# "Leave It To Beaver" reference in "Licorice Pizza" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 15, 2024, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-it-to-beaver-reference-in-licorice-pizza/1001582 "2024-05-15T08:42:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-it-to-beaver-reference-in-licorice-pizza/1001582/1 "2024-05-15T08:42:51Z")
In the 2021 comedy _Licorice Pizza_ (set in 1973), teen actor Gary Valentine makes an off-color joke during a TV interview: > Host: How are things going for you, Gary? > Gary: Last week I did three beavers. > Host: You mean _Leave It To Beaver_? > Gary: _Three_ beavers. So the host apparently thinks Gary meant "I made guest appearances on three episodes of _Leave It To Beaver_, when Gary actually meant “I had sex with three women.” But _Leave It To Beaver_ ended in 1963 (not counting the 80s revival series), so why would the host think Gary was appearing in new episodes ten years later? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-it-to-beaver-reference-in-licorice-pizza/1001582/2 "2024-05-15T08:45:53Z")
I suspect the host wasn’t all that up to date, or he just might have been kinda dumb. Or maybe the screenwriter was, I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-it-to-beaver-reference-in-licorice-pizza/1001582/3 "2024-05-15T11:09:59Z")
I don’t recall the movie but a TV host wasn’t going to say “You had sex with 3 women” during an interview in 1973. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-it-to-beaver-reference-in-licorice-pizza/1001582/4 "2024-05-15T11:43:05Z")
I haven’t seen the movie, but maybe the interviewer thought he meant he watched reruns of three episodes. If not that, then maybe the screenwriter was just reaching way too far to make a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-it-to-beaver-reference-in-licorice-pizza/1001582/5 "2024-05-15T15:16:13Z")
The easiest explanation is the host was confused because what _could_ Gary have meant. Second easiest…host was trying to cover for a crude joke. Longshot explanation is… tv host is dumb. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-it-to-beaver-reference-in-licorice-pizza/1001582/6 "2024-05-15T15:38:18Z")
Speaking of dumb hosts and _LitB_, I remember watching Tom Snyder’s _Tomorrow_ show and he had Jerry Mathers and Ken Osmond on. Snyder started a question to Osmond by referring to him playing the Beaver’s brother. Whaaat? How did he not know who Eddie Haskell was? Why wasn’t he better prepped if he had no clue about the show? So a talk show host in the 70s not having a clue about _LitB_ is completely possible. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-it-to-beaver-reference-in-licorice-pizza/1001582/7 "2024-05-15T16:12:48Z")
I remember that too! Once he was straightened out, Snyder referred to Eddie as “Beaver’s arch enemy.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-it-to-beaver-reference-in-licorice-pizza/1001582/8 "2024-05-15T21:18:45Z")
They called him “The Beaver Cleaver” ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2024, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-it-to-beaver-reference-in-licorice-pizza/1001582/9 "2024-05-15T21:46:45Z")
Gary Valentine is based on Gary Goetzman who was a child actor in the early 1960s. Perhaps the (probably made up) Beaver gag was related by him to his friend Paul Thomas Anderson. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-it-to-beaver-reference-in-licorice-pizza/1001582/10 "2024-05-16T02:34:01Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I remember watching Tom Snyder’s _Tomorrow_ show and he had Jerry Mathers and Ken Osmond on. Snyder started a question to Osmond by referring to him playing the Beaver’s brother. > > Whaaat? How did he not know who Eddie Haskell was? Why wasn’t he better prepped if he had no clue about the show? Tom Snyder also had the singer Meat Loaf on his show once and kept calling him Meatball, so there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-it-to-beaver-reference-in-licorice-pizza/1001582/11 "2024-05-16T02:44:17Z")
I think he was frequently stoned on that show. And by frequently I mean on every show. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-it-to-beaver-reference-in-licorice-pizza/1001582/12 "2024-05-16T05:06:39Z")
Man, that has to be it! As a kid, I always thought he was weird, but for some reason, it never occurred to me that anyone on TV could be stoned (except for SNL cast members). ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-it-to-beaver-reference-in-licorice-pizza/1001582/13 "2024-05-16T05:11:27Z")
I used to watch Tom Snyder every now and then. And now, thinking about it, I’m pretty sure that if I had been in his place, I would have taken every opportunity to be stoned out of my gourd. ETA: I’m not saying that like it’s a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-it-to-beaver-reference-in-licorice-pizza/1001582/14 "2024-05-16T12:40:18Z")
I liked Tom Snyder, after I got used to him. He had his own way. He was the first person I heard use the phrase “FY money”. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/leave-it-to-beaver-reference-in-licorice-pizza/1001582/15 "2024-05-16T20:53:29Z")
Letterman took over Snyder’s slot in '82 and always felt bad about it since he thought so much of the guy. When Dave went to CBS he got choose who followed and he picked Tom. There’s an episode of _The Larry Sanders Show_ where Dave and Larry (Garry Shandling) get into a thing where Dave tricks Larry into picking Snyder to go into the post _Larry_ 12:30 slot. This was a year before Dave picked Snyder.