History Series / LeaveItToBeaver

* AsHimself: Don Drysdale in "Long Distance Call".

* OutdatedOutfit: In the Season 1 episode "Beaver's Short Pants", June's Aunt Martha stays with the family while June is of town. During her stay, she has Beaver wear a turn-of-the-century Buster Brown suit to school, which was quite out of style in the 1950s, and subjects Beaver to teasing from the other students.

* OutdatedOutfit: In the Season 1 episode “Beaver's Short Pants,” June's Aunt Martha stayed with the family, while June was out of town. During her stay, she had Beaver wear a turn of the century Buster Brown suit to school, which was quite out of style in the 1950's, and subject Beaver to teasing from the other students.

[[quoteright:290:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/leave_it_to_beaver_cast.JPG]]

The series debuted on Creator/{{CBS}} in 1957, then after one season it [[ChannelHop channel hopped]] to Creator/{{ABC}}, where it ran until 1963. A reunion movie called ''Still the Beaver'' aired on CBS in 1983, which led to a subsequent series that aired on Creator/DisneyChannel (in its infancy), Creator/{{TBS}} and syndication, eventually being retitled as ''The New Leave it to Beaver''. TheFilmOfTheSeries was released in 1997 was somewhat of a present day look at the Cleaver clan, but with more of an AffectionateParody vibe.

* NewSoundAlbum / RearrangeTheSong: The sixth and final season of the show rearranged "The Toy Parade" theme tune into a more contemporary swinging jazz version, and the rest of the show's background music also changed from its' original orchestral sound to the same jazzy style.

* PutOnABus: Larry Mondello.

* WithFriendsLikeThese / ToxicFriendInfluence: Beaver's friends are often the catalyst for his getting into trouble.
** Gilbert Bates: In "Ward's Golf Clubs," Gilbert pressures Beaver to go out and hit golf balls with his dad's clubs until he does so. Beaver winds up breaking one of the clubs as a result. In "Long Distance Call," Gilbert and another friend talk Beaver into making an expensive long distance phone call to a well-known sports figure. It winds up being far more expensive than expected.
** Larry Mondello does this frequently. In fact, he often goads Beaver into bad behavior when his friend initially decides not to do something he shouldn't. In "Ward's Baseball," Larry eventually convinces Beaver (against his better judgment) to toss his dad's autographed baseball in the front yard, resulting in its destruction. In "The Pipe," Larry dares Beaver to smoke his dad's meerschaum pipe (using coffee, no less) after Beaver's refusal, ruining the title object. In "Beaver's Prize," Larry convinces Beaver to defy his parents having grounded him; they go to a movie and are later caught. In "Beaver's Fortune," Larry picks a fight with an older kid at school and then backs out, letting Beaver do his dirty work; when he tries this again, Beaver finally ignores him and Larry deservedly gets punched in the stomach.
** Whitey Whitney: In the episode "In the Soup," Whitey dares Beaver to climb into an oversized soup bowl on a billboard to see if there's actually soup inside. Beaver gets stuck inside the display.
** While Eddie Haskell is often a catalyst for Beaver getting in trouble, he is not Beaver's friend.
** Technically, the only friend of Beaver who ''never'' gets him into trouble is the elder fireman, Gus.

* WhatTheHellHero: Beaver and Wally's [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness usually fun and carefree uncle Billy]] gives them one of these speeches when they're caught sneaking Gilbert into a movie theater, the first half at the theater then the second half at home. But Beaver and Wally worry that's just the beginning and that he's going to tell their parents who would hand out an actual punishment. Thankfully he lets them off the hook figuring the worry was punishment enough and that they learned from it.

* WithFriendsLikeThese: Beaver's friends are often the catalyst for his getting into trouble.

* TheAllegedCar: During the last two seasons, Wally's other main friend [[ButtMonkey Lumpy]] drives one of these, and often mentions grabbing parts from a junkyard for it.

* TheEveryman: The Cleavers.

* FromTheMouthsOfBabes

* HappilyMarried: Ward and June.

* OutdatedOutfit: In the Season 1 episode ''Beaver's Short Pants'', June's Aunt Martha stayed with the family, while June was out of town. During her stay, she had Beaver wear a turn of the century Buster Brown suit to school, which was quite out of style in the 1950's, and subject Beaver to teasing from the other students.

* YourTomcatIsPregnant

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: More than you might think. In the first episode we have this exchange:
-->''(reading a note attached to flowers sent to Ward)''
-->'''June''': Who's Cornelia Rayburn? And when did she see you off your feet?
** In Season five's "Beaver's Electric Trains," Beaver tells Gilbert that Wally, who was a high school teenager at this point, takes a lot of "showers in the day time". It's safe to say that any hormonal teen who had to share their bedroom with a younger sibling could probably relate.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_cleavers_5451.jpg]]

Archetypal [[TheFifties 1950s]] slice of life DomCom, slightly unusual in that it focused on the youngest member of the Cleaver family, 8-year-old (at the start) Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver. He had an older brother, the JuniorHigh-aged (also at the start) Wally. Parents Ward and June rounded out the family group. The series debuted on Creator/{{CBS}} in 1957, then after one season it [[ChannelHop channel hopped]] to Creator/{{ABC}}, where it ran until 1963. A reunion movie called ''Still the Beaver'' aired on CBS in 1983, which led to a subsequent series that aired on Creator/DisneyChannel (in its infancy), Creator/{{TBS}} and syndication, eventually being retitled as ''The New Leave it to Beaver''. TheFilmOfTheSeries was released in 1997 was somewhat of a present day look at the Cleaver clan, but with more of an AffectionateParody vibe.

* OutdatedOutfit: In the Season 1 episode ''Beaver's Short Pants'', June's Aunt Martha stayed with the family, while June was out of town. During her stay, she had Beaver wear a turn-of-the-century Buster Brown suit to school, which subject him to teasing from the other students, as by the 1950's, it was clearly out of style. After the first day, Ward secretly snuck Beaver into some civilian clothes to keep Beaver from being subject to more humiliation.

* OutdatedOutfit: In the Season 1 episode ''Beaver's Short Pants'', June's Aunt Martha stayed with the family, while June was out of town. During her stay, she had Beaver wear a turn-of-the-century Buster Brown suit to school, which subject him to teasing from the other students, as by the 1950's, it was clearly out of style. After the first day, Ward secretly snuck Beaver into some civilian clothes to keep Beaver from being subject to more humiliation.

* IntergenerationalFriendship: Gus the firefighter.

* GoldenMoment

* ForgottenThemeTuneLyrics: The show's theme song originally was titled "The Toy Parade" and had lyrics:
-->Hey! Here they come with a rum-tee tum they're having a toy parade.\\
A tin giraffe with a fife and drum is leading the kewpie brigade.\\
A gingham cat in a soldier's hat is waving a Chinese fan,\\
A plastic clown in a wedding gown is dancing with Raggedy Ann.\\
Fee fie fiddle dee dee they're crossing the living room floor\\
Fee fie fiddle dee dee they're up to the dining room door.\\
They call a halt for a choc'late malt or cookies and lemonade\\
Then off they go with a ho ho ho right back to their toy parade.

* AfterSchoolCleaningDuty: Beaver's occasionally seen cleaning erasers or the like. In "Beaver's Crush", Beaver volunteering to cleanup for Miss Canfield leads to the other students calling him a TeachersPet.

** In a late season episode, Wally is looking for a car of his own and Ward insists on helping him. The first one they examine looks prestine, but turns out to be a smoky and immobile wreck, but the last car they find is a beat up old used car, but it runs smooth as if it just came off the assembly line.

* BlatantLies: Several episodes, but one of the most obvious and blatant comes in "Voodoo Curse," an early Season 1 episode. Wally and Beaver are told '''''not''''' to go to a horror movie ("Voodoo Magic") but do anyway. When the theater playing the film calls the house to let them know Beaver left his cap there, an angry Ward (and equally upset June) decides to confront their sons at dinner, asking them simple questions about the movie they were allowed to see ("Pinocchio"). The boys dig themselves in deeper as Ward's precision-like, defensive-attorney like questioning eventually catches them in their deception, and Ward declares they are not allowed to go to the movies for two weeks.

** "Ward, old boy..."

* ChronicBackStabbingDisorder: Gilbert. In many episodes, he pressures Beaver into doing something that he knows is either wrong, dangerous or stupid, and sometimes would say that he would do it as well. Then, when Beaver caves and gets into trouble, Gilbert would make fun of him, and yet still claim to be his [[WithFriendsLikeThese 'best friend']]. If it were not for Beaver's innocence and kind nature, Gilbert would not have been so EasilyForgiven.

* CurseCutShort: Beaver in "Substitute Father" when, after getting tripped, calls the kid who tripped him something that is [[SoundEffectBleep drowned out by the bell]]; though not before Miss Landers hears it, and based on the reaction it seemed to imply [[PrecisionFStrike one of the biggies]].

* DoomedAutographedItem: Happens in "Ward's Baseball", where Beaver and Larry Mondello play catch with the Beaver's father's baseball, which was signed by ''several'' famous baseball players (including Creator/BabeRuth and Lou Gehrig). They ruin it, of course, and attempt to forge the signatures themselves on a replacement ball.
* DumbJock: Lumpy Rutherford, who isn't exactly the brightest in the bunch, who wins (and almost loses) a college football scholarship in "Lumpy's Scholarship", until Ward convinces the college to reinstate Lumpy's scholarship if he improves his grades.

* EverytownAmerica: Mayfield.

* ForgottenThemeTuneLyrics

** In Season five's "Beaver's Electric Trains", Beaver tells Gilbert that Wally, who was a high school teenager at this point, takes a lot of "showers in the day time". It's safe to say that any hormonal teen who had to share their bedroom with a younger sibling could probably relate.

* ParentExMachina

* PickyEater

** Beaver once developed a crush on a pretty new neighbor, however, both Wally and Eddie give him the business by saying if he's not careful, the woman's jealous husband will come after him. It doesn't help that at one point, the husband is shearing the hedges when he spots Beaver and tries to say hello to him... while the shears are still in his hands!

** Even though Ward was truly a "father knows best" archetype, a couple of episodes did point out that he wasn't without his faults. One episode had Ward really come down hard on Wally and Beaver … too hard, and when the boys ran into trouble, they were afraid to come to him for advice; Ward realizes that he acted out of haste. In another episode, when Wally and Beaver are late a couple of times delivering newspapers, the parents try to pick up the slack by delivering for them – except they delivered the wrong papers … not knowing that Wally and Beaver already had completed that day's delivery run with the correct ones, and they cause their sons to get fired.

** Larry Mondello does this frequently. In fact, he often goads Beaver into bad behavior when his friend initially decides not to do something he shouldn't. In "Ward's Baseball," Larry eventually convinces Beaver (against his better judgment) to toss his dad's autographed baseball in the front yard, resulting in its destruction. In "The Pipe," Larry dares Beaver to smoke his dad's meerschaum pipe (using coffee, no less) after the latter's refusal, ruining the title object. In "Beaver's Fortune," Larry picks a fight with an older kid at school and then backs out, letting Beaver do his dirty work; when he tries this again, Beaver finally ignores him and Larry gets punched in the stomach.

* WithFriendsLikeThese: Beaver's friends often are the catalyst for his getting into trouble.