DOBIE GILLIS (Rare unseen pilot footage)

[56thAlbanyProd]

is this the entire thing?

[moviemayhem59]

Very cool upload!.. I really like the alternate intro, and the way the script breaks the fourth wall here.

[schallrd1]

A classic...ahead of its time.

[MultiDKenny]

Tuesday Weld was nice but that Yvonne Craig

is hotter than a popcorn fart!!

[nolongshots]

The last time I saw this was on TV LAND as a kid where I thought, " wow bob denver is way funnier here than gilligan" . After that , I was hooked and when it's airing ended I didn't come across it until a few weeks ago by accident on ME TV.

That is usually where the floodgate of memories opened up as it would. I'm 25 and now have my teenage cousins watching this, father knows best, and their contemporaries, luckily. Tv in this age is pure trash if not poison if you want my opinion.

[robphilll22]

Yvonne Craig BatGirl guest starred in a few Dobie episodes.

[laustcawz]

@DJMAY,

Dobie Gillis DVDs are at amazon.com

@oddsox1919,

I see parallels to "Married With Children", too (grumpy, working-class father, girl-chasing son, lesbianish neighbor).

[oddsox1919]

@bartbro, Michael J. Pollard was in the series as well, as Maynard's older brother. Tuesday Weld was still 15 when my favorite episode was filmed "Best Dressed Man." It's the one w/Warren Beatty & Mel Blanc -- a true classic.

Other famous guest stars?

Say it ain't so: was Marlboro really a sponsor?

Am I the only one who sees the connection between Dobie Gillis & Two and a Half Men?

Maynard becomes Alan, Herbert Gillis becomes Evelyn Harper, and most importantly, Zelda morphing into Rose.

[jmen4ever]

What surprized me, reading the original dobie stories,was that they took place in the mid to late 1940s twin cities.

[themredweirdoshow]

Wow, when that camera lens loves someone, it really doesn't mess around. All those girls were perfectly fine by normal standards, but when Yvonne Craig or Tuesday Weld appear in frame - pop! It's like they're in 3D!

Call it "sex appeal" or just "onscreen presence," but whatever it is... those two sure had it!

[DoctorScuba]

I remember this show when it was first run....but I never saw this footage! thanks so much for posting it.

[divitius]

Haha. I remember watching this show on Nick at Nite when i was a kid ('WORK?!?!). Good times.

[StrongArmGuy]

I remember watching it when I was a kid too.

In 1959 when it came out !! It was a different world on the earth then. Things were like on TV all over the world.

[lonnyangel]

Tosh.O lookalike w/titttttties`

[lonnyangel]

Like a big brother along with Maynard G Krebbs ...too cool for the room!

[ilovemartinmilner]

This was a great show. Well written, funny, and Dwane Hickman was all kinds of cute.

[Nash1a]

That guy on Comedy Central - Tosh 2.0 - has been simply channeling Dobie Gillis all this time!

[The6000Sabre]

Please make this show into movie! Hollywood, are you listening?

[The6000Sabre]

from a time when television was absolutely fantastic

[jewgirl952]

I always loved watching Dobie Gillis. Today my daughter watches Tosh.0 a lot. Does anyone see any resemblance between Dwayne Hickman and Daniel Tosh?

[sybermen]

Era sumamente divertido ver las desventuras amorosas de Dobbie Gillis, en Venezuela dicho programa fue repetidi por RCTV canal dos durante casí 20 años, Todavía a fines de los años 70, era transmitido en horario infantil de la mañana, me causa buenos recuerdos encontrar este openinig.

[thebes56]

This was a great show!

[TheUltramagnus1]

I loved this show on nick at nite

[revueguy]

And Herbert Anderson got an offer from Screen Gems he couldn't refuse.

He got the part of Henry Mitchell in Dennis The Menace starring Jay North, along with Gloria Henry, Joseph Kearns, Sylvia Field, and others. Dennis and Dobie both ran for the same four seasons (1959-63) on the same network, CBS!

[bartbro]

@revueguy its almost a shame herbert anderson got that part.. the part of herbert t. gillis was much more colorful.

[terentii]

@bartbro Uhmmmmm ... Herbert Anderson was Dobie's teacher, not his father!

[bxktd]

Please, please get this show released on DVD in its entirety or back on television.

[sparxx49]

What a stupid name

[lezwitch]

This is not an alternate opening--it is a "preview" of their upcoming season.

And that is Ron Ely (Tarzan, Doc Savage) as Dobie's brother. Dobie's 76th birthday is coming up on May 18th, by the way..so be sure to send him a card!

[MMfanAZ]

I love this show!

[legacyart1]

The actor playing Dobie's older brother here appears to be a very young Ron Ely, who later in the 60s went on to star in the TV role of Tarzan.

[singinjohnny]

By the way, thank you, Bart, for posting this great opening sequence. My brother and I watched this show regularly right from the series' start. But I never saw the pilot. Oh...the women in this show! Even as a kid, I enjoyed this!

[RangerAlways]

I believe the girl playing Zelda was previously on the Stew Erwin Show in the 50's.

[horarwgt]

Yes, Shelia James was 10 when she began playing Stu's daughter (1950-5)on "The Stu Erwin Show" (a/ka "The Trouble With Father"). That series' best performer, Shelia stole every scene she was in. James popped up as Zelda in only the second "Dobie" episode ever filmed (her first line: "I love you"). Signed as a one-time guest, James did so well that Zelda eventually became the ONLY love of Dobie Gillis. Shelia gave up acting after being wasted in a small recurring role on "Broadside" ('64-5).

[MrKite053]

@horarwgt Wow,you really know your old TV shows, Am I right in assuming this is where Tuesday Weld got her start,and I always loved Frankie Faylen,he was a character actor that did alot of work in older movies in the 50's & 60's.

[ipmoic]

Thanks for the memories--and this new clip.

This was a very funny show and --even though I was young--I could tell the humor was sophisticated and smart.

[hbeck]

ok--Darrell Hickman played his brother in the series, but isn't that Bob Eubanks in this sequence?

[gli7utubeo]

I read Max Shulman's book when I was a kid and loved it. If you liked the show, try the book.

(OK, I read it 40 years ago, but I still recommend it.)

[hdwell]

Dobie was so different, the show was so...hip! Really it was a cool show.

[NitekMuscle]

The Dobie Gillis Show was one my favorite programs on Nick at Nite, and thinking back on it, I had such a crush on Mr. Hickman.

[John80220]

The opening titles look like they were shot at Fox's Malibu Creek Ranch -- the fence in the background is pretty much still in place now, even though Fox sold t he ranch a long time ago to the state of California for a park.

[horarwgt]

That's Dwyane's real-life older brother, Darryl, playing Davey Gillis (brieflly) in the opening 1959-60 season, Shelia "Zelda Gilroy" James joined the series a few episodes in and, of course, became the long denied but obvious key love of Dabie's life. James and Hickman were friends offscreen, too, but nothing ever developed of it -- because she's a lesbian! Dobie, though, was MY teenage role model. I even found my own real-life version of Zelda -- fell in love with her -- and still am.

[TrueTalkTV]

I'm still mad about Thalia! lol

I liked Yvonne Craig, though, too. Especially the episode where she played "Aphrodite"

Was never a fan of Zelda for some reason. Always liked Dobie though. Even as a loser, he was cool. lol

[singinjohnny]

@horarwgt The guy in this pilot portraying Dobie's older brother doesn't look or sound anything like Darryl Hickman. In looking at pictures of him, and seeing him in various movies, he bore much more of a physical resemblance to his younger brother Dwayne. I do remember Darryl in the series but the guy in this pilot is not him. I loved and still love all the beautiful women in this show. "Bachelor Father" as well as "Love that Bob" also had such beautiful women as regular cast members.

[horarwgt]

Singinjohnny, you are right that that is not Darryl Hickman in this test film. What I was referring to was the fact that Dwayne's real life brother DID appear as his TV brother in a few episodes of the series: #4 ("The Right Triangle"), #12 ("Deck The Halls") and #31 ("Where There's A Will"). Although the chemistry between the real-life and onscreen brothers was obvious (especially in #4), the existance of Dobie's older brother in the series vanished after that and was not referred to again!

[singinjohnny]

@horarwgt Thanks for the clarification. I would love to get the whole series in DVD format. It sounds as though you may have this. I'll check for it on the 'net. This show really stood out then. It was brilliantly written and casted. And, once again, ohhh.....those women! Great show!

[RangerAlways]

Seems I recall the reason for his brothers' absence was that he was in the Army. But correct me if I'm mistaken.

[RJRanke]

I guess you could call Davey Gillis the Chuck Cunningham of his day.(Chuckle!)

[hermanglimsher]

@horarwgt

Are you sure that's right?  I thought the actor was Ron Ely.

[curtisjones400]

i watched this show when it came on during the 1960"s

[holden190]

Kinda surreal! I love it!

[Manboobs313]

Hey, it's Batgirl! (Yvonne Craig)

[VirginSuicide77]

Dobie was HOT! I used to love this show. I used to watch it on Nick at Nite in the 90's. Maybe it will come on dvd someday.

[kingkuts]

its Zack from Saved by the bell same thing over ,,they are great

[gtz1975]

Where's Zelda?

[RJRanke]

She wasn't a regular yet-besides,Zelda sure wasn't one of the women Dobie loved.(Chuckle!0

[aflman2]

nanajanamike, I accidentally gave a"thumbs down" to your comment. I meant to give it a GIANT thumbs up. This show and all the characters provided many hours of entertainment for me. Hopefully it will be released on DVD in series form.

[jb20092009]

The 1st girl shown would later become known as Batgirl. Who is she?

A.: Yvonne Craig.

[nanajanamike]

it WAS way ahead of its time and very well written for a sit -com of the early 60s.With memorable characters like Chatsworth Osborne Jr.& Zelda Gillroy.You could tell that Dwayne learned a lot on his former show,The Bob Cummings Show.He had a lot of Bob's expressions & mannerisms.Dobie Gillis will NOT be mostly forgotten!

[zapkvr]

And Pop would always be singin' that song "Oh my papa" This show was a classic.

[bartbro]

I GOTTA KILL THAT BOY! I JUST GOTTA!

.....Herbert T Gillis

[fromthesidelines]

"Dobie Gillis" was based on a series of short stories- and several novels- written by Max Shulman (as mentioned by Dwayne at :57) during, at least, a 15 year period before this pilot episode was filmed, 'Steve' {he was originally a college student}. One of those books was adapted into a 1953 MGM feature featuring Bobby Van and Debbie Reynolds [as you've mentioned]. For the full account of the making of this pilot, read Dwayne Hickman's autobiography, "Forever Dobie'...

[montanakid07]

i wonder if this will ever come back to tv?

[MisterCool]

The critics weren't lying when they said this show was ahead of its time. How often did you see actors from the 1950s step out of character like that?

[PopArtDiva]

I loved this show when I was a kid, just loved it when Maynard G. Krebs said "work!" and played the bongos. I also got a kick out of Thalia Menninger calling Dobie "Dopie" all the time!

BTW, Warren Beatty played Milton Armitage and there were actually a few appearances of an older brother, Davey, played by Darrell Hickman.

[John80220]

The main part of the pilot -- involving Dobie's attempts to impress Thalia by winning a drawing at the Bijou (only to be foiled, of course, by Maynard) did make it to air on CBS, and is in the syndication package, only with the regular first season opening and closing titles.

[DJMAYS63]

I love this show, why won't they put this like they have some many others on DVD??? Thanks for posting.

[SteveCarras]

"Scooby-Doo" may have been based on "Dobie Gillis" but Dobie was well WRITTEN!!!!!! (And had the likes of Warren beatty and in I THINK the earliest MEL BLANC!!). It was based on aq Debbie Reynolds movie and on a book.

[fromthesidelines]

Several [obvious] things changed from this unaired version of the pilot episode- the opening title became an animated one; Herbert Anderson went on to "DENNIS THE MENACE" that fall of '59, replaced by William Schallert [as "Mr. Pomfritt"] in the series; and yes, the part of Dobie's brother was eventually dropped from the cast...the closing sequence was meant for potential sponsors and network executives only {as in, "Please consider this show for the fall!"}.

[joepeace]

iS THAT MARALYN MUNSTER?

[tnx79]

Unless my vision's not that great, I think that the first woman after Dobie complains about the script is Yvonne Craig aka Batgirl. Yvonne Craig & Tuesday Weld...now that's a real dynamic duo

[ohhhwolfy]

You're absolutely right, that's a very young Yvonne Craig at 2:00 and a very young Tuesday Weld at 3:10! There aren't any actresses that look like that anymore! Dobie Gillis was one lucky SOB!

[lebow1]

very interesting & funny

[horarwgt]

Hickman had to dye his hair blond at first in order to match the description of Dobie in the original books. The repeated colorization damanged his hair so much it began falling out (!), which is why Dobie's hair gradually darkened as the series progressed. This is certainly a rare clip -- thanks for posting! Dobie Gillis was one of TV's all-time greatest comedy series.