Some of the plot points have been a bit risquee. I'm surprised they got away with "The Man From 'Emperor''--- it's a miracle it got passed the censors. 'Emperor' is implied to be a men's magazine, and is not too popular with the wives (especially Laura). Rob was considering a job offer there to be a consultant on the humor section of the magazine, but still, Laura was jealous of all the pretty girls that'd be around him all the time. By today's standards, this situation wouldn't phase any of the viewing audience; but back then was much different. Much more prudish (at least television wise). Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had a very long struggle with CBS just 10 years before VAN DYKE when she was pregnant and it would have to become a plotline for the show as well (she couldn't keep filming otherwise). However, 'Emperor' did make it to the airwaves, but that really did surprise me after recently watching it on disc. The most risquee line came in the form of a name: The head of the magazine's secretary was named Felatia!
A plotline that did cause some controversy was the infamous "wrong baby" episode where Rob thinks him and Laura brought the wrong kid home from the hospital. It turns out that the other couple was black and the baby that Rob and Laura had in their possession was not! Laura also suspected Rob of cheating on her I believe in a couple of episodes. And Rob was faced with the difficult task of talking to Ritchie about "Where He Came From" in an early episode. All in all, though, THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW is good, clean, family entertainment.
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