Clean that plate! - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

merlinjones · 06-30-2023, 11:33 AM

One thing that always strikes me about Leave it to Beaver (moreso than other shows of the era) is that they rarely eat their entire meal. Plates full of dinner or dessert are cleared away without care.

I first noticed it as a kid as we would devour to the last bone and lick the plate to get enough.

I suppose it conveys a "land of plenty" comfort, but it sure didn't reflect the reality in our middle-class home.

stevea · 06-30-2023, 09:37 PM

Considering the good cook the June was supposed to be, it's surprising.

CosmicCharlie · 07-09-2023, 02:52 PM

tv is fake so the eating is too so maybe it was easier to just throw the Prop Food away than gradually take it off the plate as they filmed +-

stevea · 07-09-2023, 03:40 PM

In some early episodes you see them eating the food in dining room scenes. We know the kitchen fixtures don't work, since the food cooking or boiling noises are obvious sound effects in some episodes.

For Father Knows Best there are some actor anecdotes about the working stove/oven in that kitchen set, when they would have meals at appropriate break times. It's possible some of that food Margaret was dishing up in the show, had just been prepared.

vitoscotti · 07-09-2023, 10:19 PM

A LITB episode that "broke the fourth wall" would have been hilarious. Beaver looks over to the camera "Pots cooking -
no steam...looks under the pot...
kind of hard with no flame?"

Didn't Connelly and Mosher mildly BTFW on The Munsters with characters conversing with themselves really addressing the viewer?

06-30-2023, 11:33 AM	#1
merlinjones Member Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 30, 2019 Location: los ángeles Posts: 933	Clean that plate! One thing that always strikes me about Leave it to Beaver (moreso than other shows of the era) is that they rarely eat their entire meal. Plates full of dinner or dessert are cleared away without care. I first noticed it as a kid as we would devour to the last bone and lick the plate to get enough. I suppose it conveys a "land of plenty" comfort, but it sure didn't reflect the reality in our middle-class home.

06-30-2023, 09:37 PM	#2
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,699	Considering the good cook the June was supposed to be, it's surprising.

07-09-2023, 02:52 PM	#3
CosmicCharlie Member Senior Member Join Date: Jan 14, 2019 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 2,437	tv is fake so the eating is too so maybe it was easier to just throw the Prop Food away than gradually take it off the plate as they filmed +-

07-09-2023, 03:40 PM	#4
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,699	In some early episodes you see them eating the food in dining room scenes. We know the kitchen fixtures don't work, since the food cooking or boiling noises are obvious sound effects in some episodes. For Father Knows Best there are some actor anecdotes about the working stove/oven in that kitchen set, when they would have meals at appropriate break times. It's possible some of that food Margaret was dishing up in the show, had just been prepared.

07-09-2023, 10:19 PM	#5
vitoscotti Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 14, 2017 Location: Illinois Posts: 1,083	A LITB episode that "broke the fourth wall" would have been hilarious. Beaver looks over to the camera "Pots cooking - no steam...looks under the pot... kind of hard with no flame?" Didn't Connelly and Mosher mildly BTFW on The Munsters with characters conversing with themselves really addressing the viewer?