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Special Features
- Bonus Episode: "It's a Small World" Original Pilot
Editorial Reviews
Finally, one of the most beloved series from television's Golden Age comes to DVD for the first time ever! Join the Cleavers, America's quintessential family, in all 39 digitally remastered, unforgettable episodes from the complete first season of Leave it to Beaver! Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver (Jerry Mathers) can't seem to avoid trouble, and his older brother Wally (Tony Dow), and mischievous pal Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond), aren't any help. But with some wise advice from his father Ward (Hugh Beaumont) and mom's (Barbara Billingsley) home-cooked meals, Beaver learns that all's well that ends well. Complete with the original pilot, brought out of the studio archives, this must-have DVD collection will have you declaring, "Gee, that Beaver sure is a swell guy!"
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289 of 298 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The First 39 "Beaver" Adventures! ... Fabulous DVD Quality! (And I'm Not Just Giving You "The Business" When I Say That Either!)
November 24, 2005
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
"LEAVE IT TO BEAVER: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON" .........
At-A-Glance DVD Stats:
Number of Episodes -- 39.
Number of DVDs -- 3 (Dual-Sided; Dual-Layered; DVD-18).
Video Aspect Ratio -- Full Frame OAR (1.33:1).
Audio -- Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (English only).
Color or B&W? -- B&W.
Any Bonus Stuff on the DVDs? -- Yes ... The LITB "Pilot" Episode ("It's A Small World").
Subtitles -- English and Spanish.
"Play All" Option Included? -- Yes.
Chapter Stops Included? -- No.
Are These Episodes Complete and Unedited? -- Yes.
Booklet Included? -- No.
DVD Distributor -- Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
DVD Release Date -- November 22, 2005.
--------------------------------------------------
The 1950s-1960s family sitcom "Leave It To Beaver" had never been made available to fans via any kind of major studio release on home video throughout all these many years of home-video formats (Beta, VHS, LD, or DVD) -- until the long-awaited date of November 22, 2005, when Universal Studios Home Entertainment released "Leave It To Beaver: The Complete First Season" on DVD.
And the first 39 "Beaver" episodes look just terrific here. The video quality for these black-and-white programs is extremely good, and the audio is very good too (by way of the very pleasant and clean-sounding Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtracks that faithfully reproduce each episode's original Mono audio).
Thankfully, Universal has done a bang-up job with the digital transfers here, and these shows (which were originally photographed on film, not videotape) look and sound fabulous on these DVDs.
There is, however, a good deal of fine "film grain" contained within a lot of these episodes, but I'm assuming that is simply inherent to the type of film stock that was used for this series. The grain isn't very distracting (at least I don't have a major problem with the grain speckles that exist here). Interestingly, though, I've noticed that many scenes in these episodes don't seem to have any "grain" in them at all, while other scenes contain a lot more. The "outdoor" shots look almost completely grain-free.
Another very pleasing thing to me personally is the fact that all these DVDs pass the "freeze-frame test" with flying colors (i.e., when pausing or freezing an image on screen, the video doesn't "blur" at all; it stays rock-solid and clear while in "pause" mode; which, IMO, is a sign of a good film-to-DVD transfer).
All things considered, I could not be happier with the way these episodes look on these DVDs! And thus far I have no complaints about the performance of the sometimes-temperamental two-sided discs that Universal insists upon using for its TV-DVD releases. Nary a hitch has been experienced while playing these discs.
According to the stats on the packaging, the episode running times here average out to exactly 26 minutes per program (including the 40th episode in the set, the Pilot), which indicates to me that the following pleasing terms apply here: "Full"/"Complete"/"Uncut"/"Unedited"! And this is great to see, because the syndicated versions of this series that have aired on commercial TV for decades have all been hacked to pieces, with each episode having at least a few minutes sliced out of it due to commercial time restraints.
I did a "time check" for each of the seven LITB shows on Side A of Disc #1. The results made me smile (in an "uncut" and "complete" sort of fashion). Here are those run times (not counting the 22-second Universal fanfare and logo that's included prior to every episode, which can be quickly bypassed via the Chapter button):
"Beaver Gets 'Spelled" -- 25:48.
"Captain Jack" -- 25:48.
"The Black Eye" -- 25:49.
"The Haircut" -- 25:44.
"New Neighbors" -- 25:44.
"Brotherly Love" -- 25:37.
"Water, Anyone?" -- 25:44.
So I think it's safe to say that when fans view any of these 39 programs, they will probably be seeing them uncut for the first time since their original network TV airings in the late 1950s. I'm guessing that everyone who buys this DVD set will be seeing some scenes in a lot of these episodes that they had never seen previously. That fact kind of serves as an "added value" item all by itself.
I'm also glad to see that these DVDs retain all of the "Previews" (or "Teasers") for the first-season "Beaver" programs. These brief preview clips were shown just prior to the opening titles and give an overview of what's coming up in that episode. These pre-show snippets, which last about 20 to 30 seconds each, were only done for the first season. Hugh Beaumont served as "narrator" for the teasers on the first 16 episodes. For the year's final 23 shows, however, Hugh's voice is not heard, with just an episode clip provided (sans any voice-over narration).
------------------
"Leave It To Beaver" premiered on CBS-TV on Friday, October 4, 1957, and continued on network TV for a total of six seasons, finishing its 234-episode run in 1963. Each of the six seasons consisted of exactly 39 episodes, a hefty number by today's seasonal standards. CBS carried the show for the first season only. For the final five years, "Beaver" was a part of the ABC-TV schedule.
The storylines used for "Beaver" were always very simple and uncomplicated, which is probably why it's so charming and appealing. No major earth-shattering disasters ever befall the Cleavers. Nobody ever gets hurt (except an occasional scraped knee), the parents (Ward and June) rarely fight about anything serious and never threaten to leave each other (like you might see on a show today), and above all, these characters really seemed to care about each other, without getting overly sappy and sentimental about it. All of these traits helped make "Leave It To Beaver" what it was each week in 1957, and what I believe it remains today: just a good, clean, fun, uncomplicated half-hour of entertaining television.
Starring Jerry Mathers as "Theodore (Beaver) Cleaver", Tony Dow as his brother "Wally", Barbara Billingsley as "June", and Hugh Beaumont as "Ward", the excellent cast of "Leave It To Beaver" was a well-chosen group in my opinion. While it's true, I suppose, that the acting was a bit on the "stiff" side on many occasions, I still think that this ensemble did quite well on this show. A sense of true believability and realism finds its way quite comfortably into each of these episodes.
Toss into this cast grouping the very funny Richard Deacon, who portrayed Ward's friend and co-worker, "Fred Rutherford", plus Ken Osmond as the ever-sarcastic "Eddie Haskell", Frank Bank as the wimpish (but always likeable) "Lumpy Rutherford", Rusty Stevens as "Larry Mondello", and all of Beaver's and Wally's other various friends, classmates, and schoolteachers, and you've got a really first-rate supporting cast of characters to build stories around.
Some of my favorite shows from this Season #1 Beaver batch include ..... "The Black Eye", "Beaver's Short Pants", "Party Invitation", "The Bank Account", "Train Trip", "The Perfect Father", "Beaver Runs Away", "Tenting Tonight", and my #1 fave from this season, "The Haircut", which has Beaver getting scalped by barber Wally in one of the funniest episodes of the whole series.
There's also the funny "Captain Jack" episode -- which was the very first show to be filmed; but was the second program to be aired. "Captain Jack" has Wally and Beaver sending away for a pet alligator, and includes the very funny scene where "Minerva" (the maid who we never see again) comes running up the basement stairs screaming "Help! A monster! There's an alligator in the basement!" .... This is followed by Ward's skeptical -- "An alligator?!" (LOL.)
"Captain Jack" also has the distinction of being the very first episode in television history to show a toilet on screen. (The "tank" portion of the Cleaver toilet is shown, not the [~gasp!~] "bowl" itself.) :-)
In fact, it was the "toilet" scene in "Captain Jack" that kept that episode from being aired by CBS as the debut show of the series in late 1957. But LITB show executives, including writers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher (who authored a great number of the 234 "Beaver" programs throughout its 6-year history, including "Captain Jack"), stuck by their guns and won the "toilet battle" with CBS bigwigs, and thus "Captain Jack" (toilet scene intact) was approved for network broadcast one week later, being aired on October 11, 1957, as "Leave It To Beaver" episode #2.
And yet another winning Season-One entry is entitled simply "Lumpy Rutherford" -- where we get our first look at "Clarence Rutherford", known to most people as "Lumpy" (or "The Lump"). You'll note how Lumpy goes from being one of Wally's feared enemies to one of his best friends as the series progresses.
There's also a very nifty bonus program located on Disc 3 of this set -- the original "Leave It To Beaver" Pilot episode, entitled "It's A Small World", which originally aired on April 23, 1957, as an installment of the syndicated anthology program "Studio 57". The pilot episode is a pretty decent show too, IMHO, with a good storyline (unlike a lot of series-launching pilots I've seen). It's fun to be able to see the "genesis" of the series via the pilot, and I commend Universal for including it in this collection.
Both Barbara Billingsley and Jerry Mathers co-star in the "Small World" pilot program, but different actors were cast in the roles of Wally and Ward. Paul Sullivan played Wally; while Casey Adams (aka Max Showalter) filled Ward's shoes for the pilot only.
A 13-year-old Harry Shearer (famed voice actor on "The Simpsons") also was featured in the cast of the pilot episode. Read more ›
At-A-Glance DVD Stats:
Number of Episodes -- 39.
Number of DVDs -- 3 (Dual-Sided; Dual-Layered; DVD-18).
Video Aspect Ratio -- Full Frame OAR (1.33:1).
Audio -- Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (English only).
Color or B&W? -- B&W.
Any Bonus Stuff on the DVDs? -- Yes ... The LITB "Pilot" Episode ("It's A Small World").
Subtitles -- English and Spanish.
"Play All" Option Included? -- Yes.
Chapter Stops Included? -- No.
Are These Episodes Complete and Unedited? -- Yes.
Booklet Included? -- No.
DVD Distributor -- Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
DVD Release Date -- November 22, 2005.
--------------------------------------------------
The 1950s-1960s family sitcom "Leave It To Beaver" had never been made available to fans via any kind of major studio release on home video throughout all these many years of home-video formats (Beta, VHS, LD, or DVD) -- until the long-awaited date of November 22, 2005, when Universal Studios Home Entertainment released "Leave It To Beaver: The Complete First Season" on DVD.
And the first 39 "Beaver" episodes look just terrific here. The video quality for these black-and-white programs is extremely good, and the audio is very good too (by way of the very pleasant and clean-sounding Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtracks that faithfully reproduce each episode's original Mono audio).
Thankfully, Universal has done a bang-up job with the digital transfers here, and these shows (which were originally photographed on film, not videotape) look and sound fabulous on these DVDs.
There is, however, a good deal of fine "film grain" contained within a lot of these episodes, but I'm assuming that is simply inherent to the type of film stock that was used for this series. The grain isn't very distracting (at least I don't have a major problem with the grain speckles that exist here). Interestingly, though, I've noticed that many scenes in these episodes don't seem to have any "grain" in them at all, while other scenes contain a lot more. The "outdoor" shots look almost completely grain-free.
Another very pleasing thing to me personally is the fact that all these DVDs pass the "freeze-frame test" with flying colors (i.e., when pausing or freezing an image on screen, the video doesn't "blur" at all; it stays rock-solid and clear while in "pause" mode; which, IMO, is a sign of a good film-to-DVD transfer).
All things considered, I could not be happier with the way these episodes look on these DVDs! And thus far I have no complaints about the performance of the sometimes-temperamental two-sided discs that Universal insists upon using for its TV-DVD releases. Nary a hitch has been experienced while playing these discs.
According to the stats on the packaging, the episode running times here average out to exactly 26 minutes per program (including the 40th episode in the set, the Pilot), which indicates to me that the following pleasing terms apply here: "Full"/"Complete"/"Uncut"/"Unedited"! And this is great to see, because the syndicated versions of this series that have aired on commercial TV for decades have all been hacked to pieces, with each episode having at least a few minutes sliced out of it due to commercial time restraints.
I did a "time check" for each of the seven LITB shows on Side A of Disc #1. The results made me smile (in an "uncut" and "complete" sort of fashion). Here are those run times (not counting the 22-second Universal fanfare and logo that's included prior to every episode, which can be quickly bypassed via the Chapter button):
"Beaver Gets 'Spelled" -- 25:48.
"Captain Jack" -- 25:48.
"The Black Eye" -- 25:49.
"The Haircut" -- 25:44.
"New Neighbors" -- 25:44.
"Brotherly Love" -- 25:37.
"Water, Anyone?" -- 25:44.
So I think it's safe to say that when fans view any of these 39 programs, they will probably be seeing them uncut for the first time since their original network TV airings in the late 1950s. I'm guessing that everyone who buys this DVD set will be seeing some scenes in a lot of these episodes that they had never seen previously. That fact kind of serves as an "added value" item all by itself.
I'm also glad to see that these DVDs retain all of the "Previews" (or "Teasers") for the first-season "Beaver" programs. These brief preview clips were shown just prior to the opening titles and give an overview of what's coming up in that episode. These pre-show snippets, which last about 20 to 30 seconds each, were only done for the first season. Hugh Beaumont served as "narrator" for the teasers on the first 16 episodes. For the year's final 23 shows, however, Hugh's voice is not heard, with just an episode clip provided (sans any voice-over narration).
------------------
"Leave It To Beaver" premiered on CBS-TV on Friday, October 4, 1957, and continued on network TV for a total of six seasons, finishing its 234-episode run in 1963. Each of the six seasons consisted of exactly 39 episodes, a hefty number by today's seasonal standards. CBS carried the show for the first season only. For the final five years, "Beaver" was a part of the ABC-TV schedule.
The storylines used for "Beaver" were always very simple and uncomplicated, which is probably why it's so charming and appealing. No major earth-shattering disasters ever befall the Cleavers. Nobody ever gets hurt (except an occasional scraped knee), the parents (Ward and June) rarely fight about anything serious and never threaten to leave each other (like you might see on a show today), and above all, these characters really seemed to care about each other, without getting overly sappy and sentimental about it. All of these traits helped make "Leave It To Beaver" what it was each week in 1957, and what I believe it remains today: just a good, clean, fun, uncomplicated half-hour of entertaining television.
Starring Jerry Mathers as "Theodore (Beaver) Cleaver", Tony Dow as his brother "Wally", Barbara Billingsley as "June", and Hugh Beaumont as "Ward", the excellent cast of "Leave It To Beaver" was a well-chosen group in my opinion. While it's true, I suppose, that the acting was a bit on the "stiff" side on many occasions, I still think that this ensemble did quite well on this show. A sense of true believability and realism finds its way quite comfortably into each of these episodes.
Toss into this cast grouping the very funny Richard Deacon, who portrayed Ward's friend and co-worker, "Fred Rutherford", plus Ken Osmond as the ever-sarcastic "Eddie Haskell", Frank Bank as the wimpish (but always likeable) "Lumpy Rutherford", Rusty Stevens as "Larry Mondello", and all of Beaver's and Wally's other various friends, classmates, and schoolteachers, and you've got a really first-rate supporting cast of characters to build stories around.
Some of my favorite shows from this Season #1 Beaver batch include ..... "The Black Eye", "Beaver's Short Pants", "Party Invitation", "The Bank Account", "Train Trip", "The Perfect Father", "Beaver Runs Away", "Tenting Tonight", and my #1 fave from this season, "The Haircut", which has Beaver getting scalped by barber Wally in one of the funniest episodes of the whole series.
There's also the funny "Captain Jack" episode -- which was the very first show to be filmed; but was the second program to be aired. "Captain Jack" has Wally and Beaver sending away for a pet alligator, and includes the very funny scene where "Minerva" (the maid who we never see again) comes running up the basement stairs screaming "Help! A monster! There's an alligator in the basement!" .... This is followed by Ward's skeptical -- "An alligator?!" (LOL.)
"Captain Jack" also has the distinction of being the very first episode in television history to show a toilet on screen. (The "tank" portion of the Cleaver toilet is shown, not the [~gasp!~] "bowl" itself.) :-)
In fact, it was the "toilet" scene in "Captain Jack" that kept that episode from being aired by CBS as the debut show of the series in late 1957. But LITB show executives, including writers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher (who authored a great number of the 234 "Beaver" programs throughout its 6-year history, including "Captain Jack"), stuck by their guns and won the "toilet battle" with CBS bigwigs, and thus "Captain Jack" (toilet scene intact) was approved for network broadcast one week later, being aired on October 11, 1957, as "Leave It To Beaver" episode #2.
And yet another winning Season-One entry is entitled simply "Lumpy Rutherford" -- where we get our first look at "Clarence Rutherford", known to most people as "Lumpy" (or "The Lump"). You'll note how Lumpy goes from being one of Wally's feared enemies to one of his best friends as the series progresses.
There's also a very nifty bonus program located on Disc 3 of this set -- the original "Leave It To Beaver" Pilot episode, entitled "It's A Small World", which originally aired on April 23, 1957, as an installment of the syndicated anthology program "Studio 57". The pilot episode is a pretty decent show too, IMHO, with a good storyline (unlike a lot of series-launching pilots I've seen). It's fun to be able to see the "genesis" of the series via the pilot, and I commend Universal for including it in this collection.
Both Barbara Billingsley and Jerry Mathers co-star in the "Small World" pilot program, but different actors were cast in the roles of Wally and Ward. Paul Sullivan played Wally; while Casey Adams (aka Max Showalter) filled Ward's shoes for the pilot only.
A 13-year-old Harry Shearer (famed voice actor on "The Simpsons") also was featured in the cast of the pilot episode. Read more ›
131 of 132 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
5 Stars (And Then Some!) For The DVDs Themselves .... But Just A 1-Star Rating For The Lunch-Box "Limited Edition" Set
November 24, 2005
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
"LEAVE IT TO BEAVER: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON" .........
At-A-Glance DVD Stats:
Number of Episodes -- 39.
Number of DVDs -- 3 (Dual-Sided; Dual-Layered; DVD-18).
Video Aspect Ratio -- Full Frame OAR (1.33:1).
Audio -- Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (English only).
Color or B&W? -- B&W.
Any Bonus Stuff on the DVDs? -- Yes ... The LITB "Pilot" Episode ("It's A Small World").
Subtitles -- English and Spanish.
"Play All" Option Included? -- Yes.
Chapter Stops Included? -- No.
Are These Episodes Complete and Unedited? -- Yes.
Booklet Included? -- No.
DVD Distributor -- Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
DVD Release Date -- November 22, 2005.
--------------------------------------------------
"Leave It To Beaver" (1957-1963) is one of my all-time favorite television programs, and I'm thrilled to now have the opportunity to collect the series on the DVD format. It's a TV show that, for me, never grows old or tiresome. Wally, Ward, June, Eddie, Lumpy, and "The Beav" will always be welcome on my TV screen.
This "Limited Edition" Lunch Box version of "Leave It To Beaver: The Complete First Season" is both fantastic and a nightmare at the same time. The "fantastic" part is the TV show itself (and the three discs which have all 39 first-year Beaver entries on them....and the quality is excellent here).
The "nightmare" part has to do with the way the discs are stored within the Lunch Box, plus the complete and utter lack of ANY printed episode information inside this package whatsoever. No episode guide booklet. Not even a single-page insert with the ep. titles scribbled on them someplace. Nothing. That's just plain crazy.
Via this "Premium" pack, the only way to find a specific episode you want to view is to physically load up a disc and then search for the program via the Episode Index on the DVD itself. Either that or print out the episode information yourself from an online episode guide or some other source. I guess that WOULD actually be a good idea for people who buy this Limited set.
In fact, with the best interests of Beaver fans in mind, I'll provide a quick-reference, disc-by-disc, Season-One episode guide near the end of this review. And if anyone should desire to do so, they can easily copy-and-paste the program list below into "Word Pad" (or some similar type of computer word processor), and then print out a copy to put in the Lunch Box for future Beaver reference.
Offhand, I cannot think of one other TV-on-DVD product that doesn't come with some kind of program guide, either printed on the box or on an insert/booklet. I certainly don't own a similar such set anyway.
The three discs in this set are afforded a very cheap Lunch-Box home, with each one being slid into a CD-like plastic sleeve which comprise the first "pages" of the bonus item here, a "Cleaver Family Photo Album". The album is a pretty nice supplementary item, with six B&W pictures of the Cleavers (plus Eddie Haskell) placed into sleeves within the album (same type of sleeves that hold the discs).
But, for what's labelled as a "Premium Edition Gift Set" by Universal Home Video, I would have expected a much better disc-storing device than just these album sleeves. Sliding them in and out of sleeves could possibly result in the discs getting scratched more easily. Plus, to get the things out of the sleeves, you pretty much have no choice but to touch some portions of the data sides of the DVDs, which isn't too good of an idea either.
If only Universal would have made the Lunch Box a tad bigger, they could have easily put the "Standard Edition" of the LITB set inside the Lunch Box, which would have been the best of both packaging worlds -- i.e., a "Limited Edition", but with normal (and better) DVD cases/trays, which the Standard version does contain. The Lunch Box measures 7.75 in. x 6 in., with a thickness of about 3 inches.
The regular/standard edition comes in a nice-looking white slipcase box, which holds three individual slim cases for the DVDs. And, of course, that edition also has episode information written on the back of the cases (plus "DVD specifications" such as video aspect ratio stats, Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, subtitle options, etc., which is also data that is completely absent from the Limited Edition set).
So, I'd advise fans of this charming and ultra-likeable TV sitcom to go with the "Standard" version of LITB Season 1. It has much better packaging for the double-sided DVDs. I might also add that three of the six photos contained in the Limited Edition's Photo Album can also be found in the Standard pack (with those same 3 pics being shown on the back covers of the three slim plastic cases).
Packaging devices aside, I'm extremely pleased with the overall video and audio quality of these DVDs. The Cleaver clan looks just terrific here. It appears to me that Universal Studios has done a marvelous job of transferring these nearly half-century-old TV episodes (which were shot on film, not videotape) to the DVD format. The original "wet cement" opening titles appear on each of these 39 episodes, as do the "teasers" (i.e., prologues/trailers) that originally aired during these shows just prior to the opening credits. Thank you, Universal, for presenting these programs unedited in any fashion; the average run time here looks to be about 25.5 minutes, which is excellent (in an "uncut" sort of way). ;)
And Universal has even seen fit to include the "Pilot" episode ("It's A Small World") in this Beaver collection as well (it's located on Side B of Disc #3). The pilot, which was first broadcast in April 1957 as an installment of the syndicated "Studio 57" TV series, is a good program too (IMHO), and provides a very satisfactory start to the LITB series (although I must admit that Casey Adams, who portrayed Ward Cleaver in the pilot, doesn't nearly exhibit the charm, likability, and overall greatness that Hugh Beaumont brought to the role in the actual LITB series). Very nice DVD picture quality for the pilot too.
Here now is that episode list I promised earlier. For providing the following info that Universal should have included in this Lunch-Box pack in the first place, but didn't, I accept personal checks and most major credit cards. (Just kidding, Beaver fans. ~devilish grin~).......
--------------------
LEAVE IT TO BEAVER -- THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON:
DVD EPISODE INDEX:
DISC 1; SIDE A:
1. BEAVER GETS 'SPELLED
2. CAPTAIN JACK
3. THE BLACK EYE
4. THE HAIRCUT
5. NEW NEIGHBORS
6. BROTHERLY LOVE
7. WATER, ANYONE?
DISC 1; SIDE B:
8. BEAVER'S CRUSH
9. THE CLUBHOUSE
10. WALLY'S GIRL TROUBLE
11. BEAVER'S SHORT PANTS
12. THE PERFUME SALESMEN
13. VOODOO MAGIC
14. PART-TIME GENIUS
DISC 2; SIDE A:
15. PARTY INVITATION
16. LUMPY RUTHERFORD
17. THE PAPER ROUTE
18. CHILD CARE
19. THE BANK ACCOUNT
20. LONESOME BEAVER
21. CLEANING UP BEAVER
DISC 2; SIDE B:
22. THE PERFECT FATHER
23. BEAVER AND PONCHO
24. THE STATE VS. BEAVER
25. THE BROKEN WINDOW
26. TRAIN TRIP
27. MY BROTHER'S GIRL
28. NEXT-DOOR INDIANS
DISC 3; SIDE A:
29. TENTING TONIGHT
30. MUSIC LESSON
31. NEW DOCTOR
32. BEAVER'S OLD FRIEND
33. WALLY'S JOB
34. BEAVER'S BAD DAY
35. BOARDING SCHOOL
DISC 3; SIDE B:
36. BEAVER AND HENRY
37. BEAVER RUNS AWAY
38. BEAVER'S GUEST
39. CAT OUT OF THE BAG
BONUS PILOT EPISODE: IT'S A SMALL WORLD
--------------------
Closing Comments........
I've always looked upon the "Leave It To Beaver" TV series as an American institution of sorts. Its scripts and storylines were always very simple in nature, but the show never has failed to make me smile. And the entertainment value of the series' inaugural season is increased many times over thanks to the high quality of these DVDs.
Even with my many gripes concerning the Lunch-Box packaging, the first season of "Leave It To Beaver" on DVD is unquestionably an obligatory purchase for fans of this fun television show.
I'd strongly suggest getting the Standard Edition set, however, instead of this Limited Edition pack. And even though I dislike multiple things about the Lunch-Box set, I still feel the need to heap some praise and compliments upon Universal Studios for giving consumers a choice here, and for not releasing LITB Season 1 in JUST the Lunch Box. For being provided a choice of Beaver sets, I salute Universal proudly.
At-A-Glance DVD Stats:
Number of Episodes -- 39.
Number of DVDs -- 3 (Dual-Sided; Dual-Layered; DVD-18).
Video Aspect Ratio -- Full Frame OAR (1.33:1).
Audio -- Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (English only).
Color or B&W? -- B&W.
Any Bonus Stuff on the DVDs? -- Yes ... The LITB "Pilot" Episode ("It's A Small World").
Subtitles -- English and Spanish.
"Play All" Option Included? -- Yes.
Chapter Stops Included? -- No.
Are These Episodes Complete and Unedited? -- Yes.
Booklet Included? -- No.
DVD Distributor -- Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
DVD Release Date -- November 22, 2005.
--------------------------------------------------
"Leave It To Beaver" (1957-1963) is one of my all-time favorite television programs, and I'm thrilled to now have the opportunity to collect the series on the DVD format. It's a TV show that, for me, never grows old or tiresome. Wally, Ward, June, Eddie, Lumpy, and "The Beav" will always be welcome on my TV screen.
This "Limited Edition" Lunch Box version of "Leave It To Beaver: The Complete First Season" is both fantastic and a nightmare at the same time. The "fantastic" part is the TV show itself (and the three discs which have all 39 first-year Beaver entries on them....and the quality is excellent here).
The "nightmare" part has to do with the way the discs are stored within the Lunch Box, plus the complete and utter lack of ANY printed episode information inside this package whatsoever. No episode guide booklet. Not even a single-page insert with the ep. titles scribbled on them someplace. Nothing. That's just plain crazy.
Via this "Premium" pack, the only way to find a specific episode you want to view is to physically load up a disc and then search for the program via the Episode Index on the DVD itself. Either that or print out the episode information yourself from an online episode guide or some other source. I guess that WOULD actually be a good idea for people who buy this Limited set.
In fact, with the best interests of Beaver fans in mind, I'll provide a quick-reference, disc-by-disc, Season-One episode guide near the end of this review. And if anyone should desire to do so, they can easily copy-and-paste the program list below into "Word Pad" (or some similar type of computer word processor), and then print out a copy to put in the Lunch Box for future Beaver reference.
Offhand, I cannot think of one other TV-on-DVD product that doesn't come with some kind of program guide, either printed on the box or on an insert/booklet. I certainly don't own a similar such set anyway.
The three discs in this set are afforded a very cheap Lunch-Box home, with each one being slid into a CD-like plastic sleeve which comprise the first "pages" of the bonus item here, a "Cleaver Family Photo Album". The album is a pretty nice supplementary item, with six B&W pictures of the Cleavers (plus Eddie Haskell) placed into sleeves within the album (same type of sleeves that hold the discs).
But, for what's labelled as a "Premium Edition Gift Set" by Universal Home Video, I would have expected a much better disc-storing device than just these album sleeves. Sliding them in and out of sleeves could possibly result in the discs getting scratched more easily. Plus, to get the things out of the sleeves, you pretty much have no choice but to touch some portions of the data sides of the DVDs, which isn't too good of an idea either.
If only Universal would have made the Lunch Box a tad bigger, they could have easily put the "Standard Edition" of the LITB set inside the Lunch Box, which would have been the best of both packaging worlds -- i.e., a "Limited Edition", but with normal (and better) DVD cases/trays, which the Standard version does contain. The Lunch Box measures 7.75 in. x 6 in., with a thickness of about 3 inches.
The regular/standard edition comes in a nice-looking white slipcase box, which holds three individual slim cases for the DVDs. And, of course, that edition also has episode information written on the back of the cases (plus "DVD specifications" such as video aspect ratio stats, Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, subtitle options, etc., which is also data that is completely absent from the Limited Edition set).
So, I'd advise fans of this charming and ultra-likeable TV sitcom to go with the "Standard" version of LITB Season 1. It has much better packaging for the double-sided DVDs. I might also add that three of the six photos contained in the Limited Edition's Photo Album can also be found in the Standard pack (with those same 3 pics being shown on the back covers of the three slim plastic cases).
Packaging devices aside, I'm extremely pleased with the overall video and audio quality of these DVDs. The Cleaver clan looks just terrific here. It appears to me that Universal Studios has done a marvelous job of transferring these nearly half-century-old TV episodes (which were shot on film, not videotape) to the DVD format. The original "wet cement" opening titles appear on each of these 39 episodes, as do the "teasers" (i.e., prologues/trailers) that originally aired during these shows just prior to the opening credits. Thank you, Universal, for presenting these programs unedited in any fashion; the average run time here looks to be about 25.5 minutes, which is excellent (in an "uncut" sort of way). ;)
And Universal has even seen fit to include the "Pilot" episode ("It's A Small World") in this Beaver collection as well (it's located on Side B of Disc #3). The pilot, which was first broadcast in April 1957 as an installment of the syndicated "Studio 57" TV series, is a good program too (IMHO), and provides a very satisfactory start to the LITB series (although I must admit that Casey Adams, who portrayed Ward Cleaver in the pilot, doesn't nearly exhibit the charm, likability, and overall greatness that Hugh Beaumont brought to the role in the actual LITB series). Very nice DVD picture quality for the pilot too.
Here now is that episode list I promised earlier. For providing the following info that Universal should have included in this Lunch-Box pack in the first place, but didn't, I accept personal checks and most major credit cards. (Just kidding, Beaver fans. ~devilish grin~).......
--------------------
LEAVE IT TO BEAVER -- THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON:
DVD EPISODE INDEX:
DISC 1; SIDE A:
1. BEAVER GETS 'SPELLED
2. CAPTAIN JACK
3. THE BLACK EYE
4. THE HAIRCUT
5. NEW NEIGHBORS
6. BROTHERLY LOVE
7. WATER, ANYONE?
DISC 1; SIDE B:
8. BEAVER'S CRUSH
9. THE CLUBHOUSE
10. WALLY'S GIRL TROUBLE
11. BEAVER'S SHORT PANTS
12. THE PERFUME SALESMEN
13. VOODOO MAGIC
14. PART-TIME GENIUS
DISC 2; SIDE A:
15. PARTY INVITATION
16. LUMPY RUTHERFORD
17. THE PAPER ROUTE
18. CHILD CARE
19. THE BANK ACCOUNT
20. LONESOME BEAVER
21. CLEANING UP BEAVER
DISC 2; SIDE B:
22. THE PERFECT FATHER
23. BEAVER AND PONCHO
24. THE STATE VS. BEAVER
25. THE BROKEN WINDOW
26. TRAIN TRIP
27. MY BROTHER'S GIRL
28. NEXT-DOOR INDIANS
DISC 3; SIDE A:
29. TENTING TONIGHT
30. MUSIC LESSON
31. NEW DOCTOR
32. BEAVER'S OLD FRIEND
33. WALLY'S JOB
34. BEAVER'S BAD DAY
35. BOARDING SCHOOL
DISC 3; SIDE B:
36. BEAVER AND HENRY
37. BEAVER RUNS AWAY
38. BEAVER'S GUEST
39. CAT OUT OF THE BAG
BONUS PILOT EPISODE: IT'S A SMALL WORLD
--------------------
Closing Comments........
I've always looked upon the "Leave It To Beaver" TV series as an American institution of sorts. Its scripts and storylines were always very simple in nature, but the show never has failed to make me smile. And the entertainment value of the series' inaugural season is increased many times over thanks to the high quality of these DVDs.
Even with my many gripes concerning the Lunch-Box packaging, the first season of "Leave It To Beaver" on DVD is unquestionably an obligatory purchase for fans of this fun television show.
I'd strongly suggest getting the Standard Edition set, however, instead of this Limited Edition pack. And even though I dislike multiple things about the Lunch-Box set, I still feel the need to heap some praise and compliments upon Universal Studios for giving consumers a choice here, and for not releasing LITB Season 1 in JUST the Lunch Box. For being provided a choice of Beaver sets, I salute Universal proudly.
49 of 52 people found the following review helpful
By F. SHIRRA
Format:DVD
I recommend purchasing the standard set, not the "limited edition" collectors version. The lunch box is cool enough, but the DVDs are housed in a cheap plastic "photo album", which will, no doubt, yellow with age (looks like PVC, which is notorious for aging). The "photo album" doesn't stand up buy itself and doesn't physically "fit in" very well with a DVD collection. Would have been much better if they had just put the standard boxed set in the lunchbox. (There is also a large piece of styrofoam in the lunchbox. Classy.) The DVDs themselves are excellent and any LITB fan will be thrilled.
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