Dennis the Menace

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".

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

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.

Every time we heard this line we knew that trouble was coming. Jay North, Dennis Mitchell (The Miracle of the Hills) the cute kid who wore coveralls and carried a sling shot in his back pocket was walking chaos. He was well intended and did not mean to do anything wrong. He was so innocent, but he caused a thousand of dollars in losses for the entire neighborhood, especially for the Wilsons, his next door neighbors. George Wilson, Joseph Kearns (Anatomy of a Murder) and Martha Wilson, Sylvia Fields (Stewed, Fried and Boiled) were the empty nesters next door. The Mitchell's neighbors lived in perfect harmony, and in perfect little houses, things always got messy ultimately because of Dennis. Everybody laughed a lot watching the show, at least, I did. Henry Mitchell, Herbert Anderson (Rascal), and Alice Mitchell, Gloria Henry (Keeper of the Bees), were a nice couple but had the terror kid. I loved the series! There are "Dennises" everywhere I go. That series led me to watch the new Dennis the Menace with Walter Matthau as Mr. Wilson. My husband and I rolled with laughter watching it.

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.