In October 2007, TV Land celebrated the show's 50th anniversary with a marathon. In 1997, a movie version based on the original series was released to negative reviews. The show has enjoyed a renaissance in popularity since the 1970s through off-network syndication, a reunion telemovie ( Still the Beaver, 1983) and a sequel series, The New Leave It to Beaver (1985–89). Much juvenile merchandise was released during the show's first run, including board games, novels, and comic books. The still-popular show ended its run in 1963 primarily because it had reached its natural conclusion: In the final show, Beaver is about to graduate from grade school into high school, but Wally was about to enter college and the fraternal dynamic at the heart of the show's premise would be broken with their separation.Ĭontemporary commentators praised Leave It to Beaver, with Variety comparing Beaver to Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer. The show's production companies included the comedian George Gobel's Gomalco Productions (1957–61) and Connelly and Mosher's own Kayro Productions (1961–63) with filming at Revue Studios/ Republic Studios and Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Throughout the show's run, it was shot with a single camera on black-and-white 35 mm film. The following season, it moved to ABC, where it stayed until completing its run on June 20, 1963. The series had its debut on CBS on October 4, 1957. Leave It to Beaver ran for six full 39-week seasons (234 episodes). Neither parent was omniscient or infallible the series often showed the parents debating their approach to child rearing, and some episodes were built around parental gaffes. In a typical episode, Beaver gets into some sort of boyish scrape, then faces his parents for reprimand and correction. Like several television dramas and sitcoms of the late 1950s and early 1960s ( Lassie and My Three Sons), Leave It to Beaver is a glimpse of middle-class American boyhood. Leave It to Beaver is one of the first primetime sitcom series written from a child's point of view. These veterans of radio and early television found inspiration for the show's characters, plots, and dialogue in the lives, experiences, and conversations of their own children. The show was created by the writers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher. The show has attained an iconic status in the United States, with the Cleavers exemplifying the idealized suburban family of the mid-20th century. The show also starred Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont as Beaver's parents, June and Ward Cleaver, and Tony Dow as Beaver's brother Wally. Leave It to Beaver is an American television sitcom broadcast between 19 about an inquisitive and often naïve boy, Theodore 'The Beaver' Cleaver ( Jerry Mathers), and his adventures at home, school, and around his suburban neighborhood.

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