Joe Connelly Movies

Former silent film star Madge Kennedy makes her first series appearance as the Cleaver boys' imperious Aunt Martha. While June (Barbara Billingsley) is out of town visiting her sister Peggy, Aunt Martha agrees to look after Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and Wally (Tony Dow). Unfortunately, she also uses this opportunity to purchase an embarrassing "Little Lord Fauntleroy" outfit for Beaver -- and worse, she insists that he wear it to school! Among other things, this is the episode in which we learn why Beaver never uses his given name, Theodore. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Fed up with the squabbling between Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and Wally (Tony Dow), mom June (Barbara Billingsley) demands that the boys call a truce. Swept up in the seriousness of the moment, Beav and Wally take a vow never to do anything without each other. Alas, this Damon-and-Pythias pact is tested when both boys receive invitations to two separate social events. Buddy Hart makes the first of several recurring appearances as the Cleaver boys' friend Chester. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ward (Hugh Beaumont) is mad enough when Beaver (Jerry Mathers) comes home with a black eye, but he really blows his stack when he finds out that Beav didn't try to defend himself. Without allowing the boy to explain, Ward sets about to teach his son how to box, then goads him into a showdown with the other kid. What Ward doesn't know until it's almost too late is that the classmate who gave Beaver the shiner is a little girl named Violet (Wendy Winkelman) -- who also happens to be the daughter of Ward's coworker Fred Rutherford (Richard Deacon, in his first series appearance). This offbeat first-season episode features a Ward Cleaver that we've never seen before, and thankfully will never see again -- a pugnacious blowhard who not only refuses to listen to his children, but also punishes them for telling him when he's wrong!!! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After visiting their Aunt Martha (Madge Kennedy), Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and Wally (Tony Dow) were supposed to use the money given them by their dad to purchase two train tickets home. Alas, their train is delayed, and in the interim the boys spend all their cash on hot dogs and ice cream. How are they going to get out of this one without getting clobbered? Watch for Bess Flowers, "queen of the Hollywood dress extras," in the train-station sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Beaver (Jerry Mathers) talks Ward (Hugh Beaumont) and Wally (Tony Dow) into building him a soapbox racer, powered by an old lawn mower motor. Once the job is done, Ward cautions Beaver not to ride his racer in the street unless he, Ward, is around. Unfortunately, Larry (Rusty Stevens) goads Beaver into breaking his agreement with his dad -- and the result is a traffic ticket and a court date for our mortified hero! This episode originally marked Leave It to Beaver's move from Fridays to Wednesday on the CBS prime time schedule. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ward (Hugh Beaumont) is bit hurt when it seems that Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and Wally (Tony Dow) would rather spend time with the father of one of their neighborhood friends. It turns out that the boys are attracted to Mr. Dennison (Lyle Talbot) because he has set up a basketball hoop and backboard in his yard. Thus it is that Ward tackles the same architectural challenge, but things don't quite work out as planned. (Incidentally, guest star Lyle Talbot was the father of child actor Stephen Talbot, who'd later join the Leave It to Beaver supporting cast in the role of Beav's buddy Gilbert). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The first season of Leave It to Beaver was originally telecast on CBS and seen in an early-Friday-evening slot. When first we meet that "lovable, spankable, unpredictable" Beaver Cleaver (Jerry Mathers), he is all of seven years old, and his older brother Wally (Tony Dow) is a mere 12. The boys and their parents, Ward (Hugh Beaumont) and June (Barbara Billingsley), are living in a different house than in later episodes, principally because the show was being filmed at the old Republic movie studios, and wouldn't move to its more familiar Universal stamping grounds until the 1958-1959 season. Wally's weaselly buddy Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond), already practicing his two-faced trick of being effusively polite to Mr. and Mrs. Cleaver and abrasive and bullying to Beaver, makes his first appearance in the episode "New Neighbors" (a later installment, "Voodoo Magic," affords viewers the rare privilege of seeing Eddie's parents, played by Karl Swenson and Ann Doran). Another familiar juvenile supporting player, Frank Bank, makes his debut as Lumpy Rutherford in the episode also bearing that name; though he is instantly established as the son of Ward's coworker Fred Rutherford (Richard Deacon), Lumpy is depicted as a bully, and not the amiable oaf he would later become. Similarly, Ward Cleaver is not always the all-knowing, gently philosophical character whom we're familiar with: in the episode "The Black Eye," for example, Ward not only aggressively goads Beaver into a fight with the kid who gave him a "shiner," but also punishes Wally for informing him in a later scene that Beaver's "opponent" is a girl! And if we may digress for a moment: another first-season episode, "Water Anyone," marks the one and only time that June Cleaver is seen mopping the floor while wearing a pearl necklace and a fancy dress. (And, given the plot at hand, June's allegedly inappropriate outfit makes sense!) Other characters introduced during season one are Beaver's attractive blonde teacher Miss Canfield (Diane Brewster), his friends Larry (Rusty Stevens) and Whitey (Stanley "Tiger" Fafara), his classroom nemesis Judy Hensler (Jeri Weil), and Wally's off-and-on steady date Mary Ellen Rogers (Pamela Beard). Among the actors making guest appearances are silent-film star Madge Kennedy as Wally and Beav's hidebound Aunt Martha, and in two separate episodes, veteran character actor Lyle Talbot, whose son Stephen Talbot would join the cast two years later as Beaver's chum Gilbert. With such classic episodes as "Beaver Gets 'Spelled," "Beaver and Poncho," and "Beaver Runs Away," Leave It to Beaver performed admirably during its freshman season, though ratings-wise it lagged behind its ABC competition The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi