Leave It to Beaver (TV Series) Family Scrapbook (1963) User Reviews

One last evening with the Cleavers

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 18 April 2024]

The writers on this show almost seemed to know the culture was about to change and that Leave It To Beaver was emblematic of an innocent and more carefree time that was about to end as a presidential assassination, the British invasion, the Vietnam war, the civil rights movement, and a more open attitude about sex due to the advent of the birth control pill changed everything. Just ten years later America's family would be Archie Bunker and company.

So in a rare instance for those days of a TV show having a series finale, the Cleavers look through a scrapbook that has the viewer relive moments in the series. As some reviewers have said, many scenes shown are of some very embarrassing moments and for sure nobody would have a camera handy, but the point is nostalgia not realism.

Last Show of the Series

[philter1949 · 8 March 2012]

I just finished watching this episode. It brought me back to 1963 when I was graduating from Grade 8. This was such a moving and touching episode and a wonderful way to end a terrific series. I remember when I was a young man, didn't want to see this series end but, I guess, it had to. People grow up and move on, can't stay the same. The same with this cast. You almost had the feeling you were a part of this group. A throwback to a simpler time, one that we will never see again. Wally, Beaver, Eddie all the characters were similar to ones I went to school with and recognized. When I watch the re-runs of these episodes my life is re-visited in a flashback. My cares and worries are gone and I get to take a nostalgia tour.

Farewell to the Cleavers and innocent TV family shows.

[pensman · 10/10 · 13 June 2017]

June finds an old toy that Ward bought for Beaver when he was just born, some 30 cent French perfume that Wally had bought her when he was in the second grade, and a family scrapbook. Everyone sits down to have a looksee and we find out how Beaver got his name. Wally couldn't say Theodore and it came out Theever. So, it evolved into the pronounceable Beaver. We first watch Beaver try to figure out what to do when in first grade he receives a note from a teacher, he discusses it with Wally while both of them were supposed to be taking a bath. Without a doubt, Wally and Beaver found a clever way to take a bath without ever getting into the tub while still leaving wet towels behind as evidence of completion. Also, we learn turtle dirt is good for creating an artificial ring around the tub.

Next we watch Beaver struggle with the problem of kissing a married woman when the next-door neighbor gives him a kiss on the cheek, and Eddie Haskell starts trouble. Then it's Wally trying to learn how to shave when he doesn't have too, good thing there was no blade in the razor. There is Larry and Beaver getting into trouble for using Ward's electric drill, so Beaver decides to run away after feeling the punishment was too tough. He makes it to the front door and leaves behind a very upset June.

Ah, Wally has a first girlfriend who is trying to get him to go to a dance with her. And Eddie Haskell is upsetting June with his talk about a girlfriend; and managing to give June a typical Eddie backhander that suggests hanging around with the Cleavers won't be of any benefit to him in the long run. We have the story with Ward hiring a friend of Beaver's to paint the house; problem, he was an alcoholic, and the boys didn't know. Hey, there's Larry Mondello showing Beaver his sister's diary which upsets Mrs. Mondello, for reading it or for Mrs. Mondello overhearing what was inside it, we don't know. Miss Landers makes an appearance as a dinner guest when Beaver had a crush on her when he was in the sixth grade. Conversation was certainly tough, and worse Beaver had to take her by the naked arm to escort her into the kitchen.

We see Ward and Wally discuss one of Ward's fumbles in trying to help Wally get elected class president, and it turned into a disaster. Finally, we have June and Ward reminiscing about how their little guys are now responsible young men. A comment made funny as both Wally and Beaver are upstairs playing with the toy June found at the start of the episode.

A very sweet end to a wonderful series. Today we would probably get an hour special to give a more considerable conclusion. We know we aren't seeing the entire show as syndication has led to considerable cuts. Fans, of course, want more which likely means buying the DVD's. Watching it today brings back memories of my own childhood, and friends, and my mom and dad. I wonder if today's acerbic family shows will have the same effect on its viewers.

Wonderful look back

[vitoscotti · 10/10 · 17 September 2021]

I watched the series from start to finish, so this is it. This episode should have been an hour to finish it off. The change of Beaver has been the most dramatic of all the characters. Having stills from video justly tops off a great series, with a ton of writing holes.

THANKS TO RERUNS, THERE IS NO ENDING.

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 14 November 2023]

This was the episode that was both fun to watch and very sentimental too. It's the last episode of the series, and fittingly, the Cleavers dust off an old scrapbook and relive some great stories.

A missed opportunity, yes, as I think the series could have gone on for a couple of more seasons. MY THREE SONS picked up the audience from this point and ran a total of 12 seasons, and in color. About 20 years later, most of the cast was reunited for a new series with wives and grandkids.

I agree with the last reviewer; this should have actually been an hour episode; surprisingly, there were other classic stories that were not included, but we'll take what we can get. This episode inspired many other sitcoms (in later years) to do the same thing as they ended their tv run.

Definitely a dash of poetic license here as the "snapshots" are actually a freeze frame of various embarrassing moments. It makes you wonder WHO was hanging around with a camera(!) at the precise second to take a picture of some mess the guys got themselves into? Whatever the case, never to forget all those forced smiles from Eddie Haskell as he entered the Cleaver household. TV history.

Fittingly directed by Hugh Beaumont, who would focus on more dramatic roles. He did have a brief recurring part on PETTICOAT JUNCTION as one of the inlaws during the classic wedding episodes. He also appeared in some memorable episodes of MANNIX, before retiring. Had Hugh not retired, he may have continued as a frequent guest star on that cop show.

From SEASON 6 remastered Universal dvd box set. The final season box set has come down in price, after many years. The front and back cover artwork is excellent. 2011 release.

Weak Ending to Great Series

[MichaelMartinDeSapio · 5/10 · 10 May 2016]

The series finale of LEAVE IT TO BEAVER has always struck me as a cop-out. The Cleavers reminisce over a family scrapbook and we see flashbacks to different scenes from the series' past. Of course, it is much harder to do a proper finale than it is to just film brief connecting segments and fill the rest of the half hour with flashbacks. But it wouldn't have been half as bad if the flashbacks had made better sense. As it is, the scenes that are flashed back to - Beaver and Wally chatting as they fill the bathtub with water in a effort to simulate having taken a bath, or Beaver and Larry surreptitiously reading Larry's sister's diary - would never have actually been photographed. So the scrapbook functions here as a sort of poetic conceit. The scenes seem to have been chosen haphazardly rather than for being particularly significant milestones in Beaver's and Wally's lives.

The episode's saving grace is the final image of Beaver and Wally, now almost full-grown men, gleefully playing with a windup toy in their room. The image leaves us with the eternal joys of childhood and returns us full circle to where this delightful series first began.

Goodbye To Mayfield And The Cleavers

[StrictlyConfidential · 5/10 · 26 January 2021]

This, of course, is the very last episode from TV's "Leave It to Beaver".

This story has the Cleaver family sitting around together in the living room, looking at a photo album.

Through it all the Cleavers remember the good old days when everyone was somewhat younger and more optimistic.

Adios one and all.

Disappointing series finale

[mrb1980 · 4/10 · 21 April 2024]

I have always thought that this final episode (No. 234 of 234) is very weak and doesn't really do justice for this classic series.

The plot is simple: Ward and June find an old family photo album with pictures of various characters (Miss Landers, Larry Mondello and his mom, Eddie Haskell, and others). Joined by Wally and Beav, they reminisce and recount interesting stories with the aid of flashback footage of old shows.

A really good final episode would have Wally preparing for college and Beaver getting ready for high school, assisted and advised by their proud parents. The future plans of Lumpy, Eddie, Julie Foster, Fred Rutherford, and many other characters could be presented to the audience to provide a sense of closure.

Instead, the final insipid scene of this wonderful series has Wally and Beav playing with a little windup toy from Beaver's early childhood. I've always thought this was a really meaningless way to wrap things up. Anyway, it was good to see the Cleavers one last time, but the show could have been so much better, with a sincere and final farewell to the audience and to Mayfield.

This "Scrapbook" episode is just OK but makes little sense.

[gargantuaboy · 3/10 · 31 December 2023]

I am a huge fan of Leave it to Beaver but this episode makes no sense considering they are using the "Scrapbook" way to sort of recap things. The problem is the photos in the scrapbook are taken from actual episodes but in those specific episodes NOBODY was there snapping photos! There is one photo we see of Beaver and Wally in the bathroom , are we supposed to think there was some hidden camera just snapping away?

I understand you just sort of have to "go with it" but this is just a little odd. Also there is some dialogue that just does not work. One of the photos makes Beaver ask his parents why they started to call him "Beaver". It is very hard to believe Beaver would not know this already and it's a little silly to think on the very LAST episode this is just now being addressed.

I still think Leave it to Beaver is the best show EVER about kids and Mathers and Dow are absolutely wonderful along with the entire cast but I am just not crazy about this ending episode.

Too bad the last episode wasn't moving, like Beaver visits Gus one last time or something like that.