The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
First season title card
Also known asDobie Gillis (seasons 2–3)
Max Shulman's Dobie Gillis (season 4)
GenreSitcom
Created byMax Shulman
Based onThe Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
and
I Was a Teen-Age Dwarf
by Max Shulman
Directed byRod Amateau
Stanley Z. Cherry
David Davis
Robert Gordon
Tom Montgomery
Ralph Murphy
StarringDwayne Hickman
Frank Faylen
Florida Friebus
Bob Denver
Theme music composerLionel Newman
Max Shulman
Opening theme"Dobie", performed by Judd Conlon's Rhythmaires (season 1–2)
"Dobie" (Instrumental) (seasons 3–4)
Ending theme"Dobie", performed by Judd Conlon's Rhythmaires (seasons 1–2)
"Dobie" (Instrumental) (seasons 3–4)
ComposerLionel Newman
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes147 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerMartin Manulis
ProducerRod Amateau
Production location20th Century Fox Studios – Hollywood, California
CinematographyJames Van Trees
EditorsJohnny Ehrin
Willard Nico
Robert Moore
Camera setupSingle-camera setup
Running time26 min
Production companies20th Century-Fox Television
Martin Manulis Productions
(1959–1961)
(seasons 1–2)
Marman Productions
(1961–1963)
(seasons 3–4)
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseSeptember 29, 1959 (1959-09-29) –
June 5, 1963 (1963-06-05)
Related
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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.[1] Dobie Gillis broke ground by depicting elements of the current 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, though a few others are shown.[2] Series star Dwayne Hickman wrote in 1994 that Dobie represented "the end of innocence of the 1950s before the oncoming 1960s revolution".[2]

  1. ^ Fox, Margalit (January 10, 2022). "Dwayne Hickman, TV's Lovelorn Dobie Gillis, Is Dead at 87". The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Hickman (1994), pp. 104–159.