Wally's Haircomb

(*Beaver quote*) - "We weren't speaking about fads. We were speaking about Lumpy's lopsided head."

When June Cleaver gets a good look at Wally's new hairdo she's so outraged by it that (get this) she goes to the principal, Mr. Haller at Wally's school and makes a serious complaint about it. (Like, if that isn't a roundabout was of making some change, then, I don't know what it is)

Anyway - In the meantime - Beaver decides to imitate his brother's wild haircomb and that proves to be the comical highlight of this episode.

George Tibbles, who wrote over 100 episodes for MY THREE SONS, cooked up this gem, and reserved the right to do it again on his next show.

Let's face it, with the emergence of Elvis, Fats Domino and the like, loud clothes and lots and lots of slick hair gel -- what would you expect? Wally gets a new doo, and it's a work of art, his hair propped like a balloon and jelled to the max.

I agree with the last reviewer, the "honking" music steals the show. It's spot on every time Wally looks into a mirror. Pretty clever idea from producers and writers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher.

On the other side, Ward and June are fit to be tied, but still very understanding parents... to a degree, and that's what makes this episode. Also keep your eyes on Beave.

You have to admit, both Beave and Wally --surprisingly-- had gone through quite a few fads, if not wardrobe calamities. Again, all based on real life stories.

Lumpy is back, sort of a grown up Larry Mondello, as is Fred Rutherford. Richard Deacon was the right actor to play Fred, although I will say it again, his son should have been Eddie Haskell. The real IDEAL match.

So how does it all end? You probably know anyway, but fun to see it for the 100th time. Certified tv classic.

PS: What happened to Wally's towels and pillow cases? Hmmm? They had to be an oily disaster.

SEASON 3 EPISODE 34 remastered Universal dvd box set. Thank you so much METV for re-running this golden oldie.

Leave It To Beaver reflects a time when conservative social values were the norm. Although limited to the majority demographic of American society, it nevertheless presented family dynamics and life lessons pertinent to all. Luckily, the writing and production values opened it up to a wide range of entertaining situations (e.g. - a large recurring cast of characters and not restricted to the standard 3 camera interior setting of most sitcoms.)

Wally's Haircomb was typical in its portrayal of a universal family "problem" with a wise solution proferred, in this case ignoring the problem and letting it resolve itself, rather than trying to fix it only to make it worse.

Like most of the series, this particular episode remains relevant even today. Instead of a goofy greasy hairstyle one could substitute nose rings, tattoos, wacky beards or a myriad of other fleetingly hip fads.

As the school principal explained to June Cleaver to ease her concerns about her teen son following the crowd, "they conform by being non-conforming."

This is the one episode I can't stand June. With the sixties around the corner, June's attitude is about to get flattened by a new generation. Vietnam, the counter-culture, rock and roll, the baby boomers are about to make their mark. Her attitude was very much like my mother. It was the reason why I started running away at fourteen, volunteered for Vietnam at eighteen, protested the war at twenty-one, and played in rock and roll bands most of my life. I'm seventy two and still have long hair. I grew it to protest and I still feel the same way. My father and all my uncles served in World War Two, and could never understand my generation. My mom and dad eventually mellowed but my teens and twenties were a different story. The world was changing and so were we. Long story short, June had a bad attitude and she was just lucky that it wasn't six or seven years later and Wally or even the Beaver didn't hitch-hike to San Francisco and become a founding member of the Grateful Dead or the Jefferson Airplane.

Just the background music playing when a jelly roll head shows up is enough for me to give this episode a 10.