This is a super duper episode. How many of us wanted to join some way cool club when we were kids? But there's a little more to the story.
Beave joins the BLOODY FIVE, which sounds like fun, and even Whitey (Stanley Fafara) is in it. One problem... they don't want Larry to join. Beave begins to have second thoughts, that is until Larry claims he joined an even cooler club called the FIENDS! You have to admit, the club names are a gas!
Beave naturally quits and joins his BFF --only to find out it's a phony club, with Larry the ONLY member. Could this be the end of their friendship? This also is one of the few episodes where Beave really, really gets angry!
I agree with the last reviewer that Larry (Rusty Stevens) seems to have more lines in some scenes than Beaver! However, it's Wally who has the best dialogue. Writers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher had to throw in some off the wall stuff, which they were so good at.
Wally decides to hang around the house (on a Saturday) during the big club debate. Ward and June ask him why, to which he replies, "When I'm in the army dodging missiles, it'll be something to remember me by!" That definitely had to be a take on DOBIE GILLIS, another goofy sitcom we all loved, where Dobie joins the army. I have never had so much fun writing reviews for that show. Doris Packer (Mrs. Rayburn) also appeared on Dobie Gillis.
This was Madge Blake's final role as Mrs. Mondello, according to production notes. Rusty Stevens had more episodes to go, but then he would be cut from the cast. Barbara Billingsley later said it had to do with his mother who was apparently bugging the producers too much --and that may also explain why he has more lines than Beave!
Rusty was a very popular child actor, also appearing on such shows as 77 SUNSET STRIP and PERRY MASON at the time, which may explain everything.
Best for the last....
There's a very poigant scene between Beave and Ward talking about good clubs and bad clubs, which is what this story is all about. I am sure Hugh Beaumont, who later became a minister, had helped in putting this scene together. It's great.
Watch this for the memories. SEASON 3 EPISODE 22 remastered dvd box set.