Sepiatone Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 As it was Jerry Mather's birthday the other day, someone brought up the question,... WHY was his TV character nicknamed "The Beaver"? Given what the word is used as slang FOR, it seemed kind of mean spirited. I tried all sorts of resources and couldn't find an answer to this. Does anyone out there KNOW? Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dabb Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 The name comes from one of the show's creators - Joe Connelly. Mr. Connelly was in the Merchant Marine and one of his shipmates was named Beaver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 The name comes from one of the show's creators - Joe Connelly. Mr. Connelly was in the Merchant Marine and one of his shipmates was named Beaver. This too, doesn't really clear anything up. You and Cid must be cut from the same cloth. Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dabb Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 This too, doesn't really clear anything up. You and Cid must be cut from the same cloth. Sepiatone Then your request was not specific enough. Please try again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavenderblue19 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 The name comes from one of the show's creators - Joe Connelly. Mr. Connelly was in the Merchant Marine and one of his shipmates was named Beaver. Since Beaver rhymes with Cleaver and one of the originators had a shipmate who was called Beaver those 2 facts makes sense together. Probably just used as a catchy nickname since it rhymes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 Then your request was not specific enough. Please try again. ??? HOW more specific does anything HAVE to be? This couple has a son named Theodore that they've nicknamed "The Beaver". The kid isn't any way noticably "buck toothed", and it leaves the cognizant to wonder WHY these two reasonably level-headed people would CALL him that. The fact that the show's creator had an old buddy with that nickname does nothing to explain why the CLEAVERS would nickname their child this. What! That it RHYMES with CLEAVER? So does WEAVER, or HEAVER. It maybe explains the creator's motive, but little to nothing in the kid's PARENT'S motive. Which IS what I was SPECIFICALLY inquiring about. Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 ??? HOW more specific does anything HAVE to be? This couple has a son named Theodore that they've nicknamed "The Beaver". The kid isn't any way noticably "buck toothed", and it leaves the cognizant to wonder WHY these two reasonably level-headed people would CALL him that. The fact that the show's creator had an old buddy with that nickname does nothing to explain why the CLEAVERS would nickname their child this. What! That it RHYMES with CLEAVER? So does WEAVER, or HEAVER. It maybe explains the creator's motive, but little to nothing in the kid's PARENT'S motive. Which IS what I was SPECIFICALLY inquiring about. Sepiatone The answer is there is no WHY. First the Cleavers don't really exist and therefore they really didn't have any children and thus no motive in naming them. It was just a creation by the show's creator to come up with a name for the character that would be unique and memorable. I think he succeeded, don't you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dabb Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 The answer is there is no WHY. First the Cleavers don't really exist and therefore they really didn't have any children and thus no motive in naming them. It was just a creation by the show's creator to come up with a name for the character that would be unique and memorable. I think he succeeded, don't you? I feel we are just wasting your time in attempting to explain. All we can do is await Sep's next pit-fall... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavenderblue19 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 I still say the reasonable explanation is the creator of the series said, eeny, meeny, miney, moe to the words that rhymed with Cleaver, then got a chuckle when he realized he actually knew someone with the nickname Beaver, so that's the one he went with BEAVER CLEAVER 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 So, you folks want the REAL answer to this little conundrum, do ya?! Well, evidently what you people DON'T know is that in the pilot episode of this sitcom this is all explained. Ya see, in hopes that little Theodore would some day in the future become the next little TV spokesman for Ipana Toothpaste and the rich addition such a venture would add to the family's yearly income, Ward and June started calling their little tyke "Beaver" and began haunting the agency in charge of that company's advertising campaign! (...however as we know, their plan would be doomed to failure because of Jerry Mathers' lack of a predominate overbite) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 ??? HOW more specific does anything HAVE to be? This couple has a son named Theodore that they've nicknamed "The Beaver". The kid isn't any way noticably "buck toothed", and it leaves the cognizant to wonder WHY these two reasonably level-headed people would CALL him that. The fact that the show's creator had an old buddy with that nickname does nothing to explain why the CLEAVERS would nickname their child this. What! That it RHYMES with CLEAVER? So does WEAVER, or HEAVER. It maybe explains the creator's motive, but little to nothing in the kid's PARENT'S motive. Which IS what I was SPECIFICALLY inquiring about. Sepiatone I always assumed that a beaver is deemed to be "busy", and Beaver was always busy getting into trouble. Now that I think about it, that would be a pretty lame explanation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianNH Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 You know, many children who are just beginning to talk often have trouble pronouncing people's names -- sometimes even their own. I think it's certainly a possibility that the creative team behind the show had family experiences to back this up. So I personally have no trouble seeing a little kid trying to say "Theodore" and having it come out "Beaver." Then again, maybe the kid would chew the bark off the backyard oak trees. In TV Land, all explanations are permitted. Brian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 I always assumed that a beaver is deemed to be "busy", and Beaver was always busy getting into trouble. Now that I think about it, that would be a pretty lame explanation. Maybe they all got a kick out of it when in many episodes, June would tell Ward, "You were a little hard on the Beaver last night." Yeah! They PLANNED it that way! Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 So, you folks want the REAL answer to this little conundrum, do ya?! Well, evidently what you people DON'T know is that in the pilot episode of this sitcom this is all explained. Ya see, in hopes that little Theodore would some day in the future become the next little TV spokesman for Ipana Toothpaste and the rich addition such a venture would add to the family's yearly income, Ward and June started calling their little tyke "Beaver" and began haunting the agency in charge of that company's advertising campaign! (...however as we know, their plan would be doomed to failure because of Jerry Mathers' lack of a predominate overbite) Gene Tierney was to star in the pilot but due to contractual issues the producer had to get another actress. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavenderblue19 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Maybe they all got a kick out of it when in many episodes, June would tell Ward, "You were a little hard on the Beaver last night." Yeah! They PLANNED it that way! Sepiatone Hey sepiatone, I think maybe you asked the question initially so you could post that joke 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dabb Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 You know, many children who are just beginning to talk often have trouble pronouncing people's names -- sometimes even their own. I think it's certainly a possibility that the creative team behind the show had family experiences to back this up. So I personally have no trouble seeing a little kid trying to say "Theodore" and having it come out "Beaver." Then again, maybe the kid would chew the bark off the backyard oak trees. In TV Land, all explanations are permitted. Brian The characters were loosely based on their own families and experiences. There were no exact depictions of real family experiences, but they did use these real experiences as a basis for their episodes. They would take a piece of this and a piece of that from different experiences and cobble them together into an episode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Gene Tierney was to star in the pilot but due to contractual issues the producer had to get another actress. If she had, RO would have become a "Beaver" junkie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted June 5, 2015 Author Share Posted June 5, 2015 The characters were loosely based on their own families and experiences. There were no exact depictions of real family experiences, but they did use these real experiences as a basis for their episodes. They would take a piece of this and a piece of that from different experiences and cobble them together into an episode. I suppose, since nobody ever really asked( at the time, anyway) just what Ozzie Nelson, on the sitcom, actually DID for a "living", then how the kid got the nickname "Beaver" would similarily be overlooked. But SOMEone had to know the question would eventually get asked, like it is here...And, if you CAN'T provide a clear-cut answer, then contributing non essential info does little to nothing as any kind of help. Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 I suppose, since nobody ever really asked( at the time, anyway) just what Ozzie Nelson, on the sitcom, actually DID for a "living", then how the kid got the nickname "Beaver" would similarily be overlooked. But SOMEone had to know the question would eventually get asked, like it is here...And, if you CAN'T provide a clear-cut answer, then contributing non essential info does little to nothing as any kind of help. Sepiatone This is fiction. Expecting clear-cut answers to fictional situations is nonsense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted June 5, 2015 Author Share Posted June 5, 2015 This is fiction. Expecting clear-cut answers to fictional situations is nonsense. But, y'know----even back when the show was at it's pnnacle of fame, I've heard people of all ages and walks of life ask the question. "Why is the kid called "Beaver?" "Anybody ever SAY why?" So, it's just not ME. And, DON'T tell me it's never crossed your mind before! Unless...... You've blithely accepted HUMPTY DUMPTY was an egg, despite NOWHERE in the nursery rhyme does it ever SAY he was! YOU just looked at the PICTURES! Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 But, y'know----even back when the show was at it's pnnacle of fame, I've heard people of all ages and walks of life ask the question. "Why is the kid called "Beaver?" "Anybody ever SAY why?" So, it's just not ME. And, DON'T tell me it's never crossed your mind before! Unless...... You've blithely accepted HUMPTY DUMPTY was an egg, despite NOWHERE in the nursery rhyme does it ever SAY he was! YOU just looked at the PICTURES! Sepiatone Hey, I'm not saying it is odd to wonder why. I also wondered why the kid was named Beaver. When I saw this thread I said to myself 'hey interesting question' and I was hoping someone would know the answer; e.g. that the initial pilot explained how the kid got the nickname the Beaver. BUT it appears the show never explains this. So to me that end it. Same with Ozzie and what his job was. Yea, I have seen that question asked before but it is my understanding this is never explained either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted June 5, 2015 Author Share Posted June 5, 2015 I suppose people were just supposed to assume that Ozzie, on the show, as in real life, was a BANDLEADER of some sort. But no, never fully explained. Just as "The Beav's" Dad Ward just worked at "the office" with never any clear cut telling just what KIND of office. At least we were SHOWN Darin worked in an AD AGENCY! Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 I suppose people were just supposed to assume that Ozzie, on the show, as in real life, was a BANDLEADER of some sort. But no, never fully explained. Just as "The Beav's" Dad Ward just worked at "the office" with never any clear cut telling just what KIND of office. At least we were SHOWN Darin worked in an AD AGENCY! Sepiatone Darin's work at an Ad Agency was a plot device used in many episodes (especially before the child was born). It allowed for the confusion of his boss (Mr Tate?), who was often wondering why his star employee was acting so odd since he got married. The other two shows revolved around the children so there wasn't a need to focus attention on the job of the father. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Hey, I'm not saying it is odd to wonder why. I also wondered why the kid was named Beaver. When I saw this thread I said to myself 'hey interesting question' and I was hoping someone would know the answer; e.g. that the initial pilot explained how the kid got the nickname the Beaver. BUT it appears the show never explains this. So to me that end it. Same with Ozzie and what his job was. Yea, I have seen that question asked before but it is my understanding this is never explained either. I think the producers intentionally gave Ozzie no job. I don't think we're supposed to assume that he was a bandleader. It was in keeping with his casual personality that he would have no job, and it's a recurring element of humor that he had no job, and the fact didn't trouble him in the slightest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 I think the producers intentionally gave Ozzie no job. I don't think we're supposed to assume that he was a bandleader. It was in keeping with his casual personality that he would have no job, and it's a recurring element of humor that he had no job, and the fact didn't trouble him in the slightest. In some episodes the characters mention that Ozzie has no job? I don't recall that but it has been a very long time since I have seen the show. It would have to be mentioned for it to be a 'recurring element of humor'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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