The catchphrase Good stuff, Maynard! Comes from a series of TV commercials for Malt-O-Meal hot cereal that aired during the early 1980s and featured a little boy and his imaginary friend Maynard. Some folks still use this phrase today when enthusing about tasty food or suggesting that something has positive qualities. Although a lot of people suggest it may come from the television show The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis because one of the main characters is named “Maynard,” nobody has been able to pinpoint the phrase in an episode of the program. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Good Stuff, Maynard!”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hello. Hey, this is Lucas. I’m from Northeast Iowa.
What’s on your mind today, Lucas?
Well, when I hear the show, I always think I’m going to come up with these great ideas of what I’m going to ask you.
But I always think of them when I’m not near a pen or anything.
I never remember to write them down.
But the one that stuck with me over the years is something I’ve heard since I was a kid.
And I don’t know if it’s just an Upper Midwest thing.
I guess a lot of people here have heard of it.
But let’s say someone were to set a large plate of food in front of you of good eating, you’d say, good stuff, Maynard.
Kind of a good old pat on the back, like, can’t go wrong with that.
And I always wondered, who is this Maynard fellow and why does he get good stuff?
Maynard with the full belly, huh?
Yeah, I guess so.
Yeah, well, this goes back to a commercial or a series of commercials, actually, in the 1980s for Malto Meal.
Did you ever have that?
Yeah, yep, that and cocoa wheats too, yep.
Okay, yeah, yeah, it’s like a competitor to cream of wheat, and it’s a hot cereal.
And there was this long series of commercials that featured a dad and son at breakfast, a young boy.
And I think the first one of these involved the little boy pushing away his bowl of malto meal.
And his dad says, what are you doing? And he says, I’m giving my cereal to Maynard.
And his dad says, who’s Maynard? And he says, my friend.
Of course, he’s pushing it in front of this empty place at the breakfast table.
And so his dad addresses this imaginary friend and says, Maynard, you know, you’re eating malto meal.
And then he describes why it’s such a great thing to eat. It’s delicious and iron fortified.
And then the dad goes back to reading his newspaper and says, good stuff, Maynard.
And at that point, the little boy pulls the bowl back in front of him and starts eating.
And then his dad looks down from the newspaper again and says, where’s Maynard?
And the little boy says, he went out to play.
So it’s just this goofy series of commercials involving somebody named Maynard.
And that tagline, good stuff, Maynard, really stuck.
And you kind of couldn’t turn on the TV without seeing those commercials back in the 80s.
Yeah, as early as 1981, I think.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Do you remember seeing those?
Yeah, well, I do now.
And Maynard was an imaginary friend then.
Yeah.
Right.
He’s not even a real person.
No, but apparently he has lots of good stuff.
Excellent.
Excellent.
Well, I’ll have to cook up a few more as I come along and see what else I can come up with.
Sounds great. Good stuff.
Thanks, Chris. Take care.
Thanks for calling. Take care.
Bye.
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Good stuff was a common term used in the 1940s and 1950s. Bob Denver played a character called Maynard on the show. The actor that played Dolby Gillis would commonly Say to Maynard Good stuff Maynard In every episode and before you know it it caught on as a common saying around households across America. Could you please Change Or Edit your article to reflect this. Thanks