History Series / TheDickVanDykeShow

*** And since at least two episodes mention Danny Thomas (the episode where the writers get laid off for the summer, and ''It Might Be A Walnut''), both Danny Thomas AND Danny Williams exist in that Universe.

** Buddy appeared in one episode of ''The Danny Thomas Show'' moonlighting as a joke writer for the main character. These two minor crossovers throw DVDS into one hell of a bizarre shared continuity, see SharedUniverse and Wild Mass Guess sub-page.

** "The Uncle Spunky Show" in the episode "If a Bowling Pin Talks -- Don't Listen".

** Three decades after DVDS' heyday Carl Reiner appeared as his character Alan Brady on ''MadAboutYou''.
** Also, Buddy appeared in one episode of ''The Danny Thomas Show'' moonlighting as a joke writer for the main character. These two minor crossovers throw DVDS into one hell of a bizarre shared continuity, see SharedUniverse.
* TheDitz: Pickles Sorrell. To a lesser extent, Millie Helper, though, her ditziness is usually seen in {{Zany Scheme}}s.
* DodgyToupee: 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]].
** Mel also dons one after Buddy makes one too many bald jokes at his expense. Buddy is confounded.

** Don't forget the two episodes in which Laura's implied nudity plays a big role. In one, she is stuck in a bathtub (offstage), and in the other, there's a nude painting of her (but it's seen only from the back). Carl Reiner has observed that he got much of America to fantasize about a naked MTM.
** 2 words: Capri pants. Nick at Nite made note of it during it's airing of the show.
** And Rob's nightmare about Laura in a rabbit costume.

* HomeAloneAntics In one episode, while Rob is away Laura watches a scary movie on TV and is afraid that someone will break into the house. Milly comes over and they set booby-traps at the front door etc. so that whoever might break in will make a loud noise so they can bean him with a baseball bat. Naturally, Rob comes home earlier than expected and trips the homemade alarm.

* 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.

* ScunthorpeProblem: Yes, there are places where his name will be rendered as "**** Van ****".
* 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''.
** And that ''Mad About You'' connection 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.]]

* ButtMonkey: Mel Cooley, thanks to Buddy. Alan Brady tends to treat Mel this way, too.

** Everybody. Starting with the pilot, the show gave the cast members many opportunities to show off their singing, dancing and stand-up skills.
** Used in show as well, as Alan routinely uses his writing staff as cheap entertainment at parties.

* TalkingInBed: Rob and Laura, despite SleepingSIngle.

* AccidentalBid: Rob doesn't understand the nuances of bidding gestures.

* HotMom: Mary Tyler Moore as Laura Petrie.
** HotDad: Dick Van Dyke is no slouch either.

* TheKlutz: Robert Petry, courtesy of {{DickVanDyke}}'s skill at slapstick.

* MayDecemberRomance, for some definitions of "December" at least. In the back story, the Petries got married when Rob was in his late twenties and Laura was ''seventeen''. DickVanDyke really was about 11 years older than Mary Tyler Moore.

** One episode does offer a possible explanation for this: Rob likes watching TV in bed and this way he can sit up and snack without disturbing her (unless he has the TV is too loud).

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Buddy Sorrell was initially based on Carl Reiner's fellow ''Your Show of Shows'' writer Creator/MelBrooks while Sally Rogers was largely based on Selma Diamond. Rob was also named after Carl's son RobReiner (who he obviously wasn't a celebrity yet).