"I have only heard recently that he was the guy who dropped the word to director Gower Champion and that's how I got the audition for 'Bye Bye Birdie.' " Not only did Van Dyke earn a Tony, but the musical also led to him being cast as TV writer Rob Petrie on the seminal Emmy Award-winning comedy series "The Dick Van Dyke Show," which aired on CBS from 1961-66.

Creator-writer-producer Carl Reiner had shot the original pilot, "Head of the Family," with himself as the lead, but CBS didn't like Reiner. "Carl saw me in 'Bye Bye Birdie' when he was casting the show. I got a week off from 'Birdie,' I came out here and did the pilot and it sold. I had a script I wanted to do as a pilot, and once I read Carl's stuff, I just threw it away."

The series, which costarred Mary Tyler Moore as his capri-wearing wife, Laura, Morey Amsterdam and Rose Marie as fellow writers Buddy and Sally, and Reiner as obnoxious TV star Alan Brady, was "the best five years of my life," says Van Dyke. "I had the most fun."

But it was Reiner, according to Van Dyke, who said at the outset that he would end the show after five seasons. "He felt that you would start repeating yourself. We could have gone another five. I didn't want to quit. I would still be doing it today."

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-classic-hollywood-20101206,0,6181239.story?track=rss

http://www.timvp.com/dvd3.jpg

Great article about a great guy who is a great performer!!

Great article about a great guy who is a great performer!!
:yeahthat

Dick Van Dyke = Class Act!!!! :cool: :D

..in the original "Head of the Family" pilot, Sheldon Leonard, when he became "affiliated" with the project, told Carl in effect, "There is only one thing wrong with the show- YOU". He suggested that Reiner stay behind the scenes as writer/producer, while a "new" Rob was considered for the second pilot. They came close to considering Johnny Carson for the role...until Carl saw "Bye Bye Birdie" [and Dick] on Broadway. Dick, in fact, had starred in a previous unsold pilot under consideration for CBS' 1960-'61 schedule, "The Trouble With Richard" {nice young bachelor as a klutz}.

:tv:

Wow! I'd never heard about "The Trouble with Richard"!
I'm glad it never got made into a series, because I love what we ended up with with "The Dick Van Dyke Show," but has it ever been explained why TTWR didn't make it?
And is that pilot out there anywhere?

What a lovely article. Thanks for posting. :)

...And is that pilot out there anywhere?

I was fortunate enough to just receive the complete 5-season DVD collection for Christmas, and apparently, the pilot can be found in Season One.

I've never seen the pilot -- in fact, I didn't even realize that it existed until I saw it mentioned on the DVD package.

Also, if you are interested, the pilot can be viewed at hulu.com.

Just visit this link:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/14762/the-dick-van-dyke-show-pilot---head-of-the-family#s-p7-n1-so-i0