Originally entitled "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," the format (September 29, 1959 through March 7, 1961) depicted events in the lives of the Gillis family: Herbert, owner of the Gillis Grocery Store, his wife Winnie, and their teenage son Dobie. Stories relate Dobie's running battle with his father over the prospect of acquiring work, his relationship with his beatnik friend and "good buddy" Maynard G. Krebs, and his endless romantic heartaches, most of which center around Thalia Menninger, a beautiful but self-centered young woman who struggles to improve Dobie and find him the job that will make him "oodles and oodles of money" (though not for her -- the last hope her family has, but instead for a 60-year-old father with a kidney condition, a mother who isn't getting any younger, a sister who married a loafer, and a brother who is becoming a public charge.The second format (March 14, 1961 through September 19, 1961) depicts Dobie and Maynard's experiences as Army privates when they are drafted into the Army.
In the final format (September 26, 1961 through September 18, 1963) Dobie and Maynard complete their military service and, still undecided about their futures, decide to enroll in S. Peter Pryor Junior College. The series relates Dobie and Maynard's misadventures as they struggle to find a comfortable niche in society.