Dick van Dyke Show

As a teenager growing up in the early 1960's, I was a big fan of "The Dick Van Dyke Show". And this episode is the one I remember the best, after all these years. It is a flashback to when Ritchie was born and Rob becomes convinced that the hospital accidentally switched their baby for another one born at the same time of a family with a similar name. The climactic moment (which I will not reveal) was both one of the funniest things I ever saw on television in my life and an amazing demonstration of how American attitudes were changing. I have read that this is Dick Van Dyke's personal favorite episode, and I completely agree with him. Apparently, the live studio audience laughed so long and hard that the cameras had to stop until they calmed down and the actors could continue.

I would guess that today the shock of this moment is lost to a great extent, but for its time, it was an astonishing, courageous moment - and also side-splittingly funny.

I have to say, even knowing enough about TV history to have respect for this show didn't prepare me AT ALL for how ridiculously funny it is. As a long time fan of "Mad About You," which is clearly a tribute, I can see the setup here, but it's amazing to see how one of the truly landmark television shows still stands up after all this time. I'm just finishing Season 2 on DVD, and I have to say kudos to whoever put these together.

As to the show itself, if you've never seen it, you're seriously missing out. Some of the best laughs I've ever had watching television have come from watching this show. In fact, watching this, I can see many early glimpses of popular sitcom characters from later years.

A real treat!

The Dick Van Dyke Show has always been one of my favorites; from the first time I saw it in syndicated reruns, to the recent dvd releases. Despite the passage of time, it still holds up. The reason? It had the best writing and performances of any show and it presented real characters in believable situations. You can argue about other classic shows, like I Love Lucy, All in The Family, MASH, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Seinfeld, or Cheers; but, in my opinion this was the finest comedy show on television.

Carl Reiner is a comedy genius who turned his own life into a comedy goldmine. After starring in an unsold pilot, he was faced with the fact he was wrong to portray his own life. With the help of Sheldon Leonard and Danny Thomas, he was able to bring Rob Petrie to life, via Dick Van Dyke. He filled the series with great actors and the best writing on television. It was a perfect format, a show about a writer for a top variety show. It lent itself to logical guest appearances and a host of unusual and amusing situations. It was filled with a cast of great characters: lovable, if klutzy Rob Petrie, beautiful and talented wife Laura, joke machine Buddy Sorrell, sarcastic and love-starved Sally Rogers, pompous, but exploited producer Mel Cooley, demanding egomaniac boss Alan Brady, neighbors Jerry and Milly Helper, and cute son Richie Petrie. Everyone had their moments.

So many of the shows were classics that it is hard to pick favorites. There are the wonderful dream stories, such as "The Gunslinger", "It May Look Like A Walnut", and "The Bad Old Days". There are the performance shows, like "The Alan Brady Show Presents", "The Sam Pomerantz Scandals", and "The Alan Brady Show Goes to Jail". There are the flashbacks to Rob and Laura's courtship and early days of marriage, as well as Rob's beginnings with the Alan Bady Show. Then there are the ones that are just plain fun, like "A Ghost of A. Chantz", "Never Bathe on Saturday", and numerous others. The shows could also be quite touching, like "Buddy Sorrel, Man and Boy". Even weaker shows had great moments.

One of the reasons the show holds up well is that it lasted only 5 seasons and didn't get a chance to wear out its welcome. Everyone was at the top of their game when they called it quits.

When the show first came to "Nick at Night," I was ecstatic. I hadn't seen the show in several years and proceeded to tape the entire premiere marathon (which meant getting up early in the morning to change tapes). Those tapes quickly became worn out. Now, I have them on dvd, complete with promos, commentaries, features and other extras. This show will continue to live on as testament to the best of television comedy. Too bad they don't make shows like this anymore.

The crazy tales of comedy writer Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke), his wife Laura (Mary Tyler Moore), son Ritchie (Larry Matthews) and co-workers Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam) and Sally Rogers (Rose Marie). Usually, some mishap starts out small, but spreads and ends up involving everyone. As a side note, whenever Rob, Buddy and Sally's producer Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon) enters the office, Buddy always makes unfriendly remarks about his bald head.

I watch "The Dick Van Dyke Show" every chance I get. From the moment that Rob trips over the ottoman in the opening sequence, you know that something loony is fast approaching. Whether Rob and Laura accidentally eavesdrop on their neighbors Jerry and Millie Helper (Jerry Paris and Ann Morgan Guilbert), or Sally's relationships remain in limbo, TDVDS never disappoints me.

While of course Rob is the main character, my favorite character is Buddy. I nearly die laughing at his comments about Cooley's bald head. It's just wickedly funny. The sort of material that could only come from Carl Reiner (who occasionally appeared on the show as Rob, Buddy and Sally's boss, the tyrannical Alan Brady).

All in all, TDVDS is definitely one of the funniest shows in TV history. I hope that it never stops rerunning!

I've been buying the season-by-season DVD sets as they come out; my wife and I have been watching them with great enjoyment. It's very interesting to see how the show and characters develop, how Laura changes from a more-or-less standard sitcom wife into a very distinctive personality.

Dick Van Dyke is one of the greatest comedy performers ever; I think he's up there with the great silent clowns--but really, only on this series. I mean, has anyone seen SOME KIND OF NUT or, say, FITZWILLY lately? He must have been the target of some awful career advice. But at least this show exists to show his incredible physical abilities, his perfect timing, his genial personality and so forth. Bless the hearts of whoever decided to put this show out on DVD.

One reason I think this is superior even to, say,THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW is that none of the regulars on DICK VAN DYKE were created as Comedy Characters--all are essentially realistic rather than clownish types like Ted Baxter on MTMS. That's a great series, too, but I have to give DICK VAN DYKE the edge.