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The New Dick Van Dyke Show aired from September 1971 until September 1974 on CBS.
Created by Carl Reiner ( the man responsible for The Dick Van Dyke Show), this half-hour sitcom went through two formats in its three seasons. During its first two seasons on the air, the series was filmed on location at Carefree, Arizona ( Dick Van Dyke was living in Arizona at the time and didn't want to move to Hollywood).Van Dyke starred as Dick Preston, the host of a local talk show on KXIV-TV, a mythical Phoenix, Arizona television station. The series revolved around his personal life with his wife Jenny ( Hope Lange), and their nine-year-old daughter Annie ( Angela Powell), and his professional life with the talk show. His manager Bernie ( Marty Brill), and Bernie's wife Carol ( Nancy Dussault) were personal friends and his sister Mike ( Fannie Flagg) doubled as his secretary. Seen occasionally was Dick's son Lucas ( Michael Shea and later Wendell Burton), who was away at a private boarding school.
For the third season, the setting of the show moved to Hollywood and so did its production. Dick moved his family there so that he could take advantage of an opportunity to star in a daytime soap opera , Those Who Care. New series regulars were the soap opera's writer Dennis Whitehead ( Barry Gordon); it's producer, Max Mathias( Dick Van Patten); it's stage manager , Alex Montenez ( Henry Darrow); and the soap opera's star , Margot Brighton ( Barbara Rush). In the soap Dick played Dr. Brad Fairmont. At home the Preston's had aquired new neighbors in Richard and Connie Richardson ( Richard Dawson, Chita Rivera).
The New Dick Van Dyke Show ended its run under a cloud of controversy. An episode titled " Lt. Preston of the 4th Calvary was scheduled to air in December 1973 but CBS refused to air it. They objected to an off-camera scene in which the Preston's young daughter Annie walked in on them while they were making love. Carl Reiner was so angry that he vowed that he would quit the show at the end of the season which he did. CBS wanted to renew The New Dick Van Dyke Show for a fourth season but Van Dyke decided he didn't want to do the show without Reiner and so he returned to the Arizona desert.
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