The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis: The Complete Series

This show is fast paced, very compact storylines with excellent acting all around. I remember seeing this show when I was in grade school and I really loved it, especially Bob Denver, who played Maynard Krebs, constantly saying, “WORK?”Zelda was wonderful as Dobie’s loyal wannabe girl friend. It is one of the few shows that is consistently funny and high quality. I got the first year and then since the quality was really good, not HD but not as fuzzy as some of the early shows, I got the entire series. You will not be disappointed if you appreciate fast paced humor that is NOT slap stick.

Everything about this series was/ is right. And everything about this set is right. Four individual cases, each with five discs (Season four has a sixth bonus disc), in an attractive and sturdy box. And with many extras. If this were the model for vintage TV DVDs, everyone would cut the cable! I read Dwayne Hickman's bio. about making this series, and it's just as amazing as the show  Forever Dobie: The Many Lives of Dwayne Hickman . There's also a book by Bob Denver  Gilligan, Maynard & Me . The series came from the short stories of Max Shulman. However, not all the novels of MS were so light and lyrical, for instance, Rally Round the Flag, Boys! (1954), which was made into a 1958 movie that Leonard Maltin found "disappointing" and gave 2.5 stars. But guess who's in that movie? Dwayne Hickman. MS was said to specialize in "campus humor", of which that book has none  Rally Round the Flag, Boys! The Raucous, Hilarious, Big Bestseller About Sex, Guided Missiles, Real Estate, Commutes, Love and the U. S. Army in a Connecticut Town .But then, Bob Denver also did other things. Who knew that lightning would strike first with Dobie, and then again with Gilligan? Not to mention the amazing writing on the series, with some of the best shows being penned by MS himself. A shout out to Shout! Factory, who clearly made this set as a labor of love and, in so doing, have provided a model for other studios to follow. As Maynard would say, you're like real human beings.

Miracles do happen and the Complete Series of Dobie Gillis has arrived at last and is perfect. Not only are the prints excellent (far superior to the sporadic episodes which have been available up to now), but there are some excellent extras including an interview with Dwayne Hickman who looks and sounds great. As he says, the scripts were outstanding. Just about every episode has a subtext, an on target comment on the American Dream at the time. All the performers give of their best but who can forget Frank Faylen ("I'm going to kill that boy") and Florida Friebus as Doby's parents, Bob Denver as Maynard and Tuesday Weld as Thalia Menninger. Sheer bliss.

what a show. Was it that long ago. Wow how time flies. yes we were young and a bit silly but we new good tv. thanks shout factory. I did not think I would ever see this again. Love the old days of television. Have a very large collection now and never look at the new stuff. Thank god for dvd's. and companys like shout. Lets try for love that Bob, our miss brooks, the life of riley, Julia and the rest of the donna reed show. Be nice to see the last seasons of the real McCoys. flipper, webster, the flying nun, beverly hillbillies, green acres, petticoat junction. Come on shout grab them and run with them. you may be our only hope. thanks dobbie for the good times.

I'm the fellow who created the episode guide on Wikipedia and I have many of the episodes on 16 mm film and all of them on VHS and Beta videotapes, so you can guess how pleased I am that Dobie is finally going to be released on DVD. I hope Shout was able to find the censored episode "Almost a Father" which was pulled from broadcast at the last minute and replaced later in the season with "Rock-a-bye Dobie." The suggestion that Dobie might have had a baby out-of-wedlock undoubtedly freaked some of the affiliates. The Kennedy-Nixon election episode (where Maynard was going to guess the winner) was pulled from syndication after Kennedy's assassination, but has since reappeared on some TV stations. Those are the two rarest episodes, with the former having never been released. I'm assuming the original version of the pilot episode will be included in which Yvonne Craig made yet another appearance on the series. Other than regular cast members Tuesday Weld and Sheila James, Craig was the most frequently seen girlfriend (playing a different girl each time), with six appearances including the pilot. This is one terrific series, quite unlike anything before or since. I've already pre-ordered my set. (Added note: Yvonne Craig was not actually "in" the pilot episode. She was seen in a bumper shot of several admiring girls. This film was used to sell the series and the bumpers were not included in the episode when it aired.)

This is the America that we lost. This compilation is a must for all collectors of past TV series, and I fully recommend it for both philosophical and entertainment values. The humor is loaded with meaning that will have nostalgic effects, and those who lived as young adults through the era spanned by the Dobie Gillis series will be brought back to a vision of America that was much more innocent than it is today. By the way, as a bonus, you will find Bob Denver, Tuesday Weld, and Warren Beatty in their early careers here.

Can only repeat what I've already said, "Great Trip Down Memory Lane"... And the fine looking ladies in each & every episode looked incredibly "Attractive" & "Classy" in both their knee length skirts & quite neat blouses...!!! Beats heck out of their gloomy t-shirts, pants & jeans of this day & age...The show, and the wonderful memories of the era of which itrepresented, guided this guy through the turbulent & violent era which would begin in 1963... Even as a Marine grunt trudging the mountains of Vietnam's DMZ with a rocket launcher, a pair of it's missiles & a few hundred machine gun rounds over my shoulder...

We left Cuba to escape the communists in 1962 and we ended up in NYC. I taught myself English watching Dobie Gillis reruns on TV and have had a soft spot for the show ever since.

Always loved this old show. Brilliant set. Great quality and packaging. Happy with this.

Very good quality from The Shout Factory. Nice packaging as well, but in the end it's the picture and sound quality that matters, and these are excellent.

I grew up in that era, and I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting this series because it brought back many fond memories.