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Jerry Mathers reveals the reason Leave It to Beaver ended early
The series could've continued!
All things, both good and bad, must eventually come to an end. That's one of the cruel truths of the world. No matter how much we love something, no matter how hard we want to hold onto it, at some point, it's time to say goodbye. That's the case for pets, stamp collections, treehouses, and even sitcoms. Our favorite shows all wrap it up and call it a day.
But one legendary show could have gone on longer, at least according to the people making it. Apparently, there was an effort to extend Leave It to Beaver for a few further seasons. And why not? The stuff that made the show special was still all right there. Wally and Beaver were still brothers, and Ward and June were still parents. The stories would've written themselves! Who knows the adventures Beaver could've gotten into in college and beyond?
Eventually, they rebooted the series with The New Leave It to Beaver, proving there was still meat on the narrative bone. The audience would've been there, too. So, why did the show end?
A 1983 Buffalo News interview with the Beaver himself, Jerry Mathers, sheds light on the production issues that led to the show's premature demise. ABC, which aired Leave It to Beaver from 1958 onward, wanted to make a radical shift in '63. The network proposed moving the show to an hour-long format. More to our point, though, ABC wanted to begin filming the show in color.
"At the time," said Mathers, "we had two days of rehearsal and three days of filming, which gave us a lot of what made it so well-written."
That time and attention translated to the screen. Leave It to Beaver remains popular, in part, because of the care that the writers and producers gave each story. The actors then had the space they needed to hone each scene until it was family portrait perfect.
"Due to the technology of color [in 1963], we were going to have to eliminate the two days of rehearsal and film it in six straight days.
"The producers really felt that would jeopardize the quality of the show and they said, 'We've had a good show, we've been on for six seasons; why try to squeeze two more years out of it and sacrifice quality?'."
But think of what could've been! Beaver goes to prom! Wally gets a job at a bank, or whatever! And all of it could've been in vibrant color picture!
What do you think? Were we robbed of two seasons of TV's greatest family sitcom? Or were we better off leaving the show where it ended? Let us know your opinion in the comments section below!
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3 Comments
I wanted to see Beaver grow-up and get a spine. I have long felt that he was too naïve. (A part of the legacy of the program that was encouraged by the producers, but hated by me). I wanted to see a new Beaver who would have put Larry Mondello in his place. I do believe that the mother of Beaver’s best friend should have been younger; and I did want to see his older sister. (who was unseen throughout the series) I would have liked to see Larry reflect on getting spanked by his younger mother on the newer episode of the series. (And he needed a spanking; and she talks gently to him before hugging a sobbing and contrite Larry afterwards; that would have been justice). I actually do believe that Beaver himself had unspoken fears about being spanked by his parents that could have been explored had the series been expanded. (Season 1 episode from ‘Beaver Gets Spelled' “His mother spanked him and I spanked him”) It would have been neat to see Beaver getting chewed out by Miss Landers after class to be heard by classmates in a nightmare.
I understand that on the last season, the producers were conservative around Beaver and girls. I wanted to see Beaver get a steady girlfriend. As per Olivia Rodrigo; I wanted to see Beaver get romantic revenge; especially on that Penny Woods (Sue Trent) who leaked Beaver’s secret football play in the last episode of season 3, and I especially wanted to see Beaver get revenge on that line-backer (Penny’s brother) who did that turnover on the Beaver. In fact, I would have loved to have seen a tense feud between beaver and Penny’s brother. Here’s a surprising romantic pairing; Judy Hensler (Jeri Weil) and Whitey Whitney. (Stanley Fafara)
An expanded series would have been perfect for the Beatles era and the British Invasion in pop music. While I do agree that civil rights and reform would have been ahead of the time; I do think that the show could have introduced black characters with some finesse. The show would have benefited from a talented soul singer with an integrated girl group. (Jerry Mathers was never a talented singer, and this was a void). How about a nervous black pitcher who has Beaver as a battery-mate on the baseball team. I think that Wally could have gotten a significant athletic scholarship at a local college; and build up the romantic rivalry between Mary Ellen Rogers (Pamela Baird) and Julie Foster. (Cheryl Holdridge). It would be interesting to see Beaver and Julie connecting and seeing Beaver get into a heated argument with Wally over it.
Finally, Leave It To Beaver could have continued had ABC abandoned its pursuit of hour long episodes; which it did not need; and this would have kept the rehearsal schedule in place.