Larue (Lynette Winter) takes Gidget (Sally Field) to the beach to meet two friends from her guitar class, Doug (Murray MacLeod) and Paul (Jimmy Hawkins, noted child actor who played a son to A-list celebrities of the 40s, including the role of Tommy Bailey from "It's a Wonderful Life"). With barely an introduction they become smitten by her and hand Gidget a tambourine to join the group "The Young People". The four begin performing folk music for classmates and get enough attention to be asked to headline the Color Day Show. Gidget is excited while Laure is miffed that the guys now struggle to even remember her name. Gidget writes into a variety show as if she's a theatrical agent promoting The Young People as a great upcoming group. Producer Mr. Rick Arden (familiar character actor Sandy Kenyon) books them for an on-the-air audition. They feel they have to change their image and becoming a Gothic "Gidget and the Gories" bringing in a drummer, Ringo Feinberg (Dennis Olivieri). The guys tell Gidget to tell Larue that she's out of the group, but she does the deed for Gidget. Now Gidget is questioning her involvement with the band. Her dad Mr. Lawrence (Don Porter) signs release papers for her to appear on television and takes them to Mr. Arden's office (Larry Tate's office from "Bewitched"). He finds that Mr. Arden most liked their clean image, which leads the band on an unexpected course.
