Is it Gilbert Gates or Gilbert Bates?

[grinningghost]

I'm a Leave it to Beaver junkie. I swear I watch this show every night and there's one mystery I can't solve -

In the early episodes with Gilbert, his last name is clearly said to be "Gates".

Further down the road, he turns into Gilbert "Bates".

So what gives?

In any case, I always liked Larry Mondello better anyway.

 

[circus slim]

I always thought it was Bates!

I swing my vote to Wally's friend Lumpy though. Not exactly the brightest bulb in the pack, but he did well considering that he was being brought up by Fred Rutherford!

Great show - one of my favorite lines is when Beaver's teacher asks him if Beaver is his given name. Beaver answers "Yeah - my brother give it to me!"

I worked for a while with a nephew of Norman Tokar. Norman directed a bunch of the show's episodes. From what he said, the show was really an assembly line production! They cranked them out quickly!

 

[CinderellaCastle]

We are Beaver-less here.

 

[grinningghost]

You're right Circus Slim, that is a good line.

Lumpy, um, I mean, Clarence, was a great character, as were almost all of the characters. That show spun out some of the most memorable TV characters ever. There has never been, and I watch alot of TV, another squirrely sidekick more squirrely than Eddie Haskell.

But again, if you watch the first episode where Gilbert moves into the neighborhood, you'll see his last name was Gates in that episode. It's the one where Gilbert goes around telling the kids all kinds of wild stories about his family, which of course aren't true. Then all of sudden, he's a Bates. TV Magic I guess.