The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited (2004) (TV)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Ken Whittingham

Writer:

Carl Reiner (creator)

Release Date:

11 May 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A reunion of the surviving cast members from the original 1961-1966 TV series finds Alan Brady wanting Rob and Sally to collaborate on a eulogy for him before he dies.

Plot Keywords:

Eulogy | Reunion | Based On TV Series | Computer Animation | Character Name In Title

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Ray Romano	...	Himself - Host
Dick Van Dyke	...	Robert 'Rob' Petrie
Mary Tyler Moore	...	Laura Petrie
Larry Mathews	...	Richard 'Ritchie' Petrie
Ann Morgan Guilbert	...	Millie Helper
Jerry Paris	...	Jerry Helper (archive footage)
Morey Amsterdam	...	Maurice 'Buddy' Sorrell (archive footage)
Rose Marie	...	Sally Rogers Glimscher
Jerry Van Dyke	...	Stacey Petrie
Carl Reiner	...	Alan Brady
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jeanne Allen
Richard Deacon	...	Melvin 'Mel' Cooley (archive footage)
Mimi Dillard	...	Mrs. Peters (archive footage)
Bill Idelson	...	Herman Glimscher
Sandy Kenyon
Greg Morris	...	Mr. Peters (archive footage)
Hazel Pierce	...	(archive footage)
Lana Whittington	...	Jerri

Runtime:

USA:45 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) | Color

Filming Locations:

CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Calvada Productions

Trivia:

Dick Van Dyke's hobby is computer animation. The animation seen on the computer screen was done by Van Dyke himself. He got interested in animation while working on Mary Poppins (1964).

Movie Connections:

Follows "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (1961)

Another Lovable Original Cast Reunited by Bad Writing.

Actually the age factor in the show wasn't a problem--the gut-wrenchingly bad writing was the problem. This is hideously unfunny material.

I couldn't tell by listening to the laugh track if it was automated-- as laugh tracks often were in the era from which this show evolved--or if they just had a really easily amused audience. I heard the audience laughing, of all things, at Dick dancing around in a baggy red sweater while a 3D animated caricature of him cavorted on a monitor screen. This mystified me, since the show was created in 2004. Where did they locate an audience that would find a 3D cartoon dancing funny? Or even interesting? Perhaps the audience was made up of Sun City retirees like the cast, and they had never heard of "Shrek" before.

I haven't figured out if most of the writing team has watched episodes of the original show--I caught no clue of this one way or the other. The skyscraper-glitz penthouse suite the Petries were living in---in place of their previously normal suburban home--was pointless, and actually called so much attention to itself that it undermined the show. "Look! we have money and we're still alive and kicking!"-apparently was the message.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the writing. Supposedly Carl Reiner was responsible for this mess, but I find that rather incredible.

Hope Dick gets more work. Like Sean Connery, Bill Shatner, and Paul Newman, the aging actor still has more to offer the audience than do the clueless folk running today's film and TV studios. Age is a transient state. Stupid is forever.