Gidget: Gidget's Career

Gidget and the Goreys

Gidget: Gidget's Career
ABC
January 20, 1966
Sitcom
DVD
B

This is both a sweet look at Gidget's friendship with Larue and a gentle satire of then-current rock trends.  (The Rolling Stones and Sonny & Cher among others get shout-outs.)  The thing of Gidget being the untalented girl playing the tambourine is funny in light of how often this would be a motif in rock & roll cartoons later in the decade and on into the '70s, e.g. The Archies.

Jimmy Hawkins, who plays Paul, was Tommy Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life, and he was making Elvis movies around this time.  Sandy Kenyon, who plays Rick Farmer, would be on a few That Girl episodes.  And, yes, Joanna Lee proves she can write as well for Gidget as for Gilligan.

Gidget: I Love You, I Love You, I Love You, I Think

Gidget: I Love You, I Love You, I Love You, I Think
ABC
January 5, 1966
Sitcom
DVD
B

This episode addresses a question you may be wondering by now: if Gidget is so crazy about Moondoggie, how is that she's dating and/or crushing on all these other guys?  Her father points out that she's "been in love" five times in the past three months.  So she recalls falling for a "surf bum" who turned out to be her Algebra teacher.  In a non-judgmental way, Russ and the episode itself make the point that it's perfectly normal to be attracted to other people, even when you're in a loving, committed relationship.  The script is also funny, as Gidget makes a mess of things before it's all straightened out.  (Fields's physical comedy is not something that people often mention.)  Irony note, when Gidget soon after Moondoggie's departure decides she needs to be alone, she says she'll become a nun.


Not only Mike Nader but Sue Hamilton and some other unidentified Beach Party series cast appear for the first time in awhile.  (Given the writer and director, as well as the mostly flashback action, I suspect this was made earlier in the season.)  Lennie Bremen, who plays the Janitor, would be on a couple episodes of That Girl.  Maida Severn, who plays Miss Stoddard (the principal I think) would also guest on That G.

Gidget: My Ever Faithful Friend

Gidget: My Ever Faithful Friend
ABC
November 24, 1965
Sitcom
DVD
B

This episode manages to work both as a touching look at the friendship between Russ and Larue and as flat-out farce, with Gidget and then others, including Larue, being convinced that Russ is in love with Larue.  It never becomes tasteless, but remains alternately funny and sweet.  I could've done without all the put-downs of Larue's looks, but I like that she is mostly comfortable with herself and her interests, including horses.

Gidget: Is It Love or Symbiosis?

Gidget pretending to be "gay," i.e. happy.

Gidget: Is It Love or Symbiosis?
ABC
November 10, 1965
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Anne and John think that Gidget is too unlady-like and destined to be an old maid living with Russ in twenty years, and so they want her to attend boarding school, in France!  The premise doesn't fit in with anyone's character as established.  In particular, you would think that if Anne is that over-protective and controlling of Gidget, she'd want to keep her local and under her thumb.  Nonetheless, there are some nice performances by Don Porter and Sally Field, separately and together, and I like that Lynette Winter gets to show the sympathetic side of Larue.  A pre-Laugh-In Judy Carne appears as one of the girlfriends of Russ's bachelor friend (Roy Stuart, who'd be in the movie The Love God? four years later).

Gidget: Image Scrimmage

Still wholesome and unsophisticated
but she's trying.

Gidget: Image Scrimmage
ABC
November 3, 1965
Sitcom
DVD
B

This, the first episode written by Barbara Avedon, is the also the first since the pilot that I feel lives up to its potential.  When Larue's sophisticated New Yorker cousin buys Gidget a "junior ticket" on their blind date to the movies (is that equivalent to a child's ticket or what?), Gidget decides she needs to have a more sophisticated image, which includes a dress with feathers.  The five main cast members all have their moments here, with the height being the reactions to Russ's student with the crush on him explaining that she has a tendency to take things off, like her earrings.

Jan Crawford, who plays cousin Roger, would return in a different role.  Note that I'm tagging Mike Nader even when he's uncredited and/or has no lines.

Gidget: Gidget Is a Proper Noun

Gidget: Gidget Is a Proper Noun
ABC
October 27, 1965
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Another episode with a lot of school stuff.  (Westside High.)  This time Gidget is struggling in her English class because her teacher is a former student of Russ's.  So she submits one of her father's old papers to prove that the teacher is biased.  And of course both Gidget and the teacher learn a lesson.  Note, when sister Anne says everyone considers cheating, Gidget says, "Well, with a husband like John."  This is the first Gidget episode written by Austin and Irma Kalish, although he wrote some Gilligan without his wife, while director Oscar Rudolph had some Brady Bunch episodes in his future.

Gidget: A Hearse, a Hearse, My Kingdom for a Hearse

Gidget: A Hearse, a Hearse, My Kingdom for a Hearse
ABC
October 20, 1965
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This episode, the first of four written by John McGreevey, is I believe the first to not have John and Anne, and to have much of the action take place at school, specifically Auto Shop.  It definitely plays out differently than it would've five decades later, or even five years later.  Gidget, who still hasn't turned 16, buys a very small share in a car (the hearse of the title) and tries to prove her independence, only to decide that being feminine and manipulating boys with her "helplessness" is a better strategy.  All the men (we don't get the reactions of any women or girls, even Larue) think her interest in cars is ridiculous, and her usually supportive father tells her condescending boyfriend that women only think they want equality.  That said, I don't think the message is a straightforward sexist one, but more ambiguous.

Herb Ellis, who plays Mr. Walters the Shop teacher, would be a Detective on That Girl.  This is Joy Harmon's 2nd Gidget and Ricky Sorensen's third, although neither is memorable here.  (At least we see Mike Nader's distinctive smile on a few occasions.)

Gidget: Daddy Come Home

Gidget: Daddy Come Home
ABC
October 6, 1965
Sitcom
DVD
C+

Russ stays out on a date later than planned, so Gidget worries, leading to cop Harvey Korman scolding the "mama's boy."  The mix of drama and comedy doesn't really work here.  Larue is mentioned but not seen.

Gidget: The Great Kahuna

He's no Cliff Robertson but kind of cute.

Gidget: The Great Kahuna
ABC
September 29, 1965
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Martin Milner plays the title character in this episode, with a different backstory than in the first movie.  Amusingly, considering the images of flight that appear (wings vs. roots), Albert Mannheimer would write a Flying Nun episode (no, not a series I own), as well as a couple more for this show.  Interestingly, Gidget's idea of being a free spirit is traveling with the Kahuna and cooking for him and taking care of him.  Also, note that she clearly thinks cigarettes are icky.  Her father as always remains protective but reasonable, a contrast to other TV fathers, e.g. Mr. Marie on That Girl a year later.

Gidget: In God, and Nobody Else, We Trust

Gidget: In God, and Nobody Else, We Trust
ABC
September 22, 1965
Sitcom
DVD
B-

In this second episode written by Ruth Brooks Flippen, Gidget takes her brother-in-law to a luau in order to prove to the boys that she's still interested in them, despite going steady with Jeff.  Yeah, I didn't think that made sense either.  Note that sister Anne's hair is now red rather than a very dark auburn.  The word "sexy" appears as does the slip "sexteen."

With William Asher as director, it's not surprising that not only Mike Nader (now as a character named Siddo) but Beverly Adams and Sue Hamilton of the Beach Party series show up.  Also, Joy Harmon, who plays Midge, was in Village of the Giants around this time, which means she'll show up on Mystery Science Theater 3000 down the road.  And, yes, that's the future Daphne of Scooby Doo, AKA Heather North, as Pokey.  Note, Larue is mentioned but not seen.

Gidget: Dear Diary Et Al.

Gidget schemes.

Gidget: Dear Diary Et Al.
ABC
September 15, 1965
Sitcom
DVD
B

Right after the premiere of the third season of The Patty Duke Show came the debut of this (relatively) hipper, fresher sitcom about a perky teenage girl.  Based on the books and then movies (with the father from Gidget Goes to Rome, now a widower), this series starts off very well, establishing its characters and their conflicts right from the get-go.  While I was never into PDS, Gidget was a series I watched when I was about her age (15 1/2), when it aired four times a weekend in Southern California.  Obviously, with only one season, it cycled through pretty quickly.  Of all the '60s series I've seen that I'm not exactly a fan of, this was the one I wanted to buy for this project, to see how it looks to me now.  And so far it looks good: funny, colorful, and endearing.

Gidget dreams.

One difference from the movies (including later TV-movies) is that Jeff/Moondoggie is not a major factor in the television series.  This episode has the two steadies agreeing to see other people while Jeff is back at college.  (And he's unaware that Gidget is not in fact 16!)  It looks like Stephen Mines would only be around for one more episode, as opposed to Mike Nader, who's uncredited here but would return for eight more.  Lynette Winter is more memorable as best friend Larue, and not just because of her ridiculous sun-protecting beach attire.

Peter E. Deuel (who'd commit suicide in '71) and Betty Conner are in the straight roles of Gidget's brother-in-law and sister, although there are some laughs at their expense, notably when Gidget's father Russ (Don Porter) points out that if anyone's eating too much because of "sexual frustration,"* it's John.  Porter's rapport with Sally Field in the title role is just what it should be, straight out of the gate.  Definitely the best "first episode" so far.

*Surprisingly for its time and audience, there's quite a bit about "sex" here, with sister Anne reading Gidget's imaginative diary entry about "sinking into nothingness" and assuming "the worst."  And Gidget later says the main purpose of sex is babies.  I'm curious to see if this content is toned down later, since pilots are often quite different than the main series.