"The Dick Van Dyke Show Season 5" -- A Personal Review

#31

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7/19/04 at 8:34pm

David Von Pein
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Good catches, Casey.

Here's one I noticed recently ..........

NitPick #110: In the episode "Hustling The Hustler", Rob tells Blackie that it was Laura who purchased this pool table for Rob ("To keep me off the streets").

OK, kids, I ask you (logically) -- Could Laura (who has no job and gets just a small allowance from Robert each week it would seem via the episode "Bank Book 6565696", in which it's revealed it has taken her quite some time to accumulate the robust sum of just $378.16 to buy Rob the "JFK400 Roadster" automobile that Rob has been "drooling over") POSSIBLY have afforded, on her own, the purchase of a pool table for her hubby? A table that, even circa 1962-1963, would have cost approximately $750-$800 (at least).

I suppose it's conceivable Laura could have saved enough for Rob's pool table AND saved up $378 to boot for the car too; but I find it unlikely.

Perry, next witness.

(BTW--Those 2 eps. ["Bank Book" and "Hustler"] are back-to-back eps.)

Now, DvDS kids, here's a brain-buster trivia Q for y'all:

In the episodic adventure called "Very Old Shoes, Very Old Rice", Rob & Laura's wedding "witnesses" are played very nicely by Burt Mustin & Madge Blake (aka: "Mrs. Mondello" of "Leave It To Beaver"; Mustin, too, was a LITB alumni). These two old folks had witnessed many a wedding -- What number "witnessing" was Rob & Laura's ceremony for this old couple?

A free case of "Potato Poopies" and a case of "Wheatie Wow-Wows" await the person who answers correctly!

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#32

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7/19/04 at 8:46pm

David Von Pein
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How about THIS cool "Van Dyke NitPick" (I must say, that I personally didn't think of this -- although I *should* have, given my NitPicks 101 class

) -------

In the very funny episode "The Night The Roof Fell In", Ritchie breaks a bottle of Rob's cowboy-style shaving lotion ("Stirrup & Saddle").

Now, this doesn't seem like a NitPick, per se. But the "official NitPick" comes into play when we ask ourselves the following question:

Why is Rob's shaving lotion and other shaving materials (including shaving cream which Ritchie has all over his face in this ep.) located in Ritchie's bathroom, instead of Rob & Laura's bathroom off of their bedroom?

I guess we're now to assume Rob gets up in the morning, brushes his teeth and takes his morning whiz in their own master bathroom -- THEN switches to Ritchie's bathroom to shave and put on cologne. LOL.

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#33

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7/19/04 at 11:27pm

Eric Paddon
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I can never top you in nit-picks, Dave, but I can make a good second place showing.

Ever wonder what kind of a building Rob works in? He's established as working on the 28th floor of a mid-town skyscraper, which we are led to believe is also where the Alan Brady Show broadcasts from, given that we see dancers in rehearsal wander in and out.

Yet the sign outside the office door if we freeze-frame clearly shows the names of doctors, lawyers etc. implying that this important broadcasting facility is also used by ordinary professionals, and of course in "Uhny Utz" we also learn that secretive toymakers have rented out an office too!

The leaseholder of that building clearly will rent out to anyone!

Notice also the inconsistency of where Jerry works. In early episodes he is established as having his dental office in the house, which makes sense because he's the dentist for the neighborhood, but in later episodes he is seen commuting downtown and has a dental office downtown, but if so how could he still be a New Rochelle neighborhood dentist??

For these and more exciting and spellbinding questions that have no answers, tune in to more installments of the Van Pein-Paddon Nitpick Report!

#34

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7/20/04 at 2:54pm

David Von Pein
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Quote:

...In "Uhny U(f)tz" we also learn that secretive toymakers have rented out an office too!

The leaseholder of that building clearly will rent out to anyone!

True, it seems, very true.
(BTW, you left the "F" out of "Uftz". Shame!)

Quote:

For these and more exciting and spellbinding questions that have no answers, tune in to more installments of the Van Pein-Paddon Nitpick Report!

(I hate to "nit-pick", but that's "Von Pein", not "Van".

)

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#35

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7/20/04 at 3:03pm

David Von Pein
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Has anyone been able to prove me wrong regarding the "1966 Persky/Denoff Emmy Clip" that I have said is ONLY on the "Best Of Volume 1" disc?

Anybody been able to find that particular 1966 Emmy clip on ANY of the 5 seasonal sets as yet? I have not located that clip other than on the Best-Of volume.

If anyone finds it, please post. (So I can eat the proper serving of crow.

)

I'd guess, however, since the clip in question is a color clip from the show's last season (Season 5) -- that it would appear within the fifth-season boxed collection (if it's anywhere within any seasonal set).

And just remember, kids -- If you ever feel the need to blab about your best friend being bald behind his back, don't do it by the water cooler, telling just a few
people. No ...........

"Your place is on NETWORK TELEVISION!"

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#36

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7/20/04 at 5:02pm

Eric Paddon
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Ah yes, with "Utz" I was thinking of a potato chip brand name.

But I have no excuse for your name. You are free to do more than nitpick over *that* one!

Here's another nitpick. In "What's In A Middle Name?" Rob's father Sam Petrie is championing the virtues of a short, simple first name like his own. Whatever got him to agree to naming his second son, "Stacey"?

#37

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7/20/04 at 8:39pm

David Von Pein
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Yeah, what about that?? (Well, "Stacey" IS only two syllables; not overly long. For that matter, "Rob" actually = "Robert", also a two-syllable birth name.)

Nobody knows (or cares probably

) what the answer is to my brain-teasing Q above, eh? (Re. Burt Mustin, et al.)

The prize is getting stale.

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#38

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7/20/04 at 10:33pm

Eric Paddon
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I know how to claim the prize, but I have to get myself in the mood for watching both episodes in a row!

#39

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7/20/04 at 11:27pm

Eric Paddon
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815!!!!

But you may keep those (ahem) "potato poopies" (that name alone makes me sick!) for yourself.

#40

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7/20/04 at 11:39pm

Casey Trowbridg
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Since I just saw the episode in the past couple of days I want to say...

E D W A R D!

I want to comment on my favorite character of Buddy if I can. I'm drawn to that character, if I haven't completely stolen some of his one liners, I've said many a thing that sounds like something you'd hear out of his mouth.

His remarking about being put in the freezer when he dies cracks me up. Then when Sally threatens to kill him if he makes one more joke he says...
"Please, not this week we're defrosting."

In everyone's favorite episode about a certain Christmas toy his insult for Mel really works when he's so tired he just says: "Mel, you are really bald."

Buddy is the TV character that has most influenced me as a person, at least when it comes to the kinds of jokes I tell...and that's better than the second character that has had a profound mark on my life...Homer Simpson.

Mr. Amsterdam really was a genius and the human joke machine.

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#41

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7/20/04 at 11:45pm

Casey Trowbridg
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Quote:

But you may keep those (ahem) "potato poopies" (that name alone makes me sick!) for yourself.

(I've got to agree with this one as well.

Here's a question that I'm sure I could figure out the answer to by watching the show more carefully, but how long was Rob working for the Alan Brady show before Rich was born?

Mr. Reiner has made me laugh a lot during this series as well, especially in Coast to Coast big mouth and the way he's talking to Laura, not so much for what he says but his delivery is really good.

Him imploring Rob to read the article that was more about Rob than him in that particular episode of which I don't recall the title off hand is also really funny. Oh go ahead Rob, keep reading!

Sorry its late, and I'm tired but having all 5 seasons of this show on DVD has helped me to appreciate its greatness all that much more. As Reiner and Van Dyke have said in some of the commentary tracks on these sets, the episodes still work today and are still funny today and I wonder how much of modern TV people will find funny in 30-40 years. Its a credit to how well written the show was. Not to mention how well the show was acted, this was a great cast from top to bottom, perhaps one of the best in TV history.

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#42

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7/20/04 at 11:57pm

Eric Paddon
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I think it was no more than one year or so that Rob was working for Alan. Of course what remains confusing is (1) how long did Rob stay in the Army after he and Laura married and (2) then got the job as a DJ in Danville ("100 Terrible Hours") before he was hired by Alan (which contradicts season 1 where Rob is established as having worked for comedy writer Hap Spangler before working for Alan)?

Throw in the inconsistency of Mel being bald in the flashbacks for "What's In A Middle Name" and "Where Did I Come From" but in "Fifty-Two Forty-Five Or Work" which takes place chronologically in between Mel is wearing a toupee to suggest a receding hairline! (as he also did in "100 Terrible Hours")

For more questions to which we have no answers, stay tuned for more of the VON Pein-Paddon report.

#43

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7/21/04 at 12:06am

Casey Trowbridg
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Yeah, all of this stuff was going on back then and they were all probably thinking...nobody will be watching these things in 40 years anyway, so lets not concern ourselves with lapses in logic and continuity.

Oh, and Laura must have had some real understanding parents to let her be in the USO show at the age of 17 and probably even 16. Oh, and for all the years they were married...I'm a little surprised or find it really hard to believe that one of her parents wouldn't make a comment about how old Laura actually was.

I mean if she ever got a cake or something that said happy 28th birthday why wouldn't mom or dad say something like, wait a minute she's only 26.

I mean even if her parents were willing to keep her secret as well, I'd find it hard to believe that something wouldn't slip by accident over all the years they had been married.

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#44

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7/21/04 at 12:22am

Eric Paddon
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And Laura must have been a genius to have married Rob at age 17, yet Joe Coogan the future priest was a "college" boyfriend!

#45

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7/21/04 at 12:25am

Eric Paddon
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Regarding Laura's age, maybe whenever Rob asked her father about it, he just said indignantly, "I don't want to talk about it!"

(that exchange between Rob and her father in "The Plots Thicken" is probably the funniest variation on Abbott and Costello style dialogue humor I've ever seen).

#46

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7/21/04 at 3:07am

David Von Pein
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Quote:

And Laura must have been a genius to have married Rob at age 17, yet Joe Coogan the future priest was a "college" boyfriend!

I must interject a possible alternate scenario here, Your Honor. ---> (Played by Ed Begley, Sr.

) ......

If you'll watch the "Joe Coogan" episode again, I *believe* I'm correct when I say that Father Coogan said HE, himself, was "in college at the time" he knew Laura. BUT, he never specifically (and officially) claimed that Laura was also in college at the time (although, I suppose, we *could* assume she probably was).

But, it's *possible* (if only slightly), that Coogan was carrying on with Laura while she was in high school. Many guys like younger chicks, as we all know.

And so, Judge Begley, I submit to you that convicting Mr. Reiner of yet ANOTHER writing gaffe in the case of the Joe Coogan episode is premature, invalid, unsubstantiated, and altogether a violation of the Calvada Production, Inc., code of ethical 1960s television standards as we have known and grown to love them for lo these many decades.

Thank you.

Perry .... Your witness.

("I don't know what letters HE intends using.")

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#47

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7/21/04 at 3:29am

David Von Pein
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While I'm thinking of "Joe Coogan" ..........

This is a really good episode in many ways (writing-wise). I love the "flow" of the dialogue throughout this well-scribed episode.

For example -- The opening scene in the golf-course cafe: When Joe & Rob are sitting and talking and eating salty crackers with coffee. The dialogue seems so real, it's amazing. I say to myself: There's no way that's pre-written dialogue. Because it seems so unrehearsed.

And when Rob confronts Laura about the sonnets, we get more perfect, seemingly ad-libbed lines. And logical lines, like when Laura wonders (rightly so): "You mean he (Joe) goes around telling strange golfers he wrote sonnets to me?"

The Coogan episode goes from the great opening "establishing" scene with Joe & Rob, to the funny scene at home, to the hilarious part of Sally bursting in to find her blind date is a "PRIEST!", and then winds up with the very nicely-done and poignant (but not overly-sappy) ending of Laura realizing the sonnets had a totally different meaning.

Rob's closing line "Look at it this way; you lost him to a better man" is one of the most touching moments in the whole series' run.

I find myself re-watching the Joe Coogan episode more than I thought I would. It's yet another example of great writing, combined with the fine acting of the cast, plus the equally-fine performance of the Joe Coogan character.

Father Coogan, BTW, was played by Michael Forest, who also made many other guest-star appearances in 1960s TV shows, including "One Step Beyond", "Gunsmoke", "Maverick", "The Outer Limits", "Ben Casey", and "Gilligan's Island".

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#48

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7/21/04 at 9:18am

Casey Trowbridg
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Here's one, in the what's in a middle name episode, Richie learns his middle name after finding a box with his birth cirtificate in it. Well, logically wouldn't said box possibly contain copies of Rob and Laura's birth cirtificates? and wouldn't this possibly have been something that Rob could've seen? Or perhaps Laura had some fony documents made up...

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#49

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7/21/04 at 1:07pm

David*P
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Quote:

The "Magic Piano" that appears and disappears. It's only in the living room AS NEEDED, it seems. Then it'll disappear for several months.

Samantha and Durwood (Bewitched) had the same problem with a piano that would show up only when needed, though one time they did rent it. But I would suppose that an appearing/disappearing piano wouldn't be that strange for that witchy household

That "Joe Coogan" episode is one of the first DVDS I had ever seen and I thought it was simply superb! Sally's reaction when she walks in for her date only to see that he's a priest is priceless! And I had the same thought about the dialogue during the first scene...it seemed so unrehearsed and so realistic.

I have a question though, you DVDS Trivia Masters, is that mention of God in the "Joe Coogan" episode the only time on the series where God was mentioned? Did they ever go to church or did Laura ever participate in any church bizarre's?

I still only have the first season on DVD and have been watching the whole series on TV Land though I'm a month behind. Luckily I have Tivo so I can watch them anytime.

#50

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7/21/04 at 1:16pm

Casey Trowbridg
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Well, in the episode where Richie learns a new word, when Rob and Laura invite the parents of the boy that taught Richie the word over to their house, it turns out that the guy is a revrend.

I don't believe that they ever went to church though, or even implied that they did. Of course, this really isn't surprising and it seems to be standard in most sitcoms, in fact on commentaries for Simpsons episodes they take pride in the fact that theres is one of very few shows where you actually see people go to church.

I'd say the episode that dealt the most with religion mainly dealt with Buddy and his Jewish background.

I could be wrong though, and David VP, or Eric will be along to toss in a few that I *might* have forgotten but that's what I recall at this time.

Edit: They must have some religious background though, as in the burial plot episode Richie says something like but I thought that when you died you went to heaven. Of course, Rob calling the plot a launching pad is something I found very funny.

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#51

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7/21/04 at 3:22pm

Eric Paddon
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Actually in "Never Bathe On Saturday" in the tag scene, Rob and Laura talk about spotting a group from their church "minister and all" at the theater, and this was why they came home because they didn't think Rob could explain his fake moustache that he couldn't get off.

#52

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7/21/04 at 3:24pm

Eric Paddon
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To add to that, there's a funny moment in "Who Stole My Watch?" when Mel Cooley gets IMO the biggest laugh he ever got in the series when he is upset over the insurance investigator interrogating him as a suspect in the watch theft by saying as his exit line, "And why did you have to have him come on the night we were entertaining our minister??"

#53

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7/21/04 at 5:54pm

David Von Pein
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Offhand, I can't add any more to the "religious" issue than has been adeptly stated by Eric & Casey. (You guys are good, too. No doubt about that.

)

Here's a dandy nitpick. (Again, I can't take credit for thinking of this (sadly

). A person at another site brought this up.) ..........

In "The Ghost Of A. Chantz", Rob & Laura banter back and forth about how they steal the pillow from one another while sleeping, and talk about giving the other person "a shot" in the ribs for such-&-such, etc. .... But HOW do they manage these activities WHEN THEY SLEEP IN SEPARATE BEDS?

(I guess Rob must get up out of a sound sleep, walk over to Laura's bed, pilfer her pillow, walk back to his bed, crawl in, & return to sleep.) LOL.

I find it also somewhat interesting that the censors DID allow Rob & Laura to be in the same bed together (without the proverbial "one foot being on the floor"

) in the "A. Chantz" episode.

Of course, both Sally & Buddy were in the bed also, as they all four were huddled together in the same pull-out bed in the haunted cabin.

Obviously, the Petries didn't have amore on their minds during this "bed" scene, being they were scared to death of the ghosts surrounding them that night -- but I'm still a tad surprised that was allowed (because of the super-strict restrictions of the era).

If Buddy & Sally hadn't been in the bed too, I'm sure it wouldn't have passed the censors unscathed.

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#54

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7/21/04 at 11:29pm

David*P
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Well, if David VP can't recall anymore religious type scenarios then you guys must've got 'em all!

I was just curious, that's all, as it seems that it would've been really risky to attach them to any particular religion. I know the Bible Belt was probably seeing red when on "Bewitched" Samantha stopped time in church during a wedding and another time was helping out at a church bazaar. I figured if Samantha did church bazaar's Laura certainly would've...

#55

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7/22/04 at 12:34am

Eric Paddon
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Probably the only other religious reference that indicates that they are active is in "Bad Reception In Albany" when Laura, upset about how Rob thanks to goofy circumstances has shown up for a relative's wedding in a bizarre tuxedo talks of how no one will forgive him including the minister who officiated, and Rob suddenly says, "Reverend so-and-so's (the name escaped me right now) GOT to forgive me!"

I don't think it was "risky" for people to generally assume that the Petries were much like Van Dyke himself, which would be midwestern Protestant. In the 50s and 60s, people took for granted the fact that religion was a general part of most people's lives and I saw these small references as the kind of acknowledgment of that that we would never see today given the present-day attitudes of Hollywood.

#56

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7/22/04 at 10:04am

Steve...O
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In real life, Dick Van Dyke has often mentioned the importance of his faith to him especially during his battles with alcohol. Seeing him convey this attitude, even very subtly, in a series isn't surprising. I think Eric hit the nail on the head with his post above mine concerning the correlation between the Petries and real life America at the time.

Steve

#57

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7/22/04 at 1:54pm

BarryR
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Two bits of Dick Van Dyke Show Trivia: (apologies if already mentioned)

In Season # 5, when Godfrey Cambridge is an FBI agent "spying" from Richie's room, I'm amused to see "Addams Family" figures on the wall! Uncle Fester is definitely noticeable.

In Season # 4 (?), in the episode when the relatives are arguing over family plots, Laura briefly flips up a newspaper--and it's The Los Angeles Times!

#58

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7/22/04 at 10:10pm

David Von Pein
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"Coast-To-Coast Big Mouth" nitpick ..........

It takes Rob (who's rushing as fast as possible) more than 5 minutes to get from his office to Alan's.

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#59

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7/22/04 at 11:33pm

Eric Paddon
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That means it took him longer to go from his office to Alan's than it did to go from Manhattan to New Rochelle in "The Cat Burgler."

Another nit-pick is that starting with Season 3, the number of Rob's old Army buddies to serve as convenient plot devices in a story took on leaps and bounds it seemed like!

#60

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7/23/04 at 12:15am

David Von Pein
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More? OK. .........

Nitpick 394 -- In "Dear Sally Rogers" (Season 5), a huge bag of mail comes for Sally. Problem being: Sally had just appeared on the "Stevie Parsons Show" the night before (LATE night at that).

I'm doubting that the mail service is THAT fast! Besides, even if it WAS *that* fast, we'd have to then assume that hundreds of people watched Sally on the Parsons' show after 11:30 PM, then wrote a letter, then went out in the middle of the night to mail their letter to Miss Rogers.

Plus, there's one letter that arrives all the way from Hawaii (to N.Y.) overnight! (Wish we had that kind of mail service today. LOL.)

Although -- It's *possible* it wasn't the night before, because Herman says the show was on "the other night", not "last" night. So, I'm not positive. But, anyway, we can definitely say that the mail service was extremely fast at any rate.

SALLY -- "My future may be in this bag."
BUDDY -- "That's what I said when I first saw my wife."

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