Dennis the Menace (TV series)
Dennis the Menace is a sitcom television series. It is based on the comic strip Dennis the Menace by Hank Ketcham. The four-season series aired from 1959 to 1963 on CBS. The show stars Jay North as Dennis Mitchell, Herbert Anderson as his father Henry, Gloria Henry as his mother Alice, Billy Booth as his friend Tommy Anderson, and Jeannie Russell as his friend Margaret Wade. Dennis wore the same costume in every episode: a striped tee-shirt, a pair of bib overalls with a slingshot in the back pocket, a pair of sneakers, and an enormous blond cowlick. Viewers complained about the slingshot and it was eventually removed. The bizarre costume put Dennis outside the realistic mise en scene of the show, making it difficult to "relate" to him in spite of North's brilliant performance. Margaret had the same problem with her ringlets, eyeglasses, and ever-present patent leather shoes. These clothes were not the sort of things kids were wearing during the shows years on the air.