What's the show about?

[gilligan fanatic]

i know this show has bob denver in it but what is the show about? i have never seen it

[A Gilligan Fan ss]

I've only seen four episodes and I also read about this show and how Bob Denver got the part as Maynard G. Krebs in his book Gilligan, Maynard & Me. I know is that Dobie Gillis (played by Dwayne Hickman) always chases girls and Maynard is a beatnik and is Dobie's best friend. Dobie also has a father that owns a shop and sometimes says:" I just gotta kill that boy, I just gotta" when he's mad at him and a mother that is very nice. I don't know if Maynard lives with his parents or not. When I watched this show it was pretty funny.If you want to you can watch it by having to buy it on tape by at : www.moviesunlimited.com (sorry that this isn't a good summary of it,it's just that I can explain it real well.)

[This message has been edited by A Gilligan Fan ss (edited 06-20-2001).]

[This message has been edited by A Gilligan Fan ss (edited 06-20-2001).]

[Richard]

Here's a little more info from one who saw all 147 DG shows;

Maynard did live with his parents,but they were never shown(except once).Dobie was definitely girl-crazy,but Maynard wasn't.He had no use for girls and although he had more than one friend of the opposite sex,they were more friendships than romances.

Mr.Gillis always tried to get his son to work in his grocery store.It wan't until the end of Dobie's junior year in High School that he did start working there,but Maynard had a definite alergy to work,He always croaked, "WORK!"whenever he heard the word.

Dobie's main rival at first was handsome Milton armitage,played by Warren Beatty.After Warren left the show,Steve Franken as wealthy Chattsworth Osbourne Jr. became Dobie's main rival for whatever girl caught Dobie's fancy.

Thalia Meninger(Tuesday Weld)was a girl Dobie tried to win over more than once in year 1.She liked Dobie,but she wanted a boyfriend who had a lot of money.She wanted money-she said-to support her struggling family.

Zelda Gilroy(Shelia James)was unattractive and pushy-but she loved Dobie and tried more than once to hook him.Dobie felt Zelda was a friend,but he didn't love her.Perhaps he learned that friendship was more important than romance in a relationship,for he was married to Zelda in the 1977 and 1988 Dobie Gillis reunion specials.

Dobie,Maynard,Zelda,Chattsworth and the others graduated High School in 1961.From there Dobie and Maynard speant three months in the Army,but were discharged.Then they enrolled in a College,where they remained for the rest of the series.

Maynard wasn't a beatnik in the truest sense. He never was an active protester as much as a casual nonconformist.Dobie once told him,"You just got those clothes and grew a beard so you can listen to jazz music in style."Maynard was a lovable schnook who always kept in touch with simple pleasures. His favorite movie was The Monster That Devoured Cleveland.He loved to see old buildings get torn down and he collected a lot of tinfoil.He was a well-rounded character and the best role Bob Denver had.

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Richard Ranke

[W.J. Griffin]

Something else about "Dobie Gillis" that a lot of folks don't realize is that the show more-or-less copies the relationships of the characters featured in Bob Montana's "Archie" comics. I noticed the similarities to Archie and the gang the first time I ever saw the show, and, if you think about it, it's pretty obvious, especially the relationship between Dobie and Maynard and Archie and Jughead. Dobie's pursuit of Thalia Meneger mirrors Archie's trials with Veronica Lodge, as does the Zelda-Dobie/Betty Archie situation. And of course, Milton Armitage and Chatsworth Osborne are just live-action stand-ins for Reggie Mantle.

It's pretty obvious, although in "Dobie's" defense they leave a lot of "Archie's" sappyness at the curbside and go for outright comedy. Also, Dobie and Maynard are allowed to have real conflicts with their parents, something the Archie troup only hinted at in their comics.

Now, I'm not accusing Max Schullmann (Dobie's creator) of out-and-out plagerism, mainly because the "Dobie" character had previously appeared in both a novel and a Hollywood musical, but whomever developed the tv version probably spent too much time at the corner drugstore. (As far as I know, John Goldwater, publisher of "Archie" never took 20th Century Fox to court for "Dobie Gillis", possibly because the "Archie" strip itself is an amalgram of Carl Ed's "Harold Teen" comic strip of the 1920's, Mickey Rooney's "Andy Hardy" musicals of the late '30's and Don Ameche's "Henry Aldrich" character from the radio...they wouldn't've had a leg to stand on!)