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

Has anyone else taken notice on the Season-Five DVDs at how much easier it is (via the good PQ) to detect Dick's "graying" hair? Hadn't noticed it that much before the Image DVDs.

This is not a nitpick -- but something I found interesting nonetheless.............

Anybody ever notice that Rob has apparently bought (in Season 4) a brand-new 1964-and-a-half model Ford Mustang?

No Mustangs even existed prior to Spring 1964; and, given the film date of the "Baby-Sitter" episode (August 18, 1964), we know it has to be a '64.5 model.

That car would be worth a boatload of cash today, I would surmise.

When reflecting back on this episode, I'm guessing that any Ford Motor Company executives watching that particular show (which aired on October 7, 1964) probably weren't too thrilled with seeing one of their company's brand-new Mustang "Pony Cars" up on blocks in Rob Petrie's garage and being worked on to repair a "stalling" malfunction. I wonder how they felt about their spanking new vehicle being shown in this negative light?

The Ford people were probably saying -- "Crap, why couldn't they have used a Chevy Impala in that scene?!"

http://home.pon.net/hunnicutt/history_64_68.htm

Okay David, now let's see how good you are by naming the two Van Dyke show episodes that are referred to in the "Mad About You" episode where Carl Reiner reprised his Alan Brady role?

I never saw that "Mad" ep.; so I'll have to plead ignorant on that one.

Off-Topic ......... Any of you guys/gals been bombarded with an unGodly number of pop-up ads the last several days? They're drivin' me nuts (even with a Pop-Up Blocker installed). It's as if somebody in "Pop-Up Hell" has been turned loose with his pop-up quota turned up to Ultra-Annoying for the last few days.

Most of these damn ads are from a place called "TRAFFIC MARKETPLACE". Anybody else getting six billion of these damn things per day like me?

What can be done?

Do you think perhaps Alan Brady, Sam Pomerantz, or Harrison B. Harding could help me out here? Hey...maybe "Forrest" from the "Bad Reception In Albany" episode? (He's a TV repairman you know. )

Ah, too bad. Anyway, Alan complains about two vintage sketches of his not being utilized and he mentions the "bowling pin sketch" (When A Bowling Pin Talks, Listen) and "the piano player with the itch" (A Man's Teeth Are Not His Own).

At least there's one bit of Van Dyke minutiae I'm ahead of you on.

Maybe Forest now runs Traffic Marketplace and is just funning you?

David, one thing you might try is a spyware detection and removal program such as Spybot S&D and/or Ad Aware

A piece of spyware *might* be behind your pop-up problems.

These 2 programs will remove spyware quicker than Mel removes himself from a room whenever Alan tells him to get lost, or whenever Buddy is also in the room.

Yep -- I've already used BOTH of these exact items multiple times. Hasn't helped a bit with my current onslaught from HELL!! Oh well.....

Guess I'll just keeping running Ad-Aware a billion more times in a row till it disinfects the right ones.

(There oughta be a law.... )

Out of curiosity do you have a downloaded program called "Backup" somewhere on your drive? I found out recently that I couldn't get rid of a ton of pop-ups on Internet Explorer (but not AOL) until I deleted that program from my system entirely and now I don't have pop-ups on IE any longer.

I might have that on my computer; not really sure. But I think I've solved my pop-up/spyware problem. Hopefully it stays fixed for at least a few minutes.

Want NitPick #94? OK. ............

In "Give Me Your Walls", Rob accidentally marks up part of the living-room wall with a permanent marking pen. He later berates Laura for her suggestion that the WHOLE room be re-painted to cover one small splotch.

But then, in the next scene when we see Rob on the ladder painting the wall, for some reason Rob doesn't START by painting over "just the splotch", but instead paints practically the whole wall behind the sofa EXCEPT the affected splotched area!

Rob told Laura he was going to "paint the collar & cuffs" of the wall. So my gripe would be: WHY didn't he? He had ample paint to give the "boo boo" a layer or two. But he never touches the boo-boo. Logical? I think not.

OT -- Anybody else here using the "Firefox" web browser? Just now switched to that from IE, and it's great. Seems much faster too. Love it. I'd recommend Firefox for certain. It's supposed to be safer from the annoying Spyware as well. And it's got a nicer "look" to it vs. IE (IMO). The "tabbed browsing" in really convenient.

Anyone had any problems with the Firefox browser?

Additional useless TDvDS Trivia ....................

Which of the following things/items is NOT mentioned in the
episode "That's My Boy??" ? ...........

1.) Rice Pudding.

2.) Dried Figs.

3.) "Dick and Evelyn Carter"

4.) "The Magic Mountain".

5.) Blueberry Tart.

Anyone else notice occassional white blotches in the picture on several episodes of the 5th season? It seems like season 5 might actually be the poorest looking of the 5 seasons.

It would be nice to watch season 5 but 3 of the discs on 2 different sets won't play or freeze up on my dvd. We had to send them back and just stick with seasons 1-4

Robin

David it's Dick and *Betty* Carter who sent the flowers, not Evelyn!

Anywho, the Magic Mountain is from the Richie birthday party episode shot just after the JFK shooting.

Yes, I have noticed the white spots too. (But, luckily, there aren't too many.)

And I've yet to encounter ANY of the "fuzziness"/"blurriness"/"fluttering" problems on Season Five -- and on just ONE ep. in Season 4 (Three Letters From One Wife).

BZZZZZ!! Incorrect!

The answer was "#3" (Dick & Evelyn Carter). I deliberately placed "Evelyn" in there instead of the name I know was correct ("Betty").

The "Magic Mountain" is in the "That's My Boy??" episode -- look again and you'll hear Rob tell Jerry to look in "The Magic Mountain" (baby book) for Ritchie's records. (It's at the 16:03 mark in the episode.)

So, Eric, sorry -- you do not win the free trip to Red Hook for three.

How much money (exactly) does Don Rickles ("Lyle Delp") lift from Rob & Laura (combined) in "4 1/2"?

David, that was a nice swerve...I also would've guessed Magic Mountain.

Thank you, Casey my man.

I keep checking www.dvdondvd.com for any news on the humongous "Ottoman Collection" (with possible extra bonus discs); but there's still no info about it. I'm wondering if that mega-DVD/Furniture collection will come to fruition at all.

I could be altogether wrong -- but I have a feeling that none of these Van Dyke sets have sold terrificly well. I say that partly based on the Amazon DVD rankings that I check every now & again; plus the fact that there have been close to zero customer reviews for any of the Van Dyke seasons posted @ Amazon (other than my own); and based on the fact that virtually *no one* is discussing these excellent DVD-On-DVD boxed sets on the various Forums open to such Digital discussions (including here).

The same few people have chipped in with comments for any of the various DVD-on-DVD HTF threads, indicating (IMO) a general lack of interest, overall, in this old-time TV Classic series.

Of course, part of the disinterest in a 1960s show like TDvDS is the fact that (I would guess) the majority of people on HT Forums are in the younger (20s and 30s) age bracket, and thusly have little interest in shows from Van Dyke's era. A shame, but a fact nonetheless it would appear.

Interestly, I started a couple of Van Dyke Show threads @ DVD-Talk, and they died a very quick, agonizing death, with a horridly-low total of views (let alone virtually no posts in response to the threads).

An example of current (July 28th) sales data --- S.5 of TDvDS ranks a fairly poor #1,767 @ Amazon. The best *any* of the other 4 full-season sets can muster is approx. #7500. Of course, Amazon *does* have them priced pretty high (about $60 each). But, still, those are hideous rankings for such a great set of DVD products.

Just imagine how many people will invest in a $799 Ottoman Set. They might sell a dozen (if they're lucky).

I'm just glad that Image/Brownstein were committed to releasing all 5 seasons before they ever sold their first unit. Otherwise, I fear, we probably wouldn't have Seasons 3, 4, or 5 right now.

Well, I'm one 23 year old that is proud to own these sets. I suspect that you're probably right regarding these sets and how they're selling, I've only seen them at one retail store I've been to since October...no reviews online unless of course it was written by one David VP.

But, I'm glad to have the complete series on DVD, it was well worth the price. Heck I doubt that 799 collection would sell even a dozen, I mean it seems to me that those people that would likely buy such a thing would already have the complete series on DVD, so why invest in something you basically already own. Plus, those better be some damn interesting collectables, seeing as how buying all 5 seasons of the Dick Van Dyke Show cost me roughly $250 (and that's probably high) so the other $540 better knock my socks off...hypothetically speaking of course, since if I really had that much money to spend on a DVD collection...I'd probably not spend it on that set anyway, and buy a bunch of other stuff I'd rather have...I'm rambling again, sorry...but...uh, where was I going with this?...
...
I'm also glad that the DVD on DVD sets have earned some critical praise and won a few awards and the like, they deserve them...its a great show and I'm glad to own it.

I hadn't realized the "Case-ster" was so young.
You're in the minority I assume (a person under 35 with all 5 V.Dyke seasons ).

No kidding!
For that price, I think it should include the whole Petrie living room, including both the ottoman AND the nine-foot curved couch! (They should probably also throw in the rock that's down in the basement.)

I'm just hoping that The Andy Griffith Show sells well after its October debut. One thing that bodes well for good "TAGS #1" sales is the nice low prices ($27-$28) I've seen on-line. THAT'S gonna be the biggest factor, I imagine, toward future seasons coming out.

In comparing TAGS with TDvDS: Consumers will see that they can buy the very same number of episodes (32) in the TAGS #1 set that exist on avg. in the V.Dyke seasons, for about HALF the cost of any of the Van Dyke boxes. I'm hoping that attractive price will yield a "TAGS S.2" by mid-2005.

David, another thing working in favor of TAGS, is that it up until even 3 or 4 years ago ran regularly on TBS in the middle of the afternoon/late evening (in the 4 PM to 7 PM central time range) I had never seen the Dick Van Dyke Show anywhere until it started running on Nick at Nite in the early 1990's, but was already well acquainted with Andy and Barn.

I don't doubt I'm in the minority in so far as I'm 23 and own all 5 seasons, but its a minority I'm glad to be in, it really was/is a great show.

Well, I'm 27 and I plan on owning all five seasons...right now just season one...and that's only because I got it for $20.00 from amazon.com....I wish the other seasons would be low priced like that though....it's the only reason I don't purchase the others right away.

Good point, Casey.
Funny you mention this. I was just now coming back into this thread to edit and add in comments very similar to what you've said here. But you beat me to it. (Great minds, you know... )

I'd have to agree....In general, it seems that Anj & Barn have had more exposure via syndication (in virtually every town & hamlet east of Fairbanks, and probably even Fairbanks itself ) than have Rob & Laura & Harrison B. Harding & Maxwell Calvada.

I get to pull out one of my favorite lines...

Great minds think alike and so do we.

A minority of which I'm also proud to be a part (technical issues with Season 5 notwithstanding), at least for the next two plus years!

Jay