History Series / TheDickVanDykeShow

[[AndStarring And Mary Tyler Moore!]]"''

This series is also notable as one of the first mainstream shows to feature, albeit in a bit part, middle-class African-American characters in a non-servile role. In the third-season flashback episode "That's My Boy??", Rob tells of wondering if his infant son belonged to his family due to paperwork confusion with another family at the hospital. Finally, the other family, the Peterses, show up to straighten things out, and to [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments one of the longest laughs from a studio audience ever]], they are [[TheReveal revealed]] to be an African-American couple played by Greg Morris and Mimi Dillard. A small role, yes, but groundbreaking at the time. A later episode ("The Man From My Uncle") guest stars [[Film/WatermelonMan Godfrey Cambridge]] as a G-Man.

This series is also notable as one of the first mainstream shows to feature, albeit in a bit part, middle-class African-American characters in a non-servile role. In the third-season flashback episode "That's My Boy??", Rob tells of wondering if his infant son belonged to his family due to paperwork confusion with another family at the hospital. Finally, the other family, the Peterses, come to straighten things out, and to [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments one of the longest laughs from a studio audience ever]], they are [[TheReveal revealed]] to be an African-American couple played by Greg Morris and Mimi Dillard. A small role, yes, but groundbreaking at the time. A later episode ("The Man From My Uncle") guest stars [[Film/WatermelonMan Godfrey Cambridge]] as a G-Man.

Though the show stayed away from JiveTurkey territory as much as possible, Kennedy era reflections abound, including Laura as a Jackie O. surrogate; the Mafia, via the imposing Big Max Calvada (executive producer Sheldon Leonard); UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion ("The Redcoats are Coming"); a self-indulgent [[Magazine/{{Playboy}} Hugh Hefner]] surrogate; Carl Reiner as a Jackson Pollock-like abstract painter; or Rob and Laura's praise for baby guru Dr. Spock.

''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' was a classic and influential {{Sitcom}} that aired for five seasons (1961–66) on Creator/{{CBS}}.

A reunion special aired on CBS in 2004. Hosted by Creator/RayRomano, a noted fan[[note]]who also had a childhood crush on Creator/MaryTylerMoore[[/note]], it brought back every surviving cast member and took a look at how the characters' lives had changed in the decades since the show first ended.

Coinciding with the [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy Kennedy]] "Camelot" era, which heralded a new age of youthfulness, ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' reflected a notable break from the old-fashioned sensibility of previous television families. For one thing, this was the first sitcom to focus as much if not more on the main character's work life as his home life, influencing such later {{Work Com}}s as ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'', ''Series/TheBobNewhartShow'' and ''Series/NewsRadio'', and its behind-the-scenes depiction of the world of television anticipated the likes of ''Series/TheLarrySandersShow'' and ''Series/ThirtyRock''. As head writer for the fictional comedy/variety series ''The Alan Brady Show'', Rob spent much of his time in the office bantering with fellow writers Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam) and Sally Rogers (Creator/RoseMarie). Sally was an unusual female character for the era, in that she was both a working professional (who was something other than a teacher or nurse) and single (although she was portrayed as man-hungry and desperate to end her spinsterhood). Rounding out the ensemble was Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon), the bespectacled, bald-pated, uptight show producer and sycophantic brother-in-law to Alan Brady. The egotistical Brady, played by Carl Reiner himself, was rarely seen and actually served as TheFaceless and/or TheVoice in the show's early seasons.

* RogueJuror: Rob, in "[[Recap/TheDickVanDykeShowS1E24OneAngryMan One Angry Man". Rob is the only juror who thinks Marla is innocent. He deadlocks the entire jury for a whole day and ultimately gets the case thrown out. Luckily, it turns out he was right.

* SeductionProofMarriage: Played with in "[[Recap/TheDickVanDykeShowS4E5TheManFromEmperor The Man from Emperor]]". The titular man, an old colleague of Rob's named Drew Patton who has become a playboy, asks Rob to write a humor column for the magazine. Laura is not at all happy about this as she is afraid her husband will "crumble" under the pressure of being around beautiful girls all day. This only worsens as Rob decides he should get a look at the workplace. However, ultimately Rob turns down the position and his own personal office and secretary and being around beautiful girls all day to remain faithful to Laura. Patton finds this "sick."

* RogueJuror: Rob, in "One Angry Man".

* ShoutOut: Perhaps unintentional, but in the episode "My Blonde-Haired Brunette", Laura bleaches her hair blonde, then tries to dye it back to its original brown. When her husband interrupts her, she comes out half blonde and half brunette. Since the show was filmed in black-and-white, she resembles [[WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians Cruela De Vil]], who debuted earlier in the same year the episode aired.

* {{Slapstick}}: Rob Petrie is a bit of a klutz, giving Dick Van Dyke plenty of opportunities to show off his physical comedy chops.

* SleepDeprivation: In a flashback episode, Rob is shown working as a radio DJ doing a promotional stunt trying to break the record for the most hours broadcasting continuously without sleep... immediately after which, it turns out, he has his important job interview to be a writer on ''The Alan Brady Show''. Needless to say, he is so sleep deprived that he bombs the interview completely, being a weepy, rambling, incoherent sloppy mess. Fortunately the producers recognize the situation and give him a second opportunity.

*** And since at least two episodes mention Danny Thomas (the episode where the writers get laid off for the summer, and "It May Look Like a Walnut"), both Danny Thomas AND Danny Williams exist in that Universe.

* BrandishmentBluff: In "Never Bathe on a Saturday", the hotel detective holds Rob at gunpoint because he thinks Rob's keeping her wife captive in the bathroom (long story). Rob manages to stick up the detective with his finger on his back, distracting him long enough to take his gun and hold him at bay while he rescues Laura.

** In an interesting variation, Laura repurposes her own CatchPhrase by addressing it to...herself.
-->'''Laura:''' Oh, Rob! ''(drops her spoon)'' Oh, Laura!

* BreakoutCharacter: Laura. Sally was supposed to be the female lead/foil to Rob, with Laura as a minor side character, but Mary Tyler Moore broke out in a big way to become the show's second lead. This caused a bit of resentment between the two actresses -- while they always were cordial to one another, they never became close friends the way nearly everyone else in the cast did.

** The original PilotEpisode, which actually aired in 1960, was for a projected series called ''Head Of The Family,'' with a completely different cast including Carl Reiner as Rob. The only similarities are the characters' names (and "Petrie" is even pronounced differently) and jobs. The show was slow-paced, with Reiner portraying Rob as mopey and beat-down at work and beleaguered over his relationship with Ritchie. Absolutely everyone involved agrees it was a much better idea to {{Retool}} the show to feature Van Dyke.

* TheExitIsThatWay: In the episode ''The Blond-Haired Brunette,'' when Rob and Laura begin having a heart-felt conversation, Millie hastily flees the room... right into the hall closet.

* GoofyPrintUnderwear: In ''The Alan Brady Show Goes to Jail,'' Buddy changes in the warden's office and reveals he wears heart-print boxer shorts. Later on in the same episode Rob shows off a striped pair, proving he's in costume and not a convict (they all wear plain prison-issue underwear).

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: In "The Sick Boy and the Sitter", Laura offers Ritchie a chocolate cupcake as an after-school snack, only for him to turn it down. This immediately sets off alarm signals and leads to her calling in the doctor. When Rob asks for proof that Ritchie is sick, even though he isn't running a fever, she tells him about the cupcake incident. Rob isn't very impressed and suggests that maybe he's just tired of chocolate cupcakes.

[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_dick_van_dyke_show.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:315:The Petries (from left to right): Laura, Rob, Richie.]]

''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' was a classic and influential {{Sitcom}} that aired on Creator/{{CBS}} from 1961–66.

Created and produced by Creator/CarlReiner, the series centers around television comedy writer Rob Petrie (Creator/DickVanDyke), who works in New York City and lives in [[{{Suburbia}} suburban]] New Rochelle with his attractive wife Laura (Creator/MaryTylerMoore), their cute son Richie (Larry Matthews), and brash next-door neighbors Jerry and Millie Helper (Jerry Paris and Creator/AnnGuilbert). Coinciding with the [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy Kennedy]] "Camelot" era, which heralded a new age of youthfulness, ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' reflected a break from the old-fashioned sensibility of previous television families.

This was the first sitcom to focus as much, if not more, on the main character's work life as his home life, influencing later {{Work Com}}s such as ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'', ''Series/TheBobNewhartShow'' and ''Series/NewsRadio'', and its behind-the-scenes depiction of the world of television anticipated the likes of ''Series/TheLarrySandersShow'' and ''Series/ThirtyRock''. As head writer for the fictional comedy/variety series ''The Alan Brady Show'', Rob spent much of his time in the office bantering with fellow writers Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam) and Sally Rogers (Creator/RoseMarie). Sally was an unusual female character for the era, in that she was both a working professional (who was something other than a teacher or nurse) and single (although she was portrayed as man-hungry and desperate to end her spinsterhood). Rounding out the ensemble was Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon), the bespectacled, bald-pated, uptight show producer and sycophantic brother-in-law to Alan Brady. The egotistical Brady, played by Carl Reiner himself, was rarely seen and actually served as TheFaceless and/or TheVoice in the show's early seasons.

* NotImportantToThisEpisodeCamp: After the first season, Richie rarely appears unless he's essential to the plot of the episode. A Creator/NickAtNite promo for the show once described him as "Richie Petrie: Low-Maintenance Boy."

* ForgottenThemeTuneLyrics: "So you think that you've got troubles? / Well, trouble's a bubble / So tell old Mr. Trouble to 'Get lost!'". (written by Morey Amsterdam, who played Buddy)

** This applies also the many of the guest stars, who are often famous performers, and there's typically at least one scene where the action stops so that the guest star gets to do his shtick on screen.

This was the first sitcom to focus as much, if not more, on the main character's work life as his home life, influencing later {{Work Com}}s such as ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'', ''Series/TheBobNewhartShow'' and ''Series/NewsRadio'', and its behind-the-scenes depiction of the world of television anticipated the likes of ''Series/TheLarrySandersShow'' and ''Series/ThirtyRock''. As head writer for the fictional comedy/variety series ''The Alan Brady Show'', Rob spent much of his time in the office bantering with fellow writers Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam) and Sally Rogers (Rose Marie). Sally was an unusual female character for the era, in that she was both a working professional (who was something other than a teacher or nurse) and single (although she was portrayed as man-hungry and desperate to end her spinsterhood). Rounding out the ensemble was Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon), the bespectacled, bald-pated, uptight show producer and sycophantic brother-in-law to Alan Brady. The egotistical Brady, played by Carl Reiner himself, was rarely seen and actually served as TheFaceless and/or TheVoice in the show's early seasons.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent:
** The show's ChristmasEpisode is mostly presented as an episode of ''The Alan Brady Show'' itself.
*** In-universe, too, it's stated that they're doing something different from a normal episode of Brady's show... which nicely explains why the head writer, his wife, and their friends (i.e., ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'''s main characters) are getting more screen time than Brady himself.
** Also the penultimate episode, "The Gunslinger," which takes place entirely in Rob's fantasy of a Western.

* NarrativeProfanityFilter: Used in the episode "A Word a Day" where Richie gets in trouble for innocently using a curse word in school. Thanks to whispering and judicious cutting, the word itself is never heard, but we can tell from Rob's horrified facial reaction that it's a whopper.

** Worn by Alan Brady, until Laura accidentally blurts it out on national TV. EveryoneKnewAlready, but Alan is not happy about it until they manage to convince him that [[BaldOfAwesome bald is beautiful]].