Reviews

Unlike a few other reviewers, I don't think the show necessarily deserved special praise for this episode. Leave it to Beaver had a tendency to sometimes deal with topics that were more "adult." However, the story of an alcoholic loser seemed like it belonged on a different show. In a previous episode, Ward criticized a suit that Wally had bought, because Ward thought the suit was "in bad taste." Within the parameters of this show, one could argue that the story in this episode was "in bad taste." The actor chosen to play "Andy" was also questionable. Wendell Holmes had previously appeared as a teacher, in another episode. The fact that Holmes could be connected to a different, and more respectable character, compromised his role as "Andy." This episode was definitely on a different level than most of the others. Whether or not that is a "good thing" is a matter of opinion. I didn't think so. Having this drunk approach Beaver for a "bottle" was a particularly poor choice. Good performances by all, but the topic wasn't suited to this show.

The "moral" of the story is pretty obvious, but this episode misses the mark. Like another reviewer mentioned, the reason for the Varela family having moved into the Cleaver's neighborhood is not made clear. These characters were portrayed as not understanding English "at all." How did they expect to function in a community where literally nobody else spoke Spanish? You're supposed to think it's "cute" that Beaver and Chuey became friends, even though they were incapable of understanding each other. Didn't make sense. It was also clear that the actor who played Chuey probably could speak and understand English. He wasn't a good enough actor to make his character believable. The basic premise of this episode is pretty stupid. The whole thing comes down to Beaver insulting Chuey, because Beaver had no idea what he was saying. The evil Eddie Haskell taught Beaver a Spanish phrase which translated to "you have a face like a pig." Then, of course, Chuey and his parents are insulted. What a surprise! In contrast to today's world, this story can be hard to take seriously. Today, those of us who speak English are, more and more, being made to feel like we're the ones who "don't belong." Overall, this episode suffers from an impractical premise, and guest stars that were not particularly engaging or effective.

This is one of the best "first episodes" I've ever seen. Only a few other TV shows started out on such a strong note. Curiously, how young Theodore came to be called "Beaver" is not explained. In any case, Jerry Mathers was quite effective as Beaver, right off the bat. Tony Dow, as Wally, was a little underwhelming at first. Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont were just fine as Mr and Mrs Cleaver. In this episode, the story is essentially about Beaver getting a note from his teacher, and assuming the worst. Diana Brewster as Miss Canfield made me instantly happy that I purchased the box set of the series! What an absolutely beautiful, charming lady! Miss Canfield made Beaver nervous, simply because she was his teacher. Just looking at her would have made me lose control! In fact, when I started writing this review, I couldn't think of anything other than Diana Brewster as Miss Canfield! Every teacher should have looked like her! Seriously, the story is done well. It was true to what the series would evolve into. Of course, Beaver worried needlessly about his teacher's note. She only wanted him to play Smokey the Bear. Overall, a very enjoyable episode. I understand that Diana Brewster appeared in subsequent episodes. I can't wait to watch those episodes!

This two part episode was the only place where the validity of Urkel's transformation chamber was questioned. At the Science Fair, the David L Lander character accuses Urkel of being a fraud. The accusation was not without merit. Steve stepped into the chamber, and came out with different clothes and a different overall dynamic. This actually is nothing that could not have been done without the aid of scientific equipment. Realistically, Steve's transformation to Stefan could have been attributed to a "split personality." Although he played an unlikeable character, David L Lander was one of the best guest stars to appear on the show. His character raised a valid point, which seemed to elude everyone else. Despite some musical "time fillers," the first part of the episode was well done.

This may not be the worst horror movie I've ever seen, but it's pretty close. Jennifer Rubin as Cynthia, the sole survivor of a group of weirdos dedicated to mass suicide. Cynthia winds up in a mental hospital, with some other weird people. Note that these weirdos had nothing to do with the "cult" that Cynthia was involved with. The hospital group is weird for different reasons. The movie is pretty confusing, as it jumps back and forth from reality to dreams. The movie comes off as a bad imitation of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. Ironically, Jennifer Rubin was in one of the Nightmare movies. I'm not sure if the actors were bad, or they just couldn't do any better with what they had to work with. I can separate Jennifer Rubin a little from the others. I think she could have given a better performance, if she had been in a better movie. The movie did contain one scene that gave me a little hope. It takes place in a shower room. So, my immediate thought was, maybe I'll at least get to see Jennifer take a shower! No such luck. The movie couldn't even do that much right!

Only recently, I became aware that Edy Williams had appeared in a few soft core exploitation films, such as this one. Thus, my interest in watching the movie was to see Edy Williams with her clothes off. That was it! Absolutely no other reason! This movie, however, has the same problem as many such films of that era. If you're watching only for the obvious reason, you will probably be disappointed. Edy is naked in the opening scene (not bad!), but that's as good as it gets. The nudity factor decreases, as the movie gets more into the "story." The story (about Edy's character having murdered her husband for his money) is fairly interesting. That's if it's the story that you're interested in. I wasn't. I was only interested in Edy, minus her clothes! I recently watched an episode of Lost in Space, in which Edy appeared as a female alien. In that episode, she proved herself a better actress than she was in this movie. Actually, my take on Edy Williams is not completely superficial. She was unbelievably sexy, but she also came across as "nice." There are not many actresses that I would say the same for. Overall, the movie is underwhelming, either as a sex romp or a drama. But, Edy was nice to look at. At least, as much as the movie allows us to see!

I have always considered Bill Mumy the greatest child actor of all time. As the co-writer of this project, Mumy had an interesting vision, and also took a few questionable liberties. The production is inherently limited by having the actors simply read dialogue, rather than giving actual performances. However, it works well enough, within its own parameters. Some of the casting choices were interesting. Unfortunately, Guy Williams and Jonathan Harris had already passed away, at the time of this production. We get Guy Williams, Jr as Professor Robinson and Kevin Burns as Dr Smith. June Lockhart is still alive, but did not appear here. The reason for this wasn't mentioned by anyone involved. So, we had Angela Cartwright's sister, Veronica as Maureen Robinson. Angela, as well as Mark Goddard, Marta Kristen and Bill Mumy, all reprised their original characters. This "table reading" manages to put an image in your mind, and build on that. In this update to the series, Don West and Judy are now married and have a son. This was an interesting development. A questionable (and unnecessary) subtext was Penny having "feelings" for Don, and actually making a pass at him. In the original series, Don and Judy's relationship was only brushed upon. Penny never had feelings for Don. Not anywhere in the series. However, everything here works well enough, despite this unneeded subtext. In closing, an observation on the Cartwright sisters. Angela, at this point, was starting to resemble Cass Elliot. Veronica, who is the older sister, looked much better. I wonder how Angela felt about having her sister play the part of her mother!

This might be the perfect episode for those who think Urkel ruined the series. We have two incredibly exciting story lines here. First, Carl wants to install an extra shower for Mother Winslow. He attempts to do this himself, because he's too cheap to pay a professional. Who couldn't guess the obvious things that were going to go wrong here? If this isn't exciting enough, there's more! Rachel tries to get little Richie to say "Momma," because she wants to convince everyone that he already said it to her. I would estimate that Rachel says "Momma" at least six times, in her attempt to get Richie to say it. By this time, I was ready to kick my foot through the TV screen! Everything in this episode was nonsense. This was "reaching" for ideas, at a time when the series was still so new. The only cast member that deserves credit here is Jo Marie Payton. VelJohnson overacted, and was completely unfunny. Telma Hopkins, as I've already indicated, was exceptionally irritating. Kellie S Williams plays my favorite Family Matters character. However, I can't even give her much credit here. Bottom line: Bring on Urkel!

Laura is supposedly happy when Steve seems to be falling for Myra. However, there are some interesting contradictions. Myra had approached Laura for advice on how to "get" Steve. Laura questions Myra's claim that she thinks Steve is sexy. If Laura was so anxious to get Steve out of her hair, she had no logical reason to question this girl, who was obviously interested in Steve. Laura witnessed Steve and Myra kissing, and acted like she was thrilled to see this. When Steve later stops by, and he doesn't look at Laura, she says the line in my heading. Her question was absolutely sincere. For all of Laura's efforts to relieve herself of Steve, she is absolutely not happy if Steve is not "looking" at her. This was so sweet! I think Laura loved Steve as much, if not more, than he loved her! Great moments in this episode, between Laura and Steve. The part about Eddie unknowingly buying a "hot" stereo for his car? It was mildly interesting. Only Steve and Laura (or Jaleel and Kellie) made everything worthwhile.