User Reviews

Over the summer Wally engaged in a romantic correspondence with pretty and high-class Kitty Bannerman, a young girl he met at summer camp. Through his letters he created the impression that he led an extravagant lifestyle, complete with a rich father, fancy cars, and birthday parties featuring Frank Sinatra. When June sets Wally up on a date with Kitty, Wally faces the terrifying prospect of having to eat his words!

Variations on this plot were used on I LOVE LUCY, THE HONEYMOONERS, THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, and I'm sure many others (in fact, the ANDY GRFFITH "Floyd the Gay Deceiver" has strong parallels with the present BEAVER episode). "Wally's Glamour Girl" follows the formula to the letter, but we also have a bit of a surprise in that it's Wally at the center of this crisis; usually it's Beaver painting himself into a corner with his wild fibs.

The episode has some very funny moments: Wally reading his wildly exaggerated letters in that deadpan tone of his; Beaver enjoying a chance to act smug for a change at his brother's predicament. Wally's relationship with Ward is also a key theme of the episode. Ward, after he learns about Wally's situation, lends his support to his son and at the end Wally reflects that his father is "one of the best friends he has." The girl playing Kitty is perfectly cast.

Perhaps it stretches credibility that guileless Wally would misrepresent himself the way he does in this episode. It seems more like the sort of thing Beaver would do. Certainly, if this episode had occurred a season later it would have been much less believable; but at the age Wally is here, and under the spell of a pretty female, who knows?

The plot may be well-worn, but it's done here in a sweet and wholesome fashion that only LITB could pull off.

After decades of watching this iconic show, there's one thing I missed until now. No question, producers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher should have just written the whole show by themselves. They had the knack, they had the material. Yes, they did hire on such superb writers as Dick Conway and George Tibbles, but they actually had a good thing going. Also, Hugh Beaumont tossed in some nifty ideas about his own family, and at no charge!

Whatever the case, this is solid gold. A must see.

Wally does what every normal teenage boy does --spice up his life story. Pretty Kitty Bannerman, who used to go to school with Wally but moved away, apparently has been keeping in touch with him. They have been exchanging letters for some time and Wally's stories seem to be growing as he grows.

Wally writes the classic Hollywood bio, telling Kitty he's rubbing elbows with the elite. But what to do when Kitty and her mom decide to pay a visit back home?

As good as it gets for a tv sitcom, and you really can't fault Wally. How many of us have told a lie or two or three? No surprise this classic episode was rerun at the time of Tony Dow's passing.

Bernadette Withers, who plays Kitty, was a popular child actress at the time, making many appearances on BACHELOR FATHER, which is still around in reruns. She retired in the late 60s, passed in 2019, still living in California. Applause for veteran director Norman Abbott, who got the job done. Norman was a series director for JACK BENNY, and other sitcoms for decades. It shows.

SEASON 4 EPISODE 10 remastered.

...First there is the acting. Everybody seemed a bit over rehearsed, when normally the LITB cast is so natural you forget they are acting. Ordinarily, that would be the director's fault if everyone is having the same problem, but Norman Abbott directed dozens of episodes, so I doubt I can put the fault there.

Next, there is the plot. Wally makes up a lie about basketball practice so he doesn't have to escort the daughter of an old friend of the Cleavers, Kitty Bannerman, to a dance. The reason is that he's been writing the girl for some time and made up some wild lies - that his father is a bank president, that Wally owns his own car and owns a tuxedo, and that his mother is a personal friend of Frank Sinatra. If he meets her in person she'll know he's been lying.

The problem with this plot is that the Bannermans were friends with the Cleavers and just moved a few years ago, not when Wally was two. So I'd think that both Kitty and Wally would remember each other's families and know if the descriptions of life in the present did not necessarily match their memories.

Still, it's worth your while because of the individual lines. And also Eddie Haskell actually apologizes and is sincere. He's sorry because he accidentally tells the truth to Ward and gets Wally in hot water.

I've loved LITB since I was a child 60+ years ago, but this episode just doesn't fly due to an implausible storyline. It's so glaring, one must either be only paying half-attention or deliberately set it aside in one's mind to be able to enjoy it. Here's what I mean: At the start, we learn that this girl, Kitty, was in Wally's class in school before her family moved away. Right there we know that Wally knows what she looks like. On top of that, we learn their parents were "best friends"; that suggests that the Cleaver boys were well-aware of the kids in the Bannerman household--that means Kitty AND any brothers or sisters she may have had. Like a previous episode where the Cleavers and the Rutherfords go on a picnic together, if these were Ward & June's best friends, all the kids were undoubtedly thrown together on multiple occasions. This also means the kids from both families were quite aware as to the approximate economic status of the other family. Wally's claims to wealth and knowing celebrities is ludicrous--Kitty would know they were blatant lies. On the other end, the idea of Kitty sending Wally a photo of herself, but which actually is her older sister, is preposterous! As already stated, Kitty had been in Wally's class so, even aside their parents' close friendship--which would bring the children together at times, he would know the photo was not of her; and, because of their parents being friends, would recognize it as being that of her older sister. The writing of this episode is so flawed, one has to wonder how it made it to final production. Why did no one speak up? When the scripts finally got to the actors, how could THEY not notice the implausibility of the storyline? I think they had to! Nothing wrong with the acting, and I must say it was fun to see the daughter of child star, Jane Withers, as Kitty Bannerman. She sure looks like her mom! 😊