LEAVE IT TO BEAVER: BEAVER'S HOUSE GUEST (TV)
Summary
One in this comedy series about the Cleaver family -- Ward and June and their two sons, Wally and Theodore, known as "the Beaver."
Beaver invites Chopper, his friend from summer camp, over to his house for a sleepover. Chopper gets dropped off by his uncle Dave, but Chopper soon reveals that his "uncle" is actually a man with designs on marrying his single mother. He further reveals that his parents are divorced and have been remarried numerous times, resulting in Chopper having a rather large extended family of half-siblings and step-parents. He bears a number of gifts for the Cleaver family from his parents. June becomes worried that Beaver might get an unrealistic view of what life with a set of divorced parents will be like from Chopper's accounts. That night, Chopper tells Beaver about the many presents and gifts he receives on account of having multiple sets of parents. Beaver thinks he would be happy in a situation like Chopper's.
The next morning, Beaver tries to drop hints to his parents that they should get a divorce, although his attempts are casually dismissed. Ward tells Beaver that people only get divorces when they are "hopelessly incompatible," although Beaver is uncertain as to what that means. June and Ward wonder if Chopper is becoming a bad influence on Beaver. However, Chopper soon reveals the downsides of his parents' divorce: his mother hired a caretaker to look after him during her last divorce, and he didn't get to see her, and he mentions that whenever his father calls, he and his mother get into arguments which usually bring her to tears. Chopper's mother calls, in distress from her latest argument with Chopper's father, and Ward agrees to bring Chopper home. Chopper explains to Beaver that each of his parents continually tries to turn him against the other, and that at home he usually has no one around to play with; he is envious of Beaver's more stable family situation. Beaver feels sorry for Chopper and decides he likes his family the way it is. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: October 8, 1960 8:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:27:32
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: B:13545
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1957-1958; ABC, 1958-1963
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV – Commercials – Purina dog food
- TV – Commercials – Ralston cereal
- TV – Commercials – Rice Chex breakfast cereal
CREDITS
- Harry Ackerman … Executive Producer
- Joe Connelly … Producer, Created by
- Bob Mosher … Producer, Created by
- Dan Nathan … Associate Producer
- Norman Abbott … Director
- Arthur Kober … Writer
- Barbara Billingsley … Cast, June Cleaver
- Hugh Beaumont … Cast, Ward Cleaver
- Tony Dow … Cast, Wally Cleaver
- Jerry Mathers … Cast, Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver
- Barry Gordon … Cast, "Chopper" Cooper
- Clark Howat … Cast, Uncle Dave