I've now seen on DVD the complete first 3 seasons of Leave It To Beaver. For the most part I enjoyed watching this TV show. But with that in mind, no matter how hard it tried, this show ultimately failed to convince me that being a parent was a really rewarding experience.
As an adult you can try to remember what it was like being a kid all you want, but if you ever strive to be like Ward and June Cleaver, then you're gonna have to resign yourself to defeat, turn the other cheek, and give your kids the upper hand, without complaint or resentment, in, pretty much, all situations, whether you think it's the right thing to do, or not.
Kids are a literal ball and chain around your neck. You can be sure that they'll never let you down when it comes to matters like trampling on your feelings and challenging your authority every step of the way.
And that is no laughing matter.
Here are 5 things (there are others) that I found particularly strange about this show -
1 - It was never explained why Theodore got the nickname of "Beaver" (which I think was a really stupid nickname).
2 - Ward and June Cleaver (the parents) had no real friends to speak of. These 2 people wrapped themselves up so much in their children's affairs that, often enough, it appeared to be downright fanatical and suffocating in nature.
3 - Ward, and, especially, June, had a really annoying knack of turning the most trivial of situations into full-blown issues.
4 - By the time that the 3rd season of this show rolled around Tony Dow (aka Wally) was 15 years old. And neither Wally, nor his friends, ever once showed any interest at all in rock'n'roll. Nor did Wally ever play the radio to listen to some tunes. That, to me, was very strange for any teenage boy to completely ignore the music of his own generation, especially since this was the time of Elvis Presley.
5 - I also found it very peculiar that Wally and Beaver (being 5 years apart) continued to share a bedroom in a house that had 3 bedrooms.
As an adult you can try to remember what it was like being a kid all you want, but if you ever strive to be like Ward and June Cleaver, then you're gonna have to resign yourself to defeat, turn the other cheek, and give your kids the upper hand, without complaint or resentment, in, pretty much, all situations, whether you think it's the right thing to do, or not.
Kids are a literal ball and chain around your neck. You can be sure that they'll never let you down when it comes to matters like trampling on your feelings and challenging your authority every step of the way.
And that is no laughing matter.
Here are 5 things (there are others) that I found particularly strange about this show -
1 - It was never explained why Theodore got the nickname of "Beaver" (which I think was a really stupid nickname).
2 - Ward and June Cleaver (the parents) had no real friends to speak of. These 2 people wrapped themselves up so much in their children's affairs that, often enough, it appeared to be downright fanatical and suffocating in nature.
3 - Ward, and, especially, June, had a really annoying knack of turning the most trivial of situations into full-blown issues.
4 - By the time that the 3rd season of this show rolled around Tony Dow (aka Wally) was 15 years old. And neither Wally, nor his friends, ever once showed any interest at all in rock'n'roll. Nor did Wally ever play the radio to listen to some tunes. That, to me, was very strange for any teenage boy to completely ignore the music of his own generation, especially since this was the time of Elvis Presley.
5 - I also found it very peculiar that Wally and Beaver (being 5 years apart) continued to share a bedroom in a house that had 3 bedrooms.