I am mistaken about Gidget’s hair color after Sally Fields, Monte Ellis was a blonde Gidget. Corrections made.

As to “the Big Kahuna”, that information came from the the movie’s entry at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052847/.

Also it was never “the Big Kahuna,” if anything it was “the great Kahuna,” but more often simply “the Kahuna.” He appeared in only one episode of the 60′s sitcom, but he was a principal charcter in the first two novels and the first movie, and a recurring character in “The New Gidget.” He also appearred in “Gidget’s Summer Reunion.”

Hair color was the least of Gidget’s discontinuities. In the first novel her name is “Franzie, short for Franziska,” after her Grandmother, but no last name is offered. In that same novel her father is addressed as Paul. In all the subsequent novels she is Franzie Hofer, the daughter of Gottefried and Louise Hofer. In the films she is Frances Lawrence, daughter of Russ and Dorothy Lawrence. The name Lawrence stuck for the television work.

In the novels Moondoggie’s name is Geoffrey H. Griffin. In the films and 60′s sitcom he is Jeffrey Matthews. In “Gidget Grows Up” his name changes back to Griffin, then to Stevens in “Gidget Gets Married,” then back to Griffin for all the subsequent television work. The Kahuna’s name is Cassius Jason in the novels, Burt Vail in the Movie and Cassius Kopp in the 60′s sitcom.