That's what I call myself. After all, I became a huge fan of the 1959 film back in the 1990s after coming across it in a local video rental outlet. I bought the Gidget Movie Collection, then the book by Frederick Kohner, who based the lead character on his own daughter, Kathy. Now I've proudly added the TV series to my nostalgia roster. While I still love the original Sandra Dee vehicle, this television show featuring a young Sally Field is entertaining and fun in its own right. Don Porter, who portrayed the Gidge's dad in "Gidget Goes To Rome" (1963) reprises his role here, sans wife, since Professor Russ Lawrence is apparently widowed. The series also introduces Gidget's elder sister Anne (Betty Conner), newly married to John Cooper (Pete Duel), and Lynette Winter (who looked so familiar, and then I realized she was from another 60s movie favorite, "The Parent Trap") is her best friend Larue. Francie Lawrence, aka Gidget, is a teen who loves surfing and runs to the Malibu beach whenever she can. She faces the now classic adolescent predicaments, laced with sweet family humor. Great 60s kitsch and what a trip down memory lane (not that I would know, it was all before my time, lol), with familiar faces like Barbara Hershey and Richard Dreyfuss. Too bad the show only lasted one season, but at least the complete series is preserved so wonderfully on four discs.
The series and the films are the perfect way to pass the time and indulge in some swinging fun on a rainy afternoon.
Sally Field is adorable, just before her signature TV role as "The Flying Nun".
Surf is definitely up!
The series and the films are the perfect way to pass the time and indulge in some swinging fun on a rainy afternoon.
Sally Field is adorable, just before her signature TV role as "The Flying Nun".
Surf is definitely up!