The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (also known as simply Dobie Gillis or Max Shulman's Dobie Gillis in later seasons and in syndication) is an American sitcom starring Dwayne Hickman that aired on CBS from September 29, 1959, to June 5, 1963. The series was adapted from the Dobie Gillis short stories written by Max Shulman since 1945 and first collected in 1951 under the same title as the subsequent TV series, which drew directly on the stories in some scripts. Shulman also wrote a feature-film adaptation of his Dobie Gillis stories for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1953, titled The Affairs of Dobie Gillis, which featured Bobby Van in the title role.

Hickman in Dobie Gillis was among the first leads to play a teenager on an American television program. Dobie Gillis broke ground by depicting elements of the contemporaneous counterculture, particularly the Beat Generation, primarily embodied in a stereotypical version of the "beatnik", mainly in the character of Maynard G. Krebs, portrayed by actor Bob Denver. Hickman wrote in 1994 that Dobie represented "the end of innocence of the 1950s before the oncoming 1960s revolution".

Overview

Dobie Gillis and Maynard G. Krebs

The series revolved around teenager Dobie Gillis (Dwayne Hickman), who aspired to have popularity, money, and the attention of beautiful and unattainable girls. He did not have any of these qualities in abundance, and the tiny crises surrounding Dobie's lack of success made the story in each weekly episode. Also constantly in question, by Dobie and others, was Dobie's future, as the boy proved to be a poor student and an aimless drifter.

His sidekick and best friend was American television's first beatnik, Maynard G. Krebs (Bob Denver), who became the series's breakout character.