This was a big hit back in the day, foremost for legendary LA Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale, who won the Cy Young Award for best MLB pitcher about the time this episode was filmed. Very difficult to top a story like this. Period.
10 Plus Plus Stars.
Dick Conway put in the extra time here, and is quite creative. Ward and June are away for a Saturday afternoon and Beave has Gilbert and Alan (Mark Murray) over, leading to some interesting time killers -- like calling folks on the phone and saying dumb things. Yes! Lots of us kids were guilty of that sort of stuff, especially when it was difficult to trace calls, as compared to today.
Comes the WHAT IF question. What if the guys call someone famous, such as baseball player Don Drysdale? Beaver naturally has the honor -- and after waiting and waiting -- he gets to talk to the baseball phenom.
Not a bad idea, except for the fact that crafty writer Dick Conway had Beave on HOLD which costs lots of money! Years ago, long distance calls, long before the convenience of cell phones, were enormously expensive. This story is a true time capsule, with or without Don Drysdale!
Best of the best is when Ward (the baseball fan of fans) reads a story about some boys calling Drysdale --and it turns out to be his own son! The look on his face is priceless! Hugh Beaumont is absolutely hilarious here.
Interestingly, this was the last appearance of young actor Mark Murray, who was Beaver's new friend for a few episodes --and then disappeared? Look for Dennis Oliveri as Kenny, playing a school friend of Beave and Gilbert. This was his only appearance, though Dennis appeared in scores of tv shows and films in the 60s and 70s. Known for the BETTY HUTTON SHOW.
Classic Beaver connections:
This episode more than likely inspired the famous BRADY BUNCH story where Cindy phones superstar Joe Namath, not forgetting an earlier episode where Don Drysdale also guest starred. Super trivia questions.
On a macabre note. Producer William Castle, who was admired by Alfred Hitchcock, MAY have also seen this episode and incoprorated the phone pranks in his chiller, I SAW WHAT YOU DID, starring Joan Crawford. Watch for it and be the judge. Hint: the movie was also filmed at the same studio, Universal.
SEASON 5 EPISODE 37 remastered.