Leave it to Beaver: Season 3

Leave It To Beaver's "DVD Rebirth" (if you will) came to an abrupt end after the release of Season Two in 2006. I believe rights and clearances were the culprit. However (and thankfully), Shout! Factory acquired this show in 2010 and had the final four seasons out by mid-2011.Guess there was some interest, huh?I'll discuss this a bit more later, but let's go ahead and get the housekeeping out of the way, ok? Yes, you have read this before:Cast of CharactersJerry Mathers is Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver. You will recall (or you should) he received his nickname from older brother Wally, who as a child could not pronounce Theodore. It came out as Beaver. Whatever. Beav is in elementary school, fourth or fifth grade this season, and is constantly being led astray with a plethora of bad advice he is constantly receiving from his, er, "friends."Tony Dow is Wally Cleaver, the Beaver's older brother. An underclassman at Mayfield High, athletics star Wally is the Cleaver brother Ward and June (undoubtedly) have the most hope for. Still, whenever trouble finds Beaver--Beaver usually then goes and finds Wally.Ward and June Cleaver (Hugh Beaumont and Barbara Billingsley), are Wally and The Beav's parents, and are ever-present in each episode as they help their sons out with advice--or punishment--when the situation calls for it. I like that they are active parents, and very concerned for their children's welfare--but have a sense-of-humor about it.The Cleaver family lives in fictional Mayfield, USA. A lot of the show's fan sites have speculated Mayfield is somewhere in Ohio due to the "nearby town references" Ward and June frequently make.Another rumor I have heard, er, read, is that Mayfield is taken from name of a dairy company headquartered in Chattanooga, TN. One of the show's creative consultants apparently was from Chattanooga (as was Hugh Beaumont).Supporting CastKen Osmond is Eddie Haskell. We have to start with Eddie. He is the mischievous, wise-cracking "low-life" (he really isn't that bad) who is squeaky-clean Wally's best friend. At least that's what he keeps telling Wally. Whenever Beaver gets into serious trouble, Eddie--perpetually polite and well-mannered (around parents)--is usually the reason behind it. And, he is my hero.* In one of TVGuide's countless myriads of "lists," Eddie Haskell was ranked as the 2nd most memorable television character of all-time. At least that's what my younger brother, Beav-, er, mrronald, told me.Frank Bank is Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford. He is a couple of years older than Wally, and is introduced to the series as a bully--but they later become friends. He isn't the brightest of people--in fact, by the show's third season, he is in the same grade as Wally due to his having been held back in school. Look for veteran actor Richard Deacon as Lumpy's father, Fred Rutherford, and Ward's best friend (and co-worker).Rusty Stevens is The Beav's best friend, Larry Mondello. His only ambition in life is to eat--and get Beaver into trouble. I must admit that, as a child, I wanted to punch Larry's lights out. Still do.Stephen Talbot (now a PBS docu-filmmaker) is Gilbert Bates, another "friend" of Beav's who is constantly getting him into trouble (notice the theme yet, folks?). As I said earlier, Eddie gets a bad rap, but deep down he really isn't a bad guy--just extremely mischievious. Gilbert, however, seems to live the part of the bad guy. He plays the innocent role around parents, a la Eddie, but unlike Eddie, doesn't seem to have much of a conscience at all. Kind of scary, actually.Stanley Fafara plays Whitey Whitney, another of Beaver's, er, friends. He is short, loud (bordering on obnoxious), and like everyone else, seems to be able of making a fool out of the Beav...anytime, anywhere.The last "little punk" I am going to talk about is Richard Rickover, played by Richard Correll. Y'know, maybe I am too hard on Larry, as he at least doesn't do anything bordering on the illegal. However, Richard, along with Gilbert, is a piece of work--even Wally asks his brother how he can stand being friends with the guy. Richard is a smart-a**, gives Beaver's name and address to a cop when caught breaking windows (!!), and somehow manages to come up with new levels of obnoxiousness with each brand new episode. Interestingly, Jerry Mathers said in an online chat interview the two were best friends in real-life as LITB was being shot.**********Season Three finds the Cleaver family firmly settled in to their new home on Pine Street. The boys' room looks the same, but the kitchen and living room are completely re-done. We also get two new rooms: (1) Ward's den: where a lot of lecturing and scolding take place--lots of advice is given here, too; (2) The dining room: daily events and future plans are discussed here (in other words, dinner considerably helps set up and/or move the story along).Speaking of "stories," Season Three consists of 39 episodes. Here are a few Selected Episode Synopses for your enjoyment:----------Spoilers Ahead----------Beacver Takes A Bath--Ward and June are going out of town for the week-end...well, they were, but are unable to get a sitter for the boys. Wally volunteers for the job, and manags to talk Ward and June into letting him do so. Ward tells Wally that he will pay him the same as he would their regular baby sitter: "Of course, Dad. Why do you think I want to do this?" Things go smoothly for the most part, except for the fact Beaver is called down to dinner by Wally--while drawing bath water--and forgetting to turn the said bath water off. Uh-oh. The overflow damages the kitchen ceiling (Ward comments on how this is a new home--it shouldn't be having problems like this) but Ward goes ahead and pays Wally for his "fine sitting job." Wally gives Ward back the money and tells him what happened. At episode's end, Ward and June remark that while they were disappointed with what happened, it was nice to find out what "nice sons" they have.Teacher Comes to Dinner--Beaver's young, good-looking teacher, Miss Landers (Sue Randall), is invited to dinner and Beaver does not want any of his classmates to know as he fears being thought of as a "pet." So, what does our young Theodore do? He promptly informs Larry of his dilemma. Brilliant move, kid. Larry not only has this news spread all over the fifth-grade in less tha 24 hours, he charges Whitey and Gilbert to come watch the show. Miss Landers shows up--shockingly!--bare armed, and totally blows Beaver's mind...as well as his classmates' minds (not much there to begin with, Miss Landers)--who are out in the back yard hiding high up in a tree. Wally's IQ then proceeds to drops\ a bit (no doubt by osmosis) as he offers this bit of stimulating pre-dinner conversation: "Wasn't Andrew Johnson the only President ever impeached?"Dinner turns out to be a disaster for Beav as he catches his "friends" spying on the whole show. However, Miss Landers hasalso espied them, and has a plan to get even........Tire Trouble--Long story short: Wally and Beaver "flat" one of the tires on their Father's car. They are in a panic as what to do, but here comes Eddie Haskell, who tells them to put the spare on and "keep their mouths shut."Wally: "But what if Dad breaks down on a faraway road? He'll be stranded."Eddie: "So? He won't be around to yell at you, will he?"Wally and Beaver aren't going for this idea, so Eddie advises that they go get the tire patched. They agree, and somehow manage to get the tire downtown and back without hurting any of the good citizens of Mayfield (if you've seen the episode, you'll know what I'm talking about). However, one of Ward's friends sees them and (a "gag" this show has used more than once) inadvertently "rats out" the Cleaver brothers. But, "our heroes" have an "out," due to a poor choice of words Ward made early in the episode.The Hypnotist--Arguably the best episode of the season. Beaver sees a movie about a mad hypnotist, and decides to try this for himself. Oh, dear Lord. After finding four unwilling subjects in (1) June, (2) Wally (who is bathing at the time), (3) Ward and (4) the next-door cat, Beaver decides to "hypnotise" Eddie--using his magic "omellete," of course. Eddie (Sorry, but Ilove this guy!) goes along with the gag and will not allow Beaver to "snap him out" of it--saying he "will kill and steal" for his master. Predictably, Beaver (and Larry--who is actually aninnocent bystander this time around) freaks.Worried that Eddie might actually kill someone, Beav seeks out Ward in his den, and Ward (busy working, and not really paying attention) tells him he read somewhere that, even under hypnosis, people won't go against their consciences:Beav: "What is a conscience, Dad?"Ward: A person's sense of right and wrong.Beav: But what if this person doesn't have a sense of right and wrong?"Ward: "Get lost, punk." (or something to that effect) Eddie terrorizes Beav and Larry for a whole weekend, but late Sunday night, Beav has a nightmare about Eddie, waking up Wally. Beaver informs his older brother of what is going on and Wally tells Beaver not to worry, they'll "get Eddie good" the next day--after school. They do.Wally's Test--A big History test is scheduled for the week. Wally, Eddie and Lumpy prepare accordingly: Wally studies very hard all week and is ready. Eddie and Lumpy say "forget that," and write all of the answers down on a paper towel and hide it in the towel dispenser in the restroom (people really used to do this?). During the test, Eddie "accidentally" gets ink all over his hands and is excused to go to the restroom. However,Wally had the same thing happen to him earlier, and has already thrown away the ink-soiled paper. However, this ink-soiled paper didn't have the answers on it, but rather, a note from their teacher saying: "To thine own self be true."Seems said teacher has been down this road before.Eddie, thinking Wally used their cheat sheet's answers, is so angry at Wally that he plots revenge.Lumpy: "Let's tell everybody what Wally did...stealing our answers."Eddie: "Sure. Let's advertise to the school that we're a couple of crooks."Lumpy: "Well, you could fight him."Eddie: "Lumpy, why don't you shut up!"Eddie finally comes up with an idea to "get Wally," but ultimately ends up deciding to hit the books, becoming a much-improved student. Unfortunately, Lumpy just never figures it out.Brief SynopsesWally's Election--Encouraged by Ward (a rare bit of bad advice from his father), Wally makes like a career politician (and Eddie Haskell) as he runs for class president. It doesn't work--but he still gets more votes than Lumpy! (Lumpy says his father won't even speak to him now! Eddie says he wishes "my old man would stop speaking to me--cut down on all the yelling at my house.")Larry Hides Out--Larry and Beaver are going through his older sister's diary when Larry's Mom catches them in the act--and severely scolds Larry. Larry runs away for Mexico but decides instead to become a permanent resident of the Cleaver brothers' bathroom.Beaver Takes A Walk--Beaver bets his new baseball glove to Whitey that he can walk 20 miles in one day. I believe Whitey puts up (something like a) candy bar that he cannot. You can figure the rest out for yourself.Beaver and Andy--A serious look at alcoholism is the topic of this evening's episode. It involves the neighborhood handyman--and Cleaver family friend--Andy (Wendell Holmes).Pet Fair--Beaver's class is having a pet fair, but Beav doesn't have a pet. Ward rents him a parrot. Said parrot wins the fair. This all sounds very absurd, doesn't it?School Sweater--Pretty Frances (Ann Barnes) gets Wally to loan her his letterman's sweater--but refuses to give it back. Ward and June overhear her at the drugstore gloating about how she has Wally "wrapped around her little finger". Wally finds out. All hell breaks loose.Ward's Baseball--Beaver, thanks in part to Larry (who else?) completely ruins a baseball of Ward's that was signed by (what sounds like to mrroland) the 1927 New York Yankees. I'd disown him.Final ThoughtsI am glad Shout! acquired the dvd rights to this show and (quickly) released the remaining four seasons. Shout! shows this series the respect it deserves. The DVD casing is nicely done. We get an (also nicley done) episode guide booklet. And, best of all, we do not have dual-sided discs. Thank you! We even get a special feature, too: An Internet Radio (audio-only) interview with Jerry Mathers and Frank Bank that is well over an hour long. Excellent job all around here by Shout! Factory.**********Season Three is loaded with great episodes and I believe this show get better as the kids age--girls and cars are much better plot points than "playing cowboys." Plus, as the show "ages," we get many episodes that focus solely on Wally, Eddie and Lumpy. These episodes are the series' best, in my opinion. Season Three gives us a few "flashes" of what is to come, and all of its episodes are enjoyable--no matter who the featured star is. Five stars.Thank you for reading.Leave It To Beaver--The Complete Third Season

I use this product to bring back memories of a classic television show.

I enjoy Leave it to Beaver more now than when I was younger. I love the Cleavers, and especially the episodes where the Beave was younger. I will eventually buy the whole series, but one at a time!

Always fun to have these. Super disappointed that 3rd season did NOT have closed caption, whereas Season 1 and 2 did.

Only complaint I have is that they pressed these so they s-t-r-e-t-c-h to fit the s-c-r-e-e-n.So, I had to readjust the picture to "NORMAL" to watch The Cleavers in normal proportions.That said, back in the olden days 39 episodes were filmed, per-season. I have all six seasons,bought one-season-at-a-time. I, very-much, enjoyed all of the episodes. Probably more thanMOST. In the later years as "The Beaver" grew older, his antics didn't anger ME. When he wasin his various school grades, so was I. Wally SHOULD have been in COLLEGE that last year . . .as memory serves. I've seen every season, now, but the last two. Memory lane stuff . . . perfectre-masterings. While Ward Cleaver NEVER smokes on-screen (like in the pilot episode[differentWard & Wally]). Worth your time watching.Each season's S=I=X DVDs are filled with PLENTY of ooohs and ahhhs! Real life entertainment!

Wonderful collection of a classic television show. I remember this series from my youth and associated myself with Beaver as we were about the same age. I now have all but one of the seasons. All of the actors were great. Miss Landers was one of my first crushes. RIP, Sue Randall, you were beautiful. Hugh Beaumont and Barbara Billingsley were great parents and Tony Dow as Wally was the best brother. I even liked Ken Osmond (RIP) as Eddie Haskell. I enjoyed this show and the DVD played perfectly. It makes me feel young again.

i like the 60s !!! beav's a good boy!!

Dvd case was in poor condition! Was bought new but case was broken in several places and DVDs were dirty!

VERY SASTIFIED

Season 3 finds the Cleaver family all settled into their new home. However, it seems they haven't moved far from the old neighbourhood because "little Benjie from next door" in the first 2 seasons is now "little Benjie from across the street".Fourth grader, Beaver & high school sophomore Wally, are still getting into plenty of trouble & finding new adventures in this 6 disc set.BEAVER THE MAGICIAN is my absolute favourite episode of this season. It features "little Benjie from next door" with Ann Doran ( James Dean's mother in RWAC) as his mom.(She also played Eddie's mom) BEAVER & VIOLET & WALLY THE BUSINESSMAN are also great episodes. Well, they're all pretty great.Terrific sound & picture.

No problems with the discs, at least so far. Very sharp and clear. Niice bit of nostalgia to watch.

Has a decidedly different feel in comparison to season one, a lot funnier too. Thrilled with this purchase

Great for the whole family to watch.