The final season (1962-1963) of "Dennis the Menace"

[Rezny@gmail.com]

WASN'T the best.The first three seasons (1959-1960,1960-1961 and 1962-1963)were good.Even the ones in third season with the late Gale Gordon taking over for the late Joseph Kearns as Mr.Wilson,were good.But in the last season,it wasn't as funny as it had been,and was kind of flat.There was definitely something missing.Anyone agree or disagree?Feel free to post.

[McGillicuddy]

I've heard it was simply because Jay North out grew the role of Dennis.

[Rezny@gmail.com]

Oops! I meant 1961-1962,not 1962-1963 .

[lalauver]

Originally Posted by markway895

I've heard it was simply because Jay North out grew the role of Dennis.

I agree with this but I also missed joseph "OH,GREAT SCOTT' kearns.
dennis was the best in the early seasons when he tried to help mr wilson.
HELLOOOOOOOO MR WILSON

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...and I agree- it wasn't a "great" season, for two reasons. One, the untimely death of Joseph Kearns in March 1962; this is why Gale Gordon "replaced" him, as another "Mr. Wilson" {George's brother John}, for the remander of the 1961-'62 season, then permanently the following season. The chemistry between Jay and Joe Kearns was perfect- it was less than that with Gordon.

The second reason, of course, was that Jay was growing up "too fast" to be a "menacing child" (Dennis' trademark overalls also gave way to a striped shirt and long pants in season four). The beauty of Hank Ketcham's original comic panel was that Dennis always stayed the same age. On TV, what "mischief" can you do with an eleven year old kid, when he originally started out at age eight? Not much...Jay was just "too old", and so was the series. One of the producers said jokingly at the time, "If Jay gets any older, we'll have to start calling him 'MR. Dennis the Menace'".

The THIRD reason was that viewers now had several other viewing choices on Sunday evenings at 7:30pm(et)- NBC's "WALT DISNEY'S WONDERFUL WORLD OF COLOR"...and ABC's "THE JETSONS" {Disney had more viewers- "THE JETSONS" went into Saturday morning repeats on ABC}. With that kind of competition, the sponsors of "DENNIS THE MENACE", Kellogg's and Best Foods, decided they wanted another series to replace it for the fall of 1963- and were talked into buying Jack Chertok's "MY FAVORITE MARTIAN". That became the most watched series in its time period in its first season...and "DENNIS" went into Saturday morning repeats on NBC through 1965, when it finally went into syndication.

[1960'sTVfan]

The series could easily have continued if they had replaced an aging Jay North with a younger, blond haired child actor. But maybe the producers of the show feared a change in casting would not go over well with the audience watching the show. I think Dennis The Menace should really have been an animated series anyway. It would have been funnier had it been animated, much truer to the comic books and with animation Dennis and the other characters could remain the same age forever and the producers could have made as many episodes as they wanted.

[treky]

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

The series could easily have continued if they had replaced an aging Jay North with a younger, blond haired child actor. But maybe the producers of the show feared a change in casting would not go over well with the audience watching the show. I think Dennis The Menace should really have been an animated series anyway. It would have been funnier had it been animated, much truer to the comic books and with animation Dennis and the other characters could remain the same age forever and the producers could have made as many episodes as they wanted.

wasn't there an animated "DENNIS THE MENACE" series in first-run sydnication sometime in the late 80s?

[treky]

Originally Posted by TV Knowledge Fan

...and I agree- it wasn't a "great" season, for two reasons. One, the untimely death of Joseph Kearns in March 1962; this is why Gale Gordon "replaced" him, as another "Mr. Wilson" {George's brother John}, for the remander of the 1961-'62 season, then permanently the following season. The chemistry between Jay and Joe Kearns was perfect- it was less than that with Gordon.

The second reason, of course, was that Jay was growing up "too fast" to be a "menacing child" (Dennis' trademark overalls also gave way to a striped shirt and long pants in season four). The beauty of Hank Ketcham's original comic panel was that Dennis always stayed the same age. On TV, what "mischief" can you do with an eleven year old kid, when he originally started out at age eight? Not much...Jay was just "too old", and so was the series. One of the producers said jokingly at the time, "If Jay gets any older, we'll have to start calling him 'MR. Dennis the Menace'".

The THIRD reason was that viewers now had several other viewing choices on Sunday evenings at 7:30pm(et)- NBC's "WALT DISNEY'S WONDERFUL WORLD OF COLOR"...and ABC's "THE JETSONS" {Disney had more viewers- "THE JETSONS" went into Saturday morning repeats on ABC}. With that kind of competition, the sponsors of "DENNIS THE MENACE", Kellogg's and Best Foods, decided they wanted another series to replace it for the fall of 1963- and were talked into buying Jack Chertok's "MY FAVORITE MARTIAN". That became the most watched series in its time period in its first season...and "DENNIS" went into Saturday morning repeats on NBC through 1965, when it finally went into syndication.

no, it didn't go into sydnication in 1965; because I remember seeing reapets on CBS on weekday mornings around 66 or 67.

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...but WCBS-TV in New York did, 'treky'. I know what you're referring to: Channel 2 made a deal with Screen Gems/Columbia to buy syndicated repeats of the series for the fall of 1965 (after they left NBC's Saturday morning schedule). Locally, WCBS used to show it weekdays at 9am [right after "CAPTAIN KANGAROO" ended on the network], followed by "LEAVE IT TO BEAVER" {also off-network, since 1963} at 9:30. Then, they carried the network's daytime schedule at 10, starting with "I LOVE LUCY". In the fall of 1968, after "THE DONNA REED SHOW" finished its daytime repeat cycle on ABC, Channel 2 bought it locally, and began showing it at 9:30am, moving "BEAVER" up to 9...

[treky]

no, that CAN'T be right because I wasn't living in New York back then!

(I'm 54 and I've always lived in and around Philadelphia)

[1960'sTVfan]

Originally Posted by treky

wasn't there an animated "DENNIS THE MENACE" series in first-run sydnication sometime in the late 80s?

Yes there was, I haven't seen the cartoons so I can't comment on them.

Joseph Kearns was the original Mr. Wilson in the TV show, but Gale Gordon (who later replaced Joseph Kearns) looked a lot more like the Mr. Wilson in the Dennis comic books. I don't know if this is fact, but I seem to recall that Gale Gordon was the original choice for the role of Mr. Wilson, but he wasn't available at the time so the part went to Joseph Kearns.

Maybe a studio like Shout Factory can look into getting Dennis The Menace out on DVD. A fair number of people have been asking for the series to be released. When Shout Factory finishes up with Mister Ed, maybe they can look into releasing Dennis The Menace.

[McGillicuddy]

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

Maybe a studio like Shout Factory can look into getting Dennis The Menace out on DVD. A fair number of people have been asking for the series to be released. When Shout Factory finishes up with Mister Ed, maybe they can look into releasing Dennis The Menace.

On the Shout! Factory Website forum page, there seems to be some "hinting" that Dennis the Menace might soon be on their release schedule.

[McGillicuddy]

[QUOTE=retroTVfan4ever]Yes there was, I haven't seen the cartoons so I can't comment on them.

Joseph Kearns was the original Mr. Wilson in the TV show, but Gale Gordon (who later replaced Joseph Kearns) looked a lot more like the Mr. Wilson in the Dennis comic books. I don't know if this is fact, but I seem to recall that Gale Gordon was the original choice for the role of Mr. Wilson, but he wasn't available at the time so the part went to Joseph Kearns.


I always wondered why the cartoon Mr. Wilson resembled Gale Gordon rather than Joseph Kearns. It would make sense that Gordon was their first choice to play him.

[1960'sTVfan]

Originally Posted by markway895

On the Shout! Factory Website forum page, there seems to be some "hinting" that Dennis the Menace might soon be on their release schedule.

That sounds great, I would probably buy this as long as the episodes are complete and unedited. Shout Factory has a history of releasing 1st seasons of shows with edited episodes (Father Knows Best, Mister Ed, Rhoda.) Hopefully that will not be the case with Dennis The Menace.

[ThomasE]

Well as far as the final season goes, I remember liking it as a child. I like to see the later years of some shows to see characters mature and Jay North was growing up. He and Margaret seemed to be getting along better too. I liked Dennis' non suspenders look as well.