tbk-10 The "Dobie Gillis" series has impressed me a bit more, looking back on it, with a few things that were definitely ahead of the time for early 60's TV. Besides Maynard always scat-singing to himself, they also used his character to refer to some jazz greats out in the real world. He'd often talk about Dizzy Gillespie, and one episode had him preparing to play bongos for Thelonious Monk (although there's no evidence Monk actually hired pickup bongo players when on tour). Later in the series, when Dobie went to college, I notice that whenever there were other students in background shots, a few of them were usually black (the term back then would've been "colored", or any of a few other vile terms). A bit adventurous, when a lot of schools were putting up a vicious fight against integration.Since moving to Utah, I've been wondering if the show had any Mormons (or ex-Mormons) on the writing staff. In the episode where Maynard met the caveman, I think they called the place the Wasatch Caves - Wasatch is the name of the mountain range just east of Salt Lake City. Also, it's a tradition in the Mormon church to include a person's middle initial, such as a few recent church presidents - Spencer W. Kimball, Gordon B. Hinckley, and so on. Could this be an inspiration for Herbert T. Gillis or Maynard G. Krebs?

RondoHatton This is a classic, classic show. Nick At Nite used to show it 15 years ago, but I guess it is too intelligent for the types who run TVLand and Nick now, & who refuse to show any comedies unless they got big Neilsen's. Hey, TVLand, I've got your Big Neilsen right here!!Bob Denver is far better in this than in the hideously over-rated "Gilligan's Island". This may have been Dwyane Hickman's last really good role. I seem to remember him in a Civil War series with his brother, Daryl. Frank Faylen and Florida Friebus were wonderful as Mr & Mrs Howard T Gillis. Who'd have thought watching Warren Beatty(as Milton Armitage) that he'd give us a masterpiece like "Bulworth"? Tuesday Weld as Thalia Meninger in her best work until "Falling Down".DVD's & VHS tapes of Dobie Gillis are available, but for $20 for a 2-episode, 1 hour disc or tape, it ain't worth it. We need someone to bring out some season sets.On 29 Jan 2010, Dwayne Hickman(using his wife's account)posted the following on a Dobie Gillis Facebook page: "...As for the DVD question, the estate of Max Shulman has agreed to make a deal to release the show, however, with the current economy the studio does not want to release it. That is what I have been told. When and if I hear anything I will post it on my web site www.dwaynehickman.com"It can't be too soon for me. Heck, I might even pay list price.

raysond After looking up this lost series from the late 50's,its repeats ran for a good number of years on CBN back in the 1980's and also recently on TV Land,but Dobie Gillis was the coolest show I ever had the pleasure of watching. Dwayne Hickman was the all- American boy next door who was always competing for the hand of Thalia Menninger(Tuesday Weld)from either Milton Armitage or the annoying Chatsworth Osbourne, Jr.(who was the rich kid that had everything)with the help of his good friend and sometimes wacky Maynard G. Krebbs(played by Bob Denver) who may have been lazy and sloppy,but he was really cool and down with the beat... in other words,the essential beatnick....... who was into Dizzy Gillespie and would go berserk if someone mention "work",around him. My friend and I were comparing Bob Denver's Maynard to his role as Gilligan years later,and in my opinion,MAYNARD RULES!!!!! Maynard was the coolest and hippest cat ever devised for a TV series,but also wasn't very bright,but still had his props to back up Dobie when needed(especially in a couple of episodes where Dobie and Maynard enlist in the Army). The series ran for four seasons on CBS-TV from September of 1959 to the final episode of the series in August of 1963.Interesting point about this show: two of the stars of this series went on to greater glory(in feature films) after their run on Dobie Gillis: Tuesday Weld and Warren Beatty(who got his start here before he became box office draw in movieland circles as Mister Hollywood)Who would have thought that Warren Beatty in the first season of this series would played pretty boy Milton Armitage and make that transition to be one of the top box office superstars of all time?Recently,20th Century-Fox,which produced the series just released the complete first two seasons of "Dobie Gillis" on DVD that were broadcast between 1959 through 1961.

MissRosa Dobie Gillis may not be groundbreaking, but it is a well-crafted comic gem of a TV series. Direction is crisp, acting is excellent and the comic characters are perfection: Maynard, the clueless but lovable loser (who has been widely copied but never surpassed), Thalia, the sexy, cute gold-digger, who is smarter than anyone expects, Milton, the insufferable preppie, Zelda, the nerd, etc. And here sits Dobie--ridiculously average, being tossed between them all like a beachball, and trying to make sense of it all. Character actors Wm. Schallert and Frank Faylen shine; Beatty gives an eerily prescient glimpse into his future roles; and Dobie is the personification of the likeable schlemiel.Enchanting!