tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post36146595678395241..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Final thoughts on THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOWBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-31190836716001756132019-09-15T08:00:55.782-07:002019-09-15T08:00:55.782-07:00meant separate beds, of course. DYAC!meant separate beds, of course. DYAC!Paul Shambroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07045939969129648649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-22245971591090096672019-09-14T19:50:24.326-07:002019-09-14T19:50:24.326-07:00Does anybody know which episode the photo of Rob a...Does anybody know which episode the photo of Rob and Laura in their senate beds watching TV (and glowering) is from?Paul Shambroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07045939969129648649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-4511163551117897862016-08-21T16:08:11.210-07:002016-08-21T16:08:11.210-07:00I know it's over a year later, but i finally g...I know it's over a year later, but i finally got to reading this series of posts. it was a great episode. i could hear the voices and see the visuals in my head while I was reading it. i could tell it had your brand of humor in it, but it was also a genuine DVD show. but i really loved reading your thought process on how you got from point A to point B and so on in the story. and the network notes and feedback tied it all together. well done with the whole thing.DyHrdMEThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07621011643939597497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-78615077279693342822015-07-29T17:10:37.046-07:002015-07-29T17:10:37.046-07:00Like Micah, I really want to know how long this to...Like Micah, I really want to know how long this too you to write. How much outlining did you do before you sat down to go at the script? <br /><br />Really well done, Ken. Enjoyed the exercise immensely.<br /><br />...And I agree with @villagedianne. Rob would not volunteer to join the Army. There would instead be college flashbacks, with college theatricals.Chesternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-49184919191804378622015-07-29T14:36:58.692-07:002015-07-29T14:36:58.692-07:00Congratulations, Ken. Now if there was only a Time...Congratulations, Ken. Now if there was only a Time Machine without a hot tub, you'd be all set. <br /><br />As to the "modern day" DVD, I recall that Laura was a dance instructor in TV movie, so she could work from home in a converted part of the house. That way, they wouldn't always have to have another workplace set. But stories about the chaos surrounding out of town dance recitals for Laura's students and the complications it could cause for Ron might be comedy fodder.<br /><br />It occurs to me, reading your workplace vs. home observations, that The Mary Tyler Moore Show had the same dynamic. You had Mary's co-workers and her home friends, and often they would combine (most amusingly at her disastrous dinner parties). A case could also be made that there were DVD and MTM character parallels:<br /><br />Mary = Rob<br />Lou Grant = Alan Brady<br />Ted = Mel<br />Murray = Buddy<br />Phyllis = Millie<br />Wes Callison = Stacy Petrie<br />(and on a similar note, Joe Warner = Donald Hollinger)<br /><br />Rhoda is like Sally, but the interesting thing is that she also has a different dynamic between being Mary's home friend and her occasional work friend (there were even shows when Rhoda worked with Mary on projects).<br /><br />This is not to suggest copying on anyone's part, just to examine how these shows work so well when the chemistry, writing and talent are right.<br /><br />Greg Ehrbarhttp://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/category/animation-spin/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-57939443963222324472015-07-29T13:14:16.451-07:002015-07-29T13:14:16.451-07:00I still think you should do this experiment again....I still think you should do this experiment again. Do a spec Mary Tyler Moore Show episode and get Jim Brooks or someone on the show to comment on it. Or do a Cheers and get... oh, wait, right, forgot about that.Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14874622261770189776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-3286957106038911112015-07-29T09:06:41.095-07:002015-07-29T09:06:41.095-07:00Thanks for the script and the notes by Bill Persky...Thanks for the script and the notes by Bill Persky. You mentioned that "That's My Boy??" being Persky and Sam Denoff's first script. It was also produced at the same time that they took over production of the show, which was not a popular decision around the set, however, with scripts like that, the cast was soon won over.<br /><br />Silly trivia note: the woman who played the nurse, Amzie Strickland, ended up playing Edwin Carp's (Richard Haydn) mother, which shows you that the health care profession can really put the years on you!<br /><br />As for "if it was produced today, Mel would be gay", you're probably right, but that might have looked like gay-bashing if Buddy insulted him, so I would have argued against that if I had a say in the matter. Cooley's marrying into Brady's family sets up a better dynamic.<br /><br />As it was the case with Black people years ago, there seems to be a need to cast for LGBT whether it is helpful to a show or not, which also means the same missteps are and will be made for LGBT folks as they were/are for people of ANY color.Brian Phillipshttp://rockinradio.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-71131945969040218012015-07-29T04:31:20.327-07:002015-07-29T04:31:20.327-07:00Loved this exercise. Learned so much from it. Mr...Loved this exercise. Learned so much from it. Mr. Persky's comments on story structure and character raised a Friday question: is writing for the stage closer to writing for television than for film? It seems as if lots of playwrights write for TV. Maybe that's just where the work is, but I'm wondering if their skills transfer more readily to one medium than the other.Jack Terwilligernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-23998916787714345452015-07-29T03:54:47.367-07:002015-07-29T03:54:47.367-07:00As one of those pinheads who offered what was appa...As one of those pinheads who offered what was apparently an offensive "network type note" on continuity, I have to say this episode would have played successfully in the 1960s. The audience would not have seen a difference in quality or tone - even with what I perceived as a minor anachronism.timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02595868172389276995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-36643007243947827312015-07-29T03:06:10.259-07:002015-07-29T03:06:10.259-07:00I loved this idea that you had and it also reminde...I loved this idea that you had and it also reminded me (as though I needed that)of what a treasure the Dick Van Dyke Show was and is.<br /><br /> One comment about a modern version, no Buddy Sorrel? O' No!Barry Traylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14134880916215990198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-47485049885176623982015-07-28T23:20:38.166-07:002015-07-28T23:20:38.166-07:00This has been fun reading the script & Mr. Per...This has been fun reading the script & Mr. Persky's review of it. Thanks to both of you.<br /><br />It's funny that I was reading about "Two Broke Girls" as I was watching a recording of Jeopardy! It included a promo for "Two Broke Girls", which is now going to be on "5 Nights a Week" this fall on the same station. I think I'll find something else to watch. At least it's given Garrett Morris steady work almost into his 80s.<br /><br />Friday Question for Ken: I've noticed, from attending tapings myself, that a lot of sitcoms now seem to have a lot of prerecorded scenes, a lot of the warmup guy telling the audience to"look at the monitors" for the next scene. Do you find that prerecorded scenes help or hurt a show? Is it hard to get the timing right, in case the audience laughs too long or too short, or can that all be controlled in post-production now?Jonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00483417885845331990noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-81690924306316049322015-07-28T18:45:29.617-07:002015-07-28T18:45:29.617-07:00Re: That's My Boy
I was watching an old Alfred...Re: That's My Boy<br />I was watching an old Alfred Hitchcock Presents and the plot was about a woman who kidnaps a baby and the parents look for the baby. One of the mistaken leads they get is for a baby who turns out to be African-American. <br />I looked at the 1963 air date and it was only a couple of months before the TMB air date. I was wondering if perhaps Bill and Sam watched it and used the ostensibly serious Hitchcock plot line it as the punchline, either consciously or unconsciously.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-55507312413609848752015-07-28T16:28:35.602-07:002015-07-28T16:28:35.602-07:00Ken:
Many thanks for the past week's posts. T...Ken:<br /><br />Many thanks for the past week's posts. The DVD script helped get me through a not-too-fun week, and I learned a lot in the process from the comments.<br /><br />And if I may address Mr. Persky;<br /><br />Thanks so much, sir -- for everything you've done.Mark Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463881222804863326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-8529883676995370172015-07-28T16:10:41.489-07:002015-07-28T16:10:41.489-07:00One of the books that's been published about T...One of the books that's been published about THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW reported that Mary Tyler Moore was a little unhappy about "Never Bathe on Saturday" when she read the script because, while Carl Reiner had told her Laura played a major part in the episode, he didn't tell her that the part required Laura to be off camera for most of the showKimnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-48698270380974151882015-07-28T16:03:46.256-07:002015-07-28T16:03:46.256-07:00Could not have enjoyed this more, Ken. Thank you....Could not have enjoyed this more, Ken. Thank you.Dave Arnottnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-39404600948040783372015-07-28T15:53:39.303-07:002015-07-28T15:53:39.303-07:00If Ken wrote a script for "Two Broke Girls,&q...If Ken wrote a script for "Two Broke Girls," the commenters would object to every funny line by saying, "Those characters would never say anything funny!" <br /><br />For those asking about other great episodes of the DVD Show, you can't go wrong with any of them, but some particularly famous ones are "It May Look Like A Walnut," "That's My Boy," and "Never Bathe on Saturday," the one where Laura got her toe stuck in the tub faucet while bathing and fueled a million young boys' fantasies. <br /><br />On the question of actors having to eat during multiple retakes, most I know try to swallow as little as possible (a good thing, considering some cold, aging prop food). I'm currently working on an update of my book "Hollywood Hi-Fi" and doing further research into the movie version of "Guys & Dolls" with a singing Marlon Brando. I've found reports that Brando and Sinatra didn't get along (Frank called Marlon "Mumbles" and hated Brando's demands for endless retakes). Brando supposedly got even by deliberately screwing up his last line in the scene where Frank is sitting with him in a deli and eating cheesecake. By the time it wrapped, Frank had eaten enough cheesecake to supply an entire season of "Golden Girls" and had a whole new reason to hate Marlon Brando, aside from his rendition of "Luck Be A Lady." Ironically, had it been 20 years later and Sinatra forcing Brando to scarf down endless cheesecake, Brando probably would've loved him for it. <br /><br /> Pat Reederhttp://www.hollywoodhifi.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-87289919279325283402015-07-28T15:42:25.727-07:002015-07-28T15:42:25.727-07:00A couple of years ago, a local station aired rerun...<i>A couple of years ago, a local station aired reruns of THE NEW DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, which ran on CBS from 1971 to 1974. Again created and produced by Carl Reiner, it proved the truth in the old cliché that lightning never strikes twice. Not a bad show, but not a patch on the original DICK VAN DYKE SHOW.</i><br /><br />I've seen a number of episodes of that and you're right. It's not bad, but lord knows, it isn't very good, either. I guess CBS was hoping that since they struck comedy gold once with Reiner and Van Dyke, it might happen again by reteaming them. Just goes to show how hard it is to recreate that special blend of talent that results in a classic.<br /><br />"The New Dick Van Dyke Show" did create problems between CBS and Carl Reiner, when CBS refused to air an episode that had the daughter on the series walking in on her parents having sex. CBS objected, insisting that this was inconsistent with Van Dyke's "family friendly" image, and refused to run the episode. Reiner was furious, accusing CBS of having a double-standard, since such a plotline would have been acceptable on a Norman Lear series. Just not on a Carl Reiner-Dick Van Dyke series.<br /><br />But can you imagine an episode about Richie walking in on Rob and Laura having sex? Kanenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-86692143443895282972015-07-28T15:23:10.083-07:002015-07-28T15:23:10.083-07:00Ken, first, thanks to you and to Bill. This has be...Ken, first, thanks to you and to Bill. This has been such fun to follow. Second, as if I didn't know this already, I would stink as a writer. Not only due to a lack of talent, but also craftsmanship. Bill and you were able to identify real story and character strengths and weaknesses that blew right past me. It's like listening to an automotive engineer discuss a car's design from the engine to the body when all I noticed was the pretty paint job. That was a valuable lesson to learn.<br /><br />I'll just have to be content knowing that I am a sensitive and generous maker of love.<br /><br />Charles H. Bryannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-7263087321774160012015-07-28T15:19:40.957-07:002015-07-28T15:19:40.957-07:00Now that you are done with your experiment, get to...Now that you are done with your experiment, get to the real test. Get drunk, and do a spec for Two Broke Girls. It would be way better that what is done now. You also have a HUGE group to help you edit it (The blonde would never say "Hi"... no one makes pink cup cakes.... the blonde would never date a TV writer...)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16880646894752760905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-36821629974361305432015-07-28T15:10:47.966-07:002015-07-28T15:10:47.966-07:00To Bob in the UK,
The Dick Van Dyke Show was so go...To Bob in the UK,<br />The Dick Van Dyke Show was so good, you almost can't go wrong no matter which episode you pick to watch. The show did take a while to hit its stride, so the episodes in the first season are probably the weakest. After that it's all gold. The weakest entries are still much smarter and wittier than anything you'll see today. Do I sound like an old crank? Guilty as charged!Garynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-24385245203647607752015-07-28T15:00:35.709-07:002015-07-28T15:00:35.709-07:00"Now, for me that’s like winning the Triple C..."Now, for me that’s like winning the Triple Crown, an Oscar, and the Espy Courage Award."<br /><br />Would you really be willing to get implants just to get that last award?<br /><br />"I always wanted to write a DICK VAN DYKE SHOW episode, and talking to Bill Persky, batting around ideas – for a few precious moments it was like I was in an actual DVD Show story conference."<br /><br />I've heard LA is small town. Is lunch out of the question for you two? Dick Van Dyke used to drop over to Stan Laurel's house all the time. MikeK.Pa.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-29652138560232291112015-07-28T14:24:50.316-07:002015-07-28T14:24:50.316-07:00The other Dick Van Dyke episode mentioned (THAT’S ...The other Dick Van Dyke episode mentioned (THAT’S MY BOY??) is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PR89h0A82Y<br /><br />-Paul Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-38827022301334987412015-07-28T14:05:05.648-07:002015-07-28T14:05:05.648-07:00Powerhouse Salter: Obviously, Mel was married to -...Powerhouse Salter: Obviously, Mel was married to - or at least long-term living with - Alan Brady's brother. <br /><br />wgWendy M. Grossmanhttp://www.pelicancrossing.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-24724529296242899762015-07-28T13:40:45.415-07:002015-07-28T13:40:45.415-07:00If the Mel Cooley character were openly gay, and p...If the Mel Cooley character were openly gay, and presumably never married to Alan Brady's sister, what would become of the nepotism angle that explained Mel's getting the job as producer of The Alan Brady Show? Powerhouse Salternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-85160757445442153072015-07-28T13:25:47.841-07:002015-07-28T13:25:47.841-07:00Thank you once again Mr. Levine and Mr. Persky. To...Thank you once again Mr. Levine and Mr. Persky. To quote Martin Mull in the 1980 film, Serial, “it’s been a slice.” Glenn Enoreply@blogger.com