Gidget is an American sitcom television series by Screen Gems 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 father Russell Lawrence. The series was first broadcast on ABC from September 15, 1965, to April 21, 1966. Reruns were aired until September 1, 1966.Gidget was among the first regularly scheduled color programs on ABC. With a Wednesday-night time slot that put it in direct competition with The Beverly Hillbillies and The Virginian, it did poorly in the Nielsen ratings and was cancelled at the end of its first season.