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Stepperry40 · 09-03-2021, 11:48 AM

Was Beaver supposed to 10 or 12 years old in the show? I would that Beaver was probably supposed to about 10 while Jerry Mathers was about 12. What you think?

stevea · 09-04-2021, 12:28 PM

In season 3 Ward says Beaver is 10 years old. My guess is at the time Jerry is 11 and in the fifth grade.

Season 3 would probably have been filming starting in early to mid 1959. In June of that year Jerry turned 11 in June. So he was 11 playing 10.

He appeared pretty small for an 11 year old but had a growth spurt starting in seasons 4 and 5--so they couldn't cheat his age as easily. Probably why they skipped grade 7 in the show and sent him from grade 6 in season 5 to grade 8 in season 6.

vitoscotti · 09-04-2021, 12:40 PM

Beaver is graduating 8th grade when Jerry Mathers is almost 15.
Eddie Haskell & Lumpy are graduating high school. Ken Osmond is 20. Frank Bank 21.

Tankeryanker · 09-04-2021, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevea

Probably why they skipped grade 7 in the show and sent him from grade 6 in season 5 to grade 8 in season 6.

Shows how observant I am. I never noticed

stevea · 09-04-2021, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tankeryanker

Shows how observant I am. I never noticed

They had them both wrong--Tony was younger and Jerry was older than their respective parts. So Wally was a senior--twice, which was certainly never mentioned.

It would have made more sense to use their true ages. Skipping Beaver from sixth to eighth grade put him "right," because according to Wikipedia Mathers graduated from high school in 1967, which he would have done on the show had it continued (unless he pulled a Lumpy and was left back).

vitoscotti · 09-04-2021, 06:17 PM

Didn't Jerry Mathers graduating high school near his 19th birthday put him at least a year behind?

Stepperry40 · 09-04-2021, 07:32 PM

Was that because of fact he had been been a child actor or some other reason? I noticed that was already in the in US Air Force while was finished high school. Leave it to Beaver ended in 1963 but filming probably ended in 1962 when when both Beaver the character and Jerry Mathers the actor would have been 14 years while either in or finishing 8th grade.

season1:57-58- age of Beaver 7.75- 8.5? 2nd grade actual 9yrs 3mo at air time
season2:58-59- age of Beaver 8.75- 9.5? 3rd grade actual 10 yrs 3mo
season3:59-60- age of Beaver 9.75- 10.5 4th grade actual 11 yrs 3mo
season4:60-61- age of Beaver 10.75- 11.5 5th grade actual 12 yrs 3mo
season5:61-62- age of Beaver 11.75- 12.5 6th grade actual 13 yrs 3mo
season6:62-63- age of Beaver 12.75- 13.5 7th gd became 8th gd actual 14 yrs 3mo
Beaver is still at the point of this probably supposed to 10 since it aired in Feb 1960. Was Wally a 12 year old in the first season? Was he really in 8th grade. Tony Dow would have been 12 at the time filming. It seems to that would put him in 6th or 7th grade. Was Boy Scout episode in the 1st or 2nd season?

stevea · 09-04-2021, 07:54 PM

Jerry was born in mid-1948. I guess it depends on the rules of the district when he started school. Just going by the year he should have graduated in 1966 like you said.
The show putting him in grade 8 for 62/63 school year would put him in the class of 67. Putting him in the class of 66 would have had him in grade 6 in the 59/60 (S3) season. If you look at him in S3 there's no way he's a 6th grader IMO.

^In last post re Wally in the first season: I'm not sure any reference was made to actual age, but for sure early in the 6th season Beaver was giving Wally punches on his arm for his 17th birthday. That would make him 12 at the beginning of the 1st season, and he SHOULD have been in 7th grade:

season 1: Age 12, grade 7 (show: 8th)
season 2: Age 13, grade 8 (show: freshman)
season 3: Age 14, freshman (show: soph.)
season 4: Age 15, soph. (show: junior, references to class of '62 gift to school of water fountain)
season 5: Age 16, junior (show: scant or no references to class)
season 6: Age 17, senior (show: senior)

CosmicCharlie · 09-04-2021, 08:37 PM

AFTER WATCHING THE DANCE TEACHER show how the dance is to be done:

vitoscotti · 09-05-2021, 09:10 AM

Cheryl Holdridge (a year older) & Tony Dow both went to Van Nuys High School. Attended by many celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, Robert Redford, and Natalie Wood.

vitoscotti · 09-06-2021, 01:16 PM

S6 E30 The Book Report Beaver comes home after reading The Three Musketeers book report. Wally tells June, "I've lived with the Beaver in the same room close to 13 years." So Beaver is weeks from 8th grade graduation and only 12, going to be 13 soon. That would put him 1 year younger than the average 8th grader.

stevea · 09-06-2021, 01:22 PM

Maybe when he was a baby his crib was in W&J's room??

Stepperry40 · 09-06-2021, 02:55 PM

I would imagine that for a while as a baby Beaver was a new born through about a year old was either in his parents room or the guest room. At one year old maybe they would moved Theodore Beaver into his brothers room.

vitoscotti · 09-06-2021, 04:22 PM

With the writer's history of lack of continuity I don't know. You think they would really incorporate crib time from one room, subtract that from another room time. I'm leaning on the writers flip-flopping on Beaver's age, or really not even caring what age they put out.

stevea · 09-06-2021, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vitoscotti

With the writer's history of lack of continuity I don't know. You think they would really incorporate crib time from one room, subtract that from another room time. I'm leaning on the writers flip-flopping on beaver's age.

My guess is the ages weren't well-defined from the beginning. So whatever the writers wrote was what was said.

Connelly and Mosher should have probably written a little biography of these characters for the writers to access. Introduce a new character (Eddie, Lumpy, etc.) write a new biography with small details, full name, date of birth, grade in school as of (season).

Someone on set should "know" the show and who's who/what's what. So early in season 4 a writer has W&J looking for a babysitter, and talking about checking with Mrs. Bronson. Hold it! Bronson is June's maiden name. Well-established.

Sometime in season 4 Gilbert's last name comes up. A writer pulls Harrison out of thin air. Hold it! It was established as Gates in season 2.

Script supervisors or continuity people are assigned to be detail-oriented to changes in re-shoots, scenes out of sequence, etc. Hold it! Mathers was holding the phone in his other hand. Or, in classroom, in previous shot Mathers had his right hand up. Maybe this person or another on staff should have the duty of reviewing scripts in advance for writer errors.

09-03-2021, 11:48 AM	#1
Stepperry40 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 11, 2019 Location: CA Posts: 163	Dance Was Beaver supposed to 10 or 12 years old in the show? I would that Beaver was probably supposed to about 10 while Jerry Mathers was about 12. What you think?

09-04-2021, 08:37 PM	#9
CosmicCharlie Member Senior Member Join Date: Jan 14, 2019 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 2,451	AFTER WATCHING THE DANCE TEACHER show how the dance is to be done: Attached Images

09-04-2021, 12:28 PM	#2
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,948	In season 3 Ward says Beaver is 10 years old. My guess is at the time Jerry is 11 and in the fifth grade. Season 3 would probably have been filming starting in early to mid 1959. In June of that year Jerry turned 11 in June. So he was 11 playing 10. He appeared pretty small for an 11 year old but had a growth spurt starting in seasons 4 and 5--so they couldn't cheat his age as easily. Probably why they skipped grade 7 in the show and sent him from grade 6 in season 5 to grade 8 in season 6.

09-04-2021, 12:40 PM	#3
vitoscotti Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 14, 2017 Location: Illinois Posts: 1,084	Beaver is graduating 8th grade when Jerry Mathers is almost 15. Eddie Haskell & Lumpy are graduating high school. Ken Osmond is 20. Frank Bank 21.

09-04-2021, 06:17 PM	#6
vitoscotti Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 14, 2017 Location: Illinois Posts: 1,084	Didn't Jerry Mathers graduating high school near his 19th birthday put him at least a year behind?

09-04-2021, 07:32 PM	#7
Stepperry40 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 11, 2019 Location: CA Posts: 163	Was that because of fact he had been been a child actor or some other reason? I noticed that was already in the in US Air Force while was finished high school. Leave it to Beaver ended in 1963 but filming probably ended in 1962 when when both Beaver the character and Jerry Mathers the actor would have been 14 years while either in or finishing 8th grade. season1:57-58- age of Beaver 7.75- 8.5? 2nd grade actual 9yrs 3mo at air time season2:58-59- age of Beaver 8.75- 9.5? 3rd grade actual 10 yrs 3mo season3:59-60- age of Beaver 9.75- 10.5 4th grade actual 11 yrs 3mo season4:60-61- age of Beaver 10.75- 11.5 5th grade actual 12 yrs 3mo season5:61-62- age of Beaver 11.75- 12.5 6th grade actual 13 yrs 3mo season6:62-63- age of Beaver 12.75- 13.5 7th gd became 8th gd actual 14 yrs 3mo Beaver is still at the point of this probably supposed to 10 since it aired in Feb 1960. Was Wally a 12 year old in the first season? Was he really in 8th grade. Tony Dow would have been 12 at the time filming. It seems to that would put him in 6th or 7th grade. Was Boy Scout episode in the 1st or 2nd season?

09-04-2021, 07:54 PM	#8
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,948	Jerry was born in mid-1948. I guess it depends on the rules of the district when he started school. Just going by the year he should have graduated in 1966 like you said. The show putting him in grade 8 for 62/63 school year would put him in the class of 67. Putting him in the class of 66 would have had him in grade 6 in the 59/60 (S3) season. If you look at him in S3 there's no way he's a 6th grader IMO. ^In last post re Wally in the first season: I'm not sure any reference was made to actual age, but for sure early in the 6th season Beaver was giving Wally punches on his arm for his 17th birthday. That would make him 12 at the beginning of the 1st season, and he SHOULD have been in 7th grade: season 1: Age 12, grade 7 (show: 8th) season 2: Age 13, grade 8 (show: freshman) season 3: Age 14, freshman (show: soph.) season 4: Age 15, soph. (show: junior, references to class of '62 gift to school of water fountain) season 5: Age 16, junior (show: scant or no references to class) season 6: Age 17, senior (show: senior)

09-05-2021, 09:10 AM	#10
vitoscotti Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 14, 2017 Location: Illinois Posts: 1,084	Cheryl Holdridge (a year older) & Tony Dow both went to Van Nuys High School. Attended by many celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, Robert Redford, and Natalie Wood.

09-06-2021, 01:16 PM	#11
vitoscotti Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 14, 2017 Location: Illinois Posts: 1,084	S6 E30 The Book Report Beaver comes home after reading The Three Musketeers book report. Wally tells June, "I've lived with the Beaver in the same room close to 13 years." So Beaver is weeks from 8th grade graduation and only 12, going to be 13 soon. That would put him 1 year younger than the average 8th grader.

09-06-2021, 01:22 PM	#12
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,948	Maybe when he was a baby his crib was in W&J's room??

09-06-2021, 02:55 PM	#13
Stepperry40 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 11, 2019 Location: CA Posts: 163	I would imagine that for a while as a baby Beaver was a new born through about a year old was either in his parents room or the guest room. At one year old maybe they would moved Theodore Beaver into his brothers room.

09-06-2021, 04:22 PM	#14
vitoscotti Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 14, 2017 Location: Illinois Posts: 1,084	With the writer's history of lack of continuity I don't know. You think they would really incorporate crib time from one room, subtract that from another room time. I'm leaning on the writers flip-flopping on Beaver's age, or really not even caring what age they put out.