And Many More

Yesterday was my birthday and after coming home from a small celebration dinner there was a choice of watching either Modern Family or Dick Van Dyke. I choose the latter knowing I would get more laughs from old-fashioned smart comedy writing versus current day writing of sexual overtones. I think it's a cheap trick for writers to rely on the mundane aspects of life and it takes real talent to use your wits.

I find it ironic how a few new ABC series are set in the 1960's and have visual appeal replicating Mad Men, but they combine current day writing tactics done by those born twenty years later who don't rely on imagination.

I’ve written about my like for Laura Petrie as the character on The Dick Van Dyke Show once before so I’ll spare you since I could go on and on. I’ll end with what may be my all-time favorite scene from the series. Rob and Laura are at their neighbors’ house for dinner and they are acting bizarre. Unbeknownst to Millie and Jerry, their kids had set up walkie-talkies in the two houses and Rob and Laura accidentally overheard Millie and Jerry saying some not-very-nice things about the Petries before the party. Here’s the result:

Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore are clever indeed. And so is Carl Reiner, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Richard Deacon, Ann Morgan Guilbert, and everyone else connected with this show. Starting this month, to honor the 50^th anniversary, the show is back on TV Land. Hip, hip, hooray!