For everyone who wants to know a little bit more about the book details, here they are…. The World Famous Beaverpedia! weighs 2 lbs. 12 oz. It’s 8.5″ x 11″ and has 485 pages.
As for its content, it consists of 75 chapters.
Chapters 1-3 are about the creators of Leave it to Beaver, Bob Mosher and Joe Connelly, the television show itself, its inspiration, how it almost didn’t happen, how much the original Wally grew between the pilot being filmed and the show being sold to CBS, a few looks at ratings, the cost paid to outside writers for scripts, the show’s schedule and its competition on the other networks, advertisers, how the show was produced, the daily routine on the set, the controversies that sometimes surfaced with organized groups protesting the show, the end of the show and how it almost went to NBC. This section rounds out with a chapter about Stu Shostak who kindly accepted my offer to have him write the foreword for the book. It was through this man’s podcast (audio at first, now video) that I became very acquainted with the cast and their stories of creating the best ever situation comedy. Stu has interviewed cast members multiple times and many other actors who appeared once or twice on the show. Chapter 3 is about Stu and his friendship with the cast, and contains a little history about his work in Hollywood. One of his former jobs was as the archivist for Lucille Ball. That was a dream come true job for him, and he was only a few years out of college when that position came about. Chapters 1-3 contain 72 footnotes. There was a lot of research that went into the writing of this book.
Chapters 4-73 are what fans will probably find the most enjoyable, although I’m a big chapter 2 fan myself. These chapters are where I dissect the show. I did this by watching every episode and while I did so, I had a spreadsheet open in front of me on my computer. I had about 150 different columns/categories where I could input information from the individual episodes. Of course, not every episode would have something to enter into a category. For example in an episode where Eddie did not appear, there’d be no compliments from Eddie to list. Yes, that means there is an entire chapter dedicated to his compliments. The typical episode had 50-60 different categories that I cataloged. However, due to size limitations, there is so much I did keep track of that didn’t make it into the book. That is why this website exists (you’ll eventually find some of that info here) and that is why if this book sells well enough, there will be a companion book which will be smaller and cost less. Other chapters in this section will include topics like distances, sentimental moments, gee, pop culture references, food, animals/pets, continuity, location of Mayfield, Ward’s family and memories, June’s Fashion, mail received, holidays and birthdays, insults, nicknames, the Cleaver house, slang words, money, the “business,” telephone calls, Metzger’s Field, underwear and socks, June leaves the house, and about fifty other categories/chapters.
Chapter 74 is an episode guide. There are two episodes on each page. They include the season and episode number, title, director, writer(s), a short snapshot summary, a list of actors outside the main cast, and notable lines, typically two lines, but sometimes more, depending on space limitations.
Chapter 75 is the beginning of the actor / director / writer biographies. There are well over 400 biographies in this section. This would include 388 actors, over 40 writers and most every director.
Then, at the end, will be an index. This is the last part of the book and will be finished over the next few days. As a TV history/reference book, as well as a fun book for fans, I believe an index is invaluable for a book that is almost 500 pages long.
You’ve now been treated to some details. I hope they weren’t too many for you… if they were… then be prepared to be totally overwhelmed by the book 🙂
Sincerely,
Brian Humek (sitting at my desk with my cat Wally fast asleep on a chair next to me)
P.S. Don’t forget to sign up for updates and you’ll know the moment the book is live on Amazon.
I’ll also post to various Facebook groups, but there’s always a chance that update could be missed.