See Rare Behind-the-Scenes Photos From ‘Leave It to Beaver’
Everybody knows that the core cast of Leave It to Beaver considered themselves family, both on and off the set and long after the series left the airwaves in 1963. Though it got off to a rocky start, Leave it to Beaver evolved into one of television’s most beloved family sitcoms, and is still popular in syndication and on streaming services today. To illustrate its heartwarming family atmosphere, we dug into the show’s photo archives to catch Hugh Beaumont, Barbara Billingsley, Tony Dow, Jerry Mathers and other Leave it to Beaver faves goofin’ around and bonding on set in the late ’50s and early 1960s.
Leave it to Beaver debuted on CBS but the network dropped it after its first season, when it couldn’t match the ratings of its NBC competitor Wagon Train. ABC picked the series up as a mid-week offering and viewers warmed to the adventures of young Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver (Mathers), his athletic older brother Wally (Dow), their businessman dad Ward (Beaumont) and stay-at-home mom June (Billingsley). The show earned an Emmy nomination for Best New Program of the Year in 1958, became even more popular in reruns, and inspired a 1983 reboot, a 1997 film that starred Christoper McDonald and Northern Exposure‘s Janine Turner as Ward and June.
To celebrate 68 years of Wally and the Beave, enjoy this stroll down memory lane.
You can watch Leave It to Beaver streaming on Amazon Prime, and it airs on MeTV on weekdays at 8 and 8:30 am, and Sundays at 1 and 1:30 pm.
Jerry Mathers hangs out with the camera crew.
Jerry Mathers, Tony Dow, Hugh Beaumont and Barbara Billingsley in front of the family home.
Jerry Mathers stares at his reflection on the lot.
Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers
Jerry Mathers
Director Norman Tokar
Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers filming Season 2 episode 'The Garage Painters.''
Director Norman Tokar works with Joey Scott and Jerry Mathers.
Joey Scott and director Norman Tokar, on set filming 'The Garage Painters'
Jerry Mathers relaxes in between takes.
Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers pose on a bicycle
Tony Dow in 1959.
Jerry Mathers and Barbara Billingsley hoist a flag in 1958.
Hugh Beaumont (kneeling), Bob Mosher (co-creator), Jerry Mathers, Tony Dow, Joe Connelly (co-creator) (sitting), Norman Tokar (director) (kneeling), on-set in 1958
Jerry Mathers, 1960.
Tony Dow (center) and Jerry Mathers on vacation in Waikiki, summer 1961.
Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers
