The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired
on CBS from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl
Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Larry Mathews,
and Mary Tyler Moore. It centered on the work and home life of television comedy
writer Rob Petrie. The show was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam
Denoff. The music for the show's theme song was written by Earle Hagen.
The series won 15 Emmy Awards. In 1997, the episodes "Coast-to-Coast Big Mouth"
and "It May Look Like a Walnut" were ranked at 8 and 15 respectively on TV
Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2002, it was ranked at 13 on TV
Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time and in 2013, it was ranked at 20 on
their list of the 60 Best Series. Premise
The two main settings show the work and home life of Rob Petrie, the head writer
of a comedy/variety show produced in Manhattan. Viewers are given an "inside
look" at how a television show was written and produced. Many scenes deal
with Rob and his co-writers, Buddy Sorrell and Sally Rogers. Mel Cooley, a
balding straight man and recipient of numerous insulting one-liners from
Buddy, was the show's producer and the brother-in-law of the show's star, Alan
Brady. As Rob, Buddy, and Sally write for a comedy show, the premise provides
a built-in forum for them to be making jokes constantly. Other scenes focus on
the home life of Rob, his wife Laura, and son Richie, who live at 148 Bonnie
Meadow Road in suburban New Rochelle, New York. Also often seen are their
next-door neighbors and best friends, Jerry Helper, a dentist, and his wife
Millie. Head of the Family pilot
The Dick Van Dyke Show was preceded by a 1960 pilot for a series to be called
Head of the Family, with different actors playing the parts, although the
characters were essentially the same, with the absence of Mel Cooley. In the
pilot, Carl Reiner, who created the show based on his own experiences as a TV
writer, played Robbie Petrie, although the name was pronounced with a long "e",
as opposed to the short "e" used in the later program. Laura Petrie was played
by Barbara Britton, Buddy Sorrell by Morty Gunty, Sally Rogers by Sylvia
Miles, Ritchie by Gary Morgan, and Alan Sturdy, the Alan Brady character, was
played by Jack Wakefield, although his face was never fully seen, which was
also the case with Carl Reiner's Alan Brady for the first several seasons of
The Dick Van Dyke Show. The pilot was unsuccessful, which led
Reiner to revamp the show with Dick Van Dyke playing the central character.
The pilot was later revamped and remade as the series episode "Father of the
Week". Episodes
At least three episodes were filmed without a live studio audience: "The Bad
Old Days," which featured an extended flashback sequence that relied on
optical effects that would have been impractical to shoot with a live
audience in the studio; "The Alan Brady Show Presents," which required elaborate
set and costume changes; and "Happy Birthday and Too Many More," which was
filmed on November 26, 1963, only four days after President Kennedy's
assassination. Reiner considered moving the production
of the series to full color as early as season three, only to drop the idea when
he was informed that it would add about $7,000 to the cost of each episode.
Characters Main:
Robert Simpson "Rob" Petrie – head writer for The Alan Brady Show, a
fictional network television comedy/variety show broadcast from New
York City. The role of Rob Petrie was almost given to Johnny Carson, but
Sheldon Leonard, the show's executive producer, suggested Van Dyke.
Laura Petrie – Rob's wife. As a 17-year-old dancer in the United Service
Organizations, she met and married Rob. Then, she became a stay-at-home mom.
About 60 actresses auditioned for the part before Moore was signed. Moore
later wrote that she almost skipped the audition.
Maurice "Buddy" Sorrell – an energetic and at times sarcastic "human joke
machine", one of the comedy writers. Amsterdam was recommended for the role
by Rose Marie as soon as she had signed on to the series. Buddy is constantly
making fun of Mel Cooley, the show's producer, for being bald and dull. His
character is loosely based on Mel Brooks who also wrote for Your Show of Shows.
He makes frequent jokes about his marriage to his wife Fiona Conway
"Pickles" Sorrell. In several episodes, it is mentioned that Buddy is Jewish. He
was identified by his birth name, Moishe Selig, when he had his belated bar
mitzvah in "Buddy Sorrell – Man and Boy." Buddy plays the cello and owns a
large German Shepherd named Larry. Buddy made a guest appearance on the Danny
Thomas Show episode, "The Woman Behind the Jokes" that aired October 21, 1963.
Sally Rogers – another of the comedy writers, and the designated typist, who
is always on the lookout for a husband. The character was loosely based on Selma
Diamond and Lucille Kallen, both writers for Your Show of Shows. She never drinks
and quotes frequently from her "Aunt Agnes in Cleveland". She has an
on-again/off-again relationship with her boyfriend Herman Glimscher, who seems to
be too much of a mama's boy to get married. She frequently scares men off
with her sense of humor and strong personality.
Richard Rosebud "Richie" Petrie – Rob and Laura's son
Supporting: Melvin "Mel" Cooley – the balding
producer of The Alan Brady Show and Alan Brady's brother-in-law. Though Mel can
often be an obsequiously sycophantic yes-man to the demanding Brady, he is
also shown to be a dedicated, competent producer who takes his responsibilities
very seriously. Mel is constantly at odds with Buddy, who often makes
insulting comments about Mel's baldness, to which Mel often responds with a
simple "Yechh!" Millie Helper – the Petries' neighbor
and Laura's best friend. Jerry Helper – the Petries' neighbor,
Millie's husband, Rob's best friend, and a dentist.
Alan Brady – the egocentric, toupee-wearing star of The Alan Brady
Show. Originally an off-screen character, then shown only with his back
to the camera or only in voice, Brady began to make full-face appearances in
season four. Alan appeared on the Mad About You episode, "The Alan Brady
Show", named after the fictional show within The Dick Van Dyke Show, that
aired February 16, 1995. Recurring:
Stacey Petrie – Rob's brother, played by Dick Van Dyke's real-life brother.
Stacey – a quiet, shy, man – is prone to episodes of sleepwalking, during which
he becomes, literally, the banjo-playing life of the party, and calls his brother
Rob "Burford". Fiona Conway "Pickles" Sorrell – Buddy's
slightly nutty wife and former showgirl. She becomes an off-screen character
after season two. Herman Glimscher – Sally's occasional
and nerdy boyfriend. In the 2004 reunion special, Sally and Herman had been
married for years Sam Petrie - - Rob and Stacey's father,
Laura's father-in-law, and Clara's husband.
Clara Petrie - - Rob and Stacey's mother, Laura's mother-in-law, and Sam's
wife. Mr. and Mrs. Alan Meehan – are Laura's
parents. Freddie Helper – Millie and Jerry
Helper's son and Richie's closest friend.
Sol/Sam Pomeroy/Pomerantz – Rob's army buddy in flashback episodes, was
originally played by Marty Ingels. The character's names changed over the
course of the series. Ingels left the role in 1962 to star in I'm Dickens,
He's Fenster. In 1963, the character was played by two actors, Allan Melvin and
Henry Calvin. Delivery boy – originally a nameless
character played by Jamie Farr in four season one episodes. Subsequently, he
was given the name Willie, and Herbie Faye played the role.
Mrs. Billings - the head of the local Parent-Teacher Association, who
shoehorns Rob into writing and directing their annual fundraising shows.
A group of character actors played several different roles during the five
seasons. Actors who appeared more than once, sometimes in different roles,
included Elvia Allman, Tiny Brauer, Bella Bruck, Jane Dulo, Bernard Fox,
Dabbs Greer, Jerry Hausner, Peter Hobbs, Jackie Joseph, Sandy Kenyon, Alvy Moore,
Burt Remsen, Johnny Silver, Doris Singleton, Amzie Strickland, George
Tyne, Herb Vigran and Len Weinrib. Frank Adamo, who served as Van Dyke's personal
assistant and stand-in, also played small roles throughout the show's five
seasons. Production
Many of the show's plots were inspired by Reiner's experiences as a writer for
Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour, which starred Sid Caesar, but though he
based the character of Rob Petrie on himself, Rob's egocentric boss Alan
Brady is less Caesar than a combination of the more abrasive Milton Berle and
Jackie Gleason, according to Reiner himself.
CBS had intended to cancel the show after its first season, but Procter &
Gamble threatened to pull its advertising from "the network's
extremely lucrative daytime lineup" and the show was renewed, keeping its
Wednesday night time slot. After going into summer reruns, the show jumped into
the top 10 by the third episode of its second season, helped by coming directly
after the new #1 hit, The Beverly Hillbillies.
= Crossovers = On October 21, 1963, Morey Amsterdam
guest-starred as Buddy Sorrell during the final season of The Danny Thomas
Show on the episode "The Woman Behind the Jokes".
Three decades after playing their respective roles of Sally and Buddy,
Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam reprised them on October 7, 1993 in the "When
Hairy Met Hermy" episode of Herman's Head.
Carl Reiner reprised the role of Alan Brady on the February 16, 1995 episode
of Mad About You named after The Alan Brady Show, a guest appearance that won
him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy
Series. Cast reunions
In 1969, Van Dyke and Moore reunited for a one-hour variety special called Dick
Van Dyke and the Other Woman which included a never before seen alternate
take from one of the show's episodes in which Van Dyke breaks down and cries
after being dismissed from a film role instead of just being disappointed. A
1979 episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Hour featured Van Dyke and Moore
reprising their roles as the Petries in a short sketch presented as the
brainstorming of Van Dyke and the writers of Mary McKinnon's variety
series, who noted McKinnon's resemblance to "the gal who played Laura Petrie". In
a 1995 episode of the sitcom Mad About You, Carl Reiner reprised the role of
Alan Brady, appearing in a documentary by Paul Buchmann about the early days of
television. The episode included several other references to The Dick Van Dyke
Show, including a scene in which Reiner and Reiser discuss whether it would be
funnier to trip over an ottoman or to step over it at the last moment. In
2003, TV Land produced The Alan Brady Show, an animated special presented as
an episode of Dick Van Dyke‍ '​s show-within-a-show. Reiner, Van Dyke,
and Rose Marie contributed voice performances to the show. A 2004 reunion
movie, The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited, brought together the surviving members
of the cast. In this continuation, Rob and Laura have long since moved to
Manhattan, where Laura runs a dance studio. Alan Brady re-enters their lives
to ask Rob to write his eulogy, with the help of a happily married Sally Rogers
Glimschere. Theme lyrics
In a 2010 interview on National Public Radio, Van Dyke revealed that Morey
Amsterdam wrote a set of lyrics for the show's theme song:
So you think that you've got troubles? Well, trouble's a bubble
So tell old Mr. Trouble to get lost! Why not hold your head up high and
Stop cryin', start tryin' And don't forget to keep your fingers
crossed. When you find the joy of livin'
Is lovin' and givin' You'll be there when the winning dice
are tossed. A smile is just a frown that's turned
upside down So smile, and that frown will defrost.
And don't forget to keep your fingers crossed.
Broadcast history Tuesday at 8:00-8:30 pm on CBS: October
3—December 26, 1961 Wednesday at 9:30-10:00 pm on CBS:
January 3, 1962—May 13, 1964; September 15, 1965—June 1, 1966
Wednesday at 9:00-9:30 pm on CBS: September 23, 1964—May 26, 1965
Nielsen ratings Season 1: Not in the Top 30
Season 2: #9 Season 3: #3
Season 4: #7 Season 5: #16
Primetime Emmy Awards The Dick Van Dyke Show was nominated for
25 Primetime Emmy Awards and won 15. 0*Shared with Lynn Fontanne and Alfred
Lunt for Hallmark Hall of Fame: "The Magnificent Yankee" and Barbra Streisand
for My Name Is Barbra Home video releases
Image Entertainment has released all five seasons of The Dick Van Dyke Show
on DVD in Region 1. Season sets were released between October 2003 – June
2004. Also, on May 24, 2005, Image Entertainment repackaged the discs from
the individual season sets into a complete series box set. On Blu-ray, the
complete series, remastered in high definition, was released on November 13,
2012. In Region 2, Revelation Films has
released the first two seasons on DVD in the UK.
In Region 4, Umbrella Entertainment has released the first three seasons on DVD
in Australia. In popular culture
In 2003, TV Land produced a pilot for an animated TV series, The Alan Brady Show,
based on the fictional show-with-a-show on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Written and
executive-produced by Carl Reiner, it was scheduled to air on August 17, 2003,
and featured the voices of Rose Marie as "The Secretary" and Dick Van Dyke as
"Webb", with Reiner reprising his role as Alan Brady.
See also The New Dick Van Dyke Show
Mary Tyler Moore References
Notes External links
Dick Van Dyke Show – The Official Website
The Dick Van Dyke Show at the Internet Movie Database
Head of the Family at Internet Movie Database
Dick Van Dyke Show at the Museum of Broadcast Communications
The Dick Van Dyke Show-related interview videos at the Archive of American
Television