DIck van Dyke Show - Season 4 - Part II

 The Alan Brady Show Goes to Jail- **1/2

Plot: Rob, Laura, Sally, Mel and Buddy visit Lyle in Prison and put on a show

Episode Highlight:  Rob and Laura sing a duet:  "I've got your number"

I gave this 2 1/2 stars because the last 10 minutes is very good.  The rest isn't.  A follow-on to  the previous episode "4 1/2".  In the first 15 minutes,  we get Don Rickles playing  "Lyle" the schlub character and Rob mistakenly put behind bars.  Its all pretty tedious.  However, the episode recovers in the last act,  as they get on stage and start performing.  Amsterdam tells jokes and plays the Cello,  Sally sings a torch song, and Rob/Laura sing/dance. You have to wonder why Carl Reiner didn't give MTM/Van Dyke more musical numbers. Maybe it was the expensive song rights.  

Three Letters from One Wife. ***
When Rob convinces a reluctant Alan Brady to do a highbrow documentary, Millie helps out by writing fan letters.  Except, the letters arrive before the show airs.  

This synopsis exagggerates Millie role in the episode. Its really about  Mel and Rob's interactions with Alan Brady.

 Its an extremely well-written episode, with Reiner - for once - dong a good job as the insecure, egotistical Brady.  No doubt because Reiner is playing a comic character in a realistic manner and not trying to BE FUNNY.  Van Dyke hits it out of the park as he tries to tell Brady the truth and not get fired.  And the Mel-Alan Brady interaction, due to the writing, is  funnier than ususal. The only letdown is - as usual - Millie. She's supposed to be the  good-hearted but "Wacky Neighbor" who almost gets Rob fired - but comes off as a cartoon character.   And Ann Morgan Guilbert was always better in small doses. 

Pink Pills and Purple Parents - *** 

Rob recalls when Laura took a tranquilizer prescribed for Millie before meeting Rob's parents for the first time, with disastrous results.

MTM is simply fantastic in this one, as she plays a "drunk" Laura at a dinner party for Rob's Parents.  There's a lot of physical comedy by both Rob and MTM and its great. Tom Tully (cf: Caine Mutiny) , of all people, shows up at Rob's dad.  His mother is played by 75 y/o Isabel Randolph! Both are very good.  The dinner party is book-ended (aka padded out) by scenes with Rob, Sally, and Buddy and can be skipped. 

Note: This show is typical of 60s TV, where Valium/tranquilizers are treated as food for comedy. Most people knew nothing about them, and were naive about the damage they could do.  In the case, Millie has a whole bottle of pills, and Laura takes 2-3 instead of just one. Even worse, she has wine too.  But the show treats it all as a harmless joke. 

It Wouldn't Hurt Them to Give Us a Raise -  **

Sally and Buddy go on strike. Rob, speaking on their behalf for raises, gets a bewildering introduction to Alan's convoluted corporate structure.must figure out how to handle it. 

Best Buddy Insult:   Not Bad for a self-taught incompetent

This is better than I expected.  First, the great Roger Carmel shows up and does a funny 5 Minute segment as Alan Brady's accountant. And there's a very good scene with MTM and Van Dyke as they figure out  how to keep Buddy/Sally happy.  But after that (the 16 minute mark) its all downhill  as the episode drags along to its predictable conclusion. Rob decides to quit if Sally/Buddy don't get a raise, etc.  Yawn. 

The Death of the Party -  **1/2

Rob struggles to hide the severe symptoms of a flu virus at a family party for Laura's relatives rather than admit she was right against him golfing earlier that morning in damp conditions.

Highlight:  A sick Rob tries to play Charades

Not much to say about this one.  Van Dyke and MTM are very good and the episode highlights their excellent chemistry.  The story isn't much. Its basically Rob trying to hide he's ill while helping Laura throw her party.  Pleasant but forgettable. 

Stretch Petrie vs. Kid Schnek-  **

Neil Schenk, a manipulative old pal of Rob's, shows up to milk him for repayment of a favor done long ago.

Typical Jack Carter one-liners: "80 percent of the money is spent by women," Carter observed  "The other 20% is spent by men--on women!"  And: "If you like to spend your vacation in out-of-the-way places where few people go, let your wife read the map,"

Filler episode with a standard Sitcom plot.  Jack Carter guest stars. 

Like Don Rickles, Carter was a successful night-club comedian who constantly appeared on TV shows and Late Nite talk in the 60s and 70s.  Also, like Rickles, he wasn't much of a comedic actor, with little range.  Here, he's given plenty of jokes, but the brash one-liners wear thin fast.  

Carter's problem, and it was a factor in his lack of relative success,  is his agressiveness isn't tempered by much charm or likablity. And the "old friendship" between him and Dick van Dyke is completely unbelievable.  IMDB voters give this an astoundingly  low  6.7 rating, making it the 7th least favorite episode.  Its not that bad, but its not that good either.