Dick Van Dyke Show "Best Of" Volumes -- They WILL Contain Some Bonus Features (1 Viewer)

[David Von Pein]

Thanks for your "Best Of" lists, George.

Although be prepared to take some verbal abuse for your selection of the "Redcoats" episode. [/url]

 

[Ryan FB]

Just an idea, but perhaps the 1966 Emmy telecast clip is a not-yet-found easter egg on the S5 set? I haven't picked up S5 yet (I'm still reeling from that DDD sale as well, where I finally got S3 and S4 ), otherwise I'd hunt around for it.

 

[David Von Pein]

Nope. It's not. I've checked each and every chapter of all 31 episodes (plus even "Left Clicked" from all episode titles on each Main Menu).

And the only "Eggs" are Nick @ Nite short promo clips (one with Dick advertising "I Love Lucy"). A couple ARE quite funny, though.

I don't think they'd put an Emmy clip as an "Egg" anyway; they hadn't done it on previous sets.

I was hoping for some original commercials to show up as Easter Eggs on Seasons 4 and 5; but no such luck. Just the Nick At Nite ads.

 

[george kaplan]

Well that's a personal favorite that I realize doesn't have universal appeal. I guess I really wasn't putting together a "best of" as if I were the marketing VP, cause in that case I probably wouldn't have included it, but more of a personal "best of".

For me, being a Beatles nut (and by extension the whole British Invasion), it's just fascinating to see this episode. I realize Chad & Jeremy are a minor part of the British Invasion (though I do like Yesterday's Gone and A Summer Song), but they're basically subbing for the Beatles, with their wise-cracking and rabid fans (Chad & Jeremy never had that fanatic a fan base). So for me, if I mentally squint hard enough I can see The Beatles meet Rob Petrie, and that elevates the episode for me.

 

[David Von Pein]

That's cool. That's what I wanted when I asked people to post their "own Top 20 Episodes".


From "Redcoats":

"I want to eat me lunch."

"Oh, is that a new song?"

"No, I want to eat me lunch!"

 

[David Von Pein]

This I found kind of interesting (and somewhat odd actually) ..... Time-Life (in December 2002) released an outrageously-overpriced set of 5 "Best Of Van
Dyke Show" DVDs (@ $24.99 MSRP each ); and I was just noticing
today (via this page at TVShowsOnDVD.com) that these five Time-Life discs have EXACTLY the same episodes that Image has put on its 5 Best-Of volumes. Not a single difference. Even the same shows per volume (i.e.: Vol. 1 of each has the same 4 eps.; same with Vol. 2, etc.).

It's not that the 20 episodes aren't very good selections, but it just seemed odd to me that the two different companies (with widely different price points on these discs, with Image charging just $9.99 MSRP) would arrive at the exact same episode titles for each & every volume. Are the two companies somehow connected?

Also: Did anyone out there actually dig deep and spend the $99+ for the five Time-Life discs? I've yet to encounter anyone who has purchased them.

The data for the TL discs shows an 85-minute run time for each disc (just 21+ minutes per show), which would indicate they used a different print vs. the Image discs -- probably a syndicated, chopped-up variant.

I can't seem to find ANY e-store that carries any of those Time-Life discs. Not even the TL website lists any Van Dyke products. Discontinued perhaps?

Anyway, I was just a tad curious re. those TL items. And to find even one human on Earth who actually owns one. (Even a "Twilo-ite" would suffice.)

 

[David Von Pein]

Earlier I wrote .......

I've now received all 5 Best-Of Van Dyke discs put out by Image Entertainment.

They are a very good value for the buck.

As I mentioned previously, there's ONE bonus feature on the Best-Of discs that doesn't show up on any of the 25 discs that comprise the 5 full-season collections (at least I haven't been able to locate it after several exhaustive, sleep-depriving attempts; if anyone else finds it within one of the 5 boxed seasons, please post it here, so I can eat my crow accordingly ). -- That bonus being a 1966 Emmy Awards clip with writers Bill Persky & Sam Denoff getting their '66 Emmy from Eva Gabor and others.

There are three other 1966 Emmy clips included in the Season #5 boxed set, but those are all different from the one on the Volume 1 Best-Of disc.

After checking each Best-Of disc, I can definitely report that that Emmy clip is the only bonus on the Best-Ofs that's NOT somewhere within the boxed sets also.

FYI/BTW -- If anybody gets Volume #5 in the "Best Of Van Dyke" series of DVDs, be sure to check out the Easter Egg. It's an original TV commercial for "Kent Cigarettes", featuring Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke on the set of the Van Dyke Show.

To get to the Egg, go to the Chapter Menu for the episode "What's In A Middle Name?", and "Left Click" while the "Opening Titles" chapter is highlighted. This will take you directly to the hidden TV commercial, without another remote-control keystroke required.

Additional BTW: this "Egged" Kent ad is definitely included within the full-season sets too.

 

[David Von Pein]

I kind of like the new look to these "Quote" boxes here @ HTF. BUT -- I can see some complaints on the horizon resulting from this change -- because it doesn't say "Quote By...."; doesn't say WHO said the quote. Probably gonna be some people in the more active give-and-take type discussions who ain't gonna take too kindly to that omission. Don't ya think so?

 

[Scott_J]

David, IIRC the quote boxes here at HTF never listed the original poster for a quote. That's always been up to the person who's quoting to do.

 

[David Von Pein]

Oh, is that right, Scott?

Hmmmm, I was thinking it was possible to "Respond With Quote"; which I never used, so perhaps you're correct.

My apologies if I was mistaken.

Perhaps only www.dvdtalk.com has utilized this ---> -- which places the person's username automatically in the quote being posted.

 

[David Von Pein]

Another "Another Great Thing About The DvD Show" post .........

Anybody ever take note of the "kitchen realism factor" that exists on "TDvDS"?

While re-watching Season 1's "The Curious Thing About Women", I took special note of the kitchen scene which features Laura cooking breakfast for the Petrie clan (after opening up Rob's mail [again!], much to Robert's angst) .... And I noted how real everything in these kitchen/cooking scenes are in this show. .... Steam is rising from all the pots and pans on the stove; plus the hot steam from the fresh-perked coffee as well. It really looks great, from a "true-to-life" POV.

I'm not sure, but do ANY shows nowadays inject this type of extra "realistic" factor into their episodes? Like, say, Everybody Loves Raymond, et al?

Perhaps scenes showing "real" cooking in the kitchen are out there today (but I watch few new shows now), but I doubt any show can best "TDvDS" for these kind of realistic-looking cooking/kitchen portions of eps.

June Cleaver could whip up a good, hot meal in her kitchen scenes too, on Leave It To Beaver (1957-1963). However, normally the "LITB" "food-eating" scenes took place in the formal dining room, and the hot steam rising from the food was absent. We sometimes see June peeling potatoes and carrots in the kitchen (while adorned in her Sunday best ), as she prepares the daily fare, but I think "TDvDS" topped "LITB" in this realie food department.

Even Rob Petrie has a good kitchen food-preparing scene of this nature -- in "My Husband Is A Check-Grabber", when he is forced to fix his own breakfast, and can't quite get the bacon to fit inside the skillet.

I like kitchen scenes like that. And there are many of them throughout the Van Dyke series. Just another example of how Carl Reiner and company paid close attention to minor details, ensuring that every aspect of the series came out looking "real".



ROB -- "Did Ritchie have his breakfast, dear?

LAURA -- "Yes, dear."

ROB -- "What did he have?"

LAURA -- "Waffles and bacon."

ROB -- "How come he always gets all those good things and I always get scrambled eggs?"