If Xanax were a sitcom it would be Leave it to Beaver
In the movie Extract, Ben Affleck and Jason Bateman are having a conversation about stress. Ben says “You need to take some Xanax.” To which Jason replies “Xanax, isn’t that for anxiety?” Ben says “It’s good for all psychological problems in the DSM-IV. Xanax basically just makes you feel good. That’s why it works for everything. I take it for the common head cold!”
I know exactly what Ben Affleck was talking about. I have taken a Xanax. Once. Before I got stuck in a tube for an MRI. You see, I’m horribly claustrophobic. So my doctor prescribed one for me to take prior to my procedure. It did just make me basically feel good.
Think about that favorite meal your mom would cook for you. Or that feeling you get curled up on a couch with a hot cup of cocoa watching the snow fall outside. That’s what Leave it to Beaver makes me feel like. It is digital Xanax. My sources say (and I can confirm this personally) that watching an episode of Leave it to Beaver will statistically leave you feeling 65% better by the end of an episode.
Mayfield is the town you wished you lived in now. Always sunny. A place where people smile and say hello. A corner drugstore with a real soda fountain. People know your name. It personifies the “good ‘ol days.”
Each episode of the show (all 234 of them) touched on something you could identify with. That’s why people love this show. I don’t have any brothers or sisters. So for me the relationship that Wally and Beaver had gave me a glimpse into that world. What it might feel like to have someone close your own age to help you through those tough times in life.
For others it might be the unity they see in the Cleaver family. Maybe you wished you had a more attentive mother or father. June and Ward were there to fill the gap. Or perhaps it’s the relationship between Beaver and Larry Mondello that reminds you of a special friendship you had as a child.
I know Mayfield isn’t a real place and I know every story in life doesn’t have a happy ending. I get that. Yet, for 24 minutes I’ve found a place where I can imagine it can. And that’s why I’ll always love Leave it to Beaver.
