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.

This is a comedy show based on the comic strip, where a naive and inquisitive boy named Dennis Mitchell, dressed in overalls and carrying a slingshot in his pocket, tries to befriend everybody and help out with stuff, but always ends up in mischief or in a sea of misadventures - particular driving his neighbor, retired business machine salesman George Wilson, crazy.

It's a black and white show from the early 1950s to 1960s - probably a little dated today, but overall it's a funny little classic show that is full of that childhood innocence and some slapstick comedy. I used to watch it when I was a kid - a nice little show to pass the time. It's not the funniest or greatest sitcom I've seen, but its innocence and good old fashion comedy and dialog make it a family favorite.

Grade B-

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.

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

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.