Denis la petite peste

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

Since I was born in 1955, Dennis was one of the first shows I can recall, along with Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best. I even had a few Dennis-themed toys. Whereas Beaver got into trouble for being kind of stupid, Dennis got into it with a kind of sly naiveté -- I always thought he really knew what he was doing. HellOOO Mr. Wilson!! I also used to compare my older sister to Margaret who always wanted Dennis to play dolls with her but she wasn't mean-spirited like Judy Hensler on Leave it to Beaver. I understand Margaret became a doctor as an adult. I was always sad to hear about Jay North's problems being in the entertainment industry. I also remember joining the U.S. Navy hoping to catch a glance of North since I'd heard he was a sailor too. Brings back a lot of memories.

Until it was obvious that Jay North was entering puberty the Dennis The Menace Show ran for four years. After that some of Dennis's antics might have put him in juvenile court;

The only child of the adult Mitchells Herbert Anderson and Gloria Henry, Hank Ketcham's cartoon urchin was played by Jay North who had the right peroxide blond look for the part as Ketcham drew him.

Of course the favorite foil of Dennis was neighbor Joseph Kearns who struck the right note of curmudgeonlyness. There was also Mrs. Wilson who would have been the perfect grandmother if the Wilsons had grandkids, played by Sylvia Field.

This half hour show set in suburban ideal town USA and it had like Mayberry a host of familiar character players who might pop up in recurring roles. When Wilson wasn't around, Dennis menaced the others.

Kearns died during the run so he was replaced by Gale Gordon as brother John Wilson. Another glaring look and slow burn master.

Poor Jay North, his life was truly spoiled by the show. Still he was a television icon for a while.

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.

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.