"The Dick Van Dyke Show Season 4" -- A Personal Review (1 Viewer)

[ScottRichard]

Oh what do the critics know anyway? These types of shows are exactly the type of thing they love to bash. The one review I read talked more about how old everyone is than anything else! I, too, will decide for myself after I've watched it, and I still can't wait to see it!

As for the "fuzziness" thing, I tend to think the explanation from Image seems more likely too, and the prints on TV Land look far from "pristine" to me.

 

[Carlos Garcia]

I just saw the special. So much for the critics...This is the best special of the year. I will also add this, I am a BIG Seinfeld fan, and this episode of the Dick Van Dyke Show (being the last episode) was FAR better than the Seinfeld finale. The editing was great, the comedy writing was great and (most importantly) the timing of the actors(which usually deteriorates when people get older) was perfect! Bravo to everyone involved, I am proud to say the Dick Van Dyke Show was a winner from start to finish!

 

[Andrew Budgell]

I also just finished watching "The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited" and really enjoyed it! It was a nice format to have it as an expansion if the series almost. I wish this would have been used with "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" reunion "Mary & Rhoda." I'd love to have another TMTMS reunion!

Will "Revisited" be on the Season 5 DVD set as a bonus feature? While I doubt it, it sure would be neat to have!

Andy

 

[David Von Pein]

The "Revisited" Special was pretty darn good, IMO.

I loved that ending with Ray Romano!!

And I really thought Mr. Reiner did a nice, compact job of bringing everybody "up to date" on every character in just the first 9 minutes. Excellent way of doing this, via several phone calls.

Jerry Van Dyke had some pretty funny lines, too. "Bizarre"/"Bazaar".

And what a treat (and surprise) to see old Van Dyke Show guest star Sandy Kenyon pop up too. Kenyon appeared in several V.Dyke episodes. I had no idea Sandy was still with us even. (He's 83.)

A most worthy "159th episode", IMO.

Having this special on the 5th-Season DVD would be great. But we've already got the specs on that set; and this isn't there. (Unless they surprise us all with a whopper of an Easter Egg.)

 

[David Von Pein]

I found this newspaper-column blurb kind of interesting (I like the animated idea re. the Petries' early lives):

>> "Carl Reiner may continue to try his hand in sitcoms. He'll be a cartoon voice this fall on NBC's 'Father of the Pride', about Siegfried and Roy's lions, and he would like to revisit the Petries' earlier lives in animated form as well, with the original cast providing voices."

 

[Bob_S.]

Well, I just watched the special and I just have to say WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG?! It was a real fun trip and it was really great to see Rob and Laura again. Ignore the critics, this show was purely for the fans. Thank you Mr. Reiner!


Boy, I really wish this show was done 20-some years ago. Morey and Richard were sorely missed. I guess it's official now, Sally did marry Herman. One scene I really would have loved to see would be Herman saying something like "Mother wouldn't have liked that." Sally: Herman, your mother's been dead for 30 years. Herman: Yes, but she can still hear you.
Then cut to a shot of her urn sitting on the mantle. I could just see him saying good night to her every night before going to bed! Poor Sally, even in death she still can't separate them!

I taped the show. I hope it comes out on dvd with some nice extras. Can't wait for Season 5!

 

[David Von Pein]

One of the reviewers for the DvD Special said this.........


I'd have to totally disagree with this "tortured" assessment.

Sure, age takes its toll. But I'd rather think about the "positive" nature of the aging process concerning ALL (not just some) of these talented cast members.

Not a one of them is disabled (Mary has had diabetes for years, but she's overcome it and looks mighty fine still -- and is active). None of them is sitting in a wheelchair with a cane and beating the floor with it awaiting some servant to give them dinner through a straw.

Dick and Mary dance together in this Special .... Carl (Alan) still looks pretty good, and barks at everyone (just like he did in 1965) .... Millie is still a hoot, and now DATING Jerry (doesn't sound like either one of these characters has given up on life) .... Rosie (Sally) still can hold her own with Alan and Rob .... Mary (Laura) even runs a dance school HERSELF! She's not retired to any rocking chair. .... And then there's Herman Glimsher, who gets around OK too, and still enjoys the good things on TV (such as watching hippos "copulate" ).

Carl Reiner, with only 40+ minutes to work with, in my opinion, has successfully placed a nice right-hand bookend on his Classic sitcom. Although the script features a rather downbeat premise (re. the eulogy) -- it's surrounded by very able characters who are still showing they can kick up their heels after all these decades.

I wouldn't be surprised if Rob is still doing those dreaded neighborhood plays at the prodding of snooty Mrs. Billings. He could still pull them off with ease, I'm sure.

 

[Eric Paddon]

I thought it was well-done and I even found myself chuckling at most of the gags in the new segments. My only quibble is maybe we could have had a few less old show clips.

Stacey said he was a widower so I guess he did marry that girl he wrote the letters to!

 

[ScottR]

I recall reading somewhere that there are splices in the film in some episodes cutting out portions of dialogue? Is this correct? If so, then they probably did the best they could with what they had. After viewing original tape masters of filmed shows at the Museum of Television and Radio I was amazed at how poor some shows looked ORIGINALLY. Bad splices, tons of dirt and debris, and horrible color.....I think we have been babied lately and assume that everything was always pristine when it wasn't.

 

[David Von Pein]

That's funny. Most of the critics wanted just the opposite -- way more clips.

I think the scene of Jerry's pants falling apart in front of Sally would have been nice in the Special. But, there wasn't time for EVERY funny clip.

Although, according to Dick, we see ALL 158 shows compressed into a 57-second clip at the end of the special. Which wasn't exactly accurate, numbers-wise. But an excellent editing job on that I thought. And the "Buddy insults Mel" montage was very good (although they probably could have included a dozen more).

 

[Eric Paddon]

I think most of the negative reviews of the special are the result of critics who have actually come to believe that what passes for comedy on film and TV today is somehow the gold standard of comedy writing when as far as I'm concerned it's mostly worthless junk.

It was mostly the musical numbers montage that we could have done without.

 

[ScottRichard]

I had a lot of fun watching the reunion! I thought Ann Guilbert stole the show--such a cute little old lady and she was just like how I'd imagine an older, widowed Millie! I thought it was a cool twist to have her and Stacey end up dating. It did seem a little rushed and when the clips started it kind of seemed like a different show, but there's only so much they could do with 45 minutes. For what it was, I thought it was funny and sweet.

 

[Carlos Garcia]

Funny thing David, since I'm so old fashioned when it comes to TV, I don't even watch today's TV so I don't know who Ray Romano is. Maybe this is why I felt the show could've done without his introduction, or his appearance at the end. I felt this was a shameless plug (especially telling us the timeslot for his show) we fans could've done without. I also felt it cut into valuable time for the cast we wanted to see. I too felt this show would've been better without all the old clips, and speaking of shameless plug, we could've also done without so much footage of "October Eve", which was nothing more than a showcase for Mr. Reiner. We already know he's multi-talented, we didn't need to be reminded by seeing so much of that episode. If they were to edit out Ray Romano's opening and closing scenes, plus all the reminiscing scenes, we'd have one of the best 26 minute episodes ever of The Dick Van Dyke Show, clearly in their top 50! But all in all, I still think this is the best surprise show of the season and very worthy of the fans to watch, clearly superior to other reunion shows where all they do is sit around and show flashbacks. I was very pleased with this effort, and feel that after all these years, the fans of The Dick Van Dyke Show finally got a special treat!

 

[David Von Pein]

Well, yes, I agree that Ray's "intro" piece was totally unnecessary. But when I said I loved the ending...I was referring to the VERY end. Well...I'm sure you knew that though. ... Right?

Anyway, I liked his "I've been waiting for this since I was 8 years old!" remark. I just think it gave the last moment of the program a cute and funny "punch".

But, you ARE indeed correct about the "shameless plug" thing. Totally uncalled for here. But, all-in-all, a nice '159th' entry to the series.

Wouldn't it INDEED by nice if this somehow popped up as a surprise treat on the June 29th release of DVD-On-DVD Season 5??

 

[David*P]

I thought it was a very nice special. I thought Ann Guilbert fell seamlessly back into the role of Millie. I, too, felt she stole the show.

I wish that Richie (or 'Richard' as he is now known) would've had more interactions with his parents.

I really liked that Rob, just like DVD, was interested in fiddling around on a computer. And not merely fiddling around, but doing a real good job on animated version of himself.

 

[Steve Phillips]

I thought the reunion was fun. It wasn't great, but the absence of Morey Amsterdam and Richard Deacon was bound to hurt it.

Of all the reunion shows I've seen, it was one of the better ones. At least it wasn't an insult to the original, like RETURN TO GREEN ACRES!

I grew up with TDVDS in syndication and have been loving the Image DVD sets.

It seems likely the reunion will be issued on DVD also.

 

[R. Kay]

Those clips reminded me of what an absolutely beautiful woman Mary Tyler Moore was.

She's pretty stretched out now (major plastic surgery), but such is life in Hollywood ...

 

[David Von Pein]

Noticed this little one-line blurb on www.dvdondvd.com today ........

>> "Will the Reunion show be available on DVD? Not sure yet -- stay tuned for updates."

 

[Brandon]

Finally got my copy of Season Four.

Thanks for the review.