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

I've yet to figure out the "silencing" of the words "On You" in a very funny scene in the episode "The Life And Love Of Joe Coogan".

Rob is hollering at Laura on the phone, and after Laura exclaims "I object to your tone!", Rob's next line is "You're going to hear a dial tone in a minute, because I'm gonna hang up on you!" -- and the last two words ("On you") are edited off the soundtrack on the DVD.

Can't figure out why. Most curious indeed.

Another in a long series of "oddities" re. "The Cat Burglar" episode that I just noticed ........

The crooks in the neighborhood are said to be "specialists", stealing ONLY people's TV sets and silverware. However, at the Petrie household, they do NOT steal either of these items -- instead, they go for the much-more-difficult-to-pilfer dining-room table and chairs.

And: we also KNOW that the thieves ARE the same "specialists" referred to earlier -- because the cops trail the thieves for one whole morning to "watch them collect evidence for us".

Why did the crooks change their "M.O." in the middle of a "TV / Silverware" crime spree through New Rochelle? Was the Petrie dining set just TOO NICE to pass up?

Unfortunately for the thieves, the Petries didn't buy the infamous "Artanis" clown painting until Season 3, and "Cat Burglar" was a S.2 offering. Otherwise, I'm almost CERTAIN that the crooks would have stolen the Artanis. Who could have passed up a "smooshed up"/half-ruined Artanis with no frame (the frame being the only thing that "Good made good", and which was sold to Mr. Holdecker for 80 clams)?

Your witness, Perry.

Can somebody explain this "script anomaly" to me in a reasonable fashion? ..........

In "The Foul-Weather Girl", Rob has several evening working sessions with fledgling singer "Janie Layton".

This, I guess, sounds like a decent enough excuse to shove Rob and Janie together (much to Laura's despair). But, think about the premise for a few seconds here ........

Janie is a SINGER, not an actress. I'm just wondering WHY (or HOW) Rob's long hours of "coaching" actually would benefit her greatly. Did Rob suddenly become a "Voice Coach" or something?

What did these "coaching" sessions consist of (from Rob's "comedy-writing" skills POV)?

The premise of having ROB work with Janie on her "voice" just doesn't ring true, IMO. Seems to me, either Janie's "got it" (a good voice) or she hasn't. And Rob's assistance isn't likely to change that fact. (UNLESS, that is, he's teaching her to sing a "Mountain Greenery" duet with Rob.)

Boy, David*P is REALLY loyal to Elizabeth -- he's kicking himself for having not gotten the Van Dyke S.5 set, due to a few seconds of on-screen time of Liz on an Emmy clip bonus! That's a fan! *

* = Just kiddin' with ya, David P. -- I know you enjoy the Van Dyke series too. And, btw, those are, indeed, very nice, crisp pictures of Liz at the Emmy Awards (circa 1966).

I'm not quite sure this is true. Season 3 has quite a few extras (including a complete extra half-hour episode of another sitcom, featuring "Buddy Sorrell"). ..........

From my review on Van Dyke-3............


BONUS FEATURES ....... Like the first two boxed seasons, this 3rd Dick Van Dyke Show set is jammed-packed with bonus material. Here's a rundown:

>> There are 2 audio commentary tracks, featuring Dick Van Dyke and show creator Carl Reiner (for "That's My Boy??" and "October Eve").

>> Two clips from the 1964 Emmy Awards (length = 2:30).

>> Assorted Cast & Crew Interviews.

>> Photo Galleries for many episodes.

>> A complete episode of "The Danny Thomas Show" (originally aired on October 21, 1963), in which Morey Amsterdam appears as his Dick Van Dyke Show character, Buddy Sorrell! This Danny Thomas program bears a strong resemblance, story-wise, to the 2nd-season Van Dyke Show episode, "Ray Murdock's X-Ray". Run time of this bonus program is 25:20, and the picture quality is quite good.

>> "Rehearsal Footage" (2:28) --- This extra contains a clip from an Arthur Godfrey-hosted TV documentary from May of 1966, "A Day In The Life Of Sheldon Leonard". We see some behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage for the season-five Van Dyke episode, "Talk To The Snail". Interesting stuff.

>> An excerpt (3:14) from Mr. Van Dyke's 1975 variety program, "Van Dyke & Company", in which Dick's former co-star, Mary Tyler Moore, makes an appearance. It's not a song-and-dance clip; it's a scripted comedy spot featuring Dick and Mary chatting. Not exactly side-splittingly funny; but it's still fun to watch these two performers get together again, nine years after the Van Dyke Show ended.

>> Easter Eggs --- There are 5 hidden "Eggs" (one on each of the five discs). Each is a TV ad (circa 1990s) for "Nick At Nite", featuring "Chairman" Dick Van Dyke. Be sure not to miss the one on Disc #5, in which Carl Reiner pops up (alongside Dick). That one is very funny!

These "Easter Eggs" can be accessed by pressing your remote's "Left Arrow" key while the "Opening Titles" chapter is highlighted. In two instances, however, you can get to the same hidden "Egg" by "left arrowing" from any of the other chapter choices as well. If an "Egg" is present, a "glow" will surround the cranium of Mr. Dick Van Dyke's artist rendering in the corner. Press "Enter" or "Play" now, and you'll see the "Nick @ Nite" promo spot.

>> Plus: There's also a four-page mini-booklet, featuring some third-season facts and trivia, plus an informative bio on Rose Marie.

NOTE: The packaging indicates that some "Original Commercials" are contained in this set. This is an error. There are none here.

I don't believe so. But I could be wrong. I hadn't really kept an eye peeled for Elizabeth. ... However, it's highly unlikely that Liz would appear in the Emmy audience for any of the Van Dyke Show season sets numbered
1 thru 3 -- because her series, "Bewitched", didn't even begin until Fall 1964.

David*P --- Have you ever seen Elizabeth in her appearance in the "Thriller" series (1960)? Episode
called "Masquerade".

I'm sure you must also have Vol. 4 of "The Twilight Zone" ... correct? It has the episode called "Two" on it, featuring Liz and Charles Bronson. Not my fave TZ ep., but Elizabeth makes it highly-watchable, even though she has a whopping total of ONE line in the whole show (one word, actually --- "Prokrazny" I think it was). Was that the word, David P.?

Oh, yes, That's right. Hadn't thought of that "connection" before.


Nope. Neither one appeared on Serling's "Zone".

To keep a Van Dyke Show connection here, Don Rickles (aka "Lyle Delp") was on TZ, however. Along with many of the bit players who appeared on TDvDS, like Sandy Kenyon (who appeared many times on both series).

Rickles was in the 2-Parter in Season 4 ..... "4 and a half" and "The Alan Brady Show Goes To Jail".

Don gets in several funny lines too. Including......

"No, I hold up people in front of a police station, dum-dum!"

-- and --

"Tell her to lay off the salt!"

It helps to watch the whole show. But those zingers are very good ones.

You know, this goes to show how we Van Dyke fans think similarly -- I was just coming back into this thread to ask somebody: "I wonder if Richard Deacon ever made a TZ appearance?"

Deac was in a bunch of stuff; and I figured he got in at least one Zone role. And Eric answered it before I asked it.

Great minds --- you know...

I could have looked it up at IMDB, but that would have required several extra keystrokes.

No, it didn't.


No, I sure wasn't aware of that item. Thanks.

And, re. the Best-Of DvDS discs -- I did more than ponder the idea -- I went ahead and got 'em all anyhow. And there IS, in fact, one 1966 color Emmy clip on one of those discs that does not reside in the seasonal sets (which I think I mentioned someplace here @ HTF).

THE ULTIMATE "DICK VAN DYKE SHOW" DVD COLLECTION.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...264632-9063316

Eric P. .......

The Sullivan/Beatles DVD you spoke of previously is this one (below), correct (via GoodTimes Video)? And the shows are intact, right? How's the PQ on this release? (Thanks.) ..........

Good point. Never had thought of that angle heretofore. Plus: I'm guessing that it truly ISN'T very easy for a GOOD actor (like Van Dyke) to be thrust into a position where he has to ACT like a BAD ACTOR. (Did that make sense?)

But, then again, being such a GOOD actor, I guess it would bode well for him to ACT like he was a BAD ACTOR. Get that?

Along these same lines -- I wonder how tough it was to direct the scenes in "Boy #1, Boy #2" (where Ritchie and Freddie act in a TV commercial). And directing each boy to "ACT REALLY BAD" here.

Not that Larry Mathews would have had to make THAT great a leap from somewhat "mediocre" actor to the realm of Danny Bravo as Hadji in Jonny Quest (who was pretty...well...bad ).

Eric has a good point, too, re. the "trendy" thing. Another example would be the "Beatles" comparison show ("The Redcoats" ep.; although that one was from Season 4, not S.5).

A "Redcoat" (pointing to a chair in Petrie home): "Do you know what we call one of
these in England? .... A Chair!"


(Eric, Thanks for the Beatles disc info.)

To be quite fair to all concerned in this regard (Creator/Writer Carl Reiner in particular) -- I don't believe (prior
to "I Ought To Be In Pictures") that Rob had ever attempted to act in an actual scripted movie. Sure, he did fine at pretty much just playing himself in USO shows at Camp Crowder, introducing comedy bits and singing and dancing -- but a scripted feature flick is another animal altogether, and another "type" of acting that had yet to be explored by one Robert S. Petrie until the Italian movie episode.

What do ya think? Can I take this case to Ed Begley's court and win on the aforementioned grounds? Or is his court only useful for suing chicken-smelling pillow salesmen?

Well, that's what we're here for at "Nitpickers Central, Inc.". It's a worthwhile therapy group for those who first admit they have a "Nit" problem.