Beaver Runs Away
- Episode aired Jun 25, 1958
- 30m
Beaver decides to run away from home when he thinks he is unfairly reprimanded for allowing his friend Larry to accidentally drill holes in the Cleaver garage wall with Ward's electric drill... Read allBeaver decides to run away from home when he thinks he is unfairly reprimanded for allowing his friend Larry to accidentally drill holes in the Cleaver garage wall with Ward's electric drill.Beaver decides to run away from home when he thinks he is unfairly reprimanded for allowing his friend Larry to accidentally drill holes in the Cleaver garage wall with Ward's electric drill.
- Director
- Writers
- Joe Connelly(uncredited)
- Bob Mosher(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe holes in the garage wall were not completely repaired and Ward's repairs are still visible in later episodes of the show.
- GoofsThe kitchen suddenly appears behind the swinging door between the front door and the stairs. Earlier, it appeared to be a hallway.
- Quotes
June Cleaver: Ward, Wally just told me. What's this all about the Beaver?
Ward Cleaver: Oh, he just ran away from home.
June Cleaver: [frantic] Oh, Ward, let's go get him!
Ward Cleaver: Oh, no, that's exactly what he wants us to do.
June Cleaver: But he might mean it.
Ward Cleaver: Now, June, there's nothing to worry about. He'll walk around the block once, and he'll be back by the time we finish our soup.
Wally Cleaver: [enter Wally] Did he really go?
June Cleaver: Yes, he did.
Wally Cleaver: Hey, Dad, he said he was gonna join the pirates, and come back with a wooden leg.
June Cleaver: [Wally and his Dad laugh about the idea; June is not amused] Ward Cleaver, if he does, I'll never speak to you again!
- ConnectionsFeatured in Leave It to Beaver: Family Scrapbook (1963)
Beaver and his friend Larry are fooling around in the garage with Ward's power tools, which Beaver knows are supposed to be off limits. Larry drills two holes in the wall of the garage and leaves Beaver to deal with the consequences by himself. Ward is understandably upset about the holes but quickly turns Beaver's disobeying him into Beaver not respecting HIM or HIS rules or HIS efforts to provide a nice home for the family. (Ward fails to mention the fact that if there had been electrical wiring inside the garage wall, Larry could have been seriously injured or worse.)
Beaver and Ward then engage in a battle of the wills with Beaver threatening to run away and Ward becoming even angrier that Beaver is threatening him. Ward decides not to attempt to stop Beaver from leaving and even politely holds the front door open for him to walk out. When June discovers what's going on she very upset and in a rare display of defiance against Ward gets the car out and goes looking for Beaver. After Beaver is located and brought home, Ward is forced to examine his own role in the standoff and realizes that his way of dealing with it was not in the best interests of anyone.
One of the things I especially liked about this episode was that it realistically showed the difficulty often involved in disciplining children, and how stressful it can be on the entire family. So often caring parents dig in their heels over a method of dealing with misbehavior that they know in their hearts is not going to work, but it's so important not to be seen as "giving in" to the child.
Frankly, I'd have been just as upset as June if my seven year old had run away after dark and my spouse was determined to let him come home on his own. June knew Ward was being unreasonable and somebody needed to be the adult in the room and take charge before the situation got worse.
Again, an excellent episode about the pitfalls involved in parenting, and there are many. :)
- bernadettedens-23561
- Sep 15, 2023
Details
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1