"It's a Small World" is the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

from the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

Leave It to Beaver ''Leave It to Beaver'' is an American television sitcom that follows the misadventures of a suburban boy, his family and his friends. It starred Barbara Billingsley, Hugh Beaumont, Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers. CBS first broadcast the show ...

'' (1957–1963). The pilot (originally proposed as ''Wally and The Beaver'') was first televised April 23, 1957, on the syndicated anthology series, ''

Studio 57 ''Studio 57'' (also known as ''Heinz Studio 57'') is an American anthology series that was broadcast on the now-defunct DuMont Television Network from September 1954 to July 1955, and in syndication from 1955 to 1958. "It's a Small World", the ...

'', without a laugh track nor the series' well known theme song, "The Toy Parade". It never aired as an episode within the series. Following its April 1957 telecast, the episode was subsequently misplaced and was feared lost until a copy was found in a film vault in Illinois. After rediscovery, it was aired as the third-season premiere for the 1980s TBS revival series ''

The New Leave It to Beaver ''The New Leave It to Beaver'' (also known as ''Still the Beaver'') is an American sitcom sequel to the original 1957–1963 sitcom ''Leave It to Beaver''. The series began with the 1983 reunion television movie ''Still the Beaver'' that aired o ...

'' on October 4, 1987, exactly 30 years after the original series officially premiered on CBS. It was televised again in October 2007 as part of

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division's MTV Entertainment Group. It was originally launched as Nick at Nite’s TV Land as a spinoff of Nick at Nite programing block consisting e ...

's 50th anniversary celebration of ''Leave It to Beaver''. It was released to

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in 2005.Bark, Ed
"Leave it to DVDs to give us the best of the Beav"
''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'', November 28, 2005. Accessed January 3, 2008. The series made its

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

debut several months later on October 4, 1957, with the episode, " Beaver Gets 'Spelled".

Plot

Wally and Beaver want a new bicycle. Frankie Bennett, a mischievous boy, tells them new bikes can be had at a local dairy in exchange for 1,000 bottle caps from the company's products. The boys collect the bottle caps, but, in attempting to redeem them, learn they've been duped. Ward takes pity on the boys and buys them a bicycle.

Characters and cast

June Cleaver June Evelyn Bronson Cleaver is a principal character in the American television situational comedy, sitcom ''Leave It to Beaver''. June and her husband, Ward Cleaver, Ward, are often invoked as the archetypal suburban parents of the 1950s. The co ...

(

Barbara Billingsley Barbara Billingsley (December 22, 1915 – October 16, 2010) was an American actress. She began her career with uncredited roles in '' Three Guys Named Mike'' (1951), '' The Bad and the Beautiful'' (1952), and '' Invaders from Mars'' (1953) and ...

) is the wife of Ward Cleaver and the mother of Wally and Beaver. *

Ward Cleaver Ward Cleaver Jr. is a fictional character in the American television sitcom '' Leave It to Beaver''. Ward and his wife, June, are often invoked as archetypal suburban parents of the 1950s baby boomers. At the start of the show, the couple are t ...

( Casey Adams) is the husband of June Cleaver and the father of Wally and Beaver. *

Wally Cleaver Wallace "Wally" Cleaver is a fictional character in the iconic American television sitcom ''Leave It to Beaver''. Wally is the thirteen-year-old son of archetypal 1950s suburban parents, Ward Cleaver, Ward and June Cleaver and the older brother ...

(Paul Sullivan) is the older son of Ward and June and the brother of Beaver. * Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver (

Jerry Mathers Gerald Patrick Mathers (born June 2, 1948) is a former American actor best known for his role in the television sitcom ''Leave It to Beaver'', originally broadcast from 1957 to 1963. He played the protagonist Beaver Cleaver, Theodore "Beaver" Cle ...

) is the younger son of Ward and June and the brother of Wally. * Miss Simms (

Diane Brewster Diane Brewster (March 11, 1931 – November 12, 1991) was an American television actress most noted for playing three distinctively different roles in television series of the 1950s and 1960s: confidence trickster Samantha Crawford in the Weste ...

) is a secretary/receptionist at the Franklin Milk Company. * Mr. Baxter ( Richard Deacon) is an executive at the Franklin Milk Company and Miss Simms' boss. * Mr. Crowley (

Joseph Kearns Joseph Sherrard Kearns (February 12, 1907 – February 17, 1962) was an American actor, who is best remembered for his role as George Wilson ("Mr. Wilson") on the CBS television series '' Dennis the Menace'' from 1959 until his death in 1962. He ...

) is the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the Franklin Milk Company. * Frankie Bennett (

Harry Shearer Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, musician, radio host, writer, and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member of The ...

) is a mischievous boy and an acquaintance of Wally and Beaver.

Production

"It's a Small World" was filmed with a single camera, in full screen black-and-white at

Republic Studios Republic Pictures is currently an acquisition-only label owned by Paramount Pictures. Its history dates back to Republic Pictures Corporation, an American film studio that originally operated from 1935 to 1967, based in Los Angeles, California ...

and the

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

backlot. Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher wrote the teleplay with Jerry Hopper directing the episode. Richard Lewis produced the episode. A number of actors who appeared in supporting roles in the pilot were later cast in recurring roles in the series.

appears as Miss Simms, a secretary, with Richard Deacon as Mr. Baxter, Miss Simms' boss. Brewster and Deacon would find roles in the series as Miss Canfield, Beaver's second grade teacher, and Fred Rutherford, Ward's co-worker and father of "Lumpy," Eddie Haskell's easily duped henchman/bully. Other cast members include Russ Thorson as Man with Milk Bottles, Leonard Bremen as Milk Bar Operator, Tim Graham as Doc, and Virginia Carroll as Nurse. After the series was picked up by CBS,

Hugh Beaumont Eugene Hugh Beaumont (February 16, 1910 – May 14, 1982) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Ward Cleaver on the television series ''Leave It to Beaver'', originally broadcast from 1957 to 1963, and as private detec ...

replaced Casey Adams as Ward Cleaver while the role of Wally went to

Tony Dow Anthony Lee Dow (April 13, 1945 – July 27, 2022) was an American actor, film producer, director and sculptor. He portrayed Wally Cleaver in the iconic television sitcom ''Leave It to Beaver'' from 1957 to 1963. From 1983 to 1989, Dow repri ...

after Sullivan experienced a growth spurt before the series' production. The character of Frankie Bennett became

Eddie Haskell Edward Clark Haskell (also referred to as Edward W. Haskell) is a fictional character on the American television sitcom ''Leave It to Beaver'', which ran on CBS from October 4, 1957, to 1958 and on ABC from 1958 to 1963. He was played by Ken Osmo ...

, portrayed by

Ken Osmond Kenneth Charles Osmond (June 7, 1943May 18, 2020) was an American actor and police officer. Beginning a career as a child actor at the age of four, Osmond played the role of Eddie Haskell on the late 1950s to early 1960s television situation com ...

, after Harry Shearer’s parents decided for Shearer not to continue.The A.V. Club

References

Sources

* Applebaum, Irwyn. ''The World According to Beaver.'' TV Books, 1984, 1998. (). * Bank, Frank. ''Call Me Lumpy: my Leave It To Beaver days and other wild Hollywood life ''. Addax, 2002. (), (). * ''Leave It to Beaver: the complete first season''. Universal Studios, 2005. * ''Leave It to Beaver: the complete second season''. Universal Studios, 2006. () * Mathers, Jerry. ''...And Jerry Mathers as "The Beaver".'' Berkley Boulevard Books, 1998. ()

External links

*

{{Leave It to Beaver 1957 American television episodes Leave It to Beaver episodes Television pilots