Leave It to Beaver: Captain Jack (1957) Reviews

Boy, are Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and Wally (Tony Dow) in for it! Answering a mail-order ad, the boys have purchased a baby alligator without telling mom and dad. Now the gator has gotten sick -- and even worse, it's growing bigger and bigger every day. In their efforts to hide the gator in the bathroom, Beav and Wally cover up their activities by taking a whole bunch of baths -- and that's what tips off Ward (Hugh Beaumont) and June (Barbara Billingsley) that their kids are up to something. Edgar Buchanan, who'd later be seen as Beav's tall-tale-spinning Uncle Billy, is here cast as the episode's title character, a crusty alligator farm owner. "Captain Jack" was the first Leave It to Beaver episode filmed, but was shown second while the producers and the network quarreled over the fact that one scene featured a toilet -- a "first" for an American TV sitcom. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi