Dennis the Menace

Dennis the Menace was my favorite show growing up. I used to run from the school bus to my house to see it coming on. I would really like to have it on DVD. I hope it will be made available in the near future. Even though Dennis got into plenty of trouble, it was good, wholesome, clean viewing. I know plenty of children today(along with adults like me) would enjoy seeing it now. There was never any disrespect shown to adults in this program. It was always intriguing wondering what Dennis was going to get into in each episode. Everything always worked out in the end and it was just refreshing to watch something that was so entertaining. I would really enjoy seeing this show again. It is the kind of program that you can watch and laugh and forget about how hard the day may have been. Hopefully it will be made available soon.

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.

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.

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-