Dennis the Menace

I was thrilled when I saw TVLand was running this old sitcom this summer and have been taping episodes daily. They give me a good laugh and I am thankful they are only showing the early episodes featuring Joseph Kearns as Good Ole Mr. Wilson. To me he is the second funniest sitcom actor/character ever (next to Carroll O'Connor's Archie Bunker). His anguished cries of "Great Scott" or "Fiddle Faddle" and his easy-to-stroke ego are hilarious. In my opinion, it's one of the most underrated performances in sitcom history.

My wife and I watch this together and we both enjoy it. It has lots of good fun in every episode.

Starring Jay North as Dennis, this comedy series dealt with the daily adventures of a young boy. Dennis is a whirling dervish of enthusiasm. He is not a bad kid, just the personification of boyishness. He likes slingshots, baseball, frogs, camping, toy guns, etc.

Most of the episodes concern Dennis' interactions with his next door neighbor, Mr. Wilson (Joseph Kearns), his antagonist. While Dennis genuinely likes Mr. Wilson, Mr. Wilson is ambivalent about the young boy's charms. Wilson is the perfect foil, being someone who likes order and quiet. His hobbies include gardening and bird watching. And he loves public recognition. Dennis' very nature threatens the orderliness of Wilson's world.

This series might be seen as a one joke comedy, but no more so than "Bewitched" was a one trick series. North is a fine child actor who really embodies the Dennis character. Despite the naïve carelessness of Dennis, the episodes often resulted in Dennis saving the day or somehow aiding Mr. Wilson.

After the death of Kearns in the middle of season three, the show's formula altered slightly. Those who think Kearn's acting was over the top might prefer Gale Gordon, who stepped in for the remainder of the series.

It was a great TV show! I watch it every chance I get. When I first discovered the show about 12 years ago on Nickelodeon, I thought it was very funny and very unique, A bright boy with a lot of energy who is always wanting to help people out, especially his next door neighbor Mr. Wilson who Dennis drove crazy and quite often got him in trouble. I just could never figure out why his parents didn't punish Dennis more often for some of the trouble he got into. Never the

less, The TV show was funny up until the end of the 3rd season

when Joseph Kearns who played the 1st Mr. Wilson passed away. Joseph Kearns was the best, he played his role as Mr. Wilson

with a real inspiration. Gale Gordon, Who played Mr. Wilson towards the end of the 3rd season and all of the 4th season was good, but he just was not the character that Joseph Kearns was. Another thing you could tell is that Herbert Anderson (Henry Mitchell) got along with and worked better with Joseph Kearns then he did with Gale Gordon. I think it's quite obvious that Herbert Anderson liked working with Joseph Kearns a lot better then he did with Gale Gordon, it comes clear throughout the last season.

I was about the same age as Jay North and I remember vividly watching the 1st show in fall 1959 with my older brother on our table-top RCA-Victor black and white TV. It was on CBS TV (chan 2 in New York City where we grew up). I remember always feeling bad for "GOOD OLD MR Wilson" but I always thought the guy who played the owner of the grocery named Mr Quigley was a sour-puss. One of my favorite ones was the one when Mr Wilson accidentally gave Dennis a very rare coin and Dennis spent it. Of course, Mrs. Wilson was ready to give Mr. Wilson some of his "Nerve Medicine". A good,fun show that we loved. It was followed by other Sunday comedy shows on CBS including "My Favorite Martian" and "Mr Ed".