(CBS Primetime, 1961 - 1966)
[This classic show about a comedy writer for a network TV
series, his friends and family, was created by Carl Reiner
who based it upon his own experiences as a comedy writer for
early TV series "Your Show Of Shows", "Sid Caesar Invites
You" and others featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca;
Reiner made a pilot film of his idea under the working title
"Head Of The Family" in which he played the lead role of
comedy writer Rob Petrie himself; But it didn't seem to jell;
After the networks rejected the pilot, Reiner showed it to
producer Sheldon Leonard who said "It's mis-cast", and so
they went looking for a star to play Reiner's role; They
narrowed it down to two -- an up and coming young man named
Johnny Carson, and Dick Van Dyke, who was at the time appearing
in the Broadway musical "Bye Bye Birdie" after a number of
failed attempts to find a TV vehicle during an earlier
CBS seven-year contract;
Both Reiner and Leonard agreed after seeing Van Dyke in the
Broadway musical that he was perfect for the role; And for
the role of Petrie's wife Laura, Leonard remembered a young
actress who had appeared on Richard Diamond, Private Detective
playing a sultry switchboard girl "Sam", where only her legs
had been shown on camera -- Mary Tyler Moore;
Mary was also an inspired choice; And so were the veteran character
actors Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam and Richard Deacon who also
rounded out the cast; after a couple of years floundering around
the network schedule, the show caught on and became a classic,
especially in re-runs (or "syndication heaven" as producers
call it since they make most of their profits there...:-)
The series inspired both a sequel --
"The New Dick Van Dyke Show" (1971 - 1974),
and a spinoff -- "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (1970 - 1977)
which see...
...and after many years hiatus, Dick Van Dyke was lured back to
star as a medical examiner at age 68 in the 1993 detective series
"Diagnosis Murder"]
[aka: "Theme from 'The Dick Van Dyke Show";
Verified as the THEME in TV Guide article "Looking
For A Lost Chord?" April 28, 1962, pp. 12-13;]
Composer: Earle Hagen (ASCAP/BMI)
[professional name of Earle Harry Hagen]
1978 Publisher: [unknown]
2000 Publisher: Edeejay Music, Inc. (BMI)
of Rancho Mirage, CA
Copyright Date:
Renewal Date:
Recordings: