How was the show filmed?

We did 234 episodes of Leave it to Beaver and each show took a full week to film.  We worked for 6 years on the series, Monday through Friday and did 39 episodes each year.  That’s a lot of filming!   There are so many things that people don’t realize that go into the making of a tv show.  This is what the week was like for me…

On Mondays we would read through the script with the cast for the director, producers and writers while we sat around a table in the studio conference room.  The writers would re-write and scenes that didn’t seem to flow right.  Tuesdays we would block the show (find out where we would move during the scenes) on the actual sets and then have a run through for the producers between 4:30 and 5:00pm which was like doing the script as a stage play with props.  This would give everyone a good idea of how the show was going to look and play.  On Wednesday through Friday we did the actual filming.  Each shot had to be separately lit and photographed.  Our crew was made up of about 70 people including the director, assistant directors, camera operators, electricians, grips, wardrobe, make-up, studio teachers for both Tony and I, script supervisor, production assistants, transportation, and of course our moms who were on the set with us every day.  Anyone under 18 years old must have a guardian on the set at all times.

We usually didn’t do more than 3 takes on any of the individual camera angles.  Leave it to Beaver was shot on 35 mm film with only one camera, and the director would pick the coverage (different camera points of view) for all of the scenes.  We would do masters (wide shots), close-ups (one individual character), two shots (people standing together), and sometimes over the shoulder angles.  The only film that was developed was the one shot that the director felt was the best for each particular angle.

The show would take about 6 weeks to edit.  Then it was screened for the secretaries and others on the studio lot by offering them a free lunch!   A laugh track was generated by them which created a real and natural sound.  Today, sound editors use a laugh track where they can add laughter when the producers think something should be funny.

As you can see, this was a lot of work and a labor of love by many talented people.  The series has been airing for over 55 years in 47 languages all over the world!

Leave it to Beaver is the longest continuously running show in television history!