A year before Gidget came on the air, there was a similar styled sitcom called Karen starring Debbie Watson. Karen was created by Leave It To Beaver creators Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher. Karen like Gidget only lasted one season.
If you go to youtube and type in Karen sitcom or Karen Debbie Watson, there is a complete episode and some clips. The theme song was sung by The Beach Boys.
Thanks for this info. I'm surprised I don't remember this show considering I was such a faithful Gidget fan and watched each show when they originally aired. I'll have to watch some episodes in full to see if I end up remembering them after all.
I did watch the opening and noticed that Mary LaRoche played Karen's mother. Just a coincidence , but she played the mother in the movie Gidget with Sandra Dee.
Yes, Mary LaRoche did play Gidget's mother in the 1959 film. I have only seen 2 complete episodes of Karen, but Trudy Aames was in one who also appeared in Gidget Goes To Rome and Bonnie Franklin (One Day At A Time) guest starred in another who also appeared on Gidget the series with Sally Field.
Richard Denning who played Karen's father went on play the Governor on Hawaii Five-O.
Gina Gillespie who played sister Mimi was the sister to Darlene who was one of the Mouseketeer's with Annette.
Debbie Watson went on to do the TV version of Tammy and the films Munster Go Home and The Cool One's.