Friends,
In thinking about the fact that our show is no longer on the air, cable, or satellite, something occurred to me. Our modern technology might prove to be the undoing of this show for good.
What keeps shows on TV are ratings - good ones. Ratings are only good when lots of people watch a program. Today's youth knows less and less of the great classic sitcoms of the 50's and 60's, so they can't be counted on to want to see these shows broadcast. "Baby boomers" still love classics like TDVDS, and prefer to watch them over more recently produced sitcoms. Normally, we'd ask to see these shows on TV and flock to whatever channel put them on the air. However, with the advent of the VCR, DVD, and "On Demand" television now available for your laptop, why would we clamor for cable, satellite, or local programmers to add these shows to their lineup? We can see them anytime.
We wanted TDVDS on DVD, and we got it. Now the ratings have plummeted so low, it got removed from TV Land, a channel where, just a couple years ago TDVDS was so popular it was on twice daily. At least with that kind of airtime a show could pic up new, younger viewers who can keep it going another few years at a time. But I fear that now that opportunity is lost.
Where once I thought I shouldn't hold my breath to see TDVDS on DVD, now I think I shouldn't hold my breath to ever see it aired again. I think this may be the wave of the future. I think great classics like The Dick Van Dyke Show, Leave It To Beaver, Father Knows Best, The Donna Reed Show, The Addams Family, The Munsters, My Mother The Car and eventually I Love Lucy, and The Andy Griffith Show are all going to have to find a permanent place on the DVD rack in the homes of those of us who still cherish their increasingly obsolete morality.

Any thoughts?

Steve

Just like we have oldies and "Music of Your Life" radio stations and given the vast number of channels available, there may yet be a market for a television network specializing in these shows. It would have to be fairly low-cost, but as time goes by and with "newer" oldies coming along, it may not be worth the cost for the owners of these programs (i.e. Dick Van Dyke, Andy Griffith, Beaver, etc.) to continually renew their copyrights, hence they'd be cheaper to obtain. Just be prepared for a lot of Dentu-cream and incontinence products commercials! LOL!

I wouldn't be surprised to see iTunes downloadable versions of these show in the not too distant future. There is still hope for the younger generation to see them.

Lolac
:(

Just be prepared for a lot of Dentu-cream and incontinence products commercials! LOL!
LOL!:lol:

Steve

I wouldn't be surprised to see iTunes downloadable versions of these show in the not too distant future. There is still hope for the younger generation to see them.

Lolac
:(
:yeahthat

it's not on TV land anymore? When did that happen???

At the end of August. :(

I wonder if the ratings were really down or they were just trying to fix something that wasn't broke? I love having uncut DVDs but having show on the air
gives it more of a feeling it still lives on and is being enjoyed by both new and old fans at the same moment we're watching. Maybe even someone on the show is watching. I think this is the first time I ever remember the show not being on, and it feels wrong. Like someone has control of it and yet doesn't care about it and what it means to people.

Nice to see a mention of "My Mother The Car," Steve. Not many would include that but I watched it when I was a kid and before I was a fan of TDVDS. I liked it and would like to see that on DVD. I'm glad that
Jerry Van Dyke finally had a hit with "Coach." He sometimes hit some great comedy peaks on that show that he hadn't reached since TDVDS.

I know what you mean; it feels like it's been on TV for almost forever. Before NICK AT NITE started showing it in the late 80s; it was always on in sydnication somewhere. This is the first time in years that it hasn't been airing somewhere (at least, from what I remember)

What other stations aired it before its runs on Nick@Nite and TV Land? I only remember seeing it on Nick@Nite. I would watch TDVDS, Get Smart and whatever else was in between!

I can't say specifically what stations aired TDVDS, but I can remember watching it in syndication as a kid as far back as the late 60s/early 70s, way before cable tv. In fact, I can't remember a time that I wasn't watching TDVDS along with Bewitched, and Leave it to Beaver. Of course, with Bewitched some of that time was during it's original run.

I remember a local station in my area used to air back-to-back reruns of it weeknights at 7 and 7:30 back in the mid-70s. I remember, it was when CBS was showing "The New Dick Van Dyke show" on, I think, Wednesdays.
And I also remember it being on various local stations in the 70s and 80s.

In Arizona I used to watch Dick Van Dyke Show at noon on KPHO TV, it was on in this time slot until it left the air here and went to NICK@NITE in the mid 80s and when it moved so did I and I loved the time slot it was in on that channel then followed it to TVLand until it's end. It is so sad to see the day that this wonderful show is no longer airing on either channel. I certainly remember when Dick Van Dyke was Chairman of the board at Nick@Nite. KPHO TV aired it in the noon slot when I moved to Arizona in early 1977. I wish the day would come when this show would go back to the local stations like in 60s and 70s.