DIck Van Dyke Show - Season One - Part III

Forty-four tickets **
One angry man **
Harrison B. Harding **

Standard filler episodes but with an extra something that makes them re-watchable. One Angry Man is the standard sitcom plot: “lead character holds out for Not guilty” I’d rate it higher, but the guest actors are terrible. Were they Carl Reiner’s neighbors? 44 Tickets – is the standard “Lead Character promised people tickets but doesn’t have them” trope. This one must go back to radio and Jack Benny. The only thing keeping it two stars? The always delightful Eleanor Audley shows up as the snooty “Mrs. Billingsley”. Harrison B. Harding – has some good writing, but the story’s a one-note piece of fluff. I would have rated it higher with a better guest star. Instead, it’s no more than adequate with 2nd banana Allen Melvin

To Tell or Not to Tell ** 1/2
Empress Carlotta's Necklace ** 1/2

MTM makes both these episodes above average. She dances in To tell or not to Tell. And her chemistry with Van Dyke in the final heartwarming scene was truly charming. In Carlotta’s Necklace her attempts to disguise her dislike of the necklace were hilarious. The episode also has some clever writing, whereby all of Laura's subtle but critical comments are taken by Van Dyke as proof she loves the necklace. The only keeping it from being 3 stars are the two terrible guest actors as Rob’s parents. 

My Blonde haired Brunette ***
Where did I come from? ***

Two good episodes that are memorable due to the two stars. MTM takes the standard “Wife dyes her hair with disastrous results” and makes it funny with over-the-top emotions, while Van dyke’s physical comedy lifts the usually boring “Dad acts crazy when his wife;s about to give birth”. Van Dyke sleeping with his hat on, to save time, is a highlight.

Oh, how we met the night that we danced ***
The great story of how Rob and Laura met while he was on in the Army. Best thing? MTM and Van Dyke sing/dance “You. Wonderful You”. I deducted ½ a star for the annoying Marty Ingels as “Sol” – Rob’s army friend. There’s way too much of this character, but Van Dyke and MTM save it.

Curious thing about women***1/2
The best episode of season one. Plot: Laura’s been opening Rob’s mail before he sees it. Annoyed,  Rob teaches her a lesson. Again, this is another old sitcom plot made fresh and funny by the two stars. MTM’s physical comedy as she tries to keep her curiosity in check and NOT open the package was great. The ending was stolen from Fibber McGee and Molly. But who knows who they stole it from. 

My only complaint? As in other episodes, Reiner  has Rob get self-righteous and obsessive about minor things. Here, Rob, is far too upset about Laura opening her mail, and complains too much.

DIck Van Dyke Season One - Part II

Meershtatz pipe*
Unwelcome Houseguest*
Talented Neighborhood*
Jealousy*

These are all forgettable, unfunny episodes with generic sitcom plots. The “Pipe” is a lowlight, with Rob being upset that Buddy got a pipe from Alan Brady and he didn’t. Childish-Silly-Not funny. In Unwelcome Houseguest Richie is incredibly annoying. He’s afraid of the dog, and thinks it’s a wolf. The writers were from NYC - and it shows.  Talented neighbor is full of annoying kids trying to get into showbiz. Jealousy is a badly executed MTM star turn episode. Laura is upset at Rob working “closely” with a movie star. Given MTM’s talents even this standard trope could have been good, except she’s given little to do. and the writing is paint-by-the-numbers.  It doesn't  help that MTM looks more like a movie star then the guest star.  

The Bad Old Days*

Plot?  Rob is upset when Richie calls him “Rob”, and Laura forces him to do household chores while giving him Cold cuts for dinner. Annoyed, Rob yearns for the “Good ol’ days” when fathers ruled the roost. 

Left-wing SJW’s cry over the episode’s “sexism”, so I was looking forward to it, and assumed  the low IMDB rating was politically driven.  Wrong.  It’s badly written and notable for the lack of good jokes. In fact there are few jokes of any kind! The best one?  Jerry asks Rob “Where’s your purse?” after seeing Rob wearing Laura’s apron.  That’s how bad it is. 

And we get a repetitive, slow-moving, 7 minute dream sequence, where 1890s Rob orders an overworked Laura around and Richie works in factory.   Seriously, this is the worst thing I've seen on the show.  I wasn't offended.  I just sat there and wondered how Reiner thought this was interesting or funny.  There's little physical comedy. And our characters don't react in a surrealist, goofy funny manner, as you'd expect from a comedy dream. 

The show ends with just woken Rob spouting off about how “These are the good ol’ days” and husbands should “treat their wives as equals and not like feudal kings”. 

The SJW’s get it exactly backwards.  The problem with the episode isn’t “sexism” - it’s that the show is an unfunny attack on “sexism”.  Reiner wanted to knockdown a straw-man labeled the “Good ol’ Days when Men were men” Maybe he saw “Life with Father” & thought that was reality.  It’s a strange idea for a sitcom. Anyway, this was his argument for 1960s liberalism and equality between the sexes.  Nothing wrong with that, he just forgot the jokes. 

Buddy can you spare a Job **
Boarder Incident **
Who owes who what? **

Standard sitcom stories with Buddy, made watchable by good execution. In Boarder Incident, while Pickles is away, Buddy moves in with the Petrie’s and annoys the hell out of them. Buddy, can you spare a job, has Buddy quitting the Brady show and then trying to get his job back. Notable for how real Mel’s dislike of Buddy is. Obnoxious, unlikable Lennie Weinrib shows up and is very unlikable and  obnoxious. Who owes who what? Has an even more generic plot, Buddy owes Rob $25 and Rob tries to remind him of it. In this one, in fact all three shows, I often predicted what was going to happen next and and even the punch-lines. Not a good sign. 

Dick Van Dyke Show Season One - Part I

Sally is a Girl*
Where have you been Fassbinder? *
Sally and Lab Technician*

These are all “Poor Sally is having a doomed love affair” episodes. When it was time for a Rose Marie “star turn”, it’s too bad the writers didn’t give her different and better storylines.

I am my brother’s keeper*
The sleeping brother*

Both episodes highlight Jerry Van Dyke - cast as Rob’s brother Stacy. Nothing in either episode makes up for the fact that I don’t like Jerry Van Dyke.

Washington vs. The Bunny*
Laura and Rob fight over Rob missing Richie’s play for business reasons. A padded, low energy episode - notable for several things. First, we get Six dull minutes of Jesse white and van dyke sitting in an airplane talking, setting up and wrapping up the situation. Secondly, a funny 3 minute dream sequence with Rob being controlled by Puppet-master Laura. Third, an excellent, heartfelt, two minute ending between Laura and Rob. There’s a good five minutes – but the rest is filler, especially the Jesse White sequence.

Father of the Week*
A word a Day*

Dick Van Dyke plays “Sitcom dad” in these two boring episodes. “A word a Day” has Richie in trouble for saying a bad word. Low on laughs, long on angst. People assert Liberal Carl Reiner was cleverly subverting strictures against Foul language, but so what? It’s still boring. In “father of the week” Van Dyke gets in front of Richie’s firt grade class and explains his job. That’s five funny minutes out of 25. It should be recognized that Larry Matthews was only 6 years old in Season one, and he's cute. But that's a low bar. Find a six-year old who's not cute. 

Sick Boy and the Sitter*
This was the first episode produced. Standard sitcom plot: Laura is an overly –protective mother who imagines Richie is sick and doesn’t want to go to the party,. Very bland. No Alan Brady, no Millie or Jerry. Few laughs. The only excitement ? A six minute performance by Sally, Buddy, and Rob. Sally sings, Buddy tells jokes and plays his Cello, Rob does physical comedy. MTM just watches.

The twizzle*
Quite rightly considered one of the worst episodes. The goal didn't seem to be laughs, but showcasing the guest star, Broadway singer Jerry Lanning. Who was Mr. Lanning? Well, he was a sort of Tab Hunter/Elvis Presley knockoff. He sings for almost six minutes and is the center of the attention for the rest. The songs and singing are unremarkable. Too bad we didn’t get six minutes of Van Dyke and MTM singing. Did the Executive Producer have Lanning under contract?

Sol and the Sponsor*

Punch thy Neighbor*

Standard Sitcom plots +  bad guest starts  = tedium.  In Sol and the Sponsor – vulgar Army buddy Sol drops in to visit Rob and spoils an important dinner.  Reiner assumes we’ll  root for

good ol' Sol, except Sol’s not funny - he’s obnoxious.  Even worse, he’s played by terminally annoying and cartoonish Marty Ingels.  Punch they Neighbor is a Jerry episode.  Here, Jerry mercilessly kids Rob about his bad TV show. There’s far too much unfunny “Kidding”, and Jerry Paris doesn’t improve the material. Jerry Helper comes off as a complete jerk and his friendship with Rob (as usual) seems unconvincing.  These two have zero “Bromance” chemistry. 

Dick Van Dyke Show Season 1 - Rankings

 Very Good ***1/2

1. The Curious thing about women

Good ***

1. Oh, how we met the night that we danced
2. My Blonde haired Brunette

Above Average ** 1/2

1. To Tell or Not to Tell
2. Empress Carlotta's Necklace

Watchable Filler **

1. Buddy can you spare a Job
2. Boarder Incident
3. Forty-four tickets
4. Harrison B. Harding
5. One angry man
6. Return of Happy Spangler
7. Who owes who what?

Below Average (Skip) *

1. Bad ol' Days
2. Father of the Week
3. I am my brothers keeper
4. Jealousy
5. Meershtatz pipe
6. Punch thy Neighbor
7. Sally is a Girl
8. Sally and Lab Technician
9. the sleeping brother
10. Sick Boy and the Sitter
11. Sol and the Sponsor
12. Talented Neighborhood
13. The twizzle
14. Unwelcome Houseguest
15. Washingon vs. The Bunny
16. Where have you been Fassbinder?
17. A word a Day

Dick Van Dyke show Season 4 - Rankings

Very Good  ***1/2

1. My Mother Can Beat Up My Father
2. Baby Fat 

Good ***

1. One Hundred Terrible Hours 
2. Never Bathe on Saturday
3. Three Letters from One Wife
4. Pink Pills and Purple Parents 

Above Average ** 1/2

1. Alan Brady Show Goes to Jail
2. Br-room Br-room
3. Bupkis  
4. Death of the Party 
5. Ghost of A. Chantz
6. There's No Sale Like Wholesale 

Watchable Filler  **

1. 4 1/2
2. The Impractical Joke
3. It Wouldn't Hurt Them to Give Us a Raise
4. My Two showoffs and Me
5. The Redcoats
6. Stretch Petrie vs. Kid Schnek

Below Average (Skip)  *

1. A Vigilante Ripped My Sports Coat.
2. Anothy Stone
3. Boy No. 1 and Boy No. 2
4. Brother, can you spare $2,500
5. The Case of the Pillow
6. Girls will Be Boys 
7. Lady and the Babysitter
8. The Man from Emperor
9. Show of Hands 
10. Stacy Petrie Part I
11. Stacy Petrie Part II
12. Romance, Roses and Rye Bread
13. Your Home Sweet Home is my Home
14. Young man with a Shoehorn

Dick Van Dyke Show Season 4 - Part V

One Hundred Terrible Hours - ***
Rob recalls the time he broke the record as a sleepless disc-jockey  and then met Alan Brady.

This is one of those Dick Van Dyke Show episodes that doesn't have that many jokes,  but is still memorable, due to the situation and talent of the two leads.  Being a sleep-deprived DJ allows Van Dyke to engage in mucho funny physical comedy.  

Show of Hands  *
Rob and Laura have to go to an inter-racial awards show with gloves on, since their hands have been accidently dyed black.

Oy vey! I don't know what's worse:

• The boring setup
• Laura/Rob stupidly getting  black dye on the hands;
• Laura/Rob stupidly failing to get the black dye off their hands; 
• Trying to hide their "black hands" from the inter-racial audience;  or
• Rob trivalizing racial differences in a long-winded SERIOUS speech.  

Wait, its ALL bad. This dated episode manages to be offensive AND boring.  Don't blame MTM and Van Dyke for this mess. Blame Carl Reiner. 

Never Bathe on Saturday ***
While on their second honeymoon, Laura gets her toe stuck in a hotel bathtub faucet and Rob can't get through the locked bathroom door to free her.

One of  the shows highest rated episodes. (IMDB ranks it number 10).  I enjoyed it, but could have done without the constant setups/flashbacks  "And so, Rob did...."  Like "100 terrible hours"  this one relies on the situation and MTM's comedic timing and Van Dyke's physical ability for most of the laughs. 

Baby Fat ***1/2

Alan Brady wants Rob to secretly add jokes and "improve" a script by famous Broadway playwright Harper Worthington Yates (Tennesse Williams) 

Highlight:  Richard Erdman (Hoffy from Stalag 17) shows up a Broadway dress designer!

Well-written, fast paced episode.  Excellent performance by Erdman and Strother Martin.  Once again, Reiner proves he can be funny, if he's given good lines, and gets suppport.  And this episode doesn't rely solely on Van Dyke and MTM's charm and physical comedy, but gives them funny lines too.  This is one of the better scripts. 

Br-room Br-room  **1/2

Rob buys a motorcyle over Laura's objections. 

Hightlight:  Rob gets on his motorcycle and  childishly pretends to be riding. 

This one is a tough one to rate. Van Dyke is quite good at playing a Walter Mitty type character, and MTM is quite good as the wife who doesn't want him to get injured.  There's also a humorous "Roadside cafe" scene where Rob meets a motorcycle gang and  get arrested.  The problem is too much of the episode is just Laura & Rob  having the same argument over and over.  Too much repetition to be rated higher. 

There's no sale like Wholesale ** 1/2

Buddy always claims "I could've gotten it for you wholesale"  so he helps Rob to buy Laura a fur coat for a  discount. 

Better than expected.  My heart sank when I read the story outline, Oh God another Buddy episode.  But the writing on this one is quite good, and Buddy is also good, since he has good line, and a relatively small part.  The only negative is the use of Italian furriers.  1960s NYC fur dealers were primarily Jewish, and if there were any Italians, that fact was kept well hidden.  Why label the shady characters as Italian?  The Show never shied from casting explicitly Jewish characters.