Wyatt Newman
There can't be much wrong for a television show to be continually shown for what's now approaching fifty years. The Cleaver family, Ward and June, the mom and dad; Wally the older brother; and the featured character, Theodore--not known by that name...not known as you'd expect as "Teddy”, but called "Beaver," was one of the television staples in the late 50s sliding into the early 60s. Beaver Cleaver--a natural nickname kids would have used, and title character in "Leave it to Beaver."
Since "Beaver" has been shown on some channel everywhere, (now appearing on cable's TVLand for so long), then why do so many people enjoy it, while others put it down as boring or unrealistic? It's a cultural history debate between the "Gee, the 50s sure was a nice time to have lived" vs. the "Fifties weren't like that at all, and if they were, it was really dumb."
The affirmative team sees the Cleaver family as the ideal role model of (and this is an inner team debate) family life back then, when families had both parents and well-mannered kids who obeyed their parents and respected them or it's simply an entertaining family show when life in the mid 20th Century was not as grim or hostile. Ward Cleaver was the mild-mannered father, businessman who always dressed well, was the go-to person, the disciplinarian--firm, but fair-- who remembered what it was to be a boy and wanted to make sure his two boys did the right thing, gently telling them what the right thing to do was. This is why Beaver fans to this day see it as a show that sets a good example of how life should be, not like it's often portrayed on family shows today with fathers being stupid, out-of-touch with reality, poor examples of manhood and kids smart-mouthed, getting in trouble, sullen and always at odds with their parents or often sole parent, reflecting the numerous one-parent families in current times.
I side with the affirmative team. Sure, moms weren't June Cleavers, leaving the discipline to her husband, always wearing a dress and heels, always being at home, well-coifed, immaculate home, table set with crystal glasses and cloth napkins. So it's unrealistic and family life wasn't like that. An exaggeration, sure, but as I recall, most of the families I knew at least had two parents and the moms were stay-at-homes. When I was Wally's age, and I lived in a absent-father family, I was somewhat embarrassed because it seemed most of the other kids had a dad at home. Ward was like all TV dads were portrayed then, like Jim Anderson in "Father Knows Best," but even though real dads weren't always so gentle and mild-mannered, many did wear suits to work as some still do, although fewer. Wally was the understanding brother, who never beat up on younger Beaver, a junior role model for an older brother. That hasn't really changed that much from the brother combinations I had in my classes in my teaching days. So was the Cleaver family too far-fetched from real life of the 50s? Not really, not entirely. And so what if it was for some? It was entertaining and had a moral theme for each show. Is that so bad? Heck no. More shows and films today could focus on doing the right thing than getting away with a wrong and using civil language instead of serious or even mild cussing.
The Beaver critics scoff too much at the unrealism, as they see it. Maybe unreal to them, and all people can find unrealism in the characters, but isn't that true with every fictitious television show, then and now? Each show dealt with kid or family issues, themes, situations. L-i-t-B was a mild situation comedy. A frequent situation was Beaver would get in some fix, ask Wally for help, Wally would suggest what Beaver should do as he had had to face such problems when he was Beaver's age, Beaver would try to hide the problem from his parents, especially dad because he feared his dad might "wallop" him (even though no corporal punishment was ever used by Ward or any adults in the show), mom would have a sneaking suspicion something was going on, Ward would find out, talk to Beaver on what to do to straighten things out, and the show would end on a happy note for all...the Cleavers and the viewers. Fantasy or reality, it didn't matter. It left you, and likely still will leave you, with a satisfied, comfortable feeling.
All the kid characters will undoubtedly leave adults, and even kids
today, with reminders of how we were or having known people in our lives who were just like them. I knew a dad like Ward Cleaver...Dick Churchill's dad was a bit like that, sans suit. I knew a mom like June...Fred Zerza's was very much like her. I was an older brother, and I see myself as having Wally characteristics, although I differed by teasing my younger brother more. But Wally seemed like a natural kid,
as did Beaver, maybe a bit more naive than most young kids, but still believable and a composite of what kids were and are like at his age.
And what about those other characters in the show...they can be the most enjoyable to watch for Beaver fans. The immortal, slick, sly, phony, potentially petty criminal, Eddie Haskel. The dufus Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford. No kid would ever go around going by the name Clarence. Lumpy's dad, Fred Rutherford, was the only one to call him by his real name. Fred, Ward's business partner, was the example of the bad dad, the dad who over-disciplined his son and had a totally unrealistic approach as a father. Beaver's regular friends--the apple-chewing Larry Mondelo, a partner-in-crime when Beaver got in trouble, often at Larry's suggestion; Whitey, just a normal kid. And who couldn't identify having a girl in our grade school classes that was a spittin' image of that horrible Judy, the teacher kiss-up and constant bane of Beaver's classroom life?
I've read biographies or articles about the caste in "Leave it to Beaver." Jerry Mathers and Tony Dow, (Wally) had a respect for Hugh Beaumont, who played Ward, saying he was in real life on the set as he was on the show. Same thing was said by them of Barbara Billingsly as June. The kid characters, except for Whitey, went on to ordinary lives and all looked back on the show as being one of the most pleasant times in their lives.
So, it doesn't really matter if life was like that or not in the late fifties, pre-drug era sixties. Enough of it was, and if it wasn't, it was still good, clean entertainment with a message, and example of how things can and should be...and often are. One thing is for sure: the writers sure knew how kids thought and what they did. Nothing in the show was ever too far-fetched to be ridiculous. So leave "Leave it to Beaver" alone.
- Wyatt Newman