MovieChat Forums > Leave It to Beaver (1957) Discussion > Will LITB fade away from this world afte...

Will LITB fade away from this world after the baby boomers do?

posted 8 years ago by Navaros
20 replies | jump to latest

As far as I can tell, by far the largest part of LITB's fanbase is baby boomers.

That does not bode well for LITB's legacy continuing in the generations after all the baby boomers have gone to Heaven.

In my opinion, the signs indicate that after the baby boomers leave, LITB will fade away.

For instance, just look at the shockingly low number of IMDB users who have given LITB a rating. I believe the number is low because:

One, most baby boomers are not savvy with the internet and so they don't sign up to places like IMDB.

Two, people from younger generations generally are not watching LITB. I'm sure exceptions exist on an individual basis (and I know not everyone on this board is a baby boomer, I am not either)...but the exceptions seem to be small in terms of numbers.

What is your opinion on this issue? When, if ever, do you think that LITB will fade away from this world? What are the reasons for your opinion? Do you think Universal will ever do something to try and prevent that from happening (i.e. they could colorize LITB). If they did try to make LITB popular among younger generations, would it work?

[–] MichaelMartinDeSapio 8 years ago

This is a very interesting topic and one that has occurred to me as well. I'll have to give it some more thought, but here are some tentative observations.

First, we should keep in mind that the "baby boomers" (a term which I detest for a number of reasons; I prefer "post-war generation") are not on their last legs, esp. when you consider the ever-increasing rate of longevity these days with many people reaching 100 or beyond. Heck, there are still members of Ward and June's generation around!

Let me also say that I am not of that generation (my parents are of that generation).

The question still bears asking though, will LITB survive? This is very hard to say. On the one hand, television, DVDs and Internet streaming would seem to ensure that a whole mass of popular culture from the Golden Era will survive, but without an audience who is interested in it, will it be watched? With endless choices available for viewing (including the junk being churned out today), will anyone choose to watch the classics?

I do think that some major celebration or event should take place in the coming year to observe the 60th anniversary of the show. Maybe we on IMDB could organize something!

Anyway, those are my offhand observations of the moment. I plan to think some more about this.

[–] dnasty68 8 years ago

I'm part of Generation X and I still watch it.

[–] seas286 8 years ago

I am a part of Generation X too and watch the show. I think one of the problems is that as time marches on, syndicators try to tap into a certain demographic. Currently most oldies stations are phasing out 50's/60's programs and are now more into 70's/80's shows geared toward my generation (Gen X). Then those shows will be phased out in the next few years in favor of 90's/2000's shows geared toward Gen Y (Millenials) when they start getting to a certain age (about 30).

I remember when I was growing up in the 80's all the reruns in syndication at that time was geared toward my parents generation (The baby boomers) like LITB, The Donna Reed Show, Ozzie & Harriet , Hazel, That Girl etc...There was a poster on the Ozzie and Harriet board that had never heard of that show and ran across it on youtube. I thought it was strange till I started thinking , Oh Yeah, they were not around when these oldies were reran on a regular basis.

[–] Navaros 8 years ago

Great points, seas286. What you said reminds me of a local radio station which started playing disco crap as "oldies" mixed in with true, quality oldies. So to hear real oldies on that station, I also have to suffer through noise pollution that makes me gag (a.k.a. disco). I don't think it's worth it.

Then there is another station that used to play classic rock up to 1979 only...but eventually it decided that its listener base started to get too old, so now it plays all rock...even though most rock from the 90's and 2000's is garbage (yet again, quality old music was mixed in and replaced with with newer, noise pollution).

There was a poster on the Ozzie and Harriet board that had never heard of that show and ran across it on youtube.

Ha ha, yeah, that might have been me. I found O&H on youtube after seeing recommendations for the show posted on this board. But if no one put O&H into my awareness, then I never would have known it existed.

I think that's another huge problem that may lead LITB to die out eventually. Who is going to spread the word that LITB exists to people who have never heard of it? People who do not know LITB exists will not be making any efforts to watch it. And they won't be putting any demands on TV stations/streaming services to play it.

[–] dnasty68 8 years ago

Now I see that The Beav is jumping from Antenna TV to ME-TV where it will be on earlier so I won't get to see it because of my job.I don't have a DVR or I would record it. I just may buy the series on DVD.

[–] Navaros 8 years ago

Yeah, the DVDS are better for convenience and also because they are un-sped-up and uncut. I highly recommend the DVDs to anyone who can afford them.

[–] seas286 8 years ago

Yes the DVD's are awesome. I wish Ozzie and Harriet would have a decent DVD release. Ricky Nelson's son was going to do it, but nothing came of it. I guess the cost of remastering 14 seasons of a show a lot of people have forgotten or know nothing about anymore wouldn't be financially lucrative.

Another long forgotten 60's show that hasn't been reran since the 80's is The Farmers Daughter. Antenna TV was going to run it when they launched a few years ago, but Sony claimed the show was in need of restoration. What it probably was in truth is they couldn't find the 30 year old tape transfers(syndication copies) and they didn't want to make more copies from the original 35mm negatives because it would cost them money.

[–] dnasty68 8 years ago

I remember watching Ozzie & Harriet on TBS in the early 80's. I enjoyed it.

[–] Navaros 8 years ago

Yeah, I wish they would release Ozzie and Harriet on DVD properly too. I'd say that show is on par with LITB quality, and that's a huge compliment. LITB quality is rarely ever matched.

I find it shameful that such great shows can so easily become lost over time.

LITB coming out on DVD was no cakewalk either. They took forever before they gave it any attention. Eventually Universal released only Season 1 of LITB on DVD, and it was on double-sided discs. After that, they did the same thing for Season 2 of LITB.

Hardly anyone bought those sets, because:

1. No one wants craptastic double-sided discs.

2. The diehard LITB fans who are the main customers for its DVDs were not sure if the whole series was going to come out on DVD or not, so they were reluctant to buy just a season or two and then be stuck not being able to buy any more seasons if and when the rest did not come out.

But, IMO Universal didn't consider those two facts.

Instead, I think Universal must have wrongfully concluded: "Our Season 1 & 2 releases of the LITB DVDs didn't sell well because no one is interested in buying LITB on DVD."

Then Universal just didn't bother to release the next four seasons of LITB on DVD.

Five years later, Shout Factory bought the rights to release the complete series together, and also the remaining four seasons individually, for an unknown (at least to the public) period of time. But if Shout Factory hadn't come along and made that deal, then we'd probably still only have Seasons 1 & 2 of LITB available on DVD today as of 2017.

Corporations have no respect for anything other than taking in money.

I guess Shout Factory is a bit of an exception to that rule...although I have also seen them say that they do not accept DVD release projects either unless they think they can make money by doing them.

[–] NobodymournstheWicked 8 years ago

I doubt it I was born after the Baby Boomers and I love the show and own the first 4 seasons on dvd, you got to have hope that with either dvds or repeats on tv will catch with younger viewers

[–] Navaros 8 years ago

The thing is a lot of younger viewers won't watch anything black and white, period.

[–] Henahey41 8 years ago

Another show that got the 2 seasons treatment on DVD was My three sons.That show ran for 12 years.What they did was divide season 1 on DVD and charged full price for a full season dvd and did the same for season 2.People wanted the whole season not just half a season

[–] WhoAteMyCookie 7 years ago

While I agree baby boomers are a huge part of LITB and other sitcoms of that era and a lot of nostalgia goes along with their watching, I think shows like LITB are being introduced to the new generation.
I think television in general has changed. TV used to be the source to bring family and friends together for entertainment, a novelty of sorts. Even in the 80's there was family television and the cliff hanger that kept people talking and in suspense. Now it is just one show trying to outdo another, nothing to get excited about (nothing new but rather predictable).

I used to rely on very limited resources to watch older shows but today I have noticed an upswing in stations that rely heavily in part or their entire line up on classic television: Antenna, ME, Retro, Decades, Pop, Logo, WGN etc... At one time N@N and to a limited degree TV Land were the primary sources. I have even seen Starz place The Jeffersons in their line up and they are a paid movie channel.

There are websites dedicated to classic shows - a lot of younger viewers make comments about "finding" a show and liking it, better than today's shows. As newer generations find older shows they will cling to it, even if they do not feel the nostalgic response of baby boomers. When you have limited runs of a show versus the endless marathons of Big Bang, L&O, CSI, NCIS, and get bored of reality you branch out looking for anything entertaining. I believe classic sitcoms are coming back around and all these channels are not being created for a generation that is falling in numbers, as that would mean their ratings would fall off quicker. I do believe these channels are being created and lasting because people are looking and finding these shows.

[–] ronaldt49 7 years ago

As one of the Baby Boomers being referred to here, I don't watch Beaver lately because I saw so much of it in previous runs. Same applies to Andy Griffith, Perry Mason and a few others.

One big turnoff are the incessant commercials in these shows. We used to complain about commercials back then even though there were only a couple of minutes of commercials. Now you have commercial breaks of 4 and 5 minutes. This just means a lot of the original is being cut out.

Those of you old enough to have watched Chuck Woolery's Love Connection in the 80s and 90s will remember his lead-in to commercials was "Be back in two and two". Intro today would be "Four and Four" if not 'Five and Five".

When you purchase these programs on dvd note that you usually will have 28/29 minutes on 30 minute shows and 58/59 minutes on hour programs. This is a good sign you are getting the same programs originally broadcast. Go to youtube and you can find some of these programs there. Note the times listed and if the time is not close to the times I've listed then you will probably have the same butchered syndicated programs currently being aired on MEtv, etc.

I was in high school during original runs of Star Trek, Batman, Gilligan's Island but didn't see them til after I had graduated. Jerry Mathers/Beaver was a year older than I am meaning I was in elementary school during the Beaver era.

Enjoy !!

[–] alv790 (87) 4 years ago

I'm watching it now, and I was born in the early 80s. Of course, that's not typical. The vast majority of people being born now will never watch LITB. That's normal, because TV content is often considered disposable. Few people will be watching Big Bang Theory in 2080, I would say.

However, a few will develop an interest in classic TV shows, and if they want to watch a family show from that era, LITB is well-positioned, since it became something of a cult phenomenon, representing the idealized, innocent, happy family life of the 50s. Also, it's actually good.

So it will fade, yes, but it won't be completely forgotten.

[–] joi2049 (5501) 3 years ago

Since I like watching "BLONDIE & DAGWOOD" on the TCM channel (and also wasn't born until several years after it was made), I'm thinking LITB will probably also continue to still have people watching it after the BOOMERS check out.

Here's a video where their kid is mistakenly assumed to have a HIGH IQ (like the case also was with BEAVER in one of his episodes), and the result is just as disastrous for both of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN3H_vx4qhg&feature=emb_logo

Blondie and Dagwood Movies: Blondie Brings up Baby (1939)

Note the way BLONDIE also wears HIGH HELLS SHOWS and fancy dresses when she cooks and cleans the house very much like BEAVER's mon use to do. So apparently things didn't change very much from 39 to 59 in regards to the way that women dressed in films and in TV shows???

📌📌📌📌📌

[–] CreosoteXmp37 (291) 3 years ago

FWIW, I'm of Generation X and enjoy the show. Always have. My parents would've been about the age of the Cleaver kids when the show aired on primetime but they probably enjoyed the show for a different reason than I do. I can laugh _with_ the characters, and laugh _at_ them as well, same for the situations depicted.

[–] raymondoz2007 (2098) 3 years ago

shows from the early/mid 50's are almost unwatchabel. Most were live so all they have if any are kinoscope copys which are terriable Ozzie and Harriet were on film but are badly dated. beaver looks like it was filmed by Martin Scorsese compared to that.

[–] liscarkat (17136) 3 years ago

As far as "baby boomers" not being "savvy with the internet" is concerned, it really doesn't require much savvy to click on IMDB or MovieChat. Right now (2021), "baby boomers" (an idiotic label) are approximately fifty-six to seventy-six years old, and pretty much all of the people I know in that age group use the Internet daily.

"Leave it to Beaver" will fade in popularity as people who were alive during its first run die off. The same thing happened before to the radio shows, pop music, and movies from the 1930s and 1940s, and the same thing will happen to almost all of the tv shows, music, and movies that are popular right now when people your age die off. That's just the way it goes.

[–] thingmakersback (1273) 3 years ago

You are right, but the question was "Will LITB fade away from this world after the baby boomers do?" and the answer is: Never completely. Old radio shows, as many as survive, still have an active fanbase and so does just about every element of old pop culture or literature. Even the ones that have few interested people will survive to be examined as artifacts by future generations and some will gain fans.