Dick Van Dyke was a protege of Stan Laurel, who saw something in this lanky young man who probably reminded him of himself at that age. If Stan had been 30 when TV came into the mainstream, this show might have been what he came up with.
Dick Van Dyke had but a few TV appearances under his belt when he got his own TV show in 1961. The show basically had two settings. There was "the office" where Rob Petrie (Van Dyke) was a comic writer for the Alan Brady Show along with Sally Rogers (Rose Marie) and Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam). Sometimes it becomes a "show within a show" as the three act out the skits they are writing. The most unlikable looking man in TV history, Richard Deacon, plays Mel Cooley, Alan Brady's gofer and brother-in-law, completely under the thumb of his boss and the object of Buddy's constant joking.
At home is Rob's wife Laura (Mary Tyler Moore), and the reason I take a star off of this show, the worst child actor in history, Larry Mathews as son Ritchie. Ron Howard this kid was not. He did not get entire episodes dedicated to his acting like Ron did over on the Andy Griffith Show. He usually just gets one line in an episode and he usually almost laughs through even that.
The show did a good job of balancing Rob's work and home life, and Moore, as Laura Petrie, is not like Lucille Ball and constantly trying to get into show business by invading hubby's work life. What is really innovative about this show was that "the little people" - the unnamed celebrities behind the camera - are the stars here. You see how the writers work together and make what you see on TV possible in the first place.
TV star Alan Brady is played by Carl Reiner, who only appeared in 32 episodes, but his tendency towards tyranny and narcissism comes shining through, and ironically Brady seems just like the kind of guy who would resent his son being much more talented than he was, as Carl Reiner's son Rob Reiner was IMHO.
The only places it sags and ages a bit is in Laura's periodic helplessness and "Oh Rob"s and in the constant and urgent effort to get Sally married off as she is a lady obviously in her late 30s and that biological clock is blaring.
I'd highly recommend it for the great physical comedy of Dick Van Dyke and just a well written show overall.
Dick Van Dyke had but a few TV appearances under his belt when he got his own TV show in 1961. The show basically had two settings. There was "the office" where Rob Petrie (Van Dyke) was a comic writer for the Alan Brady Show along with Sally Rogers (Rose Marie) and Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam). Sometimes it becomes a "show within a show" as the three act out the skits they are writing. The most unlikable looking man in TV history, Richard Deacon, plays Mel Cooley, Alan Brady's gofer and brother-in-law, completely under the thumb of his boss and the object of Buddy's constant joking.
At home is Rob's wife Laura (Mary Tyler Moore), and the reason I take a star off of this show, the worst child actor in history, Larry Mathews as son Ritchie. Ron Howard this kid was not. He did not get entire episodes dedicated to his acting like Ron did over on the Andy Griffith Show. He usually just gets one line in an episode and he usually almost laughs through even that.
The show did a good job of balancing Rob's work and home life, and Moore, as Laura Petrie, is not like Lucille Ball and constantly trying to get into show business by invading hubby's work life. What is really innovative about this show was that "the little people" - the unnamed celebrities behind the camera - are the stars here. You see how the writers work together and make what you see on TV possible in the first place.
TV star Alan Brady is played by Carl Reiner, who only appeared in 32 episodes, but his tendency towards tyranny and narcissism comes shining through, and ironically Brady seems just like the kind of guy who would resent his son being much more talented than he was, as Carl Reiner's son Rob Reiner was IMHO.
The only places it sags and ages a bit is in Laura's periodic helplessness and "Oh Rob"s and in the constant and urgent effort to get Sally married off as she is a lady obviously in her late 30s and that biological clock is blaring.
I'd highly recommend it for the great physical comedy of Dick Van Dyke and just a well written show overall.