Dennis the Menace: Season 1

Clean family show that my whole family loved

Elm Street is where Dennis Mitchell lived with his parents and next door neighbour Mr Wilson.Shout Factory has released all four seasons of this series on DVD.It's about a small boy named Dennis who always ends up causing havoc, although,unintentionally, and his harassed neighbour Mr Wilson played by Joseph Kearns. I have never seen the comic strip created by Hank Ketcham that this show is based on and therefore have no idea what Dennis' character was like.But,I have to say that Jay North was excellent as Dennis.He had to dye his hair blonde and had a piece of his hair at the back stuck in curlers and sprayed so that it would stick up while filming.There is a great cast of semi-regulars here like Mr Finch who runs the drug store played by Charles Lane,who played Homer Bedlow on "Petticoat Junction".He lived to be 102 years old.Wow! Then, there is Willard Waterman who played Mr Quigley the market owner.Mrs Elkins the cat lover played by Irene Tedrow and Mrs Cathcart played by Mary Wickes who was after a man.Any man.Joseph Kearns was perfectly cast as Mr Wilson.Stories mostly revolved around Dennis and Mr Wilson like when Dennis takes one of Mr Wilson's rare coin collection to but a candy bar from a vending machine,or, the time when Dennis changed the street signs so that Wilson ends up with a big hole in his back yard to have a swimming pool installed by mistake ,or, when Dennis digs up Mr Wilson's plants to put in what he thinks are better looking plants which end up being sweet potatoes instead,or,Dennis entering a soapbox derby only to have Mr Wilson end up in the driving seat. Joseph Kearns would die half-way through the third season and would be replaced by his brother John played by Gale Gordon from "Our Miss Brooks and "The Lucy Show".The extra's on Season One include sponsor spots and interviews with Gloria Henry who played Dennis' mother and Jeannie Russell who played "that dumb old Margaret" on the show who more or less menaced Dennis by wanting to play house with her dolls. Extra's on season Two are sponsor spots.Season Three and Four have no extra's.This show is consistently good throughout it's four year run and is still great viewing today.

Dennis the Menace might have been one of my all-time favorite shows based off of the comic. He is such a wonderful character in the television series and each show has a unique blend of hilarious hijinks.

I remember discovering "Dennis the Menace" on Nickelodeon back in the 80s and loving the show. It was old, black and white and completely unlike the other programming on Nick BUT I loved it. I know for a fact that lots of other people liked it too. When will Sony realize that there is a huge market for the original Jay North series? Not only will baby boomers from it's first-run buy it but also everyone who watched it and grew-up with it on Nick. Unlike lots of other old series this show has a definite multi-generational appeal. Sony you are missing a great opportunity. If you won't release it at least let another company, like Shout Factory, do it.FOOTNOTE: Since I wrote this review (or should I say pleaded for a release), this series has been announced for release by Shout Factory. I could not be happier! I just hope the episodes are as crisp and clear as they appeared on Nick (the Donna Reed episodes do not look anywhere as crisp on DVD as they did on Nick-At-Nite) and I hope they keep the original Screen Gems ID at the end of each show.I hate the way they cut the original ID's off of classic TV series! It would be like Ted Turner cutting the MGM, RKO and Warner Brothers ID's off of those films and sticking his own ID on them just because he bought the film libraries. I don't mind if they add an extra new ID at the beginning (like Universal & Turner does with its old movies) or at the very end... just keep what is original too!NEW FOOTNOTE: Pre-ordered this set and have been enjoying it since receiving it. GREAT JOB SHOUT FACTORY! Have watched just about the whole set (ready for season two!) and have loved every episode so far. Just a note on quality: all the shows look as sharp and clear as they did on Nickelodeon back in the day AND Shout Factory retains the complete, original Screen Gems ID at the end just like Nick did. So, if you think they are going to be lacking in quality don't worry about it... these shows are mint. This is the way all classic TV series should be released.

My daughter loves this thing