an unusual episode for a '50's sitcom...the subject was divorce..Beaver's friend Chopper comes from a VERY split family viz; a mother and 2 stepmothers...Beaver is right on at one point in the episode when he comments that he has never had a friend with divorced parents before! This was not a common feature in 50's sitcoms...about as unusual as his having friends from another race or culture...watching the episode, you feel his shock and confusion, as if he were experiencing a certain loss of innocence..but, by then he was all of 12 years old and maybe the writers of the show felt it was time to put away more the more childish situations he had been getting involved in...time for him to face the real outside world, although the full impact of a broken marriage seemed lost to him, thinking only of the material gains of having presents to replace the affection and love that would be lost to him.. Wally, being slightly older seemed more attuned, almost blasé to such a situation... Definitely a sober beginning to a new season with an older Beav, and a foretelling of slightly more serious situations to come.
8 Reviews
One of Beaver's best episodes...
Hendry28 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
In some ways Beaver transitions to Theodore in the opener of Season 4, when he learns gifts do not take the place of a loving family. I was a little confused with the slightly shifty-looking guy who called himself "Uncle," until I realized he was a guy who hangs around the house kind of uncle (he'd make a good suspect in a Perry Mason episode).
I found Chopper's sad comment (perhaps taken a word out of context), "I see how your parents are, standing close to each other." very sensitive and even intimate - no doubt the screenplay was written by a person with a good grasp of marriage, in it's best and worst moments.
Sad, too, is Beaver left sitting on his bed, angry with the fact that all that was left of his friendship with Chopper was a new baseball glove, given to Chopper by one parent vying for the best divorced parent role - though no fault of Beaver's troubled friend, who was called home because his Mother was "weepy" again, after another argument with his father (a/k/a using the child as mediator to a bad marriage).
It's another reason people who only focus on the "Gee, Dad" isms of Beaver are ignorant of the show's many unique strong points for a sitcom of it's time.
No doubt this was one of the show's best and most meaningful episodes.
I found Chopper's sad comment (perhaps taken a word out of context), "I see how your parents are, standing close to each other." very sensitive and even intimate - no doubt the screenplay was written by a person with a good grasp of marriage, in it's best and worst moments.
Sad, too, is Beaver left sitting on his bed, angry with the fact that all that was left of his friendship with Chopper was a new baseball glove, given to Chopper by one parent vying for the best divorced parent role - though no fault of Beaver's troubled friend, who was called home because his Mother was "weepy" again, after another argument with his father (a/k/a using the child as mediator to a bad marriage).
It's another reason people who only focus on the "Gee, Dad" isms of Beaver are ignorant of the show's many unique strong points for a sitcom of it's time.
No doubt this was one of the show's best and most meaningful episodes.
Maybe mom and dad and Wally aren't so bad after all
pensman24 March 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Beaver made a new friend at camp by the name of Chopper. According to Beaver, he met Chopper at camp where Choppers' parents sent him cakes and pies hidden in books. Beaver is having Chopper over for the weekend. Chopper is dropped off at the Cleavers by Uncle Dave. Chopper figures "Uncle Dave" would like to be his new daddy. Chopper has candy for June, perfume for June, and a baseball mitt for Beaver. When Chopper meets Wally, Chopper wants to know if Wally is a real brother. Turns out Chopper has a three half brothers and sisters but no real brothers.
That night Chopper is "entertaining" Beaver with stories of the gifts he gets from his mother and father. It seems Chopper's father is on his third wife and while he may spoil Chopper, he can't recall the names of his wives' children. So Chopper sort of plays his mom and pop off one another to see which will get him the better gifts. Beaver is awe struck by the stories of expensive presents and is a little envious.
In the morning Beaver is talking to Wally about it might be nice to have multiple parents to get all those gifts. Wally says mom and dad are not going to get divorced to make you happy. Beaver goes down to breakfast and asks June if she got divorced would she marry a good present giver. June says she's happy with Beaver's father. Next Beaver sees if Ward is contemplating a divorce.
After breakfast, Chopper is telling Beaver about his trip to Yellowstone. No Chopper's dad didn't take him, a college guy was paid to take Chopper. Ward gets a call from Mrs. Cooper, she won't be able to pick Chopper up so Ward offers to take Chopper home. Chopper tells Beaver his mom has the "weepies" and she needs him.
As Chopper is getting ready to go he tells Beaver that Beaver is the lucky one, he has a mom and dad who like one another. But what about the presents? Beaver is confused that Chopper can be so unhappy when he has so many things. But with his parents fighting all the time, Chopper admits he gets the weepies too. Beaver decides it's better to have two good parents who like one another than a bunch of presents. Beaver seals the deal by giving both his mom and dad a goodnight kiss.
I was a little older than Beaver when this episode aired. And while I knew about the idea of divorce, no one in my neighborhood of some two hundred plus families were divorced. I knew one kid in my old neighborhood whose parents divorced, and all I knew was it was something you didn't talk about. As an adult, I had a long career in education with a portion of it teaching in middle school; and among my students, divorce was the normal state of things. While they would talk about it, they were pretty much amazed I was married to just one woman. They accepted their situations but would admit the system of having stepbrothers and stepsisters did not always run smoothly. And they would discuss how they would play one parent against the other. Times are morals certainly change.
Watching this episode, I was more interested in watching the writers struggle with trying to write for their protagonist who is getting bigger and older, but is not being allowed to grow up as fast as he would normally. Nonetheless, I appreciated seeing Beaver grow past seeing an opportunity to get things to realizing he's really fortunate to have two parents who love one another, and a brother who is his brother.
That night Chopper is "entertaining" Beaver with stories of the gifts he gets from his mother and father. It seems Chopper's father is on his third wife and while he may spoil Chopper, he can't recall the names of his wives' children. So Chopper sort of plays his mom and pop off one another to see which will get him the better gifts. Beaver is awe struck by the stories of expensive presents and is a little envious.
In the morning Beaver is talking to Wally about it might be nice to have multiple parents to get all those gifts. Wally says mom and dad are not going to get divorced to make you happy. Beaver goes down to breakfast and asks June if she got divorced would she marry a good present giver. June says she's happy with Beaver's father. Next Beaver sees if Ward is contemplating a divorce.
After breakfast, Chopper is telling Beaver about his trip to Yellowstone. No Chopper's dad didn't take him, a college guy was paid to take Chopper. Ward gets a call from Mrs. Cooper, she won't be able to pick Chopper up so Ward offers to take Chopper home. Chopper tells Beaver his mom has the "weepies" and she needs him.
As Chopper is getting ready to go he tells Beaver that Beaver is the lucky one, he has a mom and dad who like one another. But what about the presents? Beaver is confused that Chopper can be so unhappy when he has so many things. But with his parents fighting all the time, Chopper admits he gets the weepies too. Beaver decides it's better to have two good parents who like one another than a bunch of presents. Beaver seals the deal by giving both his mom and dad a goodnight kiss.
I was a little older than Beaver when this episode aired. And while I knew about the idea of divorce, no one in my neighborhood of some two hundred plus families were divorced. I knew one kid in my old neighborhood whose parents divorced, and all I knew was it was something you didn't talk about. As an adult, I had a long career in education with a portion of it teaching in middle school; and among my students, divorce was the normal state of things. While they would talk about it, they were pretty much amazed I was married to just one woman. They accepted their situations but would admit the system of having stepbrothers and stepsisters did not always run smoothly. And they would discuss how they would play one parent against the other. Times are morals certainly change.
Watching this episode, I was more interested in watching the writers struggle with trying to write for their protagonist who is getting bigger and older, but is not being allowed to grow up as fast as he would normally. Nonetheless, I appreciated seeing Beaver grow past seeing an opportunity to get things to realizing he's really fortunate to have two parents who love one another, and a brother who is his brother.
Wow. Quite an episode
vitoscotti23 May 2021
Divorce
CJPALLISTER200225 May 2023
This was the first episode in TV to deal with divorce and they do it in such a genuine way, Beaver thinks it's cool that his friend Chopper gets sets of presents from his parents and step presents but as the episode progresses we see that Choppers home life is abusive with his parents both using him to hurt each other, it was a shocking episode at the time that has aged beautifully.
In 1960 divorce was a taboo subject Beaver at age 11 had never had of it and Wally who is 15 has only heard of it in movies, while this may seem unrealistic to us nowadays it was actually quite common back then.
No show would touch on the subject but like all taboo subjects that no show would touch on a sitcom had to do it first, the episode gets a lot more serious toward the end and Beaver realises that it's better to have two parents that don't have much money but love each other than two that hate each other but give you lots of presents and think that their kid is a burden, this was by my count the only episode so far to have a scene that didn't use the laugh track.
In 1960 divorce was a taboo subject Beaver at age 11 had never had of it and Wally who is 15 has only heard of it in movies, while this may seem unrealistic to us nowadays it was actually quite common back then.
No show would touch on the subject but like all taboo subjects that no show would touch on a sitcom had to do it first, the episode gets a lot more serious toward the end and Beaver realises that it's better to have two parents that don't have much money but love each other than two that hate each other but give you lots of presents and think that their kid is a burden, this was by my count the only episode so far to have a scene that didn't use the laugh track.
Barry Gordon
sherryp-1491121 September 2023
I really liked this episode. How it showed by contrast with Choppers family, how wonderful the Cleaver's family was being happily married with happy children. I love "Leave It To Beaver".
But it was neat to see Barry Gordon (Chopper). Five years later he was in a movie with Jason Robards. Gordon is really a fine actor. You can really tell in "A Thousand Clowns". His imitation of Peter Lorre was iconic. It's ironic- here he plays a child from a broken home. On "A Thousand Clowns" he wasn't only from a broken home, but a dysfunctional one. Being raised by an uncle. They ''communicated with his mother entirely by rumor!"
But it was neat to see Barry Gordon (Chopper). Five years later he was in a movie with Jason Robards. Gordon is really a fine actor. You can really tell in "A Thousand Clowns". His imitation of Peter Lorre was iconic. It's ironic- here he plays a child from a broken home. On "A Thousand Clowns" he wasn't only from a broken home, but a dysfunctional one. Being raised by an uncle. They ''communicated with his mother entirely by rumor!"
SHOULD WARD AND JUNE DIVORCE?
tcchelsey12 May 2024
I agree with other reviewers, yes... all of us kids back in the day were fascinated by this episode. There was nothing like it, at least for a sitcom.
10 Stars. But not all comedy.
Very original writing on the part of Arthur Kober, a well known Hollywood writer, who wrote one additional episode. Kober was a contributing writer for THE LITTLE FOXES (1941) starring Bette Davis, many other classic films.
This episode does underline what I have written about many times. Producers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher should have had the Cleavers living near Hollywood, much like MY THREE SONS and the BRADY BUNCH. Hollywood is a lot like Reno, Nevada; there are divorces almost on every block. So if you're growing up in the area, you probably would have a friend or two like Chopper. And thats what writer Arthur Kober probably had in mind. It make sense.
Beaver meets Chopper (well played by young actor Barry Gordon) in camp and they become fast friends. Beave is amazed at all the presents he gets from his mom's new boyfriend, who will probably be his "new" dad. Naturally, Beave invites him over to the house --bringing more gifts for the family! -- much to Ward and June's utter surprise.
And yes... they wonder for a moment or two, if Chopper would be a good pal for Beave to hang around. And for good reason. With all the presents popping up, Beaver asks them if they would consider divorcing? You have to get a chuckle out of that scene.
That said, even as kids, we all felt kind of sorry for Chopper and could only wonder what type of life or lifestyle he was destined for. Certainly, a story that will stick with you for awhile.
Applause for Barry Gordon, popular child actor at the time, who as an adult became a voice actor, and as of 2023 is still working. Look for Clark Howat, who plays "Uncle Dave," best remembered as the captain on DRAGNET 67 (the color episodes), also making several apperances on PERRY MASON.
A one of a kind, about face early episode for the series. And a prelude to some of the more poignant episodes to come. SEASON 4 EPISODE 2 remastered. Check out the classic front cover, and in color!
10 Stars. But not all comedy.
Very original writing on the part of Arthur Kober, a well known Hollywood writer, who wrote one additional episode. Kober was a contributing writer for THE LITTLE FOXES (1941) starring Bette Davis, many other classic films.
This episode does underline what I have written about many times. Producers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher should have had the Cleavers living near Hollywood, much like MY THREE SONS and the BRADY BUNCH. Hollywood is a lot like Reno, Nevada; there are divorces almost on every block. So if you're growing up in the area, you probably would have a friend or two like Chopper. And thats what writer Arthur Kober probably had in mind. It make sense.
Beaver meets Chopper (well played by young actor Barry Gordon) in camp and they become fast friends. Beave is amazed at all the presents he gets from his mom's new boyfriend, who will probably be his "new" dad. Naturally, Beave invites him over to the house --bringing more gifts for the family! -- much to Ward and June's utter surprise.
And yes... they wonder for a moment or two, if Chopper would be a good pal for Beave to hang around. And for good reason. With all the presents popping up, Beaver asks them if they would consider divorcing? You have to get a chuckle out of that scene.
That said, even as kids, we all felt kind of sorry for Chopper and could only wonder what type of life or lifestyle he was destined for. Certainly, a story that will stick with you for awhile.
Applause for Barry Gordon, popular child actor at the time, who as an adult became a voice actor, and as of 2023 is still working. Look for Clark Howat, who plays "Uncle Dave," best remembered as the captain on DRAGNET 67 (the color episodes), also making several apperances on PERRY MASON.
A one of a kind, about face early episode for the series. And a prelude to some of the more poignant episodes to come. SEASON 4 EPISODE 2 remastered. Check out the classic front cover, and in color!
Getting The Weepies
StrictlyConfidential24 November 2020
(*Wally quote*) - "Sure, dad, he's more interested in his stomach than he is in his brain."
(IMO) - This episode of TV's "Leave It To Beaver" was actually quite a surprising one as the touchy subject of divorce (shock! shock!) was brought up in its storyline.
Anyway - (As the story goes) - "Chopper" Cooper is a buddy of Beaver's from the Konig Summer Camp. Today he has come to visit Beaver for the weekend.
Even though Chopper boasts about the benefits of having 2 families, the reality is that he's unhappy due to all of the disharmony that goes on.
(IMO) - This episode of TV's "Leave It To Beaver" was actually quite a surprising one as the touchy subject of divorce (shock! shock!) was brought up in its storyline.
Anyway - (As the story goes) - "Chopper" Cooper is a buddy of Beaver's from the Konig Summer Camp. Today he has come to visit Beaver for the weekend.
Even though Chopper boasts about the benefits of having 2 families, the reality is that he's unhappy due to all of the disharmony that goes on.
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