Two episodes I hadn't seen before

[1960'sTVfan]

I thought I had already seen all the Leave It To Beaver episodes, but there are a couple from the 4th season I hadn't seen until viewing them recently on the DVD.

One episode is Beavers Old Buddy, the episode where Beaver has a friend Jackie he hadn't seen in a few years. Jackie comes for a visit, and the two boys quickly find out things have changed and they don't have fun with each other anymore like they used to. Jackie's parents end up picking him up from the Cleavers sooner than the pre-arranged time that was agreed to in a rather awkward feeling scene. Another awkward scene is where Ward, Wally, and the two boys are throwing darts. Everyone except Ward is clearly bored with the whole thing, poor Ward is trying his hardest to get the boys interested in playing darts, to no avail. I would have liked this episode better if it had ended with the two boys eventually finding some common ground and having a good time with each other, but that isn't what happened, I guess the writers wanted to convey a different message with this episode.

The other episode is Beavers House Guest. In this one Beaver has a friend Chopper who comes to visit. Chopper's parents are divorced, Chopper tells Beaver all the perks about having divorced parents, that he gets extra presents at birthday and Christmastime, etc. The idea of divorce starts to sound appealing to Beaver, but by episodes end he realizes he's lucky to be in a loving home where both parents love each other and divorce is the furthest thing from their minds. This episode was done pretty well, kind of an unusual episode for Leave It To Beaver because the show didn't often stray into serious topics like divorce. The series has a few episodes that are on the serious side, but not too many.

Anyone else with thoughts/comments on these two episodes?

[MichaelKeith]

I've seen both in tv reruns and in my LITB dvd collection. Both are interesting for the times in that they deal with issues that were especially taboo in the late 1950s. Also, I always like shows that re-visit the subject/idea/theme of an earlier episode. Talk about keeping up the continuity!

[howilu]

I remember those episodes. In the Jackie Waters episode, it showed that people change as they get older and it was sad that Beaver and Jackie were bored by each other's company.

As for the episode with Chopper, I remember the character was one of the first roles played by a young Barry Gordon, who would later play Rabinowitz on Archie Bunker's Place. It was also one of the few episodes to deal with a serious subject, divorce.

[comedyfreak]

I've seen these episodes before both pretty good. Barry Gordon would also go on to play the psychologist for the kids on Fish the Barney Miller spinoff.

[MickeyMac]

Those were really good episdoes and it dealt with issues (such as friends growing apart, and divorce) that TV really didnt discuss at that time.

[stevea]

I was checking on writers on another episode, and came across House Guest, which was written by Arthur Kober. WHO? Well, he had a Wiki article--he did a lot of screenwriting for movies, and wrote extensively for the New Yorker magazine. Very little TV, this episode, Beaver's Big Contest (teleplay re-write by Connelly and Mosher), a My Three Sons episode, and a one-season ABC show Harrigan and Son.

House Guest is one of the better Beavers and Big Contest is well-written too, IIRC.

Re Old Buddy: IMO it's well-written but the casting is lacking. In other threads there have been suggestions that maybe they should have brought Rusty Stevens (Larry) back for this one.

[MMR]

Originally Posted by MickeyMac

Those were really good episdoes and it dealt with issues (such as friends growing apart, and divorce) that TV really didnt discuss at that time.

Agreed.

And often people make fun of Leave It to Beaver for being set in a phony 1950s world where everyone lived in a white, middle-class, two-parent family. But we saw the child of divorce, the poor kids who came to visit, and the kid from the Hispanic family.