Beaver Cleaver

The Difference in a Decade (A Contrast of Leave it to Beaver and Happy Days)

ByPastor Wynn

This week (week of October 17), the news has reported the deaths of two well-known television stars.  A few days ago it was Barbara Billingsley, aka “June Cleaver,” of the still popular Leave it to Beaver sitcom.  Today, it was Tom Bosley, aka “Howard Cunningham,” of Happy Days fame.  As I read about their deaths, I was struck by the differences of the two shows for which they were known.

First, there was Leave it to Beaver, which ran from 1957 to 1963.  It was a show about a wholesome family, where parental authority and love was displayed and respected.  It was a show that was always safe for family viewing.  Ward, the father, was always the voice of reason and wisdom.  June, the mother, was always a lady and loving mother.  While it may be argued that June’s “dress-to-the-hilt” appearance was unrealistic, it cannot be denied that she was a lady.  Her appearance has been laughed at those of a more modern culture.  Yet, there was a day when homes were filled with well-mannered children, a mother who was a lady, and a father who was always a gentleman.  During the show’s airing, there were never episodes that “pushed the envelope” concerning unmarried relationships, sex or language.  It was truly a wholesome show.

Then, a decade later, came Happy Days. It ran from 1974 to 1984.  This show was not permitted viewing in the home I was raised in.  My parents believed that it did “push the envelope” on sex, language and unmarried relationships.  However, after I left home, it did become part of my entertainment venue.  I learned that mom and dad had been right.

While Bosley was the “father” in the show, he was not the main character.  Although his character, Howard Cunningham, did usually prevail with some parental wisdom, the show was not about him.  The show centered around group of hormone-driven teenagers and their hero, “The Fonz.”  Most episodes were filled with laughter that was at the expense of moral fortitude.  The quests of the teenage boys was always the teenage girls.  Of course, there will be some who will argue that “that’s real life.”  Yet, the show moved the boundaries of acceptable moral behavior.  The “Fonz” was a character that knew no moral boundaries.  Many episodes concerned his quest to get another girl in the bed.  Fortunately, those conquest were never shown, but it paved the way for showing them today.  Other episodes were about self-willed children, who rebelled against the parent.  Then, by the end of the show, the parent apologized for not understanding.  Few were the episodes where parental wisdom ruled.

Yes, a decade brought a decadent difference into the living rooms of millions of American homes.  Now, in our day, Leave it to Beaver is looked at as a funny, unrealistic show of the past, and Happy Days is missed.   Some may call me a prude, but I still favor the Leave it to Beaver culture where children are taught to be well-mannered and polite, where mom is a loving lady and wife, and dad is a gentleman and loving dad.  Sadly, it looks like our country “left it with Beaver.”

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38 Comments

  1. What a true assessment of the mess we are in now. Great article Brother. You hit the nail on the head. And it is so true that our country has “left it with Beaver”.

  2. Your analogy could (and should) be extrapolated to the current time. From “Happy Days”, we can move forward to “Growing Pains”, where again, the father was at least intelligent, but usually served as a foil to his oldest son (Kirk Cameron before he found Jesus) and his antics. The next steps were “The Simpsons” and “Married, with Children” which began the trend of reducing Dad to a doddering idiot and featuring wicked, rebellious kids—a trend that was continued (to a lesser extent) in “Home Improvement”. I liked that show a lot in its time, but realize in hindsight that I had been played. What do we have now to replace them? “Family Guy”, “American Dad”, and the like? Lord help us.

    It should be noted, however, there there was at least 1 wholesome exception during this time, which at least tried to preserve some notion of true family values. Thank you, Bill Cosby!F

  3. And then there’s that show with Archie Bunker. Never watched it, couldn’t get past the hollaring and screaming. And what about all the shows that now make the father’s look like idiots and the women are the authority, like Everybody Love’s Raymond which combines an idiot dad and hollaring and screaming. Preach it, Bro. Wynn

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