Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers had tried unsuccessfully to get networks to greenlight a version of "Leave it to Beaver" in which the boys were adults, raising their own families, as The Washington Post reports. Commenting on network brass passing on their ideas, Dow said in 1979 "The networks have no idea what drawing power we have."

But Dow and Mathers would eventually get their wish. In 1983, a reunion movie aired on CBS, bringing back the two actors, along with Barbara Billingsly (June Cleaver), Frank Bank (Lumpy Rutherford), Ken Osmond (Eddie Haskell), Richard Correll (Richard), Rusty Stevens (Larry Mondello), and other actors from the original series (per IMDb). Hugh Beaumont did not appear, as the actor died in 1982. 

The film was meant to be a pilot for a new series, but that prospect dimmed when CBS and then ABC and NBC passed on the idea. But, it was revived in 1984 by The Disney Channel, which launched it as a regular series. It was later picked up by TBS under the name "The New Leave it to Beaver." In it, an adult Wally and Beaver (along with June) are raising their own families, all while living next door to each other. The show ran for 102 episodes before being canceled in 1989. Along the way, it was nominated for and was the recipient of multiple Cable Ace Awards and Young Artist Awards (per IMDb). 

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