September 6, 2005

"WORK!?!?"

maynard.jpg

GILLIGAN TO MILLIONS, he'll always be Maynard G. Krebs to me: Bob Denver, TV's Gilligan, dead at 70.

In general, I don't find myself identifying with television characters. They are, after all, characters on television. But I do recall that, as a teenager stuck in the trackless suburbs of Sacramento waiting to get out of high school and into the University so my life could begin, Maynard G. Krebs was my first and last television-induced role model. I idolized this character. I had the grey sweatship with the sleeves torn off and a couple of holes I put in it myself. I had the bongos (Hey, nobody's perfect.), and I had the attitude.


maynarddobie.jpg

In a way, it was a classic reaction against my father's admiration for the anti-Maynard, Dobie Gillis. "Sharp dresser, that Gillis. Sharp haircut, too." My father put a lot of stock in looking "sharp." I, of course, then put a lot of stock in looking "unsharp" at every opportunity. I even took the step of turning the sweatshirt inside out and spattering it with oil paints of different colors just to get a rise out of my old man. I succeeded so well that I had to hide the sweatshirt between my home and my high school so he could not find and destroy it.

Having been outside of the US in Europe, and far outside of the televison universe, during the Gilligan years, I never absorbed the Gilligan virus, and today have no urge to tune in TVLand and watch him fall out of the hammock for the umpteen-thousandth time. No, it will always be Maynard for me. I'm sure that, in time, this key archetype of what became the besotted Boomer generation of Beatniks, Peaceniks and Nudnicks, Nebishes, Bozos, Gonifs, Schlemiels, Tochus Lekers and Bill Clintons will be recognized as comic harbinger of the increasingly failed and tragic "Not-So-Great Generation."

"WORK?!?!" No more, Bob, no more. Rest in peace. May the Bongos of God serenade you to your sleep.

Posted by Vanderleun at September 6, 2005 11:51 AM
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"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

I always liked Zelda, proto-feminist that I was . . .

Posted by: Yehudit at September 6, 2005 3:02 PM

Heh, exactly my mind set when I heard. I posted an ALBUM COVER ...

Maynard G. & the Krebs ... 'Beat' that bongo amigo.

Posted by: Steel Turman at September 6, 2005 3:32 PM

Zelda is now a State Assemblywoman in California. A lesbian one, to boot. I kid you not. As moonbatty as they get.

Posted by: mark butterworth at September 6, 2005 7:02 PM

Is Zelda the one who talked about "propinquity"? The only word I ever learned from TV...besides the ones WF Buckley used to spout for fun.

If Zelda turned left and lesbian, what happened to Dobie?

I alwys had a soft spot for Maynard G. myself; I understand your id'ing with him. Maynard was like the Jughead.

Posted by: dymphna at September 8, 2005 7:32 PM

"the trackless suburbs of Sacramento"

Hey! Me too! (In fact, I'm back and living in Elk Grove.)

So... where did you live? I've probably been there (and, as seems increasingly likely, taken photos at your high school...)

Posted by: B. Durbin at September 16, 2005 10:13 PM