Gidget: Ask Helpful Hannah

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Gidget: Ask Helpful Hannah
ABC
March 31, 1966
Sitcom
DVD
B-

The plot of this episode somewhat resembles my favorite ABC after-school special, Dear Lovey Hart, I Am Desperate, which we'll look at in '76.  Gidget reluctantly takes over the campus newspaper advice column and things backfire for her and others.  I don't think it's handled as well here as there, but there are some things I like, gimmicky though they are.  The Bewitched-sounding sound effect whenever Gidget has (or thinks she has) a realization is cute, as are the "bubbles" of her family and Larue commenting on the mess.

Barbara Hershey again plays Ellen, but this time she doesn't seem to be friends with Gidget.  Jewel Jaffe, who plays Kathy, would go on to write eight Welcome Back, Kotter episodes.  Rick Cooper again is Ted.  Bob Beach is again Toby, and pretends he's never been to the local teen hang-out before, although he was on "We Got Each Other."

Gidget: Love and the Single Gidget

Gidget: Love and the Single Gidget
ABC
March 3, 1966
Sitcom
DVD
B

With Russ out of town, John and Anne give Gidget permission to go to a surfing tournament (as a viewer not competitor), but they hire college senior Scott to keep an eye on her.  Scott tricks Gidget into thinking he's interested in her romantically, and then she's very upset when she finds out.  Meanwhile, a vain guy named Richie thinks she must be a swinger if she needs a bodyguard, so he takes her parking.  I like how Gidget gets out of the risky situation on her own, even before Scott shows up.  And I like how Larue finds Gidget at the bus stop earlier and talks her out of going home, convincing her to stay despite the "slurky gleek" Scott.

This time Barbara Hershey plays Karen, Pamela McMyler plays Janet, and Tim Rooney plays Ken.  Twenty-six-year-old Ron Rifkin, in his TV debut, does his best to pass as a college student.  The episode is co-written by John McGreevey and Stephen Kandel, the last of four by the latter.

Gidget: Chivalry Isn't Dead

Gidget: Chivalry Isn't Dead
ABC
December 1, 1965
Sitcom
DVD
B

This is notable both for its plot and its cast.  Gidget takes a stand, wanting the boys to show the girls more consideration, especially in regards to not asking them out at the last minute.  Her friends go along but then give in, while Gidget mostly holds her ground, winning the respect of her boyfriend, Mark.  I like Bob Random's performance here.  The actor has an edge to him (he was one of the bad teens in Village of the Giants around that time), but Mark also comes across as the brightest and most considerate of the guys.  I remember as a teen being more intrigued by him than Moondoggie, although both characters only got two episodes each.

On the distaff side, it's impossible to watch this and not exclaim over young Bonnie Franklin (Jean) and Barbara Hershey (Ellen).  If you're wondering how Franklin could play a mother of two teens a decade later on One Day at a Time, she was actually 21 here and not much older than her TV-daughters in the '70s.  She and Hershey definitely have star power and so their later success isn't at all surprising.  Both actresses would return to this show, but as different characters.

Rick Cooper (Ted), Pamela McMyler (Betty), Beverly Washburn (Marcia), and the aptly named Bob Beach (Pete) would also all return.  Martin Ragaway, who came up with the story, would write a few Brady Bunch episodes, among other things, while the author of the teleplay, John McGreevey, had done "A Hearse" and would write three more.