User Reviews

Some classic sitcoms traded on wacky visual premises: think of Lucy Ricardo's antics on I LOVE LUCY. LEAVE IT TO BEAVER's humor was generally more verbal in nature, but there were instances of visual surrealism from time to time. "In the Soup," in which Beaver gets trapped inside a giant billboard soup bowl, comes to mind. In "Beaver's Laundry" we have visual comedy too, if on a smaller scale. Beaver tries to bail out his pal Richard, who lost his money for the Laundromat, by doing his family's laundry in the Cleaver washing machine while his parents are out. But the two boys overdo it on the detergent, and the resulting soap bubbles threaten to become the Monster that Took Over the Cleaver Home.

The soapy excess glistens in LITB's crisp black and white photography, and the episode is fun to watch. The plot bubbles, too. While the two boys are waiting for their laundry, and the suspense builds, they have a funny satirical discussion about adults' attempts to have fun. Wally and Eddie come along and help cover for the boys by cleaning the entire kitchen floor. When Ward and June return, the kitchen is immaculate! It's a delicious irony that wrongdoing should be so easy to cover up for - using the very materials that created the problem in the first place! At the end, Ward suspects what occurred but decides not to pursue the matter because the boys have obviously solved the problem on their own.

Ward & Wally eat a big piece of cake with their hands like slobs? No way 13 year olds would be dumb enough to use a whole box of soap. Why not call June at the beauty parlor to ask permission? A very often used story works like a charm. Some great moments. One of Richard's (Richard Correll) better performances.

Beaver is going to help Richard out. The Rickover washing machine is on the blink, so Beaver is going along with Richard to a neighborhood laundromat. Richard has three dollars or had three dollars. Now all he has is dirty laundry. Richard has an idea, let's use your mom's machine, Beaver, she's real nice.

Problem is June is at the beauty parlor, Ward is off getting a haircut, and Wally is at Eddie's. How hard is it to use a washing machine? Apparently, if you are two sixth grade boys who never watched a mom do laundry, it's really easy. Why does Beaver listen to Richard? Of course, the boys use an entire box of soap, and why not toss is some starch. The boys sit in the kitchen and then it starts. The washing machine starts spilling soap suds everywhere just as Wally and Eddie show up. Wally offers to loan the boys the money to take the clothes to the laundromat while he and Eddie clean up the mess in the laundry room and kitchen.

Ward and June show up to a clean kitchen and wonder what the boys are up too. Wally claims they just did out of kindness. Ward is suspicious but has no proof. This is a case of things look OK, and while we know that this has something to do with Richard and the laundry, let's just be grateful for a clean kitchen and let well enough alone.

Beaver wants to know if they should confess, Wally says basically to let a clean floor do all the talking this time.

A pretty weak entry this episode. Wally does cover for his brother but only because there was an outside chance he might have caught some friendly fire and lost his allowance. And Beaver, I am really giving up hope that he will ever see Richard as the conniving trouble maker he is.

Beaver is noy only a proverbial liar but a real dope too. This episode was very poor.,. Beaver lets his friend Richard use the Cleavers washing machine and of course that idiot Beaver lets Richard r talk him into using a whole box of detergent and a whole box of starch. Of course the washing machine spits out suds everywhere and makes a real mess . The only reason I did not give this a one rating was because it had a short scene with Eddie Haskel who always elevates the rating a point or two. 39 episodes per season was a little too much of a problem for the writers to come up with all good episodes.