Kids love to climb. And kids love soup. So when Beaver sees a giant bowl of soup up on a billboard and the bowl of soup is steaming (yum!) he decides to climb up there. Actually, it was his annoying friend Whitey that dared him to do it. Whitey is always doing stuff like that. Whitey would tell Beaver to jump into a volcano if he thought he could get a good laugh out of it.
The giant bowl of soup is actually being "held" by the lady on the billboard, who is part poster and part wood, giving it a 3-dimensional effect. It actually looks quite cool even by today's standards. Naturally, Beaver climbs up to and then falls into the giant bowl of soup, which actually contains no soup of course because who would put a real bowl of soup up on a billboard for goodness sake. Nobody. Besides, Beaver would get scalded and die and the series would be over and Wally would be an only child and Mrs. Cleaver would be crying in her cake batter every day. And we can't have that! Nobody likes a crying beaver! I mean a crying Cleaver!
So now Beaver is stuck. Boy, is he stuck! What a place to be stuck! Up on a billboard in a giant bowl of soup!
Uh-oh, the sun is going down and it's getting dark. The light for the billboard comes on automatically, beautifully lighting up the bowl of soup and the steam coming out of it. Now Beaver's friend Whitey goes home and leaves Beaver all alone. What a friend! First he gets Beaver into this mess and then he abandons him! With friends like that.....
Meanwhile, back at the Cleaver's house, Lumpy shows up and says that there is a kid stuck in a giant bowl of soup and that it's drawing a big crowd, much like if a spaceship had suddenly landed in Times Square. So they all go over to see what the fuss is all about. Mrs. Cleaver stays behind because she's Mrs. Cleaver and that's what Mrs. Cleavers do. Besides, there is supposed to be a party happening and as of yet nobody as shown up.
Well, Mr. Cleaver and Wally and a group of people stand gawking at the giant bowl of soup with the kid in it. Still, nobody knows who the kid is. People are making wisecracks. Because that's what a kid who is stuck in a giant bowl of soup needs, he needs wisecracks. Finally, somebody calls the fire department because they have ladders and things like that. They show up and climb up and get Beaver, who is deeply embarrassed. Right then a little kid runs up and asks for Beaver's autograph, probably the funniest moment in the episode. That is a classic moment in a classic episode.
There is something wonderfully surreal and magical about this episode. The imagery is classic Americana. No wonder it's such a famous episode.
The giant bowl of soup is actually being "held" by the lady on the billboard, who is part poster and part wood, giving it a 3-dimensional effect. It actually looks quite cool even by today's standards. Naturally, Beaver climbs up to and then falls into the giant bowl of soup, which actually contains no soup of course because who would put a real bowl of soup up on a billboard for goodness sake. Nobody. Besides, Beaver would get scalded and die and the series would be over and Wally would be an only child and Mrs. Cleaver would be crying in her cake batter every day. And we can't have that! Nobody likes a crying beaver! I mean a crying Cleaver!
So now Beaver is stuck. Boy, is he stuck! What a place to be stuck! Up on a billboard in a giant bowl of soup!
Uh-oh, the sun is going down and it's getting dark. The light for the billboard comes on automatically, beautifully lighting up the bowl of soup and the steam coming out of it. Now Beaver's friend Whitey goes home and leaves Beaver all alone. What a friend! First he gets Beaver into this mess and then he abandons him! With friends like that.....
Meanwhile, back at the Cleaver's house, Lumpy shows up and says that there is a kid stuck in a giant bowl of soup and that it's drawing a big crowd, much like if a spaceship had suddenly landed in Times Square. So they all go over to see what the fuss is all about. Mrs. Cleaver stays behind because she's Mrs. Cleaver and that's what Mrs. Cleavers do. Besides, there is supposed to be a party happening and as of yet nobody as shown up.
Well, Mr. Cleaver and Wally and a group of people stand gawking at the giant bowl of soup with the kid in it. Still, nobody knows who the kid is. People are making wisecracks. Because that's what a kid who is stuck in a giant bowl of soup needs, he needs wisecracks. Finally, somebody calls the fire department because they have ladders and things like that. They show up and climb up and get Beaver, who is deeply embarrassed. Right then a little kid runs up and asks for Beaver's autograph, probably the funniest moment in the episode. That is a classic moment in a classic episode.
There is something wonderfully surreal and magical about this episode. The imagery is classic Americana. No wonder it's such a famous episode.