Gidget

America's favorite beach girl Gidget after being played by Sandra Dee on screen came to the small screen and it gave Sally Field her first big break. But it was a double edged sword. Who but Field suspected she actually had acting chops. But this show and The Flying Nun left her type cast for years before she showed what she could do in Norma Rae and Places In The Heart.

Not much difference in the big screen and small screen Gidgets. Francine 'Gidget' Lawrence is a happy go lucky teen with surfing and boys on her mind. Her family unit was her widowed father Don Porter and married sister Betty Conner, her rather dense but lovable husband Peter Deuel and what we would now call her BFF Larue, Lynette Winter.

Every week Gidget would get into her usual teen troubles and get out of them after consultation with dear old Dad.

One thing I liked about this show was Don Porter. If you think Hugh Beaumont or Lorne Greene was the wisest TV dad than you never saw Gidget. Always professorial for that's what he did and totally unflappable in any situation Don Porter to me was the ideal TV dad. This man never, ever lost his cool in any situation. Granted these were G rated teen situations still the man was amazing.

If you were to predict Sally Field's career would boast two Oscars within the next quarter century when Gidget was on you would have been sent forthwith to the rubber room. One never knows what lies ahead.

One interesting note about this show is that it is based on a real story/situation.

The real life Gidget was the daughter of a professor at Malibu's Pepperdine College. She hung out at the beach, surfed and generally amused her dad enough that he wrote a story about her life. This story later was turned into the movie 'Gidget' and then turned into this TV show.

My mom herself was a surfer in the late 50's so I always found this show interesting when I watched it on re-runs as a kid. Or course it doesn't hurt that Sally Field is unbelievably adorable! The show airs on TV Land right now and is surprisingly fun to watch.

This series was based on the popular movie series of the same name starring Sandra Dee. Newcomer Sally Field is perfectly cast as Frances "Gidget" Laurence. Sally Field is the star of the show along with Don Porter who played her father, Dr. Russell Lawrence, professor. Betty Connor played her sister, Ann, and she has a brother-in-law. Her best friend, Larue is hysterical. The series was light-hearted with plenty of memorable guest stars like Bonnie Franklin, Richard Dreyfuss, and more. While the series only lasted a season with 32 episodes, it's still enjoyable and light-hearted perfect for the summer months. It's hard to believe that it has been 50 years since Sally Field debut on to our hearts as lovable Gidget. Who would have imagined that she would go on to play the flying nun, win 2 Academy Awards, an Emmy, and more in her long career. It's time that Sally Field got the highest honor of the Kennedy Center Honors.

Sally Field as a TV-version of Frances Lawrence, aka 'Gidget', that feisty teenager from a Los Angeles suburb in the 1960s, protesting injustices, standing up for the underdog, surfing on the weekends, and meddling in everyone's lives. This half-hour filmed sitcom with laugh-track only lasted one season before ABC unwisely gave it the heave-ho (due to low ratings, though they suddenly picked up during the '66 rerun season). Still, "Gidget" lives on due to canny, clever writing, rich photo stock (with colors that just POP!), a fun supporting cast, a hummable theme song (warbled by Johnny Tillotson), and of course Field, the quintessential little sister/best friend/project manager. Field was an inexperienced young actress who somehow knew the magical trick of connecting honestly with the TV viewing audience (whether addressing the camera directly or not). Her abilities were part instinct and part God's gift. She's indefatigable but never exhausting, and she makes everyone on-screen her pal as well. As widower father Professor Russell Lawrence, Don Porter (carried over from 1963's theatrical "Gidget Goes to Rome") is attractively bemused and never embarrassed, while Lynette Winter is the perfect embodiment of the misfit best friend (doggedly devoted, sometimes against her will). As Gidget's married sister and brother-in-law, Betty Conner and Peter Deuel seldom get their share of bright lines or stories, though Deuel's starchy skepticism is nearly funny on its own. Despite the product plugs, Gidget's rather under-populated high school, and a few slapstick detours, not a bad way to spend an afternoon. It's nostalgic and upbeat, and Field looks great on a surfboard.

Long before shows like "Saved By the Bell" and "Moesha" we had Gidget. This was a pretty interesting look at kids in the mid-1960's and how teen-agers were looked at in those days. It was an okay show for its times, even though it did seem kind of corny. You never would have guessed that this would be the launching point for one of the finest actresses in her era in the person of Sally Field. She gives a good performance of everyone's favorite surfer girl and is probably her third most famous character behind "Norma Rae" and Sister Bertrille. Perhaps the funniest, as well as the most annoying, part of this series were her sister and brother in law. Anne was pretty much a control freak and along with her wannabe Freud husband John were the prototype yuppies before the term was even invented. This was definitely a product of its time.