Series Description

The Dick Van Dyke Show was a 30 minute comedy series on CBS about the comedy writers for a fictional television series. Yes, Rob Petrie was the head comedy writer for the "Alan Brady Show". The non-stop laughs revolved around Rob's relationships with the show's other writers, its star "Alan Brady" and producer "Mel Cooley". At home, we also got to chuckle (and sometimes cry) over Rob's antics involving his wife, son and his neighbors.

Dick Van Dyke Show Broadcast History:

October 1961 to December 1961: Tuesdays from 8:00 to 8:30 PM on CBS

January 1962 thru May 1964: Wednesdays from 9:30 to 10:00 PM on CBS
Fourth Season: Wednesdays from 9:00 to 9:30 PM on CBS
Fifth Season: Wednesdays from 9:30 to 10:00 PM on CBS

Dick Van Dyke Show Cast

Dick Van Dyke .... Rob Petrie
Mary Tyler Moore .... Laura Petrie
Larry Matthews .... Ritchie Petrie
Rose Marie .... Sally Rogers
Morey Amsterdam .... Buddy Sorrell
Richard Deacon .... Mel Cooley
Jerry Paris .... Jerry Helper
Ann Morgan Guilbert .... Millie Helper
Carl Reiner .... Alan Brady

Dick Van Dyke Show Trivia:

You may remember Carl Reiner as the egotistical star of the ficticious Alan Brady Show. Actually, Carl was also the creator, producer and director for the series. He also wrote many of the episode scripts. Carl's premise for the series was his years as a writer for the legendary "Your Show Of Shows" starring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. For the first several seasons, Carl never appeared on screen as Alan Brady although his voice was heard occasionally.

Carl Reiner also played the part of Rob Petrie in the series' pilot! We all know that Dick Van Dyke was chosen for the part on the series but did you know that Johnny Carson was the second choice for the role?

The role of Laura Petrie was a little harder to cast. More than 60 actresses were auditioned before Mary Tyler Moore was selected! Mary's first on screen appearance was as "Happy Hotpoint" an elf in the Hotpoint appliance commercials that appeared on the "Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952)".

Richard Deacon was one of few actors to have a supporting role on two series at the same time. In addition to his Dick Van Dyke Show role as Mel Cooley, he also played the part of Fred Rutherford on "Leave It To Beaver (1957)".

The Dick Van Dyke Show was not canceled and was still very popular when it left the air in 1966. Several of the Cast including Dick Van Dyke simply decided that it was time to move on to new projects.

Calvada Productions produced the Dick Van Dyke Show. The name was a conglomeration of the names of the major contributors to the production phase of the series; Ca rl Reiner, Sheldon L eonard, Dick Va n Dyke and Da nny Thomas.

Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore did work together again after this series ended. Mary was a guest star on a Dick Van Dyke variety special which aired in the late 1960's and Dick returned the favor in 1979 by appearing on Mary's show, "The Mary Tyler Moore Hour".

The first episode of the series began filming on January 20, 1961. John F. Kennedy was sworn in as President of the United States on that same day.

This series was actually canceled after the first season! There are two rumors as to why CBS changed their minds. First, producer Sheldon Leonard somehow convinced CBS renew it. Second, Proctor and Gamble threatened to cancel all of their daytime soap opera advertising if the show didn't continue. No one has ever verified the facts.

Jerry Van Dyke, best known from his role on the series, "Coach (1989)", is Dick Van Dyke's brother in real life and occasionally appeared as his onscreen brother Stacey Petrie.