Marty Brill The New Dick Van Dyke Show 1971

Edward Andrews Dick Van Dyke New Dick Van Dyke Show 1973

''The New Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

starring

Dick Van Dyke Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, entertainer and comedian. His award-winning career has spanned seven decades in film, television, and stage. Van Dyke began his career as an entertainer on radio and telev ...

that aired on CBS from 1971 to 1974. It was Van Dyke's first return to series television since ''

The Dick Van Dyke Show ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Prod ...

''.

Background

CBS was so eager to have Dick Van Dyke return to their network that they signed him to a three-year contract. Van Dyke was living in

Cave Creek, Arizona Cave Creek is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 4,892. History Cave Creek was settled in 1870 by soldiers on horseback from Fo ...

, at the time and did not want to move back to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

, so the network agreed to film the show at Southwestern Studio on Stage 1 in nearby

Carefree, Arizona Carefree is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population of the town was 3,690. History Characterized as an upscale residential area, Carefree was conceived in the mid-1950s by busines ...

. '' Dick Van Dyke Show'' creator

Carl Reiner Carl Reiner (March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) was an American actor, stand-up comedian, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned seven decades. He was the recipient of many awards and honors, including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, ...

wrote and directed numerous episodes, also serving as creative

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servi ...

Cast

as Dick Preston * Hope Lange as Jenny Preston * Marty Brill as Bernie Davis *

Fannie Flagg Fannie Flagg (born Patricia Neal; September 21, 1944) is an American actress, comedian and author. She is best known as a semi-regular panelist on the 1973–1982 versions of the game show ''Match Game'' and for the 1987 novel '' Fried Green Tom ...

as Mike Preston * Nancy Dussault as Carol Davis *Angela Powell as Annie Preston

Episodes

Van Dyke starred as Dick Preston, a local television

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...

host at KXIV-TV in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

(the KXIV call sign actually belonged to a Phoenix radio station that Van Dyke co-owned). Like Van Dyke's previous series, this show divided its time between Dick's job in

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

and his home life with his wife and child. The show featured Hope Lange as his wife, Jenny; Arizona native Angela Powell as their daughter, Annie;

as his sister, Mike; David Doyle as his boss, Ted; and Marty Brill and Nancy Dussault as the Prestons' friends, Bernie and Carol Davis. The Prestons also had a son, Lucas (played by Michael Shea seasons 1–2; Wendell Burton season 3), who was away at college and seen occasionally. Jenny also gave birth to another son, Chrissy during season 1.

Broadcast history and Nielsen ratings

The show's

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

were good during the first season. The show had a timeslot in CBS's highly rated Saturday night lineup which included ''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons, from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. Afterwards, it was continued with the spin-off series ''Archie Bunker's Place'', which picked up where ''All in ...

'', ''

Funny Face ''Funny Face'' is a 1957 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Stanley Donen and written by Leonard Gershe, containing assorted songs by George and Ira Gershwin. Although having the same title as the 1927 Broadway musical ''Funny ...

'' and ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Moo ...

'', which starred Van Dyke's former co-star. The ratings, however, were much lower than the shows surrounding it. In its second season, the show was moved to the network's low-rated Sunday night lineup and the ratings plummeted. CBS wanted to cancel the show but they had Van Dyke under a three-year contract, so the network decided to retool the show.

The final season

For the third season, the setting and production of the show moved to

. Dick and his family moved there after he landed a role in a medical

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...

called ''Those Who Care'' in which he played Dr. Brad Fairmont. With the exception of Van Dyke, Lange and Powell, none of the other original cast members appeared in season 3. New cast members included

Dick Van Patten Richard Vincent Van Patten (December 9, 1928 – June 23, 2015) was an American actor, comedian, businessman, and animal welfare advocate, whose career spanned seven decades of television. He was best known for his role as patriarch Tom Brad ...

as the show's producer,

Barry Gordon Barry Gordon (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and political talk show host. He was the longest-serving president of the Screen Actors Guild, having served from 1988 to 1995. He is perhaps best known as the original voice of Donatello ...

as the show's writer, Henry Darrow as the

stage manager Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including the overseeing of the rehearsal p ...

Barbara Rush Barbara Rush (born January 4, 1927) is an American actress. In 1954, Rush won the Golden Globe Award as most promising female newcomer for her role in the 1953 American science-fiction film ''It Came from Outer Space''.Warren 1982, pp. 151–63 ...

as the show's star, and

Richard Dawson Richard Dawson (born Colin Lionel Emm; 20 November 1932 – 2 June 2012) was a British-born American actor, comedian, game-show host and panelist in the United States. Dawson was well known for playing Corporal Peter Newkirk in ''Hogan's Heroe ...

and

Chita Rivera Chita Rivera (born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Anderson; January 23, 1933), is an American actress, singer and dancer best known for originating roles in Broadway musicals including Anita in ''West Side Story'', Velma Kelly in ''Chic ...

as the Prestons' neighbors. In the fall of 1973, the beginning of its third year, CBS gave the series another time slot, this time on Monday nights at 9:30 P.M. immediately following ''

Here's Lucy ''Here's Lucy'' is an American sitcom starring Lucille Ball. The series co-starred her long-time comedy partner Gale Gordon and her real-life children Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. It was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1974. It was Ball's th ...

'' starring

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Gold ...

. The network felt that Ball's series would provide a strong lead-in for ''The New Dick Van Dyke Show''. An episode produced for the third season, "Lt. Preston of the 4th Cavalry," included an off-camera scene in which Annie, Dick and Jenny's daughter, walked in on her parents having sex. CBS refused to air the episode, claiming it was incompatible with Van Dyke's

family-friendly A family-friendly product or service is one that is considered to be suitable for all members of an average family. Family-friendly restaurants are ones that provide service to families that have young children. Frequently, family-friendly produc ...

image. This so incensed Carl Reiner that he refused to continue on the show beyond the third season, citing the network's hypocrisy. CBS at this time was allowing a number of other shows, such as ''

'', which featured Reiner's son, Rob, to deal openly with much more controversial topics. Reiner promised never to work in television, particularly CBS, again.In 1976, Reiner returned as star of the popular but short-lived ABC sitcom, ''

Good Heavens ''Good Heavens'' is an ABC comedy anthology series produced by Columbia Pictures Television that aired between February 29 and June 26, 1976. It ranked #17 in the Nielsen ratings during the 1975-76 television season. The main character was Mr. A ...

''; in 1981, Reiner appeared in an episode of CBS's ''

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

'' and the CBS TV-movie drama, '' Skokie''. Although the show's ratings improved, Van Dyke did not enjoy working away from his home and did not want to continue the show without Reiner. After the third season, he chose not to renew his contract and moved back to

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, prompting the cancellation of the show.

Syndication

The show was rarely run in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

, though various local stations aired it occasionally in the 1970s. In the early 1990s, reruns aired briefly on TNT. In 2002, the Christmas episode "The Jailbird" aired as part of

TVLand TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cl ...

's traditional classic Christmas show marathon. In 2004, the show aired on GoodLife TV Network. The reruns included the previously unaired episode "Lt. Preston of the 4th Cavalry".

References

Notes Sources
Billy Ingram, TVparty!

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:New Dick Van Dyke Show, The 1971 American television series debuts 1974 American television series endings 1970s American sitcoms 1970s American workplace comedy television series CBS original programming Television series about families Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television series about television Television shows set in Carefree, Arizona Dick Van Dyke Television series created by Carl Reiner