The New Gidget
Encyclopedia
The New Gidget is an American television sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...

 that aired in syndication
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...

 from 1986 to 1988
1988 in television
The year 1988 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1988.For the American TV schedule, see: 1988-89 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:...

. The series was produced by original Gidget
Gidget (TV series)
Gidget is an American sitcom about a surfing, boy-crazy teenager called "Gidget" and her widowed father Russ Lawrence, a UCLA professor. Sally Field stars as Gidget with Don Porter as her father. The series was first broadcast on ABC from September 15, 1965 through April 21, 1966...

series producer Harry Ackerman
Harry Ackerman
Harry Stephen Ackerman was an American TV executive producer at Screen Gems, the television division of Columbia Pictures....

 and was launched after the television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...

 Gidget's Summer Reunion
Gidget's Summer Reunion
Gidget's Summer Reunion is a 1985 television film produced by Columbia Pictures Television for television syndication. It was written by Robert Blees and George Zateslo and directed by Bruce Bilson and starred Caryn Richman as Gidget.-Plot:...

starring Caryn Richman
Caryn Richman
Caryn Richman is an actress who primarily appeared in television series in the 1980s and early 1990s. Her roles include Elena Dekker on the soap opera Texas, Gidget on the television series The New Gidget, and Nora Brady in A Very Brady Christmas and The Bradys.-External links:...

 as Gidget
Gidget
Gidget is a fictional character created by author Frederick Kohner in his 1957 novel, Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas. The novel follows the adventures of a teenage girl and her surfing friends on the beach at Malibu. The name Gidget is a portmanteau of "girl and midget"...

 aired in 1985
1985 in television
The year 1985 involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1985.For the American TV schedule, see: 1985-86 United States network television schedule.-Events:*January 1 – VH1 launches in the United States....

. Richman would go on to reprise the role of Gidget in the series.

Characters

  • Caryn Richman
    Caryn Richman
    Caryn Richman is an actress who primarily appeared in television series in the 1980s and early 1990s. Her roles include Elena Dekker on the soap opera Texas, Gidget on the television series The New Gidget, and Nora Brady in A Very Brady Christmas and The Bradys.-External links:...

     played Francine "Gidget
    Gidget
    Gidget is a fictional character created by author Frederick Kohner in his 1957 novel, Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas. The novel follows the adventures of a teenage girl and her surfing friends on the beach at Malibu. The name Gidget is a portmanteau of "girl and midget"...

    " Lawrence Griffin
  • Dean Butler
    Dean Butler (actor)
    Dean Butler was born May 20, 1956, in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, is an American movie and television actor and producer of documentaries....

     played Jeff "Moondoggie
    Moondoggie
    Moondoggie is a fictional character created by Frederick Kohner in his novel Gidget, The Little Girl with Big Ideas. He appears as a principal character in five of the eight Gidget novels, but is a minor character or is only mentioned in passing in Cher Papa, The Affairs of Gidget and Gidget Goes...

    " Griffin
  • Lili Haydn
    Lili Haydn
    Lili Haydn is a violinist, vocalist, composer, guitarist, and actress. As a child, she pursued a career as an actress; at age eight she discovered the violin and began to focus on classical music. By the time Haydn was fifteen, she had played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.After graduating from...

     played Gail Mitchell
  • Sydney Penny
    Sydney Penny
    Sydney Penny is an American Daytime Emmy-nominated actress best known for the roles of Julia Santos Keefer on the soap opera All My Children and Samantha "Sam" Kelly on the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.She is of part Cherokee descent and raised in Chatsworth, California, the daughter...

     played Danielle "Dani" Collins-Griffin
  • William Schallert
    William Schallert
    William Joseph Schallert is an American actor who has appeared in many films and in such television series as The Smurfs, The Rat Patrol, Gunsmoke, The Patty Duke Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Waltons, Bonanza, Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Love, American Style, Get...

     played Russell "Russ" Lawrence
  • Jill Jacobson
    Jill Jacobson
    Jill Jacobson is an American actress, best known for her performances on television.Her credits include: Crazy Like a Fox, Falcon Crest, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Quantum Leap, Who's The Boss?, Murphy Brown and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-External links:...

     played Larue Wilson
    Larue Wilson
    Larue Wilson is a fictional character introduced in Frederick Kohner's 1957 novel Gidget, the Litte Girl with Big Ideas. She also appears in much of the television work involving Gidget.-The Novel:...

  • Richard Paul
    Richard Paul
    Richard Paul was an American actor.He was born in Los Angeles, California. He was able to imitate most American and many foreign dialects. He had a tenor voice and trained with Lee Sweetland....

     played Wilton Parmenter
  • David N. Preston played Murph the Surf

Plot

The series featured Gidget, who is in her late 20s and married to her idol, "Moondoggie" (Dean Butler
Dean Butler (actor)
Dean Butler was born May 20, 1956, in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, is an American movie and television actor and producer of documentaries....

). The couple live in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...

 where Moondoggie works as an architect and Gidget runs the "Gidget Travel Agency" with her long-time best friend, Larue
Larue Wilson
Larue Wilson is a fictional character introduced in Frederick Kohner's 1957 novel Gidget, the Litte Girl with Big Ideas. She also appears in much of the television work involving Gidget.-The Novel:...

 (Jill Jacobson
Jill Jacobson
Jill Jacobson is an American actress, best known for her performances on television.Her credits include: Crazy Like a Fox, Falcon Crest, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Quantum Leap, Who's The Boss?, Murphy Brown and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-External links:...

).

Gidget and Moondoggie take care of Gidget's niece, Dani (Sydney Penny
Sydney Penny
Sydney Penny is an American Daytime Emmy-nominated actress best known for the roles of Julia Santos Keefer on the soap opera All My Children and Samantha "Sam" Kelly on the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.She is of part Cherokee descent and raised in Chatsworth, California, the daughter...

), who lives with the couple while her parents (supposedly Gidget's sister, Anne and husband John) are overseas. Dani is similar to Gidget when she was a teen and was always getting into trouble with her best friend, Gail (Lili Haydn
Lili Haydn
Lili Haydn is a violinist, vocalist, composer, guitarist, and actress. As a child, she pursued a career as an actress; at age eight she discovered the violin and began to focus on classical music. By the time Haydn was fifteen, she had played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.After graduating from...

). Gidget's father, Russ (William Schallert
William Schallert
William Joseph Schallert is an American actor who has appeared in many films and in such television series as The Smurfs, The Rat Patrol, Gunsmoke, The Patty Duke Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Waltons, Bonanza, Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Love, American Style, Get...

), is on hand to provide advice to the young couple and to remind Gidget that Dani's exploits were similar to the ones she experienced (and sometimes caused) as a teen.

Season 1

Episode # Episode Title Original Airdate
1 "Windsurfing Lesson" September 15, 1986
2 "The Project" September 22, 1986
3 "Crime and Punishment" September 29, 1986
4 "On Account of Danni" October 6, 1986
5 "Fighting City Hall" October 13, 1986
6 "The List" October 20, 1986
7 "Jeff's Anniversary Present" October 27, 1986
8 "The Concert" November 3, 1986
9 "The Baby" November 10, 1986
10 "Super Gidget" November 17, 1986
11 "The '65 Mustang (a.k.a. The '65 Convertible)" November 24, 1986
12 "Stand Up and Cheer (a.k.a. Danni Becomes a Cheerleader)" December 1, 1986
13 "Kahuna
Kahoona
The Kahoona is a character created by Frederick Kohner in his 1957 novel, Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas...

for Sale"
December 18, 1986
14 "Passion for Fashion" December 15, 1986
15 "The Perfect Man" December 22, 1986
16 "The Royal Bluff" August 29, 1986
17 "Citizen Moondoggie" January 5, 1987
18 "It's Only Rock & Roll" January 12, 1987
19 "Oddballs" January 19, 1987
20 "Jake's Shakes" January 26, 1987
21 "Does Paul Know?" February 2, 1987
22 "Dead Man's Curl" February 9, 1987

Season 2

Episode # Episode Title Original Airdate
23 "Gilligidge Island" September 17, 1987
24 "Bred to Shred" September 24, 1987
25 "Invasion of the Gidget People" October 1, 1987
26 "Sealed With a Kiss" October 8, 1987
27 "Head Over Handlebars" October 26, 1987
28 "Drag City" October 29, 1987
29 "Boy Talk" November 5, 1987
30 "The Getaway" November 12, 1987
31 "Kahuna, Jr." November 19, 1987
32 "Malibu Man" November 26, 1987
33 "Potion Emotion" December 3, 1987
34 "Calendar Boys" December 10, 1987
35 "A Christmas Curl" December 17, 1987
36 "Radio Free Malibu" January 7, 1988
37 "Gidget's Guide to Surfing" January 21, 1988
38 "Blast From the Past" February 4, 1988
39 "Rad Chad" February 11, 1988
40 "Altered Surf" February 18, 1988
41 "Perky Pirates of the Pipeline" February 25, 1988
42 "Avocado Heads" April 28, 1988
43 "The Bare Facts (a.k.a. Gidget and Danni Get Arrested)" May 5, 1988
44 "Make Waves, Not War" May 12, 1988
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