Looking at the Worst Episode thread, it seems like "The Twizzle" is among a handful of Dick van Dyke episodes that are most disliked. I've always thought it was great, probably one of the top ten episodes in a series where that means something.

What I like about it:

1. Sally's the one driving the whole thing, and she's totally out of control;
2. It pretty well captures (satirically) the Twist craze* that prevailed in the early and mid-sixties;
3. It's a great song, and young Jerry Lanning sings the heck out of it;
4. The "ballad" he ends up singing is a great song, and again he does a great job with it;
5. Jack Albertson! 10 years before Chico and the Man - and he does a crazy legs dance!
6. Freddy Blassie!
7. There's even a little message here: to thine own self be true.

So my question: what's not to like?

*My iPod currently has six Chubby Checker Twist songs, plus The Peppermint Twist, Twist All Night, and When the Saints Go Twistin' In.

I also like this show. The Twizzle is a fun song & dance, and I also like the song that Jerry Lanning sang at the piano, "This Nearly Was Mine".

I'm totally with ya Alan's Hair! I think a lot of fans tend to go with the bandwagon and say the Twizzle is one of their least favorites just because it's popular to say that. I really enjoy the episode for a lot of reasons you mention. The Twizzle number itself is just so much fun!! Watching Buddy and Sally try to dance together, Mel dance with the teenage girls, etc. is hilarious. Plus I think the writers did a tasteful job addressing how the gang would react to the Twist craze. I can see why some might think this kind of plot "dates" the show, but in The Twizzle's case the humor is still there, so I don't think that's a bad thing. Other shows that just relied on topical humor (Patty Duke, The Beverly Hillbillies, etc.) tended to have dicey/average writing anyway, but that's not something The Dick Van Dyke Show ever had to worry about.

The Twizzle was one of my fav episodes.

This may be nitpicking, but I didn't like the ending with Rob being picked up by the big guy-Blassie. I'm surprised the big guy didn't throw Rob across the room and injured him.

I read somewhere that even Dick doesn't like this episode.

The Twizzle was one of their best episodes. Fun, entertaining, etc. I don't understand why it gets so much hate.

It's fun, a little campy, and of its time, I think that's why critics dismiss it--it's an atypical episode of this series. Personally, I love the 60s episodes that spoof pop culture: Lucy in the Music World (The Lucy Show), Jeannie the Guru (I Dream of Jeannie), Hippie Hippie Hooray (Bewitched), Hooterville A-Go-Go (Petticoat Junction). Those are among my favorites of each series, despite the fact some would call them gimmicky and dated.