MovieChat Forums > The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959) Discussion > Why was Zelda's family life completely c...

Why was Zelda's family life completely changed so drastically?

posted 11 years ago by TVmovieViewer
4 replies | jump to latest

I just got the season 1 dvd set (the Tuesday Weld episodes are my favorites.)

Anyway, I was very surprised to see that the creators of the show would change Zelda's family life so dramatically only a few episodes after they were introduced. In episode 21, the episode is centered around Zelda's family (they are poor, her parents are elderly, and Zelda has six sisters.)

Then, in episode 37, her parents are now played by much younger actors, they are wealthy, and Zelda is an only child.

Why did the writers think the audience was so dumb?

[–] b-touch 11 years ago

The father is actually still the same actor; the mother is changed to a younger actress however.

Continuity wasn't Dobie Gillis' strong suit. Dobie's brother Davey disappears after season one without explanation, Doris Packer plays Milton's and Chatsworth's mothers, Maynard wavers between having a brother and being an only child, etc.

[–] CarolTheDabbler (576) 2 years ago

Dobie's brother Davey disappears after season one without explanation

There was also an older brother on Happy Days who just evaporated.

[–] Uvtha 11 years ago

I like her new parents better.

[–] Joannakathryn 10 years ago

In the first episode we meet Zelda's parents, her mother announces that she's going to have another baby.

There wasn't a lot of continuity in this show, but I'm sure they never foresaw people watching it 50 years later and figuring things out.

In the last episode of Season 1, Dobie's parents think he's married with a baby, when only a couple of weeks earlier, he was going to marry Zelda.

Roland, that's a lilac bush!