While plenty of critics claimed that Leave It to Beaver represented an idealized American family, the show's creators frequently fought against this allegation. Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher developed Leave It to Beaver based on their own experiences as parents.

During an interview with The Gettysburg Times, Mosher added that in addition to their own experiences, plots of Leave it to Beaver were often developed from the actors' personal lives. "Hugh Beaumont has three children and Barbara Billingsley has two," said Mosher. "So you see, plot wise we are loaded. Somebody is always telling us what their kids did, and we just kick the idea around and turn it up with a script."

"It's an honest show," said Billingsley during an interview with The Ledger-Star. "The situations are taken from real life and we are not just trying for laughs. The laughs come naturally from the situations."

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In addition, Connelly and Mosher often spoke to child actors Jerry Mathers and Tony Dow, who played Theodore and Wally to help them create episodes.

Mosher maintained that Leave it to Beaver was more often than not, a depiction of real life during that period.

"We don't sugarcoat life," said Mosher. "We don't try to give an unreal impression of American life as we think it should be. We work very hard to play it straight - as we know life is."

While Leave It to Beaver maintained an air of optimism throughout its episodes, the series wasn't a stranger to hard topics. "It's no Andy Hardy experience," said Mosher. We've covered such things as alcoholism, divorce, cheating, swearing, and stealing. Let's face it: These things happen in life, and kids are confronted with them."

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