How sad is this?

Highly Overrated But Still Good

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Bringing back as many of the characters, as they were, from the original show was pivotal in allowing the children of these characters to help carry the show as the kids did in the original. Meeting up again with Beaver, Wally, Eddie and Lumpy was great as we see them as adults.It just has to come out on DVD, soon. My grandkids enjoy this show which I just started showing them.

I loved every episode of this show! They did a great job of updating and adding to the original series. I especially loved the 1940's flashback where they showed how Ward and June met. If you loved the original series you must see this. Ken Osmond is particularly talented. I noticed many episodes focused on Eddie Haskell. They must have realized he was the most entertaining character. Barbara Billingsley seems to be having the time of her life. They were so lucky to get so many of the original cast members back for this one. No "remake" show was ever this successful. Clever and creative writing. Occasional clips of the original show. We must get this complete series available on DVD!

During the plague of "New" shows in the 80s (The New Monkees, The New Gidget, The Bradys, etc.), this was probably the best. "Beaver" didn't focus solely on the original audience (like The Bradys did), nor did it ignore the original show (like The New Monkees) or try to recreate those characters as modern pop icons (like The New Gidget). No, "Beaver" gave fans of the original show a chance to see their old friends again (and they were still the same old characters) as well as using the characters' children to maintain the innocence and fun of the original show, drawing in a new, younger audience. "Still the Beaver" was a true family show: clean enough for kids, nostalgic and fun for adults. (And I was at the right age that Kaleena Kiff was my dream date, but I digress . ..)Hopefully, the reruns will start soon, and this will become another classic. Ward was missed in the series, but his legacy lived on in his sons. In that and everything else, this show did very well.

The only thing that kept this 'gem' from being a major hit is timing. A new "Beaver" audience has been created from the re-runs on TVland, Nickelodeon, and TBS. Now is the time for these shows. I'm still waiting for someone to unearth these tapes and show them along with the originals.I remember ordering the Disney Channel just for this show. Later, I dropped Disney when the show went to TBS. Is was a little rough starting out. Beaver, divorced with custody, moving back in with his mom, and his dad (Ward), now dead, are a bit hard to take from the simpler days of the past. After settling down, the shows were charming and funny. The next generation of kids, including the offspring of Eddie Haskell (a son who would make Eddie proud), "hipped" up the show a bit without losing the original flavor.June would talk to Ward's tombstone on occasion, old faces would turn up (Eddie, Lumpy, and even Judy Hensler), and Wally and the Beav' interacted like they were still kids. They even had an episode with (June's) Aunt Martha's funeral, the mostly invisible aunt from the olden days.One pet peeve of mine are writer's who are hired to do re-makes of shows who seem to show no knowledge of the original shows. They are 'lost' and the shows are terrible (ie. the 'new' Columbo). The writers of 'Beaver' were definitely devotees of the original. The Cleaver clan evolves smoothly and beautifully and I was sad all over again when the shows stopped.The Cleaver's were more than just scripting though. The theatrical release, although technically sound, had no chance of duplicating the charm and success of this little bit of americana.PS-- a nice touch was Wally marrying a girl very, very reminiscent of his mother...