Revisiting this premiere episode of the beloved family series 60 years after first watching it broadcast (courtesy of ME TV) certainly brought back memories, and reacquainted me with the quaintness of the show's initial approach. Beaver's malapropisms and childishness are laid on with a trowel, but it's certainly fun to see both Mathers and Dow as pint-sized versions of the characters they created and that linger in the memory.
Unlike later seasons, this early version seems to be playing down too much to the audience, with silly exaggeration where later on we got believable antics of youth and a weekly life lesson or two. Certainly Beaumont and Billingsley were already comfortable in the roles, while perhaps having Norman Tokar as director (unlike later helmers of the show like the great Hollywood veteran David Butler or latterly Beaumont himself) was a bit much, as I suffered growing up watching many of his kiddie movies for Disney, none of them ranking among the studio's best achievements.
It was fun seeing character actors, chiefly the aged and ageless Burt Mustin plus Ralph Sanford in supporting bits and the distinctive Doris Packer who spanned the series' lifetime as school principal. All in all, a worthwhile trip down memory lane.