Tony Dow Movies

This Is Roller Skating and Other Odd Rarities collects a number of unusual, rarely seen shorts from the fifties and sixties. In addition to the piece mentioned in the title, this collection includes Science and Garden, and The Noisy Landscape. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

The already strained relationship between the Alliance and Byron's telepaths break down completely, forcing Lochley to seek the aid of Psi Cop Bester. The mysterious attacks on the Alliance ships intensify. And deep within the bowels of the Centauri palace, Londo and G'Kar stumble upon an old friend. The return appearance of first-season regular Julie Caitlin Brown was supposed to be a surprise, but was tipped off by an obscure Screen Actors Guild ruling. Originally titled "Cat and Mouse", "A Tragedy of Telepaths" was written by J. Michael Straczynksi; the episode first aired on March 25, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

President Clark is dead, and the civil war on Earth is over. Delenn triumphantly stage-manages the convergence of the Earth, the Minbari and the Narn into a new alliance. Captain Sheridan's role in the Alliance must, however, wait until the Earthgov decides his ultimate fate. Elsewhere, Ivanova grieves over the apparent death of Marcus --- and what has become of Lise? First seen in America during the week of October 20, 1997, "Rising Star" was written by J. Michael Straczynski. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This video contains a pair of episodes from the '80s television show that chronicled the adult exploits of the formerly irascible '50s icon of childhood innocence, Beaver Cleaver and his family. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Perhaps it's a blessing that old Ward Cleaver didn't live to see how his son Beaver (Jerry Mathers) turned out. Now in his mid-30s, the Beav is divorced, out of work, and living in his mother's house with his two children. Beaver's brother Wally, also married, is doing rather better, but his friendship with neighborhood sharpster Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond) threatens his financial wellbeing. Only the boys' Mom June (Barbara Billingsley) has matured in the twenty years since Leave It to Beaver left the air. Still the Beaver was the pilot for one of those ubiquitous "reunion" series of the 1980s; this one sold, and ran for several seasons on the TBS Superstation as The New Leave It to Beaver. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After the mysterious death of seven-year-old Christopher Reano, Quincy (Jack Klugman) checks into reports that a foster group home called Green Springs is endangering its charges with brutal treatment and unsanitary conditions. Pediatrician Dr. Curtis (played by former Leave It to Beaver cotar Tony Dow) hopes that Quincy will help him close Green Springs down: trouble is, the youngsters will then be shipped off to a reformatory that is even worse. It is up to Quincy's psychologist wife Elaine (Anita Gillette) to come up with a radical--but compassionate--solution to the problem. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 1975 TV movie Death Scream is based on the shameful Kitty Genovese affair of 1964, in which a N.Y.C. woman was stabbed to death while 38 witnesses locked their windows and doors and pretended not to hear. Raul Julia stars as the detective who investigates the murder and stirs up the guilt feelings of those who refused to help. The film casts celebrity actors in the roles of the witnesses (Diahann Carroll, Cloris Leachman, Lucie Arnaz, Nancy Walker, Art Carney, et al.). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Great American Tragedy is a melodrama about an aerospace engineer and his family who struggle to survive after he suddenly loses his job. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Moving from Saturdays to Thursdays for its sixth and final season, Leave It to Beaver acknowledges the fact that both Beaver Cleaver (Jerry Mathers) and his brother Wally (Tony Dow) are now teenagers by reorchestrating the series' familiar theme music in emulation of a rock & roll beat. Also, whereas Wally was previously the only sports hero in the family, now Beaver is old enough to win a football award, and to score a winning touchdown -- though he's still not mature enough to handle the responsibilities of athletic fame and adulation. Additionally, for the first time in the series, Beav and Wally go on a double date with two attractive sisters -- and later on, Beav and not Wally gets in trouble for scheduling two dates on the same night! Too, Wally's hormones have kicked in to the extent that he seriously considers growing a moustache to impress his steady.
Yes, six years have definitely gone by since Leave It to Beaver's first season. Episode highlights this year include "Eddie the Businessman," in which that unregenerate creep Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond) unwittingly becomes accessory to a robbery scheme, and the thematically similar "Beaver the Caddy," in which The Beav must choose between telling a lie and getting a big tip on the links; "Tell It to Ella," wherein Beaver's complaint to a newspaper advice columnist about unfair parents backfires big-time (watch for a young Tim Matheson in this episode); and "Wally and the Fraternity," in which Wally's plan to pledge to his father Ward's (Hugh Beaumont) old fraternity may be scuttled by the words of a disgruntled ex-pledge. One of the season's best offerings showcases Doris Packer in the role of Beaver's eighth-grade teacher Miss Rayburn; in "Beaver's Book Report," Beav attempts to summarize The Three Musketeers based on the 1939 film version starring the Ritz Brothers. The series' 234th and final episode is also the only "cheater" in Leave It to Beaver's history: "Family Album" is a retrospective of clips from classic earlier episodes, including the series' very first offering, 1957's "Beaver Gets 'Spelled." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Still securely ensconced in a Saturday-night time slot, Leave It to Beaver satisfies its ever-growing fan base with 39 new episodes in its fourth season on the air. Joining the familiar cast of regulars is child actor Richard Correll as Beaver's new pal Richard, a replacement of sorts for the departing Larry Mondello. This season includes two of the series' most moving and realistic episodes. In the season opener "Beaver Won't Eat," Beaver (Jerry Mathers) and his mom June (Barbara Billingsley) form a closer bond than ever before -- and it's a plate of Brussels sprouts that causes it all. And in "Beaver's House Guest," Barry J. Gordon (A Thousand Clowns) guests as Beaver's friend Chopper, who desperately tries to convince everyone that he really, truly enjoys being a child of divorce. Elsewhere, the "creepy" Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond) unexpectedly evokes the sympathy of the viewers when he is two-timed by a conniving female in "Eddie's Double Cross"; Beav must face the unimaginable horror of forever losing his favorite schoolteacher in "Miss Landers' Fiancé"; a youthful kleptomaniac gets Beav in Dutch in "Beaver and Kenneth"; and Wally's oafish pal Lumpy Rutherford (Frank Bank) learns the hard way that dating the "Teacher's Daughter" is not a guaranteed method of improving one's grades ("Yes, F. It's the lowest grade they allow me to give.") Also: Eddie and Lumpy inadvertently get Wally kicked off the track team in "Wally's Track Meet," then advertently get Beaver in trouble with dad Ward (Hugh Beaumont) by cleverly changing a "D minus" into a "B plus" in "Beaver's Report Card"; Beav stirs up trouble on his own by being trapped into a dare in "The School Picture"; and Wally offers his services as "Substitute Father" when Beav is hauled before the principal for swearing in school (no, we don't hear the words!). By far the season's funniest and most famous episode is "In the Soup," which, of course, is the one in which Beaver climbs onto an elaborate billboard and manages to get himself stuck in a gigantic soup bowl! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Leave It to Beaver entered its second season in a new time slot (Thursdays rather than Fridays at 7:30 pm EST), a new network (ABC instead of CBS), and a new movie studio (Revue Productions had moved its base of operations from Republic to Universal). Things get off to a delightful start with "Beaver's Poem," one of the series' many "crisis of conscience" episodes in which Beaver wins an award for a poem written by his dad Ward (Hugh Beaumont). Subsequent first-rate episodes include "Beaver and Chuey," wherein The Beav nearly loses the friendship of his new Mexican acquaintance thanks to the duplicitous machinations of the redoubtable Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond); "Beaver's Ring," which finds our hero stoically contemplating amputation when he gets a valuable family ring stuck on his finger; and "The Shave," in which Beav's older brother Wally (Tony Dow) contemplates scraping off a few "chin whiskers" that frankly don't yet exist. (This episode features Howard McNear, best known as Floyd the barber on The Andy Griffith Show, here cast as -- you guessed it -- a barber!) Also: In "The Grass is Greener," Wally and Beav learn to appreciate what they have in life when they meet a poor family; in "Beaver Plays Hookey," Beaver and his buddy Larry (Rusty Stevens) skip school, only to be caught in the act by a TV camera; in "Wally's Pug Nose," Wally is given reason to be self-conscious by his new girlfriend Gloria (played by Cheryl Holdridge before she was established in the role of Judy Foster); "Beaver and Gilbert" introduces Stephen Talbot in the role of preteen conniver Gilbert Gates (later Bates), who wastes no time hatching a scheme that will get Beaver "clobbered" by his dad; Beav manages to get locked in the principal's office and get his head stuck in an iron gate in "The Price of Fame," and later causes embarrassment for himself when he brags about his father's WWII exploits in "Beaver's Hero"; and in "Wally's Haircomb," Wally shocks his parents by emerging from the bathroom with his hair in an Elvis-like duck tail (listen for that gloriously phony rock & roll music on the soundtrack!) The season ends with "Most Interesting Character," which feature our hero's latest schoolteacher, the pretty Miss Landers (Sue Randall). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide