Season Four Favorite Moments - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

tazz765 · 01-15-2012, 06:59 PM

I know Season 4 has a bad reputation from a lot of people. However, after finishing the season last night I didn't think it was that bad. Sure there were some weak episodes, but I still found myself laughing multiple times.

Two of my favorite scenes come to mind is when John is laying on the sofa after getting rid of that stray dog and Eloise hears scratching at the door and tells John an old friend is here to see him and lets the dog in to jump on John.

The other scene is when Wilson wins the family contest and the man is interviewing John's boys and Seymour tells him that John beats him.

What is everyone favorite Season 4 moments?

Retro Vic · 01-18-2012, 11:37 PM

The ep with the little Chinese girl, Super Duper Doozies for everyone!
The ep when Esther Cathcart, & Mrs. Tarbell fight over an eligible Mr. Wilson, Lemon Meringue & Cherry Pie, & Southern Fried Chicken!!

Jack Gomez · 02-10-2012, 05:48 PM

"My Uncle Ned" has two really great and funny scenes in it involving John Wilson's Uncle Ned. The first one is when he goes into Quigley's Market and sees an ad for relish with the sign saying "Double your money back if you don't like it". He then proceeds to keep buying jars and saying "Well, I might like this one." which of course he doesn't. Poor Quigley looks defeated when he objects to him tasting anymore, only to have Uncle Ned say he can get into a lot of trouble for false advertising. Then there is the scene where he goes to the movie theater and wants a student discount for both him and Dennis, because he is a student of taxidermy( he took a correspondence course!) and Dennis is a student in school.

McGillicuddy · 02-11-2012, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro Vic

The ep with the little Chinese girl, Super Duper Doozies for everyone!
The ep when Esther Cathcart, & Mrs. Tarbell fight over an eligible Mr. Wilson, Lemon Meringue & Cherry Pie, & Southern Fried Chicken!!

I just watched the second episode, and was thrilled to see Mary Wickes back as Miss Cathcart, and sitting there with Alice Pierce. Never knew Alice appeared on DTM. How cool was it to see these two together!

Retro Vic · 02-11-2012, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markway895

I just watched the second episode, and was thrilled to see Mary Wickes back as Miss Cathcart, and sitting there with Alice Pierce. Never knew Alice appeared on DTM. How cool was it to see these two together!

It's funny to see fave characters in different sitcoms! I recognized her immediately & screamed out "Abner!" "Abner!", she was great as Ms. Tarbell in DTM! Also love to see Mary again when I watch Sid & Marty Krofft's Sigmund & The Sea Monster. Ohh Mary Wickes, one of the great characters as Ms. Cathcart on DTM. Love any eps with her in them!

Jack Gomez · 02-12-2012, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro Vic

It's funny to see fave characters in different sitcoms! I recognized her immediately & screamed out "Abner!" "Abner!", she was great as Ms. Tarbell in DTM! Also love to see Mary again when I watch Sid & Marty Krofft's Sigmund & The Sea Monster. Ohh Mary Wickes, one of the great characters as Ms. Cathcart on DTM. Love any eps with her in them!

I also love their characters! They were great on the show together, competing back and forth like they did. It's too bad Alice Pierce didn't do more episodes. They could have been a great comedy team if they worked together more. For some reason, I also really dig their last names too. Cathcart, Tarbell where did the writers come up with such unusual last names? I don't think I've ever heard names quite like that before, but it fits them perfectly.

1960'sTVfan · 02-12-2012, 01:45 PM

I have a different viewpoint of the 4th season, I think it's a weak season, poorly written episodes for the most part and Jay North doesn't have the chemistry with Gale Gordon like he did with Joseph Kearns. The series was basically over when Mr. Kearns passed on.

The Joseph Kearns episodes are the ones to see, but honestly I've always thought the Dennis comic books are funnier than the TV show. Nothing in the TV show really strikes me as being laugh out loud funny, in my opinion it's just a watered down version of the comic books. And Jay North's Dennis has a different personality than the Dennis in the comics, Jay hams it up too much when on camera and gets annoying rather quickly. 2 or 3 episodes at a time is the most I can take.

Retro Vic · 02-12-2012, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

I have a different viewpoint of the 4th season, I think it's a weak season, poorly written episodes for the most part and Jay North doesn't have the chemistry with Gale Gordon like he did with Joseph Kearns. The series was basically over when Mr. Kearns passed on.

The Joseph Kearns episodes are the ones to see, but honestly I've always thought the Dennis comic books are funnier than the TV show. Nothing in the TV show really strikes me as being laugh out loud funny, in my opinion it's just a watered down version of the comic books. And Jay North's Dennis has a different personality than the Dennis in the comics, Jay hams it up too much when on camera and gets annoying rather quickly. 2 or 3 episodes at a time is the most I can take.

I would also agree that Season 4 is the weakest, and that the original Mr. Wilson was what made the show for me, along with his wife. After his untimely death, you can tell that the show was doomed thereafter, however, there were a few gems in the 4th season, among the stinkers. I was never a big fan of the comic, but am a big retro comic fan, along with being a retroTV fan also. I liked Nancy, Felix The Cat, The Addams Family, Richy Rich, Popeye, & Jughead. Dennis The Menace comics never really did anything for me, kinda like Blondie, The Wizard Of Id, it just kinda laid there, but I really started to LOVE Dennis The Menace when I caught the TV program, I guess during that time, it was in Screen Gems syndication, early '70's. Now thank god for DVD's!!

1960'sTVfan · 02-12-2012, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro Vic

I would also agree that Season 4 is the weakest, and that the original Mr. Wilson was what made the show for me, along with his wife. After his untimely death, you can tell that the show was doomed thereafter, however, there were a few gems in the 4th season, among the stinkers. I was never a big fan of the comic, but am a big retro comic fan, along with being a retroTV fan also. I liked Nancy, Felix The Cat, The Addams Family, Richy Rich, Popeye, & Jughead. Dennis The Menace comics never really did anything for me, kinda like Blondie, The Wizard Of Id, it just kinda laid there, but I really started to LOVE Dennis The Menace when I caught the TV program, I guess during that time, it was in Screen Gems syndication, early '70's. Now thank god for DVD's!!

The best Dennis comic books are those from the 1950's to about 1966 when Al Wiseman did the artwork. The comic art in those books is outstanding, along with some very humorous stories. I grew up reading those books, so when the TV show came on I was expecting more of the same, the actors are trying to be funny but somehow the humor is off target, I don't know it's just one of those things I guess.

schmave · 01-24-2014, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tazz765

I know Season 4 has a bad reputation from a lot of people. However, after finishing the season last night I didn't think it was that bad. Sure there were some weak episodes, but I still found myself laughing multiple times.

Two of my favorite scenes come to mind is when John is laying on the sofa after getting rid of that stray dog and Eloise hears scratching at the door and tells John an old friend is here to see him and lets the dog in to jump on John.

The other scene is when Wilson wins the family contest and the man is interviewing John's boys and Seymour tells him that John beats him.

What is everyone favorite Season 4 moments?

Definitely all of the above. The second episode of the season, "You Go Your Way," with Mary Wickes and Alice Pearce is IMO the best from beginning of the end of the entire season. "Jane Butterfield Says," also featuring Wickes and Pearce, is pretty good too.
I agree that Season 4 gets a worse rap than it deserves. I'm not a huge fan myself, but there were plenty of funny moments. IMO, they weren't strung together enough to make for a ton of great episodes. The San Diego and D.C. episodes are not very good at all.

1960'sTVfan · 01-28-2014, 03:40 PM

I actually like the San Diego Safari episode, I think it is very funny.

The 4th season isn't bad, it just takes a little time getting used to seeing Gale Gordon in the role of Mr. Wilson. Gale Gordon actually resembled the Mr. Wilson of the comics much more than Joseph Kearns did, although Kearns had a better chemistry with Jay North compared to Gale Gordon. But the 4th season does have it's good moments, Shout Factory didn't do a great job with the DVD's though. The picture tends to pixellate during fade ins and fade outs, I don't know why that is. DVD's of seasons 1-3 don't have the pixellation problem.

AMackII · 03-05-2019, 07:50 AM

You Go Your Way Episode where Eloise Wilson gets a makeover and Henry Yelled "Dennis!!!" as the glass window cracked open.

schmave · 03-06-2019, 11:16 AM

If I ranked my top 10 episodes of the entire series, "You Go Your Way" would be in there somewhere. Mary Wickes makes that episode and I wish she'd have been in more! Perhaps surprisingly, she was only in 10.

stevea · 08-09-2019, 03:12 PM

Mary Wickes in that Cathcart role was absolutely LOL. (Off topic-I recently saw the first one she was in--this time she was after Dennis' grandfather. When she sang his wine glass shattered.) But that fourth season episode with her and Alice Pearce was LOL funny. I think they were after John Wislon in that one, but there were others when one or both of them were after Sgt. Mooney, the TV repairman, and the owner of the big dog.

Probably one of the poorer season 4 episodes was the one where Wilson had to be one of the kids, for writing his article. Fifth grade kids probably wouldn't play leap frog.

One of the other posters mentioned Seymour. The writing for that kid was great. They really gave him some great lines. And when Wilson was trying to pass off several kids as his sons, and wanted to give Seymour some name he didn't want (and Wilson kept insisting he use the name he wanted), my thought was, Why not just go along with the kid? Also funny was when Seymour pulled a gag and got Wilson to clean up the school yard.

Yep, not a bad season!

Re top episodes, one of the funniest to me was a Kearns episode where Martha engineered a bunch of gags on George. Another one was one where Dennis used a duplicate remote to keep changing the channel on Wilson's TV.

schmave · 08-11-2019, 01:24 PM

Seymour was a genius addition. He has some of the best lines from late in the second season on, and eventually he was the mischievous character Dennis had been in the first season. Seymour really shined after Gale Gordon joined the cast.
Yes, "You Go Your Way" was when Esther Cathcart and Lucy Tarbell were after John Wilson. In "Jane Butterfield Says," they were after Sgt. Mooney. Both were among the gems of that final season.

01-15-2012, 06:59 PM	#1
tazz765 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 28, 2004 Posts: 175	Season Four Favorite Moments I know Season 4 has a bad reputation from a lot of people. However, after finishing the season last night I didn't think it was that bad. Sure there were some weak episodes, but I still found myself laughing multiple times. Two of my favorite scenes come to mind is when John is laying on the sofa after getting rid of that stray dog and Eloise hears scratching at the door and tells John an old friend is here to see him and lets the dog in to jump on John. The other scene is when Wilson wins the family contest and the man is interviewing John's boys and Seymour tells him that John beats him. What is everyone favorite Season 4 moments?

01-18-2012, 11:37 PM	#2
Retro Vic >-\|-< \ /ANTENNA TV\ / >-\|-< Frequent Poster Join Date: Dec 13, 2011 Location: Missouri Posts: 369	Season 4 Faves The ep with the little Chinese girl, Super Duper Doozies for everyone! The ep when Esther Cathcart, & Mrs. Tarbell fight over an eligible Mr. Wilson, Lemon Meringue & Cherry Pie, & Southern Fried Chicken!!
	__________________ Joy for what was....... Sadness for what is.

02-10-2012, 05:48 PM	#3
Jack Gomez Felipe's son Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 18, 2003 Posts: 614	"My Uncle Ned" has two really great and funny scenes in it involving John Wilson's Uncle Ned. The first one is when he goes into Quigley's Market and sees an ad for relish with the sign saying "Double your money back if you don't like it". He then proceeds to keep buying jars and saying "Well, I might like this one." which of course he doesn't. Poor Quigley looks defeated when he objects to him tasting anymore, only to have Uncle Ned say he can get into a lot of trouble for false advertising. Then there is the scene where he goes to the movie theater and wants a student discount for both him and Dennis, because he is a student of taxidermy( he took a correspondence course!) and Dennis is a student in school.

02-12-2012, 01:45 PM	#7
1960'sTVfan Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 30, 2009 Posts: 6,045	I have a different viewpoint of the 4th season, I think it's a weak season, poorly written episodes for the most part and Jay North doesn't have the chemistry with Gale Gordon like he did with Joseph Kearns. The series was basically over when Mr. Kearns passed on. The Joseph Kearns episodes are the ones to see, but honestly I've always thought the Dennis comic books are funnier than the TV show. Nothing in the TV show really strikes me as being laugh out loud funny, in my opinion it's just a watered down version of the comic books. And Jay North's Dennis has a different personality than the Dennis in the comics, Jay hams it up too much when on camera and gets annoying rather quickly. 2 or 3 episodes at a time is the most I can take.

01-28-2014, 03:40 PM	#11
1960'sTVfan Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 30, 2009 Posts: 6,045	I actually like the San Diego Safari episode, I think it is very funny. The 4th season isn't bad, it just takes a little time getting used to seeing Gale Gordon in the role of Mr. Wilson. Gale Gordon actually resembled the Mr. Wilson of the comics much more than Joseph Kearns did, although Kearns had a better chemistry with Jay North compared to Gale Gordon. But the 4th season does have it's good moments, Shout Factory didn't do a great job with the DVD's though. The picture tends to pixellate during fade ins and fade outs, I don't know why that is. DVD's of seasons 1-3 don't have the pixellation problem.

03-05-2019, 07:50 AM	#12
AMackII Member Forum Star Join Date: Oct 23, 2015 Location: St. Louis Posts: 17,198	You Go Your Way Episode where Eloise Wilson gets a makeover and Henry Yelled "Dennis!!!" as the glass window cracked open.

03-06-2019, 11:16 AM	#13
schmave Member Forum Regular Join Date: Mar 23, 2013 Location: Reynoldsburg, Ohio Posts: 653	If I ranked my top 10 episodes of the entire series, "You Go Your Way" would be in there somewhere. Mary Wickes makes that episode and I wish she'd have been in more! Perhaps surprisingly, she was only in 10.

08-09-2019, 03:12 PM	#14
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,168	Mary Wickes in that Cathcart role was absolutely LOL. (Off topic-I recently saw the first one she was in--this time she was after Dennis' grandfather. When she sang his wine glass shattered.) But that fourth season episode with her and Alice Pearce was LOL funny. I think they were after John Wislon in that one, but there were others when one or both of them were after Sgt. Mooney, the TV repairman, and the owner of the big dog. Probably one of the poorer season 4 episodes was the one where Wilson had to be one of the kids, for writing his article. Fifth grade kids probably wouldn't play leap frog. One of the other posters mentioned Seymour. The writing for that kid was great. They really gave him some great lines. And when Wilson was trying to pass off several kids as his sons, and wanted to give Seymour some name he didn't want (and Wilson kept insisting he use the name he wanted), my thought was, Why not just go along with the kid? Also funny was when Seymour pulled a gag and got Wilson to clean up the school yard. Yep, not a bad season! Re top episodes, one of the funniest to me was a Kearns episode where Martha engineered a bunch of gags on George. Another one was one where Dennis used a duplicate remote to keep changing the channel on Wilson's TV.

08-11-2019, 01:24 PM	#15
schmave Member Forum Regular Join Date: Mar 23, 2013 Location: Reynoldsburg, Ohio Posts: 653	Seymour was a genius addition. He has some of the best lines from late in the second season on, and eventually he was the mischievous character Dennis had been in the first season. Seymour really shined after Gale Gordon joined the cast. Yes, "You Go Your Way" was when Esther Cathcart and Lucy Tarbell were after John Wilson. In "Jane Butterfield Says," they were after Sgt. Mooney. Both were among the gems of that final season.