This look at the extended Cleaver clan and their friends had one season on Disney from 1984-1985 and three seasons on TBS from 1986 until 1989. It got things right in the sense that it had a high regard for the history of the original show upon which in was based - Leave It To Beaver, which ran from 1957-1963 and followed the exploits of Beaver and older brother Wally Cleaver.
The only thing to happen in 1983 was one TV movie, "Still The Beaver" which aired in March 1983. There are some understandable inconsistencies between the movie and the series that premiered in 1984. First, the movie has Wally and his high school sweetheart Mary Ellen Rogers marrying in their thirties and dealing with infertility as they attempt to start a family. In the series they suddenly have a tween daughter like they have been married some 15 years. In the movie, June, widowed for several years, tells Beaver at the end of the film that she is moving to a condo and is selling him the Cleaver house at a reduced price. In the series, June still lives in the Cleaver home and never mentions moving.
Beaver, now divorced, has two sons that live with him in his childhood home, with all of them pretty much being abandoned by Beaver's ex who is going to veterinary school in Italy. Beaver's oldest son, Kip, has a friendship with Eddie Haskell's oldest son, Freddie, that somewhat mirrors Wally's teen friendship with Eddie.
Eddie Haskell, still portrayed by Ken Osmond, continues to be the rascal he was in the original show, still with the obvious insincere flattery. Except now Eddie is married with two children, the oldest being portrayed by Ken Osmond's actual oldest son, Eric. Eddie being such the manipulator causes problems in his marriage and in his business, and yet Wally is still his best friend in spite of the lapses in Eddie's character and judgment. Likewise, Frank Bank still plays Lumpy Rutherford, with a tween daughter who is good friends with Wally's daughter.
The humor holds up forty odd years later, just like the humor holds up on the original LITB show 65 years later. This is mainly true because the emphasis is on relationships and the importance of family, and that never really changes.
Some of the episodes, at least for the first couple of seasons, are available on youtube, although they are seemingly duped from old VHS tapes and thus the video is rather fuzzy. If you are used to blu ray quality, you'll need to adjust your expectations in that regard.
The only thing to happen in 1983 was one TV movie, "Still The Beaver" which aired in March 1983. There are some understandable inconsistencies between the movie and the series that premiered in 1984. First, the movie has Wally and his high school sweetheart Mary Ellen Rogers marrying in their thirties and dealing with infertility as they attempt to start a family. In the series they suddenly have a tween daughter like they have been married some 15 years. In the movie, June, widowed for several years, tells Beaver at the end of the film that she is moving to a condo and is selling him the Cleaver house at a reduced price. In the series, June still lives in the Cleaver home and never mentions moving.
Beaver, now divorced, has two sons that live with him in his childhood home, with all of them pretty much being abandoned by Beaver's ex who is going to veterinary school in Italy. Beaver's oldest son, Kip, has a friendship with Eddie Haskell's oldest son, Freddie, that somewhat mirrors Wally's teen friendship with Eddie.
Eddie Haskell, still portrayed by Ken Osmond, continues to be the rascal he was in the original show, still with the obvious insincere flattery. Except now Eddie is married with two children, the oldest being portrayed by Ken Osmond's actual oldest son, Eric. Eddie being such the manipulator causes problems in his marriage and in his business, and yet Wally is still his best friend in spite of the lapses in Eddie's character and judgment. Likewise, Frank Bank still plays Lumpy Rutherford, with a tween daughter who is good friends with Wally's daughter.
The humor holds up forty odd years later, just like the humor holds up on the original LITB show 65 years later. This is mainly true because the emphasis is on relationships and the importance of family, and that never really changes.
Some of the episodes, at least for the first couple of seasons, are available on youtube, although they are seemingly duped from old VHS tapes and thus the video is rather fuzzy. If you are used to blu ray quality, you'll need to adjust your expectations in that regard.