"It's a Small World" is the pilot episode from the iconic American television seriesLeave It to Beaver. The pilot was first televised April 23, 1957, on the syndicated anthology series, Studio 57, without a laugh track nor the series' well known theme song, "The Toy Parade". It never aired as an episode within the series. Following its April 1957 telecast, the episode was subsequently misplaced and was feared lost until a copy was found in a film vault in Illinois. After rediscovery, it was aired as the third season premiere for the 1980s TBS revival series The New Leave It to Beaver on October 4, 1987, exactly 30 years afterthe original series officially premiered on CBS. It was televised again in October 2007 as part of TV Land's 50th anniversary celebration of Leave It to Beaver. It was released to DVD in 2005. The series made its CBS debut several months later on October 4, 1957, with the episode, "Beaver Gets 'Spelled".
Plot
Wally and Beaver want a new bicycle. Frankie Bennett, a mischievous boy, tells them new bikes can be had at a local dairy in exchange for 1,000 bottle caps from the company's products. The boys collect the bottle caps, but, in attempting to redeem them, learn they've been duped. Ward takes pity on the boys and buys them a bicycle.
Miss Simms is a secretary/receptionist at the Franklin Milk Company.
Mr. Baxter is an executive at the Franklin Milk Company and Miss Simms' boss.
Mr. Crowley is the CEO of the Franklin Milk Company.
Frankie Bennett is a mischievous boy and an acquaintance of Wally and Beaver.
Production
"It's a Small World" was filmed with a single camera, in full screen black-and-white at Republic Studios and the Universal Studios backlot. With some modifications, the façade of the Cleaver house in the pilot became that of the Cleaver house in the first two seasons of the series. Some decorative elements would be retained for the series. Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher wrote the teleplay with Jerry Hopper directing the episode. Richard Lewis produced the episode. A number of actors who appeared in supporting roles in the pilot were later cast in recurring roles in the series. Diane Brewster appears as Miss Simms, a secretary, with Richard Deacon as Mr. Baxter, Miss Simms' boss. Brewster and Deacon would find roles in the series as Miss Canfield, Beaver's second grade teacher, and Fred Rutherford, Ward's co-worker and father of "Lumpy," Eddie Haskell's easily duped henchman/bully. Other cast members include Russ Thorson as Man with Milk Bottles, Leonard Bremen as Milk Bar Operator, Tim Graham as Doc, and Virginia Carroll as Nurse. After the series was picked up by CBS, Hugh Beaumont replaced Casey Adams as Ward Cleaver while the role of Wally went to Tony Dow after Sullivan experienced a growth spurt before the series' production.
