The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsWhy do Wally and the Beaver have to share a bedroom?
In the opening-credits sequence on "Leave It To Beaver" there is a shot of the Cleaver house from the front. That is a BIG house with only four people living in it. There must be at least four or five bedrooms in that house. So, I always wonder, WHY do Wally and the Beaver have to share a bedroom? I would've been really pissed about not having my own room. -- Ron

malthaussen
(16,640 posts)Well, they reasonably could have re-dressed the same set for scenes if they wanted to, I suppose, but maybe having the two share a bedroom provided for more dramatic possibilities. After all, it was a TV show, not real life.
Re-dressing the set would have taken some production time, though, and that might have been a consideration. Perhaps it wasn't seen as cost-effective.
-- Mal
virtualobserver
(8,760 posts)They would have to talk to themselves in the separate bedroom scenario.
The Second Stone
(2,900 posts)My brother and I did in the 60s just a few years later.
Dyedinthewoolliberal
(15,188 posts)I shared with three brothers!
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Like, would probably be illegal to live in today.
Iris
(15,552 posts)raccoon
(30,989 posts)Miles Archer
(18,837 posts)Garage barely fit my car. Tiny bathroom. Three bedrooms. Tiny. The third one legally could not be called a bedroom because it had a sliding glass door but no closet (has to have a closet to be classified as a "bedroom" . "Master" bedroom had just enough room for my king size bed and a couple of dressers. Walking room around the bed of about a foot or two but that was the total available floor space. Living room was about the size you'd see in a one bedroom apartment. Kitchen was tiny. Built in 1956.
hamsterjill
(15,160 posts)Probably had a den, etc. Children were, in some ways, an after thought back then. As the youngest of four siblings from that era, heck, I was happy to have a bed!!! LOL
But we DID have dinner every evening with everyone around the table. There was, like just about anything, both good and bad.
Kaleva
(35,802 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)hibbing
(9,983 posts)You were awfully hard on the beaver last night.
Peace
lastlib
(22,078 posts)


DawgHouse
(4,019 posts)Special Prosciuto
(731 posts)jmowreader
(50,072 posts)Assume the house has four bedrooms.
Ward and June have one.
One is being used as Ward's den.
In the 1950s, EVERYONE had a guest bedroom.
This leaves one bedroom.
Unless the Beav is going to sleep on the couch in the living room, he has to live in the same room as Wally.
Gidney N Cloyd
(19,538 posts)You come in and turn left, you're in his den, turn right and you're in the living room.
Cool house. I think Marcus Welby used the same exterior.
murielm99
(30,469 posts)There are a few scenes where they are cleaning up and talking together in the bathroom.
There was one episode where Beaver went through elaborate deceptions to avoid taking a bath. He put water in the tub, spread dirt around to create a ring, got towels wet, etc.
Coventina
(26,296 posts)First TV show to do so.
People make fun of it, but it was actually a really progressive show for its time.
It tackled issues like divorce, animal rights, and child abuse. Not subjects of "polite society" of the time.....
murielm99
(30,469 posts)Eddie Haskell will be forever iconic.
But on "All in the Family," we actually hear the "terlet" being flushed!
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)
Iris
(15,552 posts)greendog
(3,127 posts)...of poisonous spiders.
raccoon
(30,989 posts)A room of our own is something most of us--including me--didn't have.
Nowadays people seem to take it for granted.
kairos12
(12,594 posts)Orrex
(62,779 posts)Six kids crammed into two rooms. Way to architect, Mike Brady.