Episode Reviews - 33rd - 35th episodes produced - season 6

[stevea]

Production No. 16184 - "Summer in Alaska"

Eddie is bragging to Wally and Lumpy about his summer job on a fishing boat--his uncle has arranged it, since he knows the owner. He suggests that Wally and Lumpy go along, but both their parents say no.

Lumpy comes over to Wally's to break that news, and both teens are depressed. Beaver suggests that Eddie is making the whole thing up.

To prove he's not lying, Eddie suggests that Wally and Lumpy accompany him to the interview at the waterfront, with Captain Drake. Since the transom is open, Wally and Lumpy listen as Drake acts more like Captain Bligh--character actor Harry Harver Sr. turns in a memorable performance as Captain Drake. By the time Eddie joins Wally and Lumpy in the outer office and sees a fish picture, he becomes unsteady.

Later at the Cleaver house Eddie tells Wally he doesn't want to go, feels trapped because he made a big play with his dad to do it, and is going to a movie to think it over. Wally goes to talk the whole thing over with Mr. Haskell, and Haskell agrees to get Eddie out of the trip by forbidding him to go.

Production No. 16185 - "Don Juan Beaver"

Beaver has been invited to a graduation dance by Peggy MacIntosh (played by Veronica Cartwright, who had played Violet Rutherford in earlier seasons). Later, new girl Melinda Neilson also asks Beaver, who's so taken with her, he doesn't tell her he has another date.

At dinner, Beaver tells the family about his dilemma--and his parents tell him he should advise Melinda he already has a date. As Beaver mopes in his room, Eddie stops by and gives him advice on the problem--play Eddie's game called "ditcin' the dodo"--be as obnoxious as possible to get rid of the unwanted date.

Beaver puts Eddie's game into practice with Peggy, but after a few rude acts, she's hip to it, has heard he wants take Melinda to the dance, and tells him she's OK with that. Beaver tells her he'll call her later.

Then Beaver tells Melinda he can't take her and she reads him the riot act; he also tells her he'll call her later.

When he makes the calls, both girls have made other dates.

Production No. 16186 - "Beaver's Graduation"

Beaver and Gilbert decide to ditch English class, and Beaver is kind of slacking off, coasting to graduation.

Mrs. Rayburn sends Gilbert to her office with a note, and he and Beaver look for their diplomas in a stack of them in the vacant office--Beaver discovers his isn't there and assumes he's not graduating.

Ward advises Beaver to talk to Mrs.Rayburn, and finds out his diploma was set aside since he'll be part of the stage activities.

[cd637299]

I have a soft spot for Don Juan Beaver.

Eddie is at his Eddie-est, telling Beaver how to ditch the dodo. “Be obnoxious…and believe me, Sam, for you that won’t be too hard.” (A case of “pot, meet kettle.”)

Charla Doherty (Melinda) would have fit well in any Springer-esque talk show 50 years later. She looked and acted like she could wreck a few homes as she grew up! A younger Marlene!

cd

[howilu]

I remember Eddie's line to Beaver in Don Juan Beaver "What's the matter Junior? You get drummed out of the Mouseketeers?" It always cracked me up.

[stevea]

Originally Posted by cd637299

Charla Doherty (Melinda) would have fit well in any Springer-esque talk show 50 years later. She looked and acted like she could wreck a few homes as she grew up! A younger Marlene!

cd

She really told Beaver off in the school hall. Pretty good little actress.

[cd637299]

Originally Posted by howilu

I remember Eddie's line to Beaver in Don Juan Beaver "What's the matter Junior? You get drummed out of the Mouseketeers?" It always cracked me up.

Yes, and mentioning the Mouseketeers* also falls under the Topical References thread!

“The Mickey Mouse Club” was first-run on ABC 1955-59, but was in reruns for the next few years. I have a fall 1963 TV Guide that shows that Miami had the reruns. I believe it briefly came back again in reruns around 1975 (we had it in Miami) before trying a new version two years later.

[* Around two or three Tom & Jerry cartoons, which had to be before Mickey Mouse Club, featured a little French mouse being trained by Jerry in medieval days to be a good “Mouseketeer.”]

cd

[MichaelMartinD]

Another reference to the Mickey Mouse Club occurs in Season 6's "Beaver on TV." When Ward tells Fred Rutherford that he is about to tune in to see Beaver on television, Fred asks him (in his classic condescending manner) if Beaver is going to be on the Mickey Mouse Club.

[Tankeryanker]

I don't know about your school, but in ours, if we made it to the last week of school, we were going to graduate from that grade.

Short of commiting a felony, it was in the bag.

Why was Wally acting like Beaver's future hinged on the last week?

I noticed that tonight is graduation for the High School in our town, yet tomorrow is the last day of school.

What senior would bother going back the day after graduation?

Is that something Wally would do? Would he show back up, diploma in hand?

They wrote Wally kind of motherly in this episode.

Also, they down played Wally graduating. Wouldn't he be graduating at the same time? They have his all night thing in a different episode, yes? Or am I mixing things up?

[stevea]

I don't know how it worked in our school, if one was left back.

I do know we didn't have any graduation exercises when going on to high school from eighth grade. So, no diplomas set aside for other purposes, so snooping kids in our principal's office wouldn't have gotten confused.

In our elementary school, the principal was a huge, hulking man named Dr. Shine. Personally, I'd never have gone into his office looking for anything without permission.

[biffbronson]

Originally Posted by cd637299

[* Around two or three Tom & Jerry cartoons, which had to be before Mickey Mouse Club, featured a little French mouse being trained by Jerry in medieval days to be a good “Mouseketeer.”]

cd

The little mouse was named Tuffy:

[biffbronson]

Originally Posted by stevea

I do know we didn't have any graduation exercises when going on to high school from eighth grade. So, no diplomas set aside for other purposes, so snooping kids in our principal's office wouldn't have gotten confused.

I remember we had an awards ceremony for 8th grade graduates, but no diplomas I'm certain. I did receive 3 or 4 "Honorable Mention" certificates from a math contest among the schools. The competition must have been at Indiana University South Bend, I remember my math teacher transporting us in his van.

Originally Posted by stevea

In our elementary school, the principal was a huge, hulking man named Dr. Shine. Personally, I'd never have gone into his office looking for anything without permission.

I think we had M. L. Perkins and then Don Truex / Jacques Kubley at Jefferson Elementary (K through 8th). They were sort of innocuous, kindly and genial men. Regardless I'd have been afraid to go into a room I wasn't supposed to be in.

When I was in 7th or 8th grade, there was a special needs or paraprofessional teacher named Ms. Naragon I was sort of crushing on -- I wouldn't have minded going into the "Teachers' Lounge" if she were in there...! If I had to name the celebrity she most closely resembled, probably a slightly more mature version of Susan Dey.