Ward's head in "Beaver's Short Pants" make four.

[Scrabjan1]

Very good. Spot on.