The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis: The Complete Series

What price Baby Boomer nostalgia? The $139.99 tag here may seem a tad steep, but there is much to love about this definitive boxed set collecting the entire run of the 1959-1963 series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, which offered a typical American teen's (Dwayne Hickman) perspective on life, love, and the pursuit of girls (“One lousy girl,” he cries). The “before they were stars” factor is high here. Warren Beatty appears in the first season as Dobie's upper class rival, Milton Armitage, with the luscious Tuesday Weld as Dobie's dream girl, money-hungry Thalia Menninger. A pre-Gilligan's Island Bob Denver steals the show as beatnik and proto-slacker Maynard G. Krebs. Other familiar faces that pop up include Sally Kellerman, Yvonne “Batgirl” Craig, a pre-Andy Griffith Show Ron Howard, and Michael J. Pollard as Maynard's cousin Jerome. Memorable characters include Sheila Kuehl as Zelda, who has an unrequited crush on Dobie; Frank Faylen as Dobie's exasperated grocer father (“I'm gonna kill that boy”); and Steve Franken as Milton's equally snooty cousin, Chatsworth. The first season, which hews closest to the spirit of creator Max Shulman's original short stories, is best. Each episode opens with Dobie channeling Rodin's iconic sculpture of the Thinker, pondering the mysteries of the teenage universe. In season two, Dobie and Maynard enlist in the army, while in the third and fourth seasons, the pair attend junior college. Compiling all 147 episodes, extras include episodes of Hickman's previous series Love That Bob, an interview with Hickman, rare footage from the original pilot episode, character appearances on TV specials, and PDF scripts. Recommended. (D. Liebenson)