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.