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"Dobie Gillis" status?

C

cd637299

Guest
Hi

Mr. Bayus' post reminded me of something.....

IMO, if any classic TV sitcom screams to be put out on DVD, I say it would be "Dobie Gillis." Does anybody know why this has not been released for DVD (outside of bootleg copies), or if there has been any discussion on releases?

I never got into this show until CBN reruns in the late 80s....it was so far ahead of its time.

cd
 
I could never see what was so funny or entertaining about this show. Dobie was the original nerd. Even Maynard got on one's nerves after a while. Tuesday Weld was your typical high school hottie, but her career went down the toilet after just a few years.

One positive thing is that Dobie's father actually set the standards when it came to the grouchy-dad types that permeated TV shows for the next generation.
 
Mark_Giardina said:
I could never see what was so funny or entertaining about this show. Dobie was the original nerd. Even Maynard got on one's nerves after a while. Tuesday Weld was your typical high school hottie, but her career went down the toilet after just a few years.

One positive thing is that Dobie's father actually set the standards when it came to the grouchy-dad types that permeated TV shows for the next generation.
Click to expand...

On the other hand, Warren Beatty did OK. And Sheila James became a California state senator.
 
The first season of Dobie Gillis was pretty weak, as they developed the characters. The last season was silly as they ran out of steam. The middle seasons were pretty good TV about teenagers at the time. I think what kids found appealing about the show is that Dobie was always trying to get money out of the old man without working for it. What teenager, then or now, can't relate to that? Frank Feylen (Herbert T. Gillis) was the first screaming maniac father on TV. He was a pro.

A little trivia: Maynard G. Krebs -the G. stood for Walter.
 
Entertaining or not, it did provide partial inspiration to William Hanna and Joseph Barbera(not to mention Fred Silverman, Joe Ruby and Ken Spears who also had a hand in creating the show) for one of the top cartoon series of the last forty years: Scooby Doo.

You can mostly likely look this up online, but the people who created the show have admitted that each teenage character was inspired and taken from each of the characters from Dobie Gillis; now i've never watched the show, but I have read about it and its connection to Scooby Doo and by watching Scooby over the years I can pretty much tell that Fred and Shaggy were inspired by Dobie and Maynard, in short there's definite resemblences in personality and the characters.

Also, the whole Fred/Daphne thing from Scooby Doo might have also been inspired by Dobie being attracted to the character Thaila(Sp?); of course there's more of a resemblence there because Daphne and Thaila(Sp?) were both wealthy.
 
Let's not forget, Dobie's teachers became Patty Duke's parents.

And it's a good thing Maynard wasn't interested in girls. On an island with Ginger and Mary Ann and he never got anywhere.

Before opening a grocery store, Dobie's dad drove a taxi in Bedford Falls. When he was in the army, he pushed George M. Cohan to sing "Over There" along with his troops (and received the good conduct medal). Before the war, he coached third base for the Yankees.
 
Scoobyfan1 said:
Entertaining or not, it did provide partial inspiration to William Hanna and Joseph Barbera(not to mention Fred Silverman, Joe Ruby and Ken Spears who also had a hand in creating the show) for one of the top cartoon series of the last forty years: Scooby Doo.

You can mostly likely look this up online, but the people who created the show have admitted that each teenage character was inspired and taken from each of the characters from Dobie Gillis; now i've never watched the show, but I have read about it and its connection to Scooby Doo and by watching Scooby over the years I can pretty much tell that Fred and Shaggy were inspired by Dobie and Maynard, in short there's definite resemblences in personality and the characters.

Also, the whole Fred/Daphne thing from Scooby Doo might have also been inspired by Dobie being attracted to the character Thaila(Sp?); of course there's more of a resemblence there because Daphne and Thaila(Sp?) were both wealthy.
Click to expand...

I can see that Shaggy's appearance could have been "inspired" by Maynard G. Krebs, except for the longer 70s era hair. But I've heard Casey Kasem talk about his development of Shaggy's voice and personality. He based it on Walter Denton, the oddball high-school student in the early 50s comedy Our Miss Brooks, played by Richard Crenna.

Casey has said that he once ran into Crenna, who jokingly demanded he be paid royalties.

Scooby was 'inspired' by earlier Hanna-Barbera dogs (bit players, so to speak) who looked different, but had a similar...uh...speech patterns.
 
donnyg said:
If memory serves, Dobie was produced by 20th century fox, and we know how picky they are about releases.
Click to expand...
...might it be that the Martin Manulis estate has a chunk of the ownership and won't sign off on anything yet?...
 
MattParker said:
On the other hand, Warren Beatty did OK. And Sheila James became a California state senator.
Click to expand...

While that is very true I do remember when Dwayne Hickman had appeared on Entertainment Tonight way back in the early 80s mentioning about how he was at some party one day ( OK night ) and how he had ran into Beatty and had mentioned Dobie Gillis to him only to have Warren tell him directly "..I have NEVER done TV". Of course Hickman took that "whatever" route.

That kinda reminds me of at least two porn stars over the years who had done the very same thing ( even though their "work" is still avaiable )That is to deny what they had done in the past..well to each their own anyway ;D
 
Was I dreaming or what? I seem to remember Dobie Gillis with dark hair, but then I swear I have seen him with what looks like white or blonde hair. What's up with that?
 
Mike Sheridan said:
Was I dreaming or what? I seem to remember Dobie Gillis with dark hair, but then I swear I have seen him with what looks like white or blonde hair. What's up with that?
Click to expand...

Simple...I read that for Season 1, Dobie dyed his hair blond, to separate his character from the one he did on "The Bob Cummings Show," which he was fresh off of.......He was allowed to (either gradually or all-at-once) go dark again, once "DG" was established on its own. I think this info was from Wikipedia, FWIW, but it makes sense.

cd
 
cd637299 said:
Mike Sheridan said:
Was I dreaming or what? I seem to remember Dobie Gillis with dark hair, but then I swear I have seen him with what looks like white or blonde hair. What's up with that?
Click to expand...

Simple...I read that for Season 1, Dobie dyed his hair blond, to separate his character from the one he did on "The Bob Cummings Show," which he was fresh off of.......He was allowed to (either gradually or all-at-once) go dark again, once "DG" was established on its own. I think this info was from Wikipedia, FWIW, but it makes sense.

cd
Click to expand...

Thanks, that makes sense. I would be more familiar with the later episodes.
 
mleach said:
I do remember when Dwayne Hickman had appeared on Entertainment Tonight way back in the early 80s mentioning about how he was at some party one day ( OK night ) and how he had ran into Beatty and had mentioned Dobie Gillis to him only to have Warren tell him directly "..I have NEVER done TV". Of course Hickman took that "whatever" route.
Click to expand...

Beatty most likely didn't want anyone to think that his acting career started out on a 1950s' TV show. He may have figured that information was beneath his dignity.
 
Mark_Giardina said:
mleach said:
I do remember when Dwayne Hickman had appeared on Entertainment Tonight way back in the early 80s mentioning about how he was at some party one day ( OK night ) and how he had ran into Beatty and had mentioned Dobie Gillis to him only to have Warren tell him directly "..I have NEVER done TV". Of course Hickman took that "whatever" route.
Click to expand...

Beatty most likely didn't want anyone to think that his acting career started out on a 1950s' TV show. He may have figured that information was beneath his dignity.
Click to expand...

It's odd that Beatty woudl be ashamed of his work in TV - If you check his credits, his career started in television - mostly in guest shots on episodic TV, including some first-rate drama anthologies of the time - Playhouse 90 and Kraft Theatre, for example. He played a recurring character on Dobie, but he only did 6 episodes.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000886/
 
I think, not sure, Dobie Gillis' character was written as blond. I don't he was happy with it and got permission to let it grow back natural.
And I wonder if that story about Warren Beatty is true, & if it was, was he was just being sarcastic.
 
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