Lets start with Bonanza. Remember Little Joe, Haus, Hop sing? Remember the ranch, the fist fights? Do you remember many women on that show? That great theme song? The author can smell the rawhide, that mountain air. Hop-Sing was the cook, an everything else that a so called butler or maid would be looked at. Was there a hidden agenda for the sponsor’s to suggest that an all male television show may have underlying phobic issues? What did these characters do for fun? They fought more than loved. Hop -Sing was typecast, but why did he always have to do the chores? What is the underlying tone for names like “Little Joe?’ and Haus? They all seemed to ride horses more than date. What do you the readers think? If you are still now aware of what all these shows were all about then you can get catmouse, the app that is your ultimate destination for watching all these shows along with some other popular tv shows of that time.
“Leave it to Beaver” a great show. Beaver seemed to be the Add kid. But it was Wally who had the problems. Some “Beaver”episodes from memory suggest that Ward would “slaughter” the Beave when he got home from work. It was Wally who hooked up a towchain to Lumpy’s car and the rear axle separated from poor Lumpy’s vehicle. Ward’s initials were plainly on that tow chain. Wally should had known that his dad was anal retentive and would probably still put his own initials in his underwear. Wally was bent on self destruction. He had a girlfriend named Mary Ellen Rogers who he was obsessed with. These days a Wally type may be called a stalker. Who the heck names a kid Whitey? Whitey was a buddy of Beaver’s. Larry another friend of the Beaves, always eating an apple. This author could never figure out Larry’s mom who appeared to be 60. Larry wasn’t adopted or was he? He was said to have a sister. Never saw her.
Two real characters. Eddie and Lumpy. Eddie was real. He really did what teen agers do to the extreme at times. For example he told Mrs. Cleaver who was a knock out how good her hair looked. Hey on Eddie’s behalf June would wear a dress, jewelry, and high heels to do the housework, and Eddie did always go to the Cleavers when June was always home. Was leave it to Beaver a sign of things to come to the big screen. Could Beaver have been the preceptor for The Graduate or The Summer of 42? Ah May December romances quite popular.
“Andy Griffith.” Did you notice in the early version of this great show at the intro Opie wore no shoes but his Dad did? One could think that Barney and Otis could had been under cover drinking buddies. When Barney became drunk he was funnier than Otis. Otis, you really did not see much of him after Andy, but Barney was everywhere. Barney was in “The Ropers” He wore an ascot and artsy flamboyant clothes yet always kidded Jack about being “different.” How many people do you know named freak’n Barney? Barney Rubble, Maybe a Barney on Sesame Street. Is Barney a code word for dork? Did Barney destroy Otis? Where is the love?
