History Series / TheDickVanDykeShow

''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' 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''. Sally Rogers was an unusual character for the pre-women's lib period, in that she was both a working professional (not a teacher or nurse) and single (although she was portrayed as manhungry and desperate to end her spinsterhood).

* AllJewsAreCheapskates: Buddy always had "a guy" to get anything at a good deal.
** However, subverted on a wider level. Buddy is emphatically shown many times to be a very generous guy.

* TheCastShowOff: Everybody. Starting with the pilot, the show gave the cast members many opportunities to show off their singing, dancing and stand-up skills.

* CatchPhrase: "Oh, Rob!"

* CrossOver: Three decades after DVDS' heyday Carl Reiner appeared as his character Alan Brady on ''MadAboutYou''.

* DirectedByCastMember: Jerry Paris took over as the show's chief director during the third season, leading to his acting role in the show being cut down.

* EmbarrassingMiddleName: Richie [[spoiler:"Rosebud"]] Petrie
** Which actually stands for [[spoiler: Robert Oscar Sam Edward Benjamin Ulysses David]], thanks to a compromise between Rob, Laura and their respective parents, when they could not agree on a good name for their son. This is all mentioned in the episode, "What's In a Middle Name?".

* ExecutiveMeddling: Carl Reiner wrote the role of Rob Petrie for himself (sensibly, considering the show was based on his experiences writing ''Your Show Of Shows''), but the studio rejected him in the role and instead cast Dick Van Dyke.
** In fact, there exists a pilot of Carl in the role of Rob Petrie called "Head of the Family". It actually aired in the summer of 1960.
** The whole cast - including Reiner - consider this a rare case of ''Good'' executive meddling.

* FanService: A surprisingly large amount for an early sixties sitcom. Hardly an episode would go by without featuring Mary Tyler Moore in either a nightgown or evening wear, and there were plenty of gorgeous guest stars over the run of the show.

* GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity: Many episodes revolve around the idea that Rob's job is in jeopardy if he angers Alan or denies him any request.
** Mel's job is secure as long as he stays married to Alan's Sister.

* HeyItsThatGuy: During much of ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'''s early run, the actor who played Mel Cooley, Richard Deacon, simultaneously played Ward Cleaver's co-worker Fred Rutherford on ''LeaveItToBeaver''.
** [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Harry Mudd]] heads up Alan's Payroll Department in the episode "It Wouldn't Hurt Them To Give Us a Raise".
** [[MissionImpossible Barney Collier]] is both Mr Peters, and one of Rob's Army buddies "Sticks".
** [[HogansHeroes Corporal Newkirk]] is Racy Tracy Rattigan.
** [[HogansHeroes Colonel Hogan]] is Harry Rogersr.
** [[TheBradyBunch Sam the butcher]] shows up in several episodes.
** [[Series/{{MASH}} Corporal Klinger]] makes some restaurant deliveries to the writers' office a few times.
** One episode featured [[GetSmart the Chief of CONTROL]].

* JiveTurkey: Averted - Carl Reiner always removed anything he considered to be too-current trends, fads or slang from scripts in order to prevent future reruns from becoming dated. Ironically, one of the only things that does seem slightly dated in modern viewings is the concept of a weekly prime time network VarietyShow itself.
** ''[[Series/SaturdayNightLive SNL]]'', ''Series/MadTV'', ''Series/AllThat''??
*** None of which can hold a candle to [[Series/TheEdSullivanShow Ed Sullivan]], [[TheCarolBurnettShow Carol Burnett]], The Smothers Brothers, Jackie Gleason, Sid Caesar, OR Alan Brady!
*** Not to mention the premises of ''30Rock'', ''Studio60OnTheSunsetStrip'', and ''Series/TheLarrySandersShow'', among others.

* MarathonRunning: Nick@Nite's ''The Dick Van Dyke Collection''.

* NeverSayDie: "The rabbit died"

* RealLifeRelative: Jerry Van Dyke appears in a few episodes as Rob's brother Stacey.

* SharedUniverse: With ''TheAndyGriffithShow'' and ''ILoveLucy'' by way of ''The Danny Thomas Show'', which spun off the former and crossed over with the latter. The show is also connected with ''MadAboutYou''.

* UnCancelled: Creator/{{CBS}} officially cancelled the show after its first season, and the cast had even had a farewell party before Sheldon Leonard used his influence to get the network to change their mind.

* WhatMightHaveBeen: Johnny Carson was the runner-up for the role of Rob.

* WriteWhatYouKnow: The entire basis of the show. Carl Reiner has said that he was a New York comedy writer who lived in New Rochelle with his wife and son, so he decided to write a show about a New York comedy writer living in New Rochelle with his wife and son.
** Reiner carried this over into running the show, insisting that the plots should be based not on old sitcom tropes but on real things that happened to the writers in their family or work lives. Ironically, many of these stories have themselves become stock sitcom plots thanks to their use on this show.
** The Petries even live on the same street as the Reiners did (Although Carl DID add a 1 to the house number).

*** Not to mention the premises of ''30Rock'', ''Studio60OnTheSunsetStrip'', and ''TheLarrySandersShow'', among others.

** [[{{MASH}} Corporal Klinger]] makes some restaurant deliveries to the writers' office a few times.

* NoSympathy: Laura displays this in spades in "The Attempted Marriage." Rare for this trope, she gets called out for it and apologizes.

* CouchGag: You never knew whether Rob would tumble over the ottoman or not.

** [[TheBradyBunch Sam the butcher]] shows up in a couple of episodes.
** [[{{MASH}} Corporal Klinger]] makes some restaurant deliveries to the house a few times.

*** None of which can hold a candle to [[EdSullivanShow Ed Sullivan]], [[TheCarolBurnettShow Carol Burnett]], The Smothers Brothers, Jackie Gleason, Sid Caesar, OR Alan Brady!

* ArtifactTitle: Van Dyke himself disliked the title, as it gave the impression that he was the star rather than it being an ensemble show.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Rob and Laura may have slept in separate beds, but there was still a level of sexual tension between them previously unseen in sitcoms.

** [[HogansHeroes Corpal Newkirk]] is Racy Tracy Rattigan.

* AmericanGothicCouple: In the episode "The Masterpiece", Rob and Laura bought a painting from an auction. The painting revealed a different version of "American Gothic", in which the couple were shown smiling.

(With thanks to [[http://www.tvland.com/shows/dvd/ TV Land]] for description.)

* AccidentalBid

* {{Costumer}}
* TheCouch

* TheEponymousShow

* HappilyMarried

* TheKlutz

* MickeyMousing

* TalkingInBed

** ''[[SaturdayNightLive SNL]]'', ''MadTV'', ''AllThat''??

** And that connection with ''Mad'' leads to ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' taking place in the same universe as a multitude of diverse shows (''HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'', ''TheXFiles'', ''{{Cheers}}'', ''{{Series/Mash}}'', and ''StElsewhere'' among them), as explained by this [[http://www.poobala.com/dannyanddick.html page.]]

** Headache inducingly this and other crossovers between various shows connected with ''Mad'' lead to ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' taking place in the same universe as a multitude of diverse shows (''HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'', ''TheXFiles'', ''{{Cheers}}'', ''{{Series/Mash}}'', and ''StElsewhere'' among them), as explained by this [[http://www.poobala.com/dannyanddick.html page.]]

* SharedUniverse: With ''TheAndyGriffithShow'' and ''ILoveLucy'' by way of ''The Danny Thomas Show'' which spun off the former and crossed over with the latter. The show is also connected with ''MadAboutYou''.
** Headache inducingly this and other crossovers between various shows connected with ''Mad'' lead to ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' taking place in the same universe as a multitude of diverse shows, ''HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'', ''TheXFiles'', ''Cheers'', ''MASH'' and ''St. Elsewhere'' among them as explained by this [[http://www.poobala.com/dannyanddick.html page.]]