Leave It to Beaver: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Leave It to Beaver: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 8, 2024

There are a few TV programs from the 1950s that are today probably viewed more as "quaint" than they are contemporarily relevant. Programs like Father Knows Best and The Andy Griffith Show have left and indelible mark on the TV landscape and serve as a remnant and reminder of a simpler TV time but, for some, maybe a less realistic perspective on life. Nevertheless, and regardless of whether one sees these shows, and others like them, as quaint or even irrelevant or, on the other end of the spectrum, as a reminder of what life (and TV) was like and what life (and TV) should be like again, there is no denying that these are TV royalty. Another in that grouping is Leave it to Beaver, a show that ran for six seasons from 1957-1963, beginning life on CBS for a single season before the studio ditched it. It made the move to ABC for its final five seasons. While the show was not a massive hit when it originally aired, either for CBS or ABC, it has since gained popularity as a 50s TV staple that still delights many audiences even today. Here, finally, is a full six-season boxed set on Blu-ray that longtime TV fans are sure to cherish for decades to come.

Official synopsis: Inspired by real-life experiences, 'Leave It to Beaver' built the blueprint for quintessential sitcom families with the relatable comic adventures of Ward, June, Wally, and young Theodore 'Beaver' Cleaver. From neighborhood mischief to misunderstandings at school and at home, Beaver and his family bring hilarious laughs, wholesome life lessons, and endless entertainment across 234 beloved episodes spanning six memorable seasons that have become as much a part of Americana as baseball and apple pie.

After sixty years it seems it would be an exercise in futility to offer more than just a few cursory thoughts on a show like Leave it to Beaver, a show that has in itself become something of a monicker for the style of its era and for its depiction of the bread-and-butter image of the more traditional family structure. That structure includes the role of the father as the authoritative head of the household, not as a dictatorial or heavy-handed head but certainly as the de facto leader of the family. Hugh Beaumont as Ward Cleaver certainly fills the bill with an enormously good and balanced performance that rarely changes tune but that captures that idyllic American father figurehead with grace and assuredness. He is the working man of the family, too. He works hard, he instructs his sons on the value of hard work, and he strives to instill good, fundamental life values and morals into them, and, of course, especially Beaver. Misadventures often turn into life skill lessons, and it is here where the show finds much of its worth as it follows Bever essentially "growing up" through the show, experiencing what it means to be a boy but also what it means to grow into a man. Father instills more than just the value of hard work. Beaver (and his brother) learns about the value of money, the importance of respecting others, playing fair, being kind, and loving his family and his neighbors. It's all simple things, and the show often explores its themes simply, but much of the joy comes from that simplicity rather than the heavy-handed drama and hyper-realism that define so many of today's TV escapes.

Within the patriarchal family structure is the role of the stay-at-home mother and wife. Barbara Billingsley as June Cleaver is a joy to watch in a character who fulfills her role with joy and satisfaction. Certainly, while she is not the head of the home, she is its backbone. It is run by her and managed by her and it is often she who gets the first sniff that something is up with Beaver. "Ward, I'm worried about The Beaver," is her popular verbal cue for her husband to step in and take charge of a situation, to instill the life lesson or guide Beaver back into reality. Of course, June would nurture Beaver (and Wally, too), guiding from her own female perspective on things, but there is no mistaking her place in the hierarchy in the home. Together, the parents, well, parent well, seeking to instill traditional values with firm discipline yet loving connections that bring up the boys -- the younger Beaver and the older Wally -- to understand, at the end of the day, the difference between "right" and "wrong" and to hold fast to that understanding, even when the world around them pushes them to think differently.

Aesthetically, the show is of course a product of its time, with simplistic photography and not minimalist production design but only enough to satisfy the look of life in its time. The show is hardly hyper-kinetic like so much of today's TV, taking a more relaxed approach to storytelling. It's also very procedural, lacking much in terms of diversity of thought, structure, purpose, location, look, feel, or anything else. It's comfortable and confident within its simple niche, and audiences are either going to fall in love with the reliable rhythm or feel a pull to drift away to something a little more modern in terms of its technical sensibilities and scope. Still, for whatever stagnation there may be, the show's penchant for finding the rhythms of life, boyhood, brothers, motherhood, and fatherhood within its time make Leave it to Beaver a veritable time capsule that will continue to be treasured for many years to come.

Leave It to Beaver: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Universal presents Leave It to Beaver: The Complete Series on Blu-ray with a faithfully filmic 1080p transfer. The image is framed at approximately 4x3, preserving the original broadcast integrity and resulting in vertical "black bars" flanking the image on either side of the modern 1.78:1 HD display. The 1080p transfer is very good. The image is nicely filmic through all six seasons, with earlier seasons showing a somewhat more aggressive grain pattern and later seasons a finer grain pattern. Detailing is very good. The image is crisp and attractive, capturing complex facial and location details with very impressive accuracy and clarity, from faces and period clothes to various appointments in homes. Viewers will be able to all but touch fabric on sofas, old books, and the like, while other locations around town show complexities like brick walls with very good definition. The grayscale is pleasing. Whites are not overly creamy, there is good gradation in the grayscale tones, and black levels are nicely deep and pleasant. The image does show some fairly significant wear and tear. Pops, speckles, and stray vertical lines are fairy commonplace, again more aggressive in early seasons but less, though by no means absent, through the later seasons. There are no serious compression issues of note. This is imperfect, but it still looks very good.

Leave It to Beaver: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Universal presents Leave It to Beaver: The Complete Series on Blu-ray with a very straightforward DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack. The track is very dialogue heavy, but the spoken word can come across with a bit of underlying hiss, a boominess, and a sharpness about it that fails to reach the usual level of lossless realism. The hissing comes and goes with words, but fans can rest easy knowing that things improve throughout the season, and by season six, the underlying hiss and struggles with fidelity are largely gone in favor of a much cleaner, clearer, more efficient accuracy. Dialogue does manage to settle near the center rather than feel lost to the sides. Most effects and music also maintain close proximity to a center-imaged location and, again like the dialogue, reaches maximum potential for clarity and accuracy as the series progresses. Laugh tracks are suitably detailed as well, though again more imaged to the center rather than spread to the far reaches of the front left and right channels. This is not a track of any note whatsoever, but for the most part it carries the material well enough to satisfy the basics of a retro TV SitCom listen.

Leave It to Beaver: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Leave It to Beaver: The Complete Series contains only one supplement. On the fifth disc of season one viewers will find Unaired Pilot: 'It's a Small World' (1080i, 4x3, 25:25). The picture quality is lacking, exhibiting more of a digitally processed rather than organically filmic presentation.

Each season ships in its own Amaray case, and every disc sits on its own hub. The six season cases ship inside an average quality slip box. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase, and the individual seasons do not include slipcovers.

Leave It to Beaver: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Leve it to Beaver remains one of the more quintessential examples of classic family TV ever made. It's not overtly rich with deep thematic resonance, but the show does offer endless charm and retro satisfaction as it explores the complexities of life from young eyes and a very accessible family-friendly atmosphere. Universal's six-season Blu-ray release satisfies for its technical presentation, offering rock-solid video and nicely complementary 2.0 lossless audio. However, that the series ships with no extras beyond the unaired pilot is disappointing. Still, this is a nice presentation of a quintessential American TV family program that has received a nice Blu-ray release that comes with a hearty recommendation.