Leave It To Beaver, the infamously cheesy sitcom began playing on network television in October of 1957 and acted as a segue between radio comedy and television sitcoms. Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, who had previously worked together at the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency in New York, created the iconic show. In 1942, Connelly and Mosher left the advertising world and ventured into radio comedy writing and eventually became very successful; producing material for over 1,500 radio and television scripts for the Amos ‘n’ Andy Program. The pairs first attempt at television was a collection series starring actor Ray Milland, but was a recognized failure. Shortly after, while taking is son to parochial school, Connelly developed an idea that became The Private War of Major Benson, which ultimately earned both men Academy Award nominations in 1956. In 1957, the duo embarked on a new idea for a show that would appeal to adults but be told from a child’s point of view. This concept was incredibly innovative because sitcoms at the time had never used a child as the focal point. Connelly’s eight-year old son Ricky shaped the character of Beaver and his 14 year-old son was the inspiration behind Wally. Although the renowned character’s given name was Theodore he acquired his nickname, Beaver, when he was just a baby. His older brother Wally pronounced Theodore, “Tweeter” and his parents, Ward and June Cleaver, modified the name to Beaver. The shows Original title was Wally and Beaver but when a sponsor of the show, Remington Rand, thought it sounded like a nature program, its name was changed to Leave It To Beaver.
The sitcom ran from October 1957 to September 1963 and aired on CBS for the first season and on ABC for the remaining five. The show had 234 episodes that paralleled the development of Beaver from a cute little boy to an awkward teenager. Also as the show went on, Wally, transformed into a teenage heartthrob with his cookie cutter image. The Cleaver parents remained archetypal parents of the 50s, providing their boys with love as well as discipline. June Cleaver is especially well known as the beautiful housewife who baked chocolate chip cookies and vacuumed in heels and a dress.
The show was such a success because it was able to portray a typical middle class family enjoying the “American Dream” in a light and carefree way. Only three months after Leave It To Beaver was taken off the network, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated devastating the American public. Because of this, Americans turned away from the simplicity of shows like Leave It To Beaver and sought out sitcoms that included issues of the time. Even though Leave It To Beaver was only on the air for six years, re-runs of the sitcom still play today enabling current generations of Americans to see what middle class perfection in the 1950s was portrayed as.
-jordan potts
* http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=leaveittob
*http://www.tvcrazy.net/images/beaver.jpg
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I found this blog very interesting because I have grown up watching the show Leave it to Beaver but I never really knew the history of it. I found it interesting that the original title was changed because it sounded too much like a nature program but the alternate title still had “Beaver” in it! It is interesting to think about the way America had changed over the two decades and how the show ended right before the assassination of the president. The innocent show ended as well as the innocents of America.
-Hayley Schehrer