LITB Season 2 DVD: Great Observation on "Her Idol" Episode! (1 Viewer)

[Jack Platt]

Guys,

If you have the DVD of LITB Season 2, and watch the "Her Idol" episode, pause it as Ward is holding and reading the letter sent home by Mrs. Rayburn about Beaver fighting in the hall with Larry and the kids cuz he's being picked on for having a crush on Linda Dennison:

Only the last line in the last paragraph of the letter, "I hope you'll find a suitable explanation for Theodore's ununsual conduct." makes sense in the letter followed by the closing, written and typed signature Your's truly, Cornelia Rayburn.

The body of the letter contains phrases like:

This is all nonsense. Disregard everything in this letter. Disregard everything in this letter, The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog's back. The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog's back. Disregard everything else in this letter. This letter is full of junk. Only the last line of this letter is to be spoken by the actor.

No one at the time of filming obviously would have imagined that future generations would have the ability to pause what was on the screen!

Jack

 

[David Von Pein]

LOL. Good catch, Jack.

Other gibberish (filler) in the letter.......

"This paragraph has absolutely nothing to do with anything."

"Another paragraph of stuff."

"My typing is lousy. But the typewriter isn't {the best?} either. After all, why should I take the blame for these mechanical imperfections, with which all of us must contend."

"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party."

"This is the last line of the filler material of the note. No, my mistake, that was only next to last. This is last."


And my favorite hunk of filler:

"Lew Burdette just hit a home run and Milwaukee leads seven to one in the series."

LOL.

The baseball reference is great, because we can now pinpoint to the day when that note was penned -- it was written on October 2, 1958 (the episode was aired a month later on 11/06/58), just after Lew Burdette (pitcher for the Milwaukee Braves) did indeed hit a home run vs. the Yankees, in Game 2 of the '58 World Series. Lew's four-ply wallop came in the 1st inning, and (just like the note said) gave Milwaukee a 7-1 lead in the game. (The Braves, btw, went on to win the game, 13-5.)

You can check those stats yourself...right here:

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/yr1958ws.shtml

Another interesting portion of the "fake" letter to Ward from Mrs. Rayburn is part of the letterhead, which says.....

"Mr. Ward Cleaver
485 Mapleton Drive
Mayfield, State"

I didn't know "State" was a state.

Thanks for the keen-eyed observation Jack. I love watching for things like that. (Similar to the "March 1958" date on the check that the camera hones in on during a Season-One episode....when Ward claims the check was dated on a "Tuesday"; but, in reality, the check date was, I think, a Friday. Perpetual calendars can come in handy on occasion.)

In hindsight, I guess it's a good thing that the LITB letter-filler-writer decided not to include something racy in the note from Cornelia Rayburn to Ward, like -- "I look forward to seeing you Ward. I'll come by your place tonight, with my school paddle in hand. I've been told you like to be a little hard on the beaver. Lustfully Yours, Corny (Cornelia)."

That steamy dialogue might have proven a tad embarrassing to the wholesome LITB image.

 

[Greg_S_H]

That baseball thing is awesome. I, too, am glad that it was nothing but innocent fun. I would expect salacious garbage today. :frowning: Maybe it would just be playful stuff now, too. Who knows.

 

[Jack Platt]

LOL!!!

Where is the baseball reference? Is that in the letter of this episode? I missed that!!!!!

Jack

PS. I remember the check thing as well!!! Never looked up the day to verify. But this kind of stuff I think is so cool!

 

[David Von Pein]

Yep. Indeed it is.

 

[Mike Frezon]

OMG! Too funny! Maybe Cornelia had a thing for Lew Burdette!

 

[David Von Pein]

The "Her Idol" letter in question.......

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...1&d=1150932031

I wonder if the hands we see here are really Hugh Beaumont's?

You don't suppose those clever devils at Universal/Revue Studios would try to dupe and deceive the TV-viewing public, do ya? No, no!

~~Does a Homer Simpson dive out nearest (closed) window~~

~~Telephoning for window repairs~~

 

[David Von Pein]

Related Post........

In the S.2 episode "Beaver Gets Adopted", Ward can be seen reading a newspaper titled "Capital City Times".

Perhaps Mayfield is the "Capital City" of some mythical LITB state.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Nah. Mayfield would definitely be a small suburb (or neighbor) of whatever the Capital City might be.

Kinda like Mayberry's relationship to Mount Pilot.

The biggest landmarks in town? Let's start a list...

--The lumberyard (I hope they rebuilt after the fire...)
--A very nice soup billboard.
--Metzger's Field
--The school buildings

D'ya suppose the TV station that would do remotes at the local stores was probably from the Capital City?