‘Leave It to Beaver’ Went to War with Network Censors to Show a Toilet on TV

Network TV censors were pretty tough back in the 1950s and 1960s, and rarely cut sitcoms much slack. That’s why Rob and Laura Petrie were forced to sleep in separate beds on The Dick Van Dyke Show. And also, presumably, why Rob never dropped any F-bombs while nearly killing himself on that damn ottoman week after week. 

Somewhat shockingly, even the squeaky clean family program Leave It to Beaver once did battle with network censors, too. And somehow the dispute had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Ward and June Cleaver named their son “Beaver.”

In what was originally supposed to be the very first episode of the show, “Captain Jack” found Beaver and Wally trying to order a pet alligator from the back pages of a comic book. When that plan fails, they instead opt to obtain a gator from some sketchy local dirtbag, which apparently was just something that kids did back in the ‘50s. 

Further proving that Episode Three of Leave It to Beaver really should have begun with a visit from Child Protective Services, the boys then swipe some of their dad’s brandy to give to the alligator, and Beaver decides to try some for himself. 

Well, CBS' Standards and Practices Department took issue with this particular episode and prevented it from airing — not because it concerned exotic animal trafficking and a 7-year-old kid getting day-drunk, but owing to one scene in which the gator is stored in a toilet. That’s because showing toilets on television just wasn’t something that happened in 1957. 

In fact, TV shows weren’t even allowed to show bathrooms on the air. I guess everybody just assumed that characters like Lucy and Ricky Ricardo were pissing out their windows during every single commercial break?

Because Leave It to Beaver couldn’t work around the bathroom scenes, the creatives behind the show fought with the censors, and eventually a compromise was struck. The scenes were allowed to remain in the show, but only the back of the toilet tank could be shown on TV, not that scandalous bowl where all the dirty bits go, thus saving America’s children from being traumatized by the sight of the ceramic object they all used multiple times each day.

As Jerry Mathers, the former child star who played Beaver once bragged to Fox News, “Leave It to Beaver actually set some precedents for the television industry. We were the first show to show a bathroom.” 

Due to these behind the scenes problems, another episode (which in no way featured any trips to the bathroom) became the first to air that season.

Which meant that the toilet-heavy episode ended up being number two, fittingly enough.

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