Lumpy Has it Coming to Him
That Lumpy. He’s a piece of art. How many of you knew a Lumpy when you were in high school? How many of you were Lumpy? I once asked my father which character from Leave it to Beaver he was while in high school and to my shock, he replied, “Lumpy.” I think most children would hope their dad would say Wally. After all, he was a great basketball player and also played football and baseball. Wally was smart, good looking and definitely not an oaf like Lumpy.
Over the years of watching the show, I always looked for the good in Lumpy, especially after my dad said he was most similar to Lumpy. I’ll have to admit, Clarence Rutherford was a good friend, a lot better than Eddie Haskell. He was athletic to a point. He was on the track team. He didn’t jump hurdles, but he did the shot put, albeit, third on the depth chart. He also got a football scholarship to State. Clarence was a good lineman due to his size. I think that may be where my dad thinks he is most similar to Lumpy Dumpy.
In Wally’s Practical Joke, Lumpy jokes first. He puts what sounds like bottle rockets in both Eddie’s and Wally’s cars at the beginning of the episode. The rest of the show is focused on how the two friends will get back at Lumpy. Wally wants to leave well enough alone, but at the urging of Eddie (of course), the two move ahead with the biggest ever of practical jokes. If you haven’t seen this one, I won’t ruin it for you. But for all you die hard Leave it to Beaver fans, you must still have that vision in your head. It’s hard to forget, and who’d want to forget that hilarity.
In an interview Ken Osmond did late in 2014 after his book Eddie: The Life and Times of America’s Preeminent Bad Boy hit the shelves, he was talking on the Stu Show about this episode. At one point, late in the episode, Eddie is underneath a car, loosening a bolt and oil pours down all over his face. The first couple times they shot the scene, they used chocolate syrup. Ken mentioned how the scene simply didn’t work with the chocolate syrup so he tried it with real motor oil and it was a take. So when you watch the episode, that’s real motor oil which pours all over Eddie Haskell. It sounded as if he was really proud to have done the scene like a champ, with such a big dose of authenticity.
This is one of the best episodes of season 6 and I’d probably rate it as one of the most fun episodes of the entire series.
What practical jokes did you pull as a child? Or were the butt of any good practical jokes like Lumpy was here in Wally’s Practical Joke? Please share your experiences with your fellow Leave it to Beaver fans in the comments below. Thanks.
If you don’t have Netflix, you can watch the entire episode right here.
