Of all the TV show reunion movies I've seen, I thought this one was the most watchable.
Ninety percent of the original plus background cast came onboard for this "What are they doing now?" sequel.
The absence of the late Hugh Beaumont who passed away two years before this tele-film is well incorporated into the story (though Ward Cleaver died in 1977 vice his actor in 1981).
As I've written about reunion movies before, they are a hard sell as capturing the magic of the original series is not an easy task, "Still the Beaver" is no exception.
While it was nice seeing our favorite characters reprised by most of the original players, there was really something intangible missing about this reunion.
Those of us who grew up with the original show (whether through original broadcast or reruns) knew that Beaver was kind of clumsy in his actions and decisions. Unfortunately, they made adult Beaver that way. I didn't mind that he was facing challenges, but the writers should have approached it another way, not something reminiscent of the clumsy trouble he got into as a kid.
But other than that, it was good to see most of the supporting cast reprise their roles. While there was something (intangible) missing from this reunion movie, they kept the heartwarming aspect of the original series.
(Apparently, this movie impressed some people as a follow on TV series was produced for cable. It appeared to have some success as it ran for six seasons. Many reunion movies are made as a possible back door pilot for a new sequel series but fail with the possible sequel series never coming into fruition. Not the new Beaver.)
Was "Still the Beaver" the greatest reunion movie ever? No, not by a long shot. But even with its flaws it is very watchable and nice to see what our favorite characters have been doing since the last episode of "Leave it to Beaver."
Ninety percent of the original plus background cast came onboard for this "What are they doing now?" sequel.
The absence of the late Hugh Beaumont who passed away two years before this tele-film is well incorporated into the story (though Ward Cleaver died in 1977 vice his actor in 1981).
As I've written about reunion movies before, they are a hard sell as capturing the magic of the original series is not an easy task, "Still the Beaver" is no exception.
While it was nice seeing our favorite characters reprised by most of the original players, there was really something intangible missing about this reunion.
Those of us who grew up with the original show (whether through original broadcast or reruns) knew that Beaver was kind of clumsy in his actions and decisions. Unfortunately, they made adult Beaver that way. I didn't mind that he was facing challenges, but the writers should have approached it another way, not something reminiscent of the clumsy trouble he got into as a kid.
But other than that, it was good to see most of the supporting cast reprise their roles. While there was something (intangible) missing from this reunion movie, they kept the heartwarming aspect of the original series.
(Apparently, this movie impressed some people as a follow on TV series was produced for cable. It appeared to have some success as it ran for six seasons. Many reunion movies are made as a possible back door pilot for a new sequel series but fail with the possible sequel series never coming into fruition. Not the new Beaver.)
Was "Still the Beaver" the greatest reunion movie ever? No, not by a long shot. But even with its flaws it is very watchable and nice to see what our favorite characters have been doing since the last episode of "Leave it to Beaver."