The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis The Complete Series

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

ong before television comedies like Freaks and Geeks, Awkward, and Boy Meets World mined the major embarrassments and minor triumphs of teenage life for comic material, the cult series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis addressed the subject in smart, sardonic, and frequently hilarious ways over the course of a four-season run (1959-1963) that is compiled in its entirety in this impressive 21-disc set. Created by humorist Max Shulman, Dobie Gillis starred Dwayne Hickman as the titular hero, who flew against the accepted Hollywood portrayal of American teens (honest, upstanding young citizens) by virtue of his chief interests: girls, cars, and money, and nothing else. As a result, Dobie was largely written off by the show’s adults, including his perpetually aggravated father, Herbert (Frank Faylen–“I’ve gotta kill that boy!”), which allowed him more time to concoct ill-considered schemes with his beatnik best friend, Maynard G. Krebs (Bob Denver). Said schemes, which were often directed to the audience in fourth-wall-breaking monologues, frequently revolved around Dobie’s pursuit of various girls (hence the “many loves”), including Tuesday Weld’s lovely but vain Thalia Menninger in the show’s first season and guest stars like Ellen Burstyn (billed as Ellen McRae), Marlo Thomas, Barbara Bain, and Yvonne (Batgirl) Craig. However, the one constant female presence in Dobie’s life was the unflappable Zelda Gilroy (Sheila James), whose unwavering belief in their inevitable romance frequently left him sputtering in Jack Benny-esque fits of apoplexy. On paper, Dobie Gillis reads like any other period sitcom, but the series distinguished itself–and ultimately earned its enduring cult following–through its breezy pace and terrific performances by a talented cast–which included recurring turns by Warren Beatty as Thalia’s male counterpart, Milton Armitage, Steve Franken as his absurdly tony cousin, Chatsworth Osbourne Jr., as well as veteran character actors like Faylen, Florida Friebus (as Dobie’s mom), William Schallert, and Raymond (The Beverly Hillbillies) Bailey–and dialogue that bristled with charm, wit, and a healthy dose of disregard for the formality of both the adult world and mainstream TV tropes. And it’s that antiestablishment streak, which informed everything from free-thinking Maynard to Zelda’s forthright honesty and determination, that not only informed generations of subsequent TV series (from the aforementioned programs to Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?) but also endeared the series to young audiences (including one of the 20th century’s great iconoclasts, Frank Zappa, who was reportedly a fan) who, in turn, preserved its cult status for decades.

Shout Factory’s presentation of Dobie Gillis includes all 147 episodes on 20 (!) discs–longtime fans should know that the episodes are presented uncut and without the trimmed running times for syndicated slots, though the infamous “Almost a Father” episode, in which Dobie is mistakenly believed to have a child out of wedlock, is available only in its edited form as “Rock-a-Bye Dobie.” A bonus disc features a wealth of extras, including the original CBS pilot, “Caper at the Bijou,” which features Hickman and the cast plugging for sponsors at the end of the episode. Early turns by Hickman and James are featured in three unrestored episodes of the Robert Cummings sitcom Love That Bob and the largely forgotten Stu Erwin Show, while Maynard’s growing popularity–which led to him taking the lead in several fourth-season episodes–is showcased in a clip from the 1960 Coke Time Special which pairs him with Pat Boone and another supporting player turned star, Edd Byrnes’s Kookie from 77 Sunset Strip. A new interview with Hickman–still looking youthful and a touch mischievous–is also included, but the real goldmine for Dobie devotees is a collection of written work by Shulman in PDF format, including the script for a proposed spinoff series for Zelda and an amusing “interview” about juvenile delinquency that echoes the wry, absurd humor of Dobie’s best episodes. –Paul Gaita

DVD Wholesale Main Features:

Actors: Dwayne Hickman, Bob Denver, Frank Faylen, Florida Friebus
Directors: Rod Amateau
Format: Multiple Formats, Box set, Color, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen, Closed-captioned
Language: English
Region: Region 1
Number of discs: 21
Rated: NR Not Rated
Studio: Shout! Factory
DVD Release Date: July 2, 2013
Run Time: 3600 minutes
ASIN: B00C7A8WWO