The traditional animation slot this season was filled by Dennis the Menace, but we paired the episode with an episode of the black-and-white live-action series, "The 50,000th Customer." Our podcast talked about everything from Charles Lane to Mark Twain, and we got into the comic origins of the character and how well the series adapted him.
Anonymous Batty insider says: "The animated series seems like a longshot for awards, but you never know. Remember, by precedent established with The Munsters, the old show is eligible, too, and that could do a little damage."
I sought out some podcast shows from Season 14 this year and found some interesting episodes.
The Rifleman "Hostages to Fortune": This Season 5 installment opens with Halloween action but doesn't really longer on it. Mark and his friends are out "Halloweenin'" (I like the away Lucas says that) and doing some mild mischief that causes mild ruckus, like cattle getting spooked and going astray. Mark gets a talking-to, but the real story is when he meets an erudite English bookstore owner and his son Percy and befriends them.
The Halloweenin' comes back in the sense that when rustlers actually steal cattle, townsfolk wonder if Mark is involved. However, the heart of the story is the bond Mark has with the new town intellectual, who is starting a ranch of his own. Lucas' jealousy is evident and also called out, though Mark tries to assure his pa that the other guy doesn't know the first thing about ranching. Lucas feels a little down due to his lack of reading (except the Bible), and it's refreshing, really.
The saga plays out in simple, clear, and honest fashion. No, there isn't a lot of Halloweenin' in this half-hour, but there is the good, soloid family Western drama you expect from The Rifleman. And some fights and gunplay, too!
Dennis the Menace "Haunted House." It's Season 3, and already Dennis seems a little too old for a Halloween episode, which is kind of sad. He and Tommy are peripheral characters in this one, roaming the house that Henry and George (I love how Henry always calls him "Mr. Wilson") buy for investment purposes.
The house is supposedly haunted, and shady realtor Harvey Korman (!) is really proud of himself for unloading it on the two "boobs." When the guys have second thoughts, the realtor and his mom (the real brains in the outfit) are not sympathetic. So they keep the place and try to prove it's not haunted by having a sleepover!
They deal with a host of weird noises and happenings, yet even though they know the kids are aware of the situation and actively looking for ghosts and playing all over the joint, it doesn't seem to occur to them they could be causing the anomalies. In fact, they aren't causing all of them! A lively guest spot by Harold Gould adds something to this episode.
Something a little different for this week's rankings: Here is a list of things I miss, all suggested or brought up by our look at the live-action and animated Dennis the Menace:
1) Fast food promotions with characters like Dennis: Other than Happy Meal toys, what do we have to bring us to a fast food joint besides, well, the food? Even the toys aren't promoted much anymore. Dennis was a mischievous, sometimes devious kid, but he was a great spokesman for Dairy Queen. I wish there were more cartoons shilling for junk food today. At least Andy Capp's Pub Fries are still around. Aren't they?
2) Little kids wearing the same thing every single day: Kids of a certain age might want to wear the same outfit all the time, but their parents don't let them. Then they age out, and even if they like wearing the same shirt over and over, they don't really have uniforms until they get a little bit older and try to make some kind of statement.
What I am trying to say is I think it's cool that Dennis wears the same clothes day after day and no one cares. In fact, most of his friends do, too, but it's all good.
3) Kids having clubs unsanctioned by any adults: OK, the boss getting "scalped" isn't in line with modern sensibilities, but at least Dennis and his friends take some initiative and create a social group. I am not counting online clubs; I mean stuff with clubhouses and crude rules scrawled on paper ripped out of composition books.
4) Small businesses having wacky promotions to the "nth" customer: I think "The 50,000th Customer" depicts about a dozen potential lawsuits if it occurred in 2023.
5) Small businesses, period.
6) Floorwalkers in department stores: Nowadays it's often hard to find anyone in there, let alone someone who casts an imperious eye at you.
7) Nick at Nite: It's been said to death, but it really was cool.
8) Saturday morning cartoons on network television: Ditto.
9) Adding machines: I don't care how powerful and convenient our cellphones are. I want to add stuff up on a machine with loud clangs so I can print out faded numbers on thin, narrow paper.
Well, I don't want to do that, but I want other people to do that.
10) Nosey neighbors: Oh, we still have nosey neighbors, but not really involved busybodies who care about your personal life and are willing to have open hostility with everyone else just because. It's all political today, and that has ruined everything. That kind of "debate" isn't nearly as fun as just disliking your neighbors for who they are.
*We hope you enjoy this double shot of Dennis as we discuss an episode of the Eighties cartoon and an episode of the black-and-white live-action sitcom!
*Here is the video playlist for this week's podcast. Click below for commercials, promos, and--while they last; no guarantees--the full episodes we watched for the show.
And remember, you can always check out our official YouTube page for all our podcasts and episode-specific video playlists for each one!
*The British Dennis the Menace is called...Dennis the Menace, much to my chagrin when researching this episode. The strip is Dennis the Menace and Gnasher. This Dennis debuted in 1950 in Beano and got his own cartoon in 1996.
*Hank Ketcham's Dennis the Menace debuted as a daily comic strip on March 12, 1951.
*The late, lamented modern hardback compilations I mention on the pod are from Papercutz but are no longer available from them. Fantagraphics collected the daily panels in order through 1962 but stalled out after 6 volumes.
*Dennis served as Dairy Queen's spokesman from 1971 until 2002.
*DIC's Dennis the Menace ran 1986 to 1988, with 78 half-hour episodes and 234 segments. Season 2 was Saturday mornings on CBS after the first 65 episodes appeared in first-run syndication.
*This episode we discuss has 3 segments: "The Boss Gets Scalped," "Mr. Dennistein," and "Lean, Green Jumping Machine." IMDB credits it as premiering November 3, 1986.
*Phil Hartman was on Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1994.
*The Screen Gems live-action series aired on CBS 1959 to 1963 for 4 seasons and 146 episodes.
*"The Fifty-Thousandth Customer" debuted November 12, 1961 on CBS.
*Age check of the main actors in Dennis at the time of this episode: Jay North = 10. herbet Anderson = 44.
Gloria Henry = 28
Joseph Kearns = 54 Syliva Field = 60
Charles Lane = 56
*Lucy Elkins, played by Irene Tedrow, appears in 26 episodes. She had a long and distinguished TV career, playing Drummond's mom on an episode of Diff'rent Strokes in addition to many, many other roles!
*Someone please make a nice hardback edition of this oft-reprinted comic book:
What do two Mr. Wilsons, a living mannequin, and Mark Twain have in common? Would you believe Dennis the Menace? We peel back the layers of the various Dennisverses to try to find what makes the tyrannical tyke's dark heart tick. Well, we look at a wild episode of the 1980s animated version and throw in the late '50s, early '60s live action version for good measure, and, yes, that includes a living mannequin, Mark Twain, and a couple Mr. Wilsons. Plus, Mike ranks the menace level of the various Dennises.
40 years ago tonight, NBC led off the evening with a cartoon Mother's Day special: Dennis the Menace in Mayday for Mother.In it, the scamp struggles to create the perfect gift for his mom.
The DePatie-Freleng production was the first animated appearance of the then-30-year-old comic strip character. Creator Hank Ketcham is the credited writer, and the cast includes Joey Nagy as Dennis, Kathy Garver as Alice Mitchell, Larry D. Mann (Yukon Cornelius) as Henry, and a young Nicole Eggert as Margaret!
Dennis returned in 1986 in his own syndicated daily cartoon series from DIC, and I have a feeling he will make his way onto the podcast eventually. For now, enjoy one of the few Mother's Day animated specials of the era!
