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.
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.