Dennis the Menace
Pythias Was a Piker
TV Flash files “Pythias Was a Piker” as a desk essential hour — Dennis the Menace (1959–1963) on CBS, season 2, episode 17, aired 1961-01-29, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E17: listed hour 49 of 146 in the Dennis the Menace guide, hour 17 of 38 in season 2. It aired 1961-01-29 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Miss Cathcart's Friend” (S02E16). Next is “Dennis and the Saxophone” (S02E18).
Essential hour: “Pythias Was a Piker”. Pythias Was a Piker — mid-run title as friendship farce, the cowlick still treating Wilson's garden as a set.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Pythias Was a Piker sit in the Dennis the Menace guide?
S02E17 is listed hour 49 of 146 — hour 17 of 38 in season 2, season 2 episode 17.
When did Dennis the Menace S02E17 air?
Pythias Was a Piker aired 1961-01-29 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
Dennis versus Mr. Wilson is the neighbor contract: North's cowlick, Kearns's suffering. Gordon's later John Wilson is the recast after Kearns's death.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Dennis the Menace translated Hank Ketcham's comic-strip kid into CBS suburbia: Jay North's cowlick chaos and Joseph Kearns (later Gale Gordon) as long-suffering Mr. Wilson. Midcentury neighbor comedy — good intentions as property damage. The sitcom that taught a generation 'good ol' Mr. Wilson' and made a newspaper panel into living-room folklore.
The group chat still quotes the neighbor. Dennis the Menace translated Hank Ketcham's comic-strip kid into CBS suburbia: Jay North's cowlick chaos and Joseph Kearns — later Gale Gordon — as long-suffering Mr. Wilson. 1959–1963: four seasons, 146 episodes. Gloria Henry and Herbert Anderson apologize in stereo as the Mitchells. Midcentury neighbor comedy — good intentions as property damage. **"Good ol' Mr. Wilson" became living-room language.** (I said spoiler-free. The garden is always the set.)
Filed against
- Jay North as Dennis Mitchell
Jay North’s Dennis Mitchell translated Hank Ketcham’s cowlick into CBS suburbia — good intentions as property damage, Joseph Kearns then Gale Gordon as long-suffering Mr. Wilson. 1960s neighbor comedy that taught a generation what a…
- Joseph Kearns as George Wilson
Joseph Kearns’s George Wilson suffered Dennis the Menace as CBS suburbia — Hank Ketcham’s comic-strip kid, Jay North’s cowlick chaos, good intentions as property damage. Midcentury neighbor comedy, later Gale Gordon in the same…
- Gloria Henry as Alice Mitchell
Gloria Henry grounded Dennis the Menace as Alice Mitchell — 1960s CBS suburbia, Jay North's cowlick chaos, Mr. Wilson next door, good intentions as property damage. Midcentury neighbor comedy needed a mother who was not a siren. TV Flash…
- Herbert Anderson as Henry Mitchell
Herbert Anderson played Henry Mitchell, Dennis the Menace's tired dad — 1960s CBS suburbia, Jay North's cowlick chaos, Mr. Wilson next door, good intentions as property damage. Midcentury neighbor comedy needed a father who looked insured…