Pop Culture Flashback: Leave it to ... the Beaver? (Oct. 4)

1957 – Why Theodore Cleaver Went by the Name of Beaver

Newsflash – Theordore Cleaver almost had a different father and brother! On April 23, 1957, CBS aired the pilot episode of Leave it to Beaver, titled “It’s a Small World” which starred Jerry Mathers (Beaver) and Barbara Billingsly (June). When the show debuted on this day that same year, Hugh Beaumont had taken over the role of Ward from Casey Adams and Tony Dow stepped in for Paul Sullivan.

The show’s second episode, “Captain Jack” was originally going to be the show’s pilot, about Beaver and Wally putting a pet alligator in the toilet tank. The censors wouldn’t allow it (toilets couldn’t be shown on TV at that time) but they later came around. The TV show only presented the toilet tank itself.

Though we consider the show a classic today, it wasn’t a hit during its first season. The quality of the show was fine, but it just didn’t do well on the network to justify renewing the series. ABC nabbed the show for the second season onward. The show ran for six seasons with 39 episodes each. Through that whole time, the show never explained why “Theodore” went by the name of “Beaver” until the very last episode.

The show explained that when Theodore was born, his older brother had trouble saying his name and it came out like “Beaver” and the nickname stuck. But that’s not the real reason.

Turns out, one of the show’s creators knew a guy while he was in the Navy whose name really was Beaver. He thought that it was great and found a use for it for the TV series.

Other Fun Facts:

In 1968, new wire service reported that a Sgt. Steven Mathers was killed in Vietnam. However, it was reported erroneously that it was “Sgt. Jerry Mathers” who died. That was bad enough, but during that time, actress Shelley Winters was a guest on The Tonight Show and shared this rumor. The rumor must have sounded very plausible since Tony Dow sent flowers to Jerry’s parents!

In 1983, the Cleaver family reunited (with the exception of Beaumont who had passed away) for the made-for-TV movie, Still the Beaver. Its popularity led to the sequel series, The New Leave It to Beaver which ran from 1984-1989. This was followed by the 1997 feature film which starred Christopher McDonald (Ward), Janine Turner (June), Erik von Detten (Wally) and Cameron Finley (Beaver).

The Cleavers actually lived in two homes during the show’s run, but most people only remember the second one on Pine Street. That house is iconic. The facade has been used on many other shows and movies including Marcus Welby, M.D., The Burbs, Desperate Housewives, The Bill Engvall Show, The Young and the Restless and even the 1997 movie based on the TV series.

OTHER EVENTS THAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY:

1972: First ABC Afterschool Special is Aired

ABC After School Specials — *(ABC via TVDB)*

On this day in 1972, ABC aired the first of 156 After School Specials. It was an anthology series that ran about six times throughout the school year featuring hour-long made-for-TV movies made for children and teenagers. Some of the stories were original tales while others were based off of books. Most dealt with social and controversial issues in the day.

The Last of the Curlews was the very first ABC Afterschool Special. Created by Hanna-Barbera, it was one the few animated specials to air during the series’ 25-year run. Based on the book of the same name, it told the story of a father and son who go hunting and get into a debate on whether to kill an Eskimo curlew (a shorebird) or not as it may become extinct. (By the way, it is believed that the last curlew was seen in 1963.)

Two other presentations seen here were Francesca, Baby about a teen who deals with her alcoholic mother by attending an Alateen support group and Very Good Friends which starred Melissa Sue Anderson as a 13-year-old dealing with the death of her younger sister.

Later, CBS followed suit with its’ own Afternoon Playhouse and NBC did as well with Special Treat. Even later, ABC airred similar programming on Saturday mornings called Saturday Superstar Movie and the ABC Weekend Special.