Why do we still love The Dick Van Dyke Show?

[TMC]

Celebrate the 60th anniversary of our favorite sitcom!

• 00:00 Introduction
• 01:40 The Creators
• 09:36 The Cast
• 38:41 The Directors
• 46:18 The Writers
• 55:02 The Music
• 57:57 The Announcer
• 58:37 The Guest Stars
• 01:14:24 The Children of the Cast and Crew
• 01:17:49 The Legacy of the show
• 01:24:43 The Endurance of the show
• 01:31:20 A Tribute to Dick Van Dyke from Broadway star, Gavin Lee
• 01:34:02 A toast to the Dick Van Dyke Show family
• 01:34:33 Closing credits

[Yong Fang]

The Dick Van Dyke show was about ten years ahead of its time in many ways. The series was very well written with very talented people and it was a very well crafted show and original.

Some might disagree, but looking back, I am not a big fan of a lot of 1960's television. A lot of shows were gimmicky and juvenile. One problem was that there were a lot more restraints on what can be presented and censorship was much stronger. It was difficult to produce a real adult, mature TV show. Even on Dick Van Dyke, them sleeping in seperate beds? Really? You are married to a 25 year old Mary Tyler Moore and not sleep in the same bed with her? Sexuality was a taboo subject, one of many. So again, since TV series had these official and unofficial restraints relied on gimmicks a lot.

The Dick Van Dyke Show was very intelligent and did not rely on cheap laughs or cheap setups. In many ways it was very real to life. Robert Petrie's boss was a demanding jerk and there was stress in his office. It would have been nice if Laura had a career and they were childless, but again, this was 1962 television, the man worked and the wife took care of the house. But Sally was a professional writer in Rob's office who was an equal. So at least the series showed a professional woman in a professional setting (and their job was HARD, writing for a weekly show for an insane and demanding boss).

In my humble opinion, the only two really intelligent shows of that era was Dick Van Dyke and The Andy Griffith Show. Not that either show wasn't silly with some great but silly characters. But both were real to life. An example of a successful but gimmicky 1960's show was The Beverly Hillbillies, but it was mostly intelligently written for several years, it was an interesting concept. But DVD Show was more real and true to life.

If that makes sense.

[forn]

The simple answer is that it was really well done, well written, well acted, genuinely funny. It doesn't bother me that it took place in a different time, I don't need it to be updated to 2022 (yuck) to enjoy it. A Christmas Carol is set in a different time also, that doesn't bother me one bit.

I agree the show is ahead of its time. It has always reminded me of the later ensemble shows, where there are a lot of regular characters who contribute, like Cheers, Taxi, or The Office. You could name more, I'm sure. But it strikes me that this was an early template for that.

The two main settings, the workplace and the home, was also interesting, and I believe was something of an innovation at the time?

For what it's worth, this is my favorite show of all time. As I said, it's really well done and I don't think it's ever truly been bettered.

[Alan Brady's Hair]

Even on Dick Van Dyke, them sleeping in seperate beds? Really? You are married to a 25 year old Mary Tyler Moore and not sleep in the same bed with her? Sexuality was a taboo subject, one of many. So again, since TV series had these official and unofficial restraints relied on gimmicks a lot.

The beds, like laugh tracks, is a minor thing that gets invoked to trash older shows. Despite the beds and the limited subject matter, I think Rob and Laura were a sexier couple than - who? Sam and Diane? I'm not even sure if we ever saw their beds. The Petries were a lot sexier than Cliff and Claire or Paul and Jamie or any of the later will-they/won't theys.

The freer subject matter was a double-edged sword. I sometimes watch a silly old show and try to fill in the dialogue as it would be today. It's just all sexual innuendo, insults, and potty humor. Even though that gets called mature humor, it's actually juvenile.

In my humble opinion, the only two really intelligent shows of that era was Dick Van Dyke and The Andy Griffith Show

I think that you're probably right as far as them being the best-written sitcoms. I think somewhere between these two and The Danny Thomas Show that we reach the point where TV sitcoms break away from their old base in radio. I also think these shows, and especially van Dyke, become the model for the majority of the good writing that started ten years later, including, MTM, Bob Newhart, Barney Miller, Taxi, WKRP, Cheers, and Frasier.

That said, I think it goes too far to say DvD and Andy were the only "really intelligent" shows of the era. I think that nearly all of the escapist shows - including Mr. Ed, Gilligan, Get Smart, The Hillbillies, Green Acres, The Addams Family - had strong satirical components to them. They addressed serious topics, just avoided solemnity in doing it.

[1960'sTVfan]

I like The Dick Van Dyke Show and have DVD's of the five seasons. A well written, adult sitcom.

I love 1960's TV, my favorite decade for TV shows. I don't like every show from that era but I like many of them.

The instant success of Batman in early 1966 had influence on other shows that began as serious drama but eventually transitioned into juvenile campy satire, shows like The Man From UNCLE, Lost In Space, and a few others were guilty of this.

[Alan Brady's Hair]

I agree the show is ahead of its time. It has always reminded me of the later ensemble shows, where there are a lot of regular characters who contribute, like Cheers, Taxi, or The Office. You could name more, I'm sure. But it strikes me that this was an early template for that.

The two main settings, the workplace and the home, was also interesting, and I believe was something of an innovation at the time?

Yes.

For many years, The Mary Tyler Moore Show was viewed as the source of witty, literate writing in sitcoms. The Bob Newhart Show, of course, was very closely related, and then Taxi, WKRP, and Cheers were all created by people who had worked on MTM or Bob Newhart.

There are obvious similarities (home/office) between the Dick van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore Shows. I've recently been thinking, though, that MTM is so closely patterned on DvD that it's really a reworking of the same premise. It's a very good reworking. For instance, Dick van Dyke just sort of forgot they had a son sometimes, and MTM solved that problem by putting the kid (Bess) in Phyllis's apartment where she could stay until needed.

I think Frasier also broadly copies the DvD structure. I think at least two Frasier episodes - Frasier Crane's Day Off and A Word to the Wiseguy - are reworkings of DvD stories (The Meershatz Pipe and Big Max Calvada, respectively).

[Chocolate Moose]

Let's not pick it apart and spoil the magic. we love it. let us!!!!

[CosmicCharlie]

here's why !

[GentlemanJim]

I have always enjoyed the show. But in the past few years DVD and MTM have started looking so skinny, almost emaciated. Like if they were POW survivors.

I guess that I just have adapted to unhealthy norms? lol But I see them now and it's like "I don't remember them being THAT thin.

[CosmicCharlie]

Originally Posted by GentlemanJim

I have always enjoyed the show. But in the past few years DVD and MTM have started looking so skinny, almost emaciated. Like if they were POW survivors.

I guess that I just have adapted to unhealthy norms? lol But I see them now and it's like "I don't remember them being THAT thin.

Actually MTM as was sick with Diabetes - so you nailed it

At the age of 33 years, during her time on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes

How did Mary Tyler Moore stay slim?
Being diabetic, Mary Tyler Moore had many more dietary concerns than those of her fellow actresses. Moore strove to eat a balanced diet for her, consuming a notoriously healthy menu which kept her very slim and would be considered healthy even by today's standards.

[KatieAnn]

Of all the shows that I've seen that were made in the 60s, the DVD Show is the most hilarious. It's well written, it's clever and there is a good balance of Rob Petrie's home life and work life. I like all the main and supporting characters. I had no idea Dick Van Dyke was so funny and so talented.

There are not many shows where I have actually laughed out loud, but I have while watching several episodes of the DVD Show.

Of course there are always going to be certain things that are overdone on any show that has so many episodes, but I have been impressed by how great this show is, and surprised.

[biffbronson]

To me when I watch, the actors remain so likable, including Ann Morgan Guilbert, Morey Amsterdam, Richard Deacon, and Jerry Paris. So that's in addition to the compelling scripts and the presences of TV icons Van Dyke & Moore.

It's also fun to catch guests like Bob Crane, Richard Dawson, Greg Morris, Don Rickles, and Michael Forest. Bernard Fox is noteworthy, especially when his character falls for Laura as her writing teacher. There are just so many good plots, and the execution is always top-drawer.

[Alan Brady's Hair]

The Dick Van Dyke show was about ten years ahead of its time in many ways.

There were at least a couple of early attempts to copy it. Good Morning, World (1967) was created by many of the DVD creative people. He and She (1967) was largely written by Alan Burns, who went on to create MTM.

[GentlemanJim]

It's remarkable how my perspective on these old classics has changed as I have grown older.

When I first became familiar with the DVD show, all the adult characters were "parental" from my perspective. Whereas now, I have children older than many of the cast members were at the time the episodes were filmed

When I was a kid, Mel Cooley looked like a dinosaur with that bald head. But now I notice that what hair he has left, has not yet turned grey...and think "what a young punk".

[Chocolate Moose]

it was just so great!