🥳Happy 99th Birthday, Dick Van Dyke! A Celebration of the Master of Mirth and Melody!🎵

All singing, all dancing, all funny! As Rob Petrie nears the century mark, a celebration of the remarkably agile, hilarious song'n'dance man who idolized Stan Laurel.

There’s so much in the life and career of Dick Van Dyke to celebrate and appreciate. I’ll let Dear Reader re-live Mary Poppins, other family-friendly flicks, and the Broadway shows he starred in…and, so much more.

But, as he turns 99 years young December 13, 2024, my personal spotlight shines brightly on The Dick Van Dyke Show, the erudite, witty, and urbane CBS-TV sitcom which ran for five years (1961-’66).

The Write Stuff, In Living Color (Eventually)

It, and I Love Lucy (1951-1957) are easily this writer’s two favorite sitcoms of all time…actors’ performances, yes, but in both….the writing! Lucy, Viv, Bill, Desi, Dick, Mary, et al have nothing at all to say unless the blank script page is filled with witty dialog and hilarious, mad-cap situations (and, of course, wacky stage directions to match)! The actors bring it all to side-splitting life, and TV classics are born!

Another year, and creator Carl Reiner and the network would’ve been strongly urged (forced?) to shoot on color film, by then the industry standard (see The Andy Griffith Show, Bewitched, The Beverly Hillbillies, and a few others, who had shot in black’n’white for a time before switching to color).

“Even as NBC was increasing its color output, CBS was placing the impetus in the hands of the advertiser. In 1963, the network was broadcasting in color only if an advertiser would help pay for the added cost,” according to a recent TVObscurities.com article.

“Two years later, an editorial in Television magazine declared that ‘the surge of interest in color in the past six months marks September 1965 as the date of the long-awaited color breakthrough.’ What led to this surge in interest? The battle for ratings.” What else?

So, at the start of Season 5 for The DVD Show (that same hallmarked September 1965 date), the decision was made (by network prez, Frank Stanton, and head of programming, Michael Dann) to sally forth in glorious B&W. Had a Season 6 commenced in September ‘66, color reels would also have emerged, whether sponsors ponied up the dough or not (and the network would’ve been on the hook).

Episodes have since been colorized (much like I Love Lucy, another CBS show) and released on video/DVDs. Colorized title card and scene stills:

Richard Wayne Van Dyke was born in West Plains, Missouri on December 13, 1925. Raised in Danville, Illinois, he spent many an afternoon munching popcorn in front of a movie screen watching Laurel and Hardy flicks. His lithe frame matched the great Stan Laurel’s, and Dick began to intentionally emulate the physical comedy style of the master…as well as Buster Keaton.

Dick’s TV career didn’t begin with The DVD Show, but his smash Broadway career ran up to nearly the minute cameras began rolling on Hollywood’s Desilu Cahuenga Studios set for his new show.

For a year-and-a-half (April 1960 through October 1961), Dick played the lead in Broadway’s Bye Bye Birdie. The musical won four Tony awards including Van Dyke’s Best Featured Actor Tony, in 1961. So, clearly, he walked onto the sitcom to play comedy writer, Robert Petrie, a celebrated star of the legitimate theatre.

One has to wonder what decisions were wrestled with in his head (and with his agent!) to go from a smash Broadway hit to a dice-roll of a sitcom clear across the country (with a wife and kids, yet).

The series ended up winning 15 Emmy Awards. In 1997, the episodes “Coast-to-Coast Big Mouth” and “It May Look Like a Walnut” were ranked at #8 and #15, respectively on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2002, the series was ranked at #13 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, and in 2013, it was ranked at #20 on their list of the 60 Best Series.

Along with Dick, the show starred Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Richard Deacon, show creator, Carl Reiner, and Larry Mathews.

Two Select Episodes on Either Side of a Blooper Reel (Viewer Discretion Advised for that one only):

Their Christmas Show:

The rare 1963 LP by Dick Van Dyke: Songs I Like, Command Records (with The Ray Charles Singers and Enoch Light and His Orchestra):

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DICK…..AND, MANY MORE!!!