History Heartwarming / TheDickVanDykeShow

* The early episode "Jealousy" has Laura worrying about the fact that Rob keeps having to stay late to rehearse with the show's beautiful guest star. She's all-but convinced that Rob is having an affair, to the point that she actually sneaks over to watch one of the rehearsals...and finds that not only is the actress a perfectly nice, professional lady, but that Rob has been spending their rehearsals telling her all about his family in glowing terms.

* A meta-example: In 1994, TV Guide asked its readers to name the top five romantic couples in the history of television, with the advisory that these couples had to display what was a truly supportive, compassionate, and most of all loving relationship that didn't feel false, forced, or pretended. Rob and Laura Petrie were declared the second greatest television marriage ever, only being surpassed by Gomez and Morticia Addams of ''Series/TheAddamsFamily''.

** When Rob tells her about his suspicion that Buddy is having an affair, she lists Rob and Buddy as the two men she considers least likely to ever cheat on their wives.

* Buddy's Bar Mitzvah, even more so as [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness it's one of the few times in the series where he's completely serious and sincere]] as he thanks his family, friends, and God for being there for him.
** Earlier in the same episode, Sally lists Rob and Buddy as the two men she considers least likely to ever cheat on their wives.

* In "[[Recap/TheDickVanDykeShowS5E19TheBottomOfMelCooleysHeart The Bottom of Mel Cooley's Heart]]", the series' only Mel-centric episode, ''[[SitcomArchNemesis Buddy]]'' of all people fights Alan to get Mel's job back, admitting that he likes having him as producer and that the verbal abuse he heaps on Mel are really just things he's too cowardly to say to Alan. After five seasons of mutual hatred, the episode ends with Mel, jubilant that he himself finally stood up to Alan, putting his arm around Buddy and saying "come on, little fella" as they leave to go to the movies together.

* In "The Bottom of Mel Cooley's Heart", the series' only Mel-centric episode, ''[[SitcomArchNemesis Buddy]]'' of all people fights Alan to get Mel's job back, admitting that he likes having him as producer and that the verbal abuse he heaps on Mel are really just things he's too cowardly to say to Alan. After five seasons of mutual hatred, the episode ends with Mel, jubilant that he himself finally stood up to Alan, putting his arm around Buddy and saying "come on, little fella" as they leave to go to the movies together.

* Rob's surprise birthday party.

* Rob spends most of "The Meershatz Pipe" feeling under appreciated and unwanted, a feeling that grows worse when he gets sick and the show seems to go on fine without him. Then, at the end of the show (which Rob takes as proof of his irrelevance) Alan calls him on the air to tell him that they all need him to get better and come back to work soon because they can't stand writing another show without him. It's especially heartwarming since Alan very rarely expresses any appreciation for the writers.

* The ending of "Who Owes Who What" is equal parts heartwarming and funny: Laura tells Rob that she'll "owe him" the kiss he wants. He ends up chasing her around the room while she stays just out of reach.

-->'''Sally:''' "Your smile. It's obvious you're smiling for two now."

* In "The Bottom of Mel Cooley's Heart", the series' only Mel-centric episode, ''Buddy'' of all people fights Alan to get Mel's job back, admitting that he likes having him as producer and that the verbal abuse he heaps on Mel are really just things he's too cowardly to say to Alan. After five seasons of mutual hatred, the episode ends with Mel, jubilant that he himself finally stood up to Alan, putting his arm around Buddy and saying "come on, little fella" as they leave to go to the movies together.

* In "The Bottom of Mel Cooley's Heart", the series' only Mel-centric episode, ''Buddy'' of all people fights Alan to get Mel's job back, admitting that he likes having him as producer and that the verbal abuse he heaps on Mel are really just things he's too cowardly to say to Alan. After five seasons of mutual hatred, the episode ends with Mel, jubilant that he finally stood up to Alan, putting his arm around Buddy and saying "come on, little fella" as they leave to go to the movies together.

* In "The Bottom of Mel Cooley's Heart", the series' only Mel-centric episode, ''Buddy'' of all people fights Alan for Mel's job and admits that he likes having him as producer and that the verbal abuse he heaps on Mel are really just things he's too cowardly to say to Alan. After five seasons of mutual hatred, the episode ends with Mel, jubilant that he finally stood up to Alan, putting his arm around Buddy and saying "come on, little fella" as they leave to go to the movies together.

* The ending of "The Foul Weather Girl". A young, talented, and beautiful girl that Rob knew in high school has come to New York to try and break into show business, and basically shanghais Rob into helping her. Laura goes crazy with jealousy as he sacrifices several nights for this girl, afraid that when she makes it big she'll be "grateful" to Rob (and all that implies). In the end, when the woman gets a spot on the Alan Brady show, she ends up thanking ''Mel'' for helping her (because he's the one with the power), essentially ignoring Rob's contribution to her success entirely. Watching this on television, Laura immediately flies into an angry rant on Rob's behalf, even threatening to call the producers of the show. Rob just calmly and happily hugs her.

* TheReveal of "Bank Book 6565696". After Rob has been increasingly harassing Laura over having a separate bank account, she tearfully spills the secret -- she was stashing extra money away so that, some years later, she could get Rob "a big important present"[[note]]a sports car he's been "drooling over"[[/note]], like her mother got her father on one of their later anniversaries. Rob, utterly ashamed of having been so hard on her, starts cracking jokes. Laura initially assumes he's making fun of her:

* In "My Blonde-Haired Brunette", Rob immediately takes steps to smooth over the spat he and Laura had that morning once he realizes why it happened. He calls her on the phone, sings a brief snippet of a love song (based on "I Dream of Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair") and offers a surprise dinner date invitation. When he comes home to find Laura half-blonde, half-brunette, and completely distressed, he quickly moves to comfort her.

* "The Man from ''Emperor''": Rob's old colleague Drew Patton, a Hugh Hefner-like magazine star, calls him to ask him to repeat an analogy he made earlier. With Laura (who had become increasingly worried about Rob "crumbling" under the pressure of being around beautiful women all day) standing by, Rob repeats the statement: that to some men, the constraints of marriage make it a prison, but to others, it's more like an amusement park that contains "everything fun in life." The producer then asks to speak to Laura.

* Rob spends most of "The Meershatz Pipe" feeling under appreciated and unwanted, a feeling that grows worse when he gets sick and the show seems to go on fine without him. Then, at the end of the show (which Rob takes as proof of his irrelevance) Alan calls him on the air to tell him that they all need him to get better and come back to work soon because they can't stand writing another show without him. It's especially heartwarming since Alan very rarely expresses any appreciation for the writers.

-->'''Sally:''' "Your smile. It's obvious you're smiling for two now."

* The early episode "Jealousy" has Laura worrying about the fact that Rob keeps having to stay late to rehearse with the show's beautiful guest star. She's all-but convinced that Rob is having an affair, to the point that she actually sneaks over to watch one of the rehearsals...and finds that not only is the actress a perfectly nice, professional lady, but that Rob has been spending their rehearsals telling her all about his family in glowing terms.

* The early episode "Jealousy" has Laura worrying about the fact that Rob keeps having to stay late to rehearse with the show's beautiful guest star. She's all-but convinced that Rob is having an affair, to the point that she actually sneaks over to watch one of the rehearsals...and finds that not only is the actress a perfectly nice, professional lady, but that Rob has been telling her all about his family in glowing terms.

-->''They kiss.''

** Earlier in the same episode, Sally lists Rob and Buddy as the two men she considers least likely to ever cheat on their wives.

* Buddy's Bar Mitzvah, even more so as [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness it's one of the few times in the series where he's completely serious and sincere]] as he thanks his family, friends, and God for being there for him.

* TheReveal of "Bank Book 6565696". After Rob has been increasingly harassing Laura over having a separate bank account, she tearfully spills the secret -- she was stashing extra money away so that, some years later, she could get Rob "a big important present"[[note]]a car he's been "drooling over"[[/note]], like her mother got her father on one of their later anniversaries. Rob, utterly ashamed of having been so hard on her, starts cracking jokes. Laura initially assumes he's making fun of her:

* Buddy's Bar Mitzvah, even more so as it's one of the few times in the series where he's completely serious and sincere as he thanks his family, friends, and God for being there for him.

* Buddy's Bar Mitzvah, even more so as it's one of the few times in the series where he's completely serious and sincere.

-->'''Laura''' ''(moving in for the embrace)'': Oh, please try.

* TheReveal of "Bank Book 6565696". After Rob has been increasingly harassing Laura over having a separate bank account, she tearfully spills the secret -- she was stashing extra money away so that, some years later, she could get Rob "a big important present"[[note]]a car he's been "drooling over"[[/note]], like her mother got her father on one of their later anniversaries. Rob, utterly ashamed of having been so hard on her, starts cracking jokes. Laura initially assumes he's making fun of her:

* The ending of "Who Owe's Who" is equal parts this and funny: Laura tells Rob that she'll "owe him" the kiss he wants. He ends up chasing her around the room while she stays just out of reach.
* Rob's surprise birthday party.

* The ending of "Who Owe's Who" is equal parts this and funny: Laura tells Rob that she'll "owe him" the kiss he wants. He ends up chasing her around the room while she stays just out of reach.

* The ending of "The Night the Roof Fell In" when Rob and Laura make up.