You are the executive producer of ‘Leave it to Beaver’ and you have asked Alfred Hitchcock to write, direct and edit the 1958 SEASON PREMIERE! of ‘Leave it to Beaver’ (its second season, first year on ABC).
Ol’ Hitchy has decided that one of the Cleavers will be murdered-- ironically with a bread knife-- and will be forthwith and furthermore gone from the series. You, as executive producer, have final say in which character-- Ward, June or Wally-- gets sliced up like a loaf of Wonder.
“The Beaver” Cleaver stays, he’s the star. So how should your show proceed? As a sitcom about a single mom of two boys? The widower Ward struggling to provide guidance for Wally and the Beav? A family suffering the loss of their elder (and let’s be honest here: more fully-functioning) child?
Definitely Ward. He wasn’t that interesting and always at work anyway. There were other classic shows about single dads, at least there were in the 60’s. We don’t need Ward.
Also, I would like to see how June interacted with lumpy and Eddie in later seasons if she didn’t have old Ward around.
Ward was found, slashed to death in his study room. He was wearing a sweater. Eddie Haskell was seen running from the home.
The investigation is ongoing.
Beaver totes puts the slay to Wally. But under the influence of a marijuana Eddie forced him to take. The rest of the show is awkward interactions between the Beav and his resentful but dutiful parents.
That right there. June playing a low-key Mrs. Robinson to Wally’s slightly creeped-out friends would be gold. Particularly Eddie Haskell trying his smarmy act and getting increasingly unnerved as June starts becoming more openly predatory :).
I always thought Wally was a big ol’ dork. Beaver and Larry kill him accidentally when one of their harebrained schemes (this one involving a lethal burglar alarm) goes catastrophically wrong.
It all stemmed from him stealing from a neighbor’s garage. Ward was on his way home from work and saw him. Mr Buckley told him about the theft the next day and Ward put what happened together. The next time Eddie was over, Ward asked to see him in his study, giving him a day to confess and return the items before Ward would turn him in.
If only Ward knew why… the endless betting on sports… the fact that he owed over $1000 and had been beaten once already. That he’d stolen from his parents already, been caught, and had been told they’d kick him out if he ever stole again.
His world crumbling & with no way out, Eddie entered the Cleaver house through the kitchen. The knife was just sitting in the wood block… and the washcloth on the sink would cover the finger prints. Each step towards the study felt like loss… each step felt like a part of him was slipping away… Birthday parties… his first bike… his first friend… until standing at the doorway to the study was a desperate and dangerous animal stripped of its humanity…