The Rebel (1961)

Bob Anderson's interview with writer, producer, and co-creator Andrew J. Fenady in the Shout! Factory Season 2 DVD set for The Rebel fails to shed any light on why Fenady and star Nick Adams chose to base their western on a former Confederate soldier. Like his interview with Boyd Magers' Western Clippings web site, which we mentioned in the post on the 1960 episodes, Fenady maintains that he wanted to create a Jack London-type wandering writer who based his works on his own experiences, and since westerns were the dominant genre in terms of popularity on television in the late 1950s, he obviously chose to set the drama in the old west. But that still doesn't explain why he and Adams chose to make Johnny Yuma a former Confederate, or the series completely skirting the issue of slavery and portraying most of the surviving southerners as pitiable victims who have lost an enviable way of life. Anderson completely whiffs on digging into why the series' creators chose to show that there were very fine people on both sides.

However, the interview does shed some light on why The Rebel was canceled. Anderson notes that the series was ABC's highest-rated show airing on Sunday night, even though it never cracked the top 30 of the overall ratings, and Fenady and partner Irvin Kershner decided to develop a companion piece called The Yank, which would tell the story of a young man named Matthew Dorn who on the day he graduates from medical school learns that his father, an officer in the Union Army, is killed in the Battle of Fredericksburg. So rather than pursuing a medical career and taking the Hippocratic Oath, he enrolls at West Point, becomes a Union officer himself under William Tecumseh Sherman, and takes part in the destruction of the South. But once the war is over, Dorn takes to heart the words from Lincoln's second inaugural address about binding the nation's wounds and decides to retrace his path as a soldier and eventually use his medical training to help bring healing to the South. It's worth noting that of the two companion series, the former Union soldier is the one who feels compelled to embark on a tour of atonement, while the former Confederate sees no need to make amends.

Fenady and Kershner filmed a pilot episode that starred James Drury as Dorn, shortly before he landed the title role in The Virginian, with a supporting cast including John McIntire, Harry Townes, L.Q. Jones, and John Sutton. ABC was thrilled with the pilot and wanted to pick it up immediately, but since the 1960-61 season was already half over, they offered production company president Bill Todman 16 episodes to start right away. However, Todman wanted a full-season commitment of 36 episodes and decided instead to shop the show to NBC, where he had a friend in vice president of programming David Levy, offering both it and The Rebel as a package deal. Levy agreed to take both The Yank and The Rebel at 36 episodes each beginning the next season, so Todman went back to ABC and, according to Fenady's account, told them to "go to hell." Understandably ABC dropped The Rebel at the end of its second season. However, before NBC could pick it up for the 1961-62 season, Levy had left NBC in the wake of allegations by producer Ivan Tors during Congressional hearings on sex and violence in TV that Levy had insisted that sex and violence be added to Tors' series The Man and the Challenge before he would agree to add it to NBC's lineup. In other words, Todman's decision to burn his bridges with ABC spelled the demise of The Rebel.

But in the remaining episodes that aired in 1961, Fenady and company try to walk a fine line between exonerating the South while also saying that slavery is wrong, at least when it involves white people. In "The Promise" (January 15, 1961), Yuma rides into the town of Three Points to deliver a watch and a locket from a fallen war buddy to the man's daughter Laurie Buford only to discover that she is in effect enslaved by Hobie Kincaid, leader of a local vigilante outfit. At first Kincaid tries to make it appear that Laurie is merely his housekeeper, but he also plans to force her to marry his nephew Billy Joe as a final repayment for his having paid for her mother's doctor bills when she gave birth to Laurie. Yuma, of course, has to speak up against the marriage at the ceremony, prompting the minster to refuse to complete it, and then eventually Yuma guns down Billy Joe when he and Hobie try to find another minister in the next town and he tries to stop them. Then Hobie attempts to frame Yuma for Billy Joe's murder. Since there are no African-Americans ever depicted in the 1961 episodes of The Rebel, this is as close as the show ever gets to freeing the slaves.

In "Mission--Varina" (May 14, 1961) we see a sympathetic Jefferson Davis, one-time president of the Confederacy, being released from prison but in need of an armed escort to ensure that he can make the journey to a marina where he will be joined by his wife to sail back home. Yuma is recruited as one of Davis' escorts by Mrs. Davis because he served in a fictional secret mission that tried to end the war in 1863 but was sabotaged. Mrs. Davis fears that her husband has enemies on both sides of the war who may try to assassinate him if they learn of his travel plans, and his escort by the U.S. government will end 1 mile short of the marina to avoid drawing attention to his identity aboard the ship. However, another escort is Charles Ashbaugh, another member of the secret mission who was the one who sabotaged the peace deal (though it appears Yuma is the only one who knows this) by firing at a Union officer when the representatives from both sides met to sign the agreement. Unbeknownst to anyone until almost too late, Ashbaugh secretly harbors hate for Davis because he thinks he surrendered too easily, and Yuma has to gun down Ashbaugh when he tries to kill Davis. But before they reach the final confrontation, one of the U.S. government soldiers making up the escort asks Davis how, as a graduate of West Point and a member of the U.S. Army for 9 years, he could choose to secede from the country he had sworn to defend. Davis' answer is the sort of emotionally laden non-answer one expects from a career politician--that when forced to choose between family and country, of course one would choose family. The fact that everyone listening accepts his diversion without blinking an eye is yet another example of the way The Rebel sought to smooth over what really caused the Civil War.

However, the most ironic episode of 1961 is undoubtedly "Paperback Hero" (January 29, 1961) in which Yuma is sought out by Missouri-based newspaper writer Emily Stevens because she is looking for a western hero she can write about to please her editor and father back home. The plot is hardly original--many westerns of the era take potshots at eastern journalists and novelists who are thrilled by the tall tales of the west and decide to head there to witness the sensationalized action firsthand, only to realize that the deadly stakes involved are far more serious than they first realized. So the way the plot evolves is hardly novel, but what is interesting is the way Stevens builds up Yuma's character in her first articles--describing him as adorned with a chestful of medals, swaggering about like a cavalier, and claiming that he fought in the Civil War to "defend the dignity of gracious living." Though his only medal is an eagle's claw given to him by a Kiowa chief who considered him a blood brother because of his bravery, Yuma's depiction on The Rebel is not far off from Stevens' account. He portrays himself as a tough guy, who in the words of Fenady's theme song "figured that he'd been pushed enough," and never has to own up that he fought to defend a way of living that included enslaving other humans. Unwittingly, this episode undercuts Yuma's heroic status by exposing the facade of the South's "noble cause" and provides a perfect example that his character is not all he's cracked up to be. Furthermore, Yuma is engaged in the exact same occupation as Stevens, since he periodically sends sections of his journal to be published in his hometown newspaper in Mason City. Since we never see his completed newspaper columns, how do we know that his accounts of his exploits are any less sensationalized than those of Stevens? As one of Fenady's Shakespeare-quoting characters would have said, "Ay, there's the rub."

The Actors

For the biography of Nick Adams, see the 1960 post for The Rebel.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 2, Episode 16, "The Liberators": Joan Vohs (shown on the near left, played Jan Dearing on My Three Sons and Miss Cummings on Family Affair) plays abandoned physician Dr. Bless Stelling. Jody Warner (shown on the far left, played Penny Cooper on One Happy Family) plays her sister Hope. Nick Dennis (starred in A Streetcar Named Desire, East of Eden, and Kiss Me Deadly and played Nick Kanavaras on Ben Casey and Constantine on Kojak) plays Mexican revolutionary Greco. 

Season 2, Episode 17, "The Guard": Ed Nelson (shown on the right, played Michael Rossi on Peyton Place and Ward Fuller on The Silent Force) plays former Union prison guard Clint Mowbree. William Phipps (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays his brother Ben. Dee Pollock (Billy Urchin on Gunslinger) plays his brother Charlie.

Season 2, Episode 18, "The Promise": Gigi Perreau (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Betty Hutton Show) plays daughter of Yuma war buddy Laurie Buford. Peter Whitney (Sergeant Buck Sinclair on The Rough Riders and Lafe Crick on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays her employer Hobie Kincaid. Victor Izay (starred in Dr. Sex, The Astro-Zombies, and Blood Orgy of the She-Devils and played Judge Simmons on The D.A., Bull on Gunsmoke, and Dr. Matthew Vance on The Waltons) plays general store owner Abel Hawkins.

Season 2, Episode 19, "Jerkwater": John Dehner (shown on the right, played Duke Williams on The Roaring '20's, Commodore Cecil Wyntoon on The Baileys of Balboa, Morgan Starr on The Virginian, Cyril Bennett on The Doris Day Show, Dr. Charles Cleveland Claver on The New Temperatures Rising Show, Barrett Fears on Big Hawaii, Marshal Edge Troy on Young Maverick, Lt. Joseph Broggi on Enos, Hadden Marshall on Bare Essence, and Billy Joe Erskine on The Colbys) plays Yuma's fishing partner John Sims. John Marley (starred in Cat Ballou, Love Story, and The Godfather) plays Campbelltown patriarch George Campbell. James Chandler (Lt. Gerard on Bourbon Street Beat) plays Campbelltown physician Dr. Raydon. 

Season 2, Episode 20, "Paperback Hero": Virginia Gregg (shown on the left, starred in Dragnet, Crime in the Streets, Operation Petticoat and was the voice of Norma Bates in Psycho and was the voice of Maggie Belle Klaxon on Calvin and the Colonel) plays eastern newspaper writer Emily Stevens. Bobby Diamond (Joey Newton on Fury and Duncan Gillis on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays shoeshine boy Jody Webster. Marie Selland (wife of director Sam Peckinpah) plays a saloon girl.

Season 2, Episode 21, "The Actress": Virginia Field (appeared in Little Lord Fauntleroy, Thank You, Jeeves!, Stage Door Canteen, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court) plays renowned actress Lotta Langley. Sandra Knight (shown on the right, ex-wife of Jack Nicholson, appeared in Thunder Road, Frankenstein's Daughter, and Blood Bath) plays her daughter Ruth Revere. Vic Perrin (the narrator on Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, the control voice on The Outer Limits, and did voicework on Jonny Quest, Star Trek, Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, and Mission: Impossible!) plays widower farmer Will Arvid. Robert Hickman (makeup artist who worked on Creature From the Black Lagoon and Around the World in Eighty Days as well as TV series Burke's Law, Honey West, and H.R. Pufnstuf) plays a deputy.

Season 2, Episode 22, "The Threat": Trevor Bardette (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays Big Rescue Sheriff Ike Howard. Richard Bakalyan (starred in The Delicate Delinquent, The Cool and the Crazy, Juvenile Jungle, Hot Car Girl, Paratroop Command, and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes) plays extortionist Bart Vogan. Aladdin (Cesare on My Three Sons) plays banker Ambrose Pack.

Season 2, Episode 23, "The Road to Jericho": Robert Middleton (Barney Wales on The Monroes) plays scam artist Arthur Sutro. Warren Stevens (shown on the right, starred in The Frogmen, The Barefoot Contessa, Deadline U.S.A., and Forbidden Planet, played Lt. William Storm on Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers, and was the voice of John Bracken on Bracken's World) plays pacifist Christopher Portal.

Season 2, Episode 24, "The Last Drink": Tom Drake (starred in Meet Me in St. Louis, Words and Music, Mr. Belvedere Goes to College, and The Sandpiper) plays notorious gunslinger Trace Dawes. Steve Marlo (Jack Casey on Ben Casey) plays his pursuer Ben Culver.

Season 2, Episode 25, "The Burying of Sammy Hart": George Wallace (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays rancher Aaron Wallace. Eugene Mazzola (Joey Drum on Jefferson Drum) plays his son Billy. Charles Maxwell (shown on the left, played Special Agent Joe Carey on I Led 3 Lives and was the voice of the radio announcer on Gilligan's Island) plays his foreman Deeb Ericksen. Peggy Stewart (starred in Oregon Trail, Son of Zorro, and Desert Vigilante and played Cherien's mother on The Riches) plays his wife Sarah. Iron Eyes Cody (played the Indian who sheds a single tear in the "Keep America Beautiful" commercial that began running in 1971) plays dying Indian Sammy Hart.

Season 2, Episode 26, "The Pit": Olive Sturgess (Carol Henning on The Bob Cummings Show) plays wife of missing prospector Charity Bruner. Myron Healey (Doc Holliday on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays postal clerk Mac MacGowan. Ralph Reed (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays his son Slip. Steve Franken (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays Slip's friend Ruck. Ned Glass (shown on the right, played MSgt. Andy Pendleton on The Phil Silvers Show, Sol Cooper on Julia, and Uncle Moe Plotnick on Bridget Loves Bernie) plays assayer Sam. Sheldon Allman (Norm Miller on Harris Against the World) plays enforcer Hunk.

Season 2, Episode 27, "Shriek of Silence": Tom Nolan (Jody O'Connell on Buckskin, Officer Hubbell on Jessie, and Mick on Out of This World) plays deaf/mute boy Paul Fellows. Yvette Vickers (starred in Reform School Girl, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, and Attack of the Giant Leeches) plays saloon girl Nancy. Frank DeKova (shown on the left, played Chief Wild Eagle on F Troop and Louis Campagna on The Untouchables) plays outlaw Dick Sturgis. Anna Karen (Anna Chernak on Peyton Place) plays farm wife Bess Warren.

Season 2, Episode 28, "Two Weeks": Frank Overton (starred in Desire Under the Elms, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Fail-Safe and played Major Harvey Stovall on 12 O'Clock High) plays former Union Army prisoner John Galt. Jamie Farr (shown on the right, appeared in The Blackboard Jungle, With Six You Get Eggroll, The Cannonball Run, and Scrooged and played Maxwell Klinger on M*A*S*H and AfterMASH and Dudley on The Cool Kids) plays his ranch-hand Pooch. Shirley Ballard (Miss California of 1944, wife of Jason Evers, continuity supervisor on Water Under the Bridge and The Sullivans) plays Galt's wife Ann. 

Season 2, Episode 29, "Miz Purdy": Patricia Breslin (shown on the left, plated Amanda Peoples Miller on The People's Choice, Laura Brooks on Peyton Place, and Meg Bentley on General Hospital) plays ranch wife Elizabeth Purdy. Jason Evers (starred in The Brain That Wouldn't Die, House of Women, The Green Berets, and Escape From the Planet of the Apes and played Pitcairn on Wrangler, Prof. Joseph Howe on Channing, and Jim Sonnett on The Guns of Will Sonnett) plays ex-Confederate marauder George Tess. Ken Mayer (Maj. Robbie Robertson on Space Patrol) plays his cohort Deacon.

Season 2, Episode 30, "The Ballad of Danny Brown": William Bryant (McCall on Combat!, President Ulysses S. Grant on Branded, Col. Crook on Hondo, Lt. Shilton on Switch, and the Director on The Fall Guy) plays just-released ex-con Danny Brown. Gail Kobe (Penny Adams on Trackdown, Doris Schuster on Peyton Place, and Dean Ann Boyd Jones on Bright Promise and produced over 200 episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful) plays his fiance Emily Hardy. Tex Ritter (shown on the right, singing cowboy star of 1930s and 40s B westerns, who sang the Oscar-winning theme for High Noon and is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame) plays the Shady Grove marshal. Stephen Joyce (Bubba Wadsworth on Texas, Admiral Walter Strichen on Wiseguy, and George Connor on All My Children) plays Emily's nephew Isham.

Season 2, Episode 31, "The Proxy": Vaughn Taylor (starred in Jailhouse Rock, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Psycho, and In Cold Blood and played Ernest P. Duckweather on Johnny Jupiter) plays fugitive banker Houghton. Vic Damone (shown on the left, popular singer once married to Diahann Carroll, starred in Rich, Young and Pretty, Hit the Deck, and Hell to Eternity) plays posse member Jess Wilkerson. Royal Dano (appeared in The Far Country, Moby Dick, and The Outlaw Josey Wales) play posse member Ben Crowe. William Bryant (see "The Ballad of Danny Brown" above) plays U.S. Army Maj. Lipscott.

Season 2, Episode 32, "Decision at Sweetwater": William Phipps (see "The Guard" above) plays mining engineer Morton Bishop. Carla Belanda (Patricia Hardy on The Mickey Rooney Show, Betty Leonard on The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu, and Miss Hazllit on Lassie) plays his wife Mary. Yvette Vickers (shown on the right, see "Shriek of Silence" above) plays saloon dancer Catherine Jewel. 

Season 2, Episode 33, "Helping Hand": Ray Stricklyn (Dr. James Parris on The Colbys and Senator Pickering on Wiseguy) plays family feuder Carl Blaine. Lee Erickson (Woody on Lassie) plays his brother Dave. Jack Elam (shown on the left, played Deputy J.D. Smith on The Dakotas, George Taggart on Temple Houston, Zack Wheeler on The Texas Wheelers, and Uncle Alvin Stevenson on Easy Street) plays his Uncle Luce. Eddie Ryder (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Dr. Kildare) plays Luce's son Web.

Season 2, Episode 34, "The Uncourageous": George Dolenz (shown on the right, father of Micky Dolenz, appeared in The Strange Death of Adolf Hitler, Vendetta, Scared Stiff, and The Last Time I Saw Paris and played Edmond Dantes/The Count of Monte Cristo on The Count of Monte Cristo) plays matador Juan Amontillo. Renata Vanni (appeared in Pay or Die!, A Patch of Blue, and Fatso and played Rose Brentano on That Girl) plays his wife Rosa.  

Season 2, Episode 35, "Mission--Varina": Richard Gaines (shown on the left, appeared in The Howard of Virginia, Double Indemnity, Unconquered, and Ace in the Hole and played the judge 14 times on Perry Mason) plays former Confederate president Jefferson Davis. Frieda Inescourt (appeared in Pride and Prejudice, The Return of the Vampire, A Place in the Sun, The She-Creature, and The Alligator People) plays his wife Varina. William Schallert (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays former Confederate soldier Charles Ashbaugh. Dan Sheridan (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Lawman) plays retiring U.S. Army Sgt. Mundale. Ralph Reed (see "The Pit" above) plays his subordinate Pvt. Gaines.

Season 2, Episode 36, "The Calley Kid": Richard Bakalyan (see "The Threat" above) plays wounded outlaw Calley Dawson. 

Season 2, Episode 37, "Ben White": Charles Aidman (narrator on the 1985-87 version of The Twilight Zone) plays wanted bank robber Ben White. Mary Murphy (shown on the right, appeared in The Wild One, Beachhead, The Mad Magician, The Desperate Hours, and Junior Bonner) plays his wife T. Bruno VeSota (see "Decision at Sweetwater" above) plays cantina owner Basto.

Season 2, Episode 38, "The Found": Karl Held (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Perry Mason) plays wanted bank robber Danny Heathers. 

Season 2, Episode 39, "The Hostage": Lon McAllister (shown on the left, starred in Winged Victory, Thunder in the Valley, Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!, and The Story of Seabiscuit) plays Yuma's war buddy Coley Wilks. Ed Kemmer (Commander Buzz Corry on Space Patrol, Paul Britton on The Secret Storm, Dick Martin on As the World Turns, and Ben Grant on Somerset) plays his brother Sheriff Jesse Wilks. Stephen Joyce (see "The Ballad of Danny Brown" above) plays convicted murderer Frank Daggett. Corey Allen (went on to direct multiple episodes of Dr. Kildare, Police Woman, Dallas, Hunter, and Star Trek: The Next Generation) plays his brother Yancey. Barry Russo (Roy Gilroy on The Young Marrieds) plays Yancey's cohort Charles Kane. Aladdin (see "The Threat" above) plays local Judge Baylon. Jean Inness (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Dr. Kildare) plays murder victim's widow Martha Randall. William Bryant (see "The Ballad of Danny Brown" above) plays poker player Bill.

Season 2, Episode 40, "The Executioner": Barry Atwater (Dr. John Prentice on General Hospital) plays Shoshone chief LeBlanc. Arthur Peterson (shown on the right, played The Major on Soap) plays the Carson City sheriff. Charles Aidman (see "Ben White" above) plays hostage Ferguson. Ken Mayer (see "Miz Purdy" above) plays hostage Andrews. Terry Moore (claimed to be secretly married to Howard Hughes though over the same period married and divorced several other men, including football star Glenn Davis, starred in Mighty Joe Young, Come Back, Little Sheba, Daddy Long Legs, and Peyton Place, and played Connie Garrett on Empire and Venus on Batman) plays hostage Janice Dutton.

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1961)

In our post on the 1960 episodes of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, we covered how the series changed dramatically from one of the most original and subversive situation comedies of its time in Season 1 into a more homogenized and sentimental version of itself in Season 2. In his Classic TV History blog, television historian Stephen Bowie has written exhaustively about the show's origins and evolution, so there is bound to be overlap in our observations about the episodes which aired in 1961, covering the last two-thirds of Season 2 and the first third of Season 3. As Bowie points out, one of Dobie's innovations was introducing a more modern story arc into the series that traces the character's development and progression through life stages rather than having each episode serve as a standalone event seemingly frozen in time. After a season and a half of Dobie and friends running in place through their high school experience, the series began to generate narrative drive in the third 1961 episode "The Big Question" (January 24, 1961) when teacher Mr. Pomfritt assigns his students the essay topic "Whither Are We Drifting?" to get them to think about their future careers as well as their goals in life. This is the first suggestion that Dobie's high school days are coming to an end, and he has no idea what he wants to do in life but is not worried because, like a baby bird, once he is kicked out of his family nest he will adapt and figure it out. The episode is remarkable because unlike most sit-coms of the time it does not offer pat answers, and rather than chastise Dobie for being unprepared for his future, Pomfritt applauds his confidence that he will find his calling in due time. And the episode rings true to life for many high school soon-to-be graduates who have yet to figure out what they would like to be. Coincidentally, Dwayne Hickman himself did not originally plan to be an actor even though he had been appearing in films since the age of 11, but as he revealed in the cover story for the September 2 issue of TV Guide, his intention to enter college and study economics was sidetracked by an offer of $300 to appear in the test film for The Bob Cummings Show, which was then picked up as a regular series and gave him a supporting role for 4 years and 155 episodes before being given his own show.

After several more episodes that deal with tangential issues such as Dobie trying to improve his parents' marriage and an attempt to get Zelda to stop trying to improve him, Dobie and friends finally graduate from high school in "The Second Childhood of Herbert T. Gillis" (March 7, 1961), an otherwise sentimental story about Dobie's father trying to finally get his high school degree without his son knowing he didn't finish school. But the following episode, "Dobie vs. the Machine" (March 14, 1961), has Dobie again wrestling with his decision on a career when Pomfritt sends him to a career counseling service that uses aptitude tests and a large computer to recommend a career for its clients. After taking all the tests and answering questionnaires, in which his answer to all questions about his interests is "girls," Dobie bails out before the computer spits out his ideal career path because he says he doesn't want his life controlled by a machine and was hoping for direction from someone with feelings and emotion. He decides to enlist in the Army just as his father did at his age because he reasons it will give him lots of time to think and figure out his next move. And so begins the last half of Season 2 with Dobie and Maynard, who has to tag along with everything that Dobie does, enlisting in the Army, eventually joined by Chatsworth Osborne, Jr. as well. As Bowie has noted, these episodes appear to be creator Max Shulman's attempt at mining a trove of boot camp jokes, in all likelihood drawn from his own experience in the military, which come off like a derivative of The Phil Silvers Show. Some of these episodes are painfully corny, such as "I Didn't Raise My Son to Be a Soldier, Sailor, or Marine" (March 28, 1961) in which Dobie and Maynard are waiting to board the bus for the trip to boot camp when Maynard thinks that he left the water running in the bathtub, and since his parents are away, he runs home to turn it off just before the recruits are ordered to board the bus. Faced with the possibility of Maynard being labeled a deserter, Dobie presses Chatsworth to pose as Maynard until he can get back to camp. Needless to say, the idea that anyone would fall for Maynard and Chatsworth being the same person is absurd, which is supposed to be the source of humor but actually falls pretty flat. During his Army service, we don't see Dobie doing any thinking about his future--he spends most of his time pursuing any young female he encounters and extricating Maynard from his inevitable messes. It's almost as if Shulman also needed some time to figure out what to do with Dobie and needed a place to stash him till he figured it out. That premise might be plausible if the Dobie Gillis character hadn't originated as a college student in Shulman's short stories. In any case, the Army episodes are not the series' high point.

Season 3 begins with Dobie and Maynard being honorable discharged from the Army--we don't know why or how long they have served, but when Maynard tries to get back into camp he is driven away with a bayonet. Still not sure what to do with his life, Dobie is thrown another lifeline or place to let nature run its course when he discovers that Mr. Pomfritt has left his job at Central City High to take a job teaching at P. Peter Pryor Community College, which boasts not only free tuition but admittance to anyone who is a high school graduate, yet another bend-over-backwards ploy to keep the series regulars together because not only does Dobie enroll but also Maynard, Zelda, and Chatsworth. While it makes perfect sense for goof-offs Dobie and Maynard to attend the school, having Zelda and Chatsworth also enroll does not pass the sniff test. Ever since her introduction on the series Zelda has been the beacon of academic achievement, finishing her high school career as valedictorian, and her constant nagging of Dobie to improve himself intellectually and culturally makes her decision to attend a college with such a low bar for entry nonsensical. Chatsworth, is likewise often portrayed as intellectually superior (for example, in the above-mentioned Army episode when he fills in for absent Maynard), and in fact an entire Season 2 episode, "Zelda, Get Off My Back" (February 14, 1961), centers around Zelda being hired to help the wayward Chatsworth get his grades up so that he can attend Yale, like his ancestors. By episode's end, Mrs. Osborne has pulled strings to get Chatsworth admitted to Yale, but of course that detail is dropped and never mentioned again when he shows up as a student at community college.

But consistency does not appear to have been a goal of the series. The narrative progression of Dobie's young adulthood has a loose, meandering direction that closely matches his character's distraction. He may move from high school to the military to college, seeming to suggest a linear course, but there are many digressions and tangents along the way. The same is true of his relationship with Zelda. She is single-minded in her devotion to him and logically suggests that they are fated to end up together because no one else wants either one of them. But Dobie, though he admits that he likes her and respects her, denies that they will one day unite. However, we occasionally see him seem to accept and acknowledge what he himself calls love for her. In "Zelda, Get Off My Back," Dobie is at first thrilled when Zelda is lured away by Chatsworth because it gives him the freedom to pursue other, more physically attractive young women. But his pursuits prove frustrating because one is a southern belle who is too delicate to do anything, and another is so self-absorbed that all she wants to do is talk about herself. The experience prods Dobie to rush to the Osborne estate to get Zelda back and confess that even though she is annoying he still loves her. Of course, while that moment may warm the cockles of any sentimentalist's heart, it is quickly forgotten once Dobie is in the Army and chasing after anything wearing a skirt. Once they enter college Zelda nearly loses Dobie to Maryann Krolisch in "Dobie, Dobie, Who's Got Dobie?" (October 17, 1961), who figures that if Zelda, who is the smartest girl in school, wants Dobie there must be something good in him. But when Zelda then pretends to contemplate suicide with a large bottle labeled "Poison" (which is actually vanilla extract), Maryann dumps Dobie because she can't bear how pitiful Zelda has become. Shulman recycles the pawn-Zelda-off-on-Chatsworth trope again in "The Fast White Mouse" (October 31, 1961) when Dobie conspires to get Zelda off his back again by persuading Mrs. Osborne that Zelda is the perfect match for Chatsworth given her intellect and the prospect of intelligent heirs. But seeing Zelda seemingly happy with Chatsworth painting the town red flips a switch in Dobie and convinces him that he has to have her back, which Zelda is only too happy to respond to because she says Dobie needs her, whereas Chatsworth can take care of himself. Finally, in "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Me and Robert Browning" (December 12, 1961), Dobie takes Pomfritt's advice to reach beyond his grasp in chasing after beautiful and popular Poppy Jordan even though she only uses him to buy her dinner. After failing miserably, Dobie apologizes to Zelda and says he would like to court her as he would any other girl. Though she had warned him that if he went after Poppy she would abandon him forever, she is willing to let him try to win her back if he is sincere. It's clear at this point that the series is pointing toward an eventual union of Dobie and Zelda, but how long before another soft, round, and creamy female distracts him and sends him scurrying off like a squirrel after a nut? 

It's this inclination of Dobie's that informs the best episode of early Season 3, "Dig, Dig, Dig" (November 14, 1961), in which Dobie's father assumes that his son's sudden interest in Egyptlogy is solely because his professor, Dr. Imogene Burkhart in her introduction to the series, is an attractive older woman with a stable income, just the sort of woman Herbert had just advised his unambitious son to marry since he will obviously never amount to anything himself. Though Dr. Burkhart repeatedly assures Herbert that there is nothing going on between herself and his son, Herbert keeps flashing back to a silent Rudolph Valentino-like movie he has just seen with Dobie in the Valentino part and Dr. Burkhart as his paramour. Every time he seems satisfied with Dr. Burkhart's assurances, he imagines another reason for suspicion and has to return to her classroom to beg her not to take his boy away. It's a rare post-Season 1 example of the kind of brilliant inanity that made the original Dobie so inspired. Sadly, like many first-effort masterpieces, the pressure and demands of meeting such a high standard proved unsustainable. But thankfully, we still have those high points, few though they may be, to enjoy.

The Actors

For the biographies of Dwayne Hickman, Frank Faylen, Florida Friebus, Bob Denver, Sheila James, Steve Franken, Doris Packer, William Schallert, and Marjorie Bennett, see the 1960 post on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

Richard Clair

Born Richard Jones on November 12, 1931 in San Francisco, Clair served in the military from 1955-57 and broke into television on a 1959 episode of Playhouse 90. He appeared five times as Dobie Gillis' commanding officer Lt. Merriwether in 1961 episodes of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and then in two more episodes playing other characters in 1962 and 1963. He also made single appearances on My Three Sons and The New Phil Silvers Show during this time, but after a couple of appearances on My Mother the Car, two small roles in feature films, and a final TV guest spot on Run for Your Life in 1966, he changed his name to Dick Clair and in the early 1970s teamed up with Jenna McMahon to create a husband-and-wife comedy sketch routine on programs such as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dean Martin Show, and The Funny Side. Though he would have a handful of acting guest spots through 1984, by 1972 he turned his attention to writing.

He began writing a few episodes of The Bob Newhart Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1972, but the following year he was added to the writing staff of The Carol Burnett Show on which he contributed to 120 episodes running through 1978 and won three Emmys. In 1980-81 he wrote and produced the first 13 episodes of Season 4 of Soap and would go on to create the sit-coms The Facts of Life, It's a Living, and Mama's Family, which he also co-produced. But perhaps he is most famous for his involvement with cryonics, freezing the body at death in the hopes that if a cure for the cause of death is found in the future, the body can be thawed and cured. Clair became a member of the Cryonics Society of California in the 1960s and in 1982 contributed $20,000 to have a husband and wife cryopreserved. He was diagnosed with AIDS in 1986 and when he was near death in 1988 he stipulated that he was to be cryopreserved by Alcor Corporation at a cost of $100,000. The hospital where he was being treated did not want to turn his body over to Alcor, so Clair sued the California Public Health Service under the alias of John Roe and won his case. Alcor was involved in another lawsuit with Clair because his original will bequeathed his entire $1 million estate to Alcor but three days before his death he changed the will to leave only half to Alcor and the other half to his former performing partner McMahon. The company sued, arguing that Clair was hallucinating at the time due to medication, but in 1989 abandoned the suit. Clair passed away and was then frozen on December 12, 1988 at the age of 57. The Alcor web site has a lengthy article about Clair's after-death treatment under his birth name Dick Jones. 

Jean Byron

Born Imogene Audette Burkhart on December 10, 1925 in Paducah, Kentucky, Byron made her entertainment performing comedy at Churchill Downs at age 12. She attended high school in Louisville and at age 13 was a winner in the local Gateway to Hollywood talent contest, which earned her a trip to Hollywood and a tour of the RKO Studios lot. Back home she sang on radio stations WGRC and WHAS before her family moved to California when she was 19. There she sang occasionally with the orchestras of Tommy Dorsey and Jon Savitt before deciding to pursue acting and studying drama from 1947-50. In 1952 while performing with the Players Ring theater group, she was spotted by talent advisor Harry Sauber, which led to an audition, a contract with Columbia, and a change of her stage name to Jean Byron. Her film debut was in the Johnny Weissmuller jungle drama Voodoo Tiger. This was followed by B-movie roles in The Magnetic Monster and Serpent of the Nile in 1953. In 1954 she made the switch to television and besides one-off roles on Mr. & Mrs. North, Our Miss Brooks, and It's a Great Life, she was cast in her first recurring role as Minnie on Mayor of the Town. Throughout the rest of the decade, she made dozens of appearances on a variety of series such as The Millionaire, Highway Patrol, and The Adventures of RinTin Tin as well as drama anthology series such as Studio 57, and even landed an occasional film role, though these still tended to be B-movie fare such as Jungle Moon Men and Johnny Concho. She married actor Michael Ansara in 1955 but divorced him the following year, saying that he was rather moody and at times would not even talk to her for days (Ansara would later marry Barbara Eden). She never remarried after that. She made the first of three appearances as high school teacher Mrs. Ruth Adams on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis in 1959, but when Dobie, Maynard, and Zelda graduated and moved on to junior college in Season 3, she returned as Dr. Imogene Burkhart. Series creator Max Shulman was an old friend of hers and insisted that she use her actual birth name for her character. She appeared 16 times as Dr. Burkhart over the series' last two seasons.

When the production team for Dobie tried to spin off a new series centered on Zelda Gilroy, Byron was cast to play her mother, but the series was never picked up for broadcast, so instead she landed the role of Patty Duke's mother on The Patty Duke Show in 1963, playing opposite her fellow teacher from her Dobie Gillis days William Schallert. She was Patty Duke's matron of honor when Duke married director Harry Falk in 1965. When that series ended in 1966, Byron slowed down but continued making occasional appearances on Batman, Ironside, McCloud, and Mod Squad into the early 1970s and was a regular performer on The Pat Paulsen Half a Comedy Hour. She stayed active through the end of the decade and into the 1980s on shows such as The Rookies, Police Woman, and The Jeffersons until she moved to Mobile, Alabama with her mother in the late 1980s to be closer to extended family. She participated in the 1999 Patty Duke Show reunion, after which she and Duke remained in contact. But after hip-replacement surgery she developed an infection that proved fatal, passing away on February 3, 2006 at the age of 80.

Raymond Bailey

Born in San Francisco on May 6, 1904, Raymond Thomas Bailey decided from an early age that he wanted to be a movie star, but it was not until he was in his 50s that he became a familiar face on the big and small screens. As a teenager he went to Hollywood to become an actor but had to settle for a job as a day laborer on a movie set during the silent film era, only to be fired after getting caught sneaking into the filming of a mob scene. During this time he also worked as a stockbroker and a banker, a job that would come in handy for his most famous role years later. After striking out in his initial try at the movies, he moved to New York but had a similar lack of success in the theater and wound up working as a merchant seaman, which allowed him to travel the world. He returned to Hollywood in 1938 and landed his first roles the following year, including credited roles in S.O.S. Tidal Wave, Daredevils of the Red Circle, Hell's Kitchen, and Flight at Midnight. But he would not receive another credited part for the next 11 years, though his career was temporarily interrupted during World War II when he served in the U.S. Merchant Marine. Upon returning from military service he began augmenting his film work with television roles beginning in 1952 on Tales of Tomorrow. He was prolific in both mediums through the late 1950s, landing meatier supporting roles in films such as Picnic, Vertigo, and No Time for Sergeants alongside TV programs such as Whirlybirds, Navy Log, and The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. His work with Alfred Hitchcock is particularly notable as he appeared on Alfred Hitchcock Presents 10 times and once more when it was expanded to The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. But it was the 1960s that really catapulted his career, beginning with three appearances as District Attorney John Carvell on The Untouchables before landing his first recurring role as Mr. Beaumont on the single-season comedy My Sister Eileen. After four appearances as Mr. Yates on Margie, he was cast as community college Dean Magruder on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis beginning in Season 3, a role in which he would appear 7 times over the final two seasons.

But his greatest success was yet to come, culminating when he was chosen to play miserly banker Milburn Drysdale on The Beverly Hillbillies beginning in 1962. Since the program would soon become the most popular show on television, Bailey finally achieved the status he had sought as a teenager. However, the role would also be his last on the small screen as he began showing symptoms of Alzheimer's toward the end of the series' 9-year run, which ended in 1971. After that he appeared in only two Disney feature films before retiring to a life of near seclusion, though he apparently kept in touch with Hillbillies co-star Nancy Kulp. He died of a heart attack on April 15, 1980 at the age of 75.

David Bond

Though hardly a major character on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Bond did appear on the series a dozen times over its four seasons, with 10 of those playing the Osborne's butler Tremblay. Born Alfred Allegro in New York City on November 13, 1914, Bond began his career on the stage and appeared in Broadway productions of Othello and Accidentally Yours in the 1940s before moving west to try his luck in the film business. Though he made his film debut in 1944, many of his roles were uncredited generic characters, not logging his first credited part until 1947 in The Private Affairs of Bel Ami. His long, gangly figure and high cheekbones led to many roles playing ethnic or foreign characters in features such as Song of India, We Were Strangers, and Sirocco. He broke into television in 1952 on Sky King and Fireside Theatre and played the alien Torvak in three episodes of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger in 1954. Even into the early 1960s many of his roles tended to be unnamed generics, such as a hobo in a 1961 episode of Dennis the Menace. Occasionally he would land at least a recognizable part, such as the painter Seurat in the Van Gogh biopic Lust for Life or Jack the Ripper in a 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone. But his role on Dobie Gillis seemed to have raised his profile if only slightly because he received named parts on series such as My Favorite Martian, I Spy, and Dragnet 1967 thereafter. One of his last roles was playing Reverend Bragg on three episodes of Alice in 1983-84 followed by a final appearance on an episode of Hill Street Blues in 1986. He died from complications from leukemia on April 16, 1989 at age 74.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 2, Episode 13, "What's My Lion?": Henry Corden (shown on the left, played Carlo on The Count of Monte Cristo, and Babbitt on The Monkees and did voicework on The Flintstones, Jonny Quest, The Atom Ant Show, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour and Return to the Planet of the Apes) plays visiting Imbodian dignitary Grand Wazir Abdu Ali Hakim. James Millhollin (Anson Foster on Grindl) plays federal agent Hargrove. George Ives (Doc on Mister Roberts) plays federal agent Huggins. Tommy Farrell (Chet Holliday on This Is Alice, Cpl. Thad Carson on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, Jay O'Hanlon on Bourbon Street Beet, and Fred on Room for One More) plays coffeehouse proprietor Riff Ryan.

Season 2, Episode 14, "The Big Question": Harry Swoger (Harry the bartender on The Big Valley) plays police Officer Dugan.

Season 2, Episode 15, "Have You Stopped Beating Your Wife?": Milton Frome (shown on the right, starred in Pardners, The Delicate Delinquent, and The Swinger and played Lawrence Chapman on The Beverly Hillbillies) plays lodge leader Mr. Kenney. Jack Albertson (starred in Days of Wine and Roses, Kissin' Cousins, The Flim-Flam Man, and Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and played Lt. Harry Evans on The Thin Man, Walter Burton on Room for One More, Lt. Cmdr. Virgil Stoner on Ensign O'Toole, Paul Fenton on Mister Ed, and Ed Brown on Chico and the Man) plays lodge member Mr. Zabinski. Alan Carney (Mike Strager in a series of RKO comedies in the 1940s, appeared in The Absent-Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and Herbie Rides Again, and played Herbie on The Jean Carroll Show) plays another lodge member.

Season 2, Episode 17, "Zelda, Get Off My Back": Linda Bennett (appeared in The Big Heat, Creature With the Atom Brain, and Queen Bee and was a recording artist whose credits include one of the worst Christmas singles of all time, "An Old Fashioned Christmas (Daddy's Home)") plays self-absorbed Monica Klaus. Toby Michaels (starred in Love in a Goldfish Bowl, first wife of director and Bewitched associate producer Richard Michaels) plays southern belle Jessica Zeffelhorse.

Season 2, Episode 18, "I Was a High School Scrooge": Douglass Dumbrille (shown on the left, appeared in Baby Face, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, A Day at the Races, Julius Caesar, and The Ten Commandments and played Insp. Hobson on China Smith, Cunningham on The Life of Riley, Grant on Grand Jury, and Mr. Osborne on The New Phil Silvers Show) plays former football hero Walter "Show 'Em No Mercy" Appleby. James Millhollin (see "What's My Lion?" above) plays his lawyer Winters.

Season 2, Episode 19, "Will Success Spoil Dobie's Mother?": Joyce Jameson (shown on the right, appeared in The Apartment, Tales of Terror, and The Comedy of Terrors and played Skippy on The Andy Griffith Show) plays movie superstar Merilee Maribou. Larry Daniels (stand-up comedian married to NBC director/producer Peggy Daniels) plays her publicist. Esther Dale (starred in The Awful Truth, The Egg and I, Ma and Pa Kettle, and Holiday Affair) plays Winnie's mother. Norman Grabowski (appeared in Girls Town, College Confidential, Sex Kittens Go to College, Roustabout, The Monkey's Uncle, and The Towering Inferno and played Padowski on Hank) plays football player Fast Freight McCurdy.

Season 2, Episode 20, "The Second Childhood of Herbert T. Gillis": Marvin Kaplan (shown on the left, see the 1961 post for Top Cat) plays Dobie's history teacher Monty W. Millfloss. Robert Foulk (Ed Davis on Father Knows Best, Sheriff Miller on Lassie, Joe Kingston on Wichita Town, Mr. Wheeler on Green Acres, and Phillip Toomey on The Rifleman) plays night school student Callahan.

Season 2, Episode 21, "Dobie vs. the Machine": Tommy Farrell (see "What's My Lion?" above) returns as coffeehouse proprietor Riff Ryan. Dorothy Konrad (Mrs. Trilling on The Last Resort) plays career advisor Dr. Campbell.

Season 2, Episode 23, "I Didn't Raise My Son to Be a Soldier, Sailor, or Marine": John Fiedler (shown on the right, appeared in 12 Angry Men, That Touch of Mink, The World of Henry Orient, Kiss Me, Stupid, Girl Happy, The Odd Couple, True Grit and played Emil Peterson on The Bob Newhart Show and Woody on Buffalo Bill) plays Army tester Cpl. Grover P. Wister. Frank Wilcox (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Untouchables) plays Army psychologist Dr. Worthington.

Season 2, Episode 24, "The Chicken Corporal": Diane Jergens (shown on the left, appeared in Teenage Rebel, Desk Set, High School Confidential!, and Island of Lost Women and played Francine Williams on The Bob Cummings Show and Susie Jackson on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) plays PX waitress Betsy. Jack Mullaney (appeared in South Pacific, All the Fine Young Cannibals, The Honeymoon Machine, and Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine and played Johnny Wallace on The Ann Sothern Show, Lt. Rex St. John on Ensign O'Toole, Peter Robinson on My Living Doll, Hector on It's About Time, and Walter Clark on George) plays Dobie and Maynard's friend Pvt. T.J. Strauss. Burt Metcalfe (Buckley Dunston on Father of the Bride) plays their C.O. Lt. Merriwether.

Season 2, Episode 25, "The Solid Gold Dog Tag": Jerry Summers (appeared in The Young Swingers, Surf Party, and Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine and played Ira on The High Chaparral) plays drill Sgt. Trotti. Judy Nugent (Donna Ruggles on The Ruggles, Jet Maypen on Walt Disney Presents: Annette, and June McBean on The Tall Man) plays a girl impressed by Dobie's uniform

Season 2, Episode 26, "The Battle of Maynard's Beard": Richard Bakalyan (shown on the right, starred in The Delicate Delinquent, The Cool and the Crazy, Juvenile Jungle, Hot Car Girl, Paratroop Command, and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes) plays drill Sgt. Wyncoup. Bartlett Robinson (Frank Caldwell on Mona McCluskey) plays a colonel of the court martial.

Season 2, Episode 27, "Spaceville": Willis Bouchey (Mayor Terwilliger on The Great Gildersleeve, Springer on Pete and Gladys, and the judge 23 times on Perry Mason) plays Operation Moonshot's commanding general. Tom Montgomery (directed the American version of King Kong vs. Godzilla and multiple episodes of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Gilligan's Island, and My Mother the Car) plays an MP.

Season 2, Episode 28, "Like Mother, Like Daughter, Like Wow": Yvonne Craig (shown on the left, starred in Gidget, High Time, Kissin' Cousins, Ski Party, and One Spy Too Many and played Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, on Batman and Grandma on Olivia) plays USO dancer Hazel Grimes. Jane Dulo (Liz Murray on Hey, Jeannie!, WAC Pvt. Mildred Lukens on The Phil Silvers Show, Molly Turner on McHale's Navy, Agent 99's mother on Get Smart, Nurse Murphy on Medical Center, and Grandma Mildred Kanisky on Gimme a Break!) plays her mother Bubbles. Hugh Sanders (appeared in That's My Boy, The Pride of St. Louis, The Winning Team, and The Wild One) plays MP Sgt. Quentin.

Season 2, Episode 29, "Dobie Plays Cupid": Trudi Ames (appeared in Bye Bye Birdie, Gidget Goes to Rome, and The Impossible Years) plays adolescent movie fan Jenny.

Season 2, Episode 30, "Like Father, Like Son, Like Trouble": Howard Petrie (Hugh Blaine on Bat Masterson) plays military instructor Col. McCurdy. Carol Byron (Kitty Mathews on Oh, Those Bells) plays his daughter Dorrie.

Season 2, Episode 31, "Be It Ever So Humble": Norman Fell (shown on the near right, see the biography section for the 1961 post on 87th Precinct) plays insurance physician Dr. Caul. Jonathan Hole (shown on the far right, played Orville Monroe on The Andy Griffith Show) plays Red Cross worker Mr. Mims. Barry Russo (Roy Gilroy on The Young Marrieds) plays the platoon sergeant. Paul Bryar (Sheriff Harve Anders on The Long, Hot Summer) plays a sergeant seen in a TV movie. Jerry Summers (see "The Solid Gold Dog Tag" above) plays a homesick soldier in the same TV movie.

Season 2, Episode 32, "Aah, Yer Fadder Wears Army Shoes": Herbert Ellis (shown on the left, played Officer Frank Smith on Dragnet (1952-53), Frank LaValle on The D.A.'s Man, Wilbur on Peter Gunn, and Dr. Dan Wagner on Hennesey) plays Herbert's war buddy Brooklyn. Barbara Bricker (wife of actor William Campbell and announcer Jack Narz) plays secretary Marcia Turner.

Season 2, Episode 33, "Everything But the Truth": Trudi Ames (see "Dobie Plays Cupid" above) returns as Zelda's friend Jenny.

Season 2, Episode 34, "Goodbye, Mr. Pomfritt, Hello, Mr. Chips": Jo Anne Worley (shown on the right, a regular performer on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In) plays Pomfritt's former student Myrtle Tarantino. Frank London (Shad on Johnny Staccato and Charlie on Peyton Place) plays postman Monty Ferguson. Joe Corey (Humphrey on Dear Phoebe and Tommy Simpson on Private Secretary) plays janitor Floyd Trigby.

Season 2, Episode 35, "Take Me to Your Leader": Barbara Lord (shown on the left, mother of Patrick Warburton) plays advance film scout Jane Smith. Alan Carney (see "Have You Stopped Beating Your Wife?" above) plays movie producer Nicholby. Herb Vigran (Judge Brooker on Gunsmoke) plays Police Chief Rosenblum. Ronnie Howard (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Andy Griffith Show) plays a runaway little boy. Richard Bakalyan (see "The Battle of Maynard's Beard" above) returns as drill Sgt. Wyncoup. Peter Brocco (Peter the waiter on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show) plays film director Cedric Van Horn. Neil Burstyn (third husband of Ellen Burstyn, story editor on The Monkees) plays actor Alabama Schwarz.

Season 2, Episode 36, "This Ain't the Way We Used to Do It": Jack Grinnage (shown on the right, appeared in Rebel Without a Cause, King Creole, and Wolf Larsen and played Ron Updyke on Kolchak: The Night Stalker) plays commanding officer Lt. Spunky Merriwether.

Season 3, Episode 1, "The Ruptured Duck": John Fiedler (see "I Didn't Raise My Son to be a Soldier, Sailor or Marine" above) plays student advisor Mr. Wurtz.

Season 3, Episode 2, "Dobie, Dobie, Who's Got Dobie?": Bennye Gatteys (Judith Potter on The Brighter Day and Susan Hunter on Days of Our Lives) plays Dobie's girlfriend Phyllis.

Season 3, Episode 3, "Move Over, Perry Mason": Douglass Dumbrille (see "I Was a High School Scrooge" above) plays law teacher Prof. Brinkerhoff. Charles Lane (shown on the near left, appeared in The Milky Way, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Lady Is Willing, The Music Man, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, and The Gnome-Mobile and played Mr. Fosdick on Dear Phoebe, Homer Bedloe on Petticoat Junction, Foster Phinney on The Beverly Hillbillies, Dale Busch on Karen, and Judge Anthony Petrillo on Soap) plays insurance company lawyer Chester L. Wayzack.

Season 3, Episode 4, "The Fast White Mouse": Hugh Sanders (see "Like Mother, Like Daughter, Like Wow" above) plays biology Prof. K. Farrington. Margaret Brown (played Ruthie Kettle in five Ma and Pa Kettle feature films) plays Chatsworth's girlfriend Rochelle.

Season 3, Episode 5, "The Gigolo": Diane Jergens (shown on the near right, see "The Chicken Corporal" above) plays student Bernadine. Bill Bixby (shown on the far right, played Charles Raymond on The Joey Bishop Show, Tim O'Hara on My Favorite Martian, Tom Corbett on The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Anthony Blake on The Magician, Dr. David Banner on The Incredible Hulk, and Matt Cassidy on Goodnight, Beantown) plays her Ivy League boyfriend Roger. Mary Mitchel (appeared in Twist Around the Clock, Panic in Year Zero, A Swingin' Summer, and Dementia 13) plays student Darlene.

Season 3, Episode 6, "Dig, Dig, Dig": Nora Marlowe (Martha Commager on Law of the Plainsman, Sara Andrews on The Governor and J.J., and Mrs. Flossie Brimmer on The Waltons) plays a college cleaning woman.

Season 3, Episode 9, "The Second Most Beautiful Girl in the World": Carolyn Craig (appeared in Giant, House on Haunted Hill, and Studs Lonigan) plays tender-hearted Sally Bean. John Fiedler  (see "I Didn't Raise My Son to be a Soldier, Sailor or Marine" above) plays her father. Maxine Stuart (shown on the left, played Maureen on Norby, Ruth Burton on Room for One More, Mrs. Hewitt on Peyton Place, Marge Newberry on Executive Suite, Amanda Earp on The Rousters, and Eleanor "Gram" Rutledge on The Pursuit of Happiness) plays her mother.

Season 3, Episode 10, "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Me and Robert Browning": Mary Mitchel (see "The Gigolo" above) plays popular but shallow Poppy Jordan.

Season 3, Episode 11, "Have Reindeer, Will Travel": James Millhollin (see "What's My Lion?" above) plays department store floorwalker Mr. Bevere. Debbie Megowan (Dorine Peters on My Three Sons) plays a little girl visiting Santa.

Season 3, Episode 12, "Crazylegs Gillis": Norman Grabowski (see "Will Success Spoil Dobie's Mother?" above) plays football star Truck Horse Bronkowski. Joyce Van Patten (shown on the far right, appeared in I Love You, Alice B. Toklas!, Mame, The Bad News Bears, St. Elmo's Fire, and The Falcon and the Snowman and played Janice Turner Hughes on As the World Turns, Clara Kershaw on Young Dr. Malone, Claudia Gramus on The Good Guys, Iris Chapman on The Mary Tyler Moore Hour, Helen Marsh on All My Children, and Maureen Slattery on Unhappily Ever After) plays his wife Ethel. Michele Lee (shown on the near right, starred in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Love Bug, and Along Came Polly and played Karen MacKenzie on Knots Landing) plays Dobie's girlfriend Lila Watkins.