Deal of the Day: Complete Dick Van Dyke Show…

Updated on June 22, 2010 By Ken Begg 17 Comments

It’s the Amazon deal  of the day, so grab it now or forever hold your peace.  For those how haven’t seen the show, it remains one of TV’s great sitcoms.  Don’t let the age of the program fool you, it was some sharp television with a great cast.  Today Amazon offers the entire five seasons and 158 episodes of the show on 25 discs, with reportedly bountiful extras, for 70% (!!) off the $250 MSRP.

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  • TongoRad

    Come for the Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore, stay for the Morey Amsterdam and Rose Marie. Then again, I was always partial to second bananas, as long as they don’t start to dominate the show, and I remember that they maintained a nice balance with this one.

  • BeckoningChasm

    Richard Deacon. I remember liking that guy.

    Also, I remember that Rob Petrie started out tripping over the ottoman; later, he would avoid it, and the music would give a kind of “wink” at that point.

  • Rock Baker

    I guess this show is pretty old. I mean, Mary Tyler Moore was sexy as all get out! Mary Tyler Moore, SEXY! Poor woman, color film stock just didn’t suit her. (I could never forgive Rob for telling Laura not to dye her hair blonde. In that brief scene where she had a blonde bubble cut, she was the most striking woman on TV. Rob was an idiot in that episode.)

    “Don’t let the age of the program fool you, it was some sharp television with a great cast.” The older shows tend to be the sharper ones, don’t they? Funnier, classier, funner, smarter, pick a word! I went back and rewatched some episodes of I Love Lucy I’d taped off television, and I was reminded of just why the show remains an all-time much-loved classic. If anything, the writing and acting (to say nothing of live editing) are sharper than even The Dick Van Dyke Show. Not that I’d have a bad word for either, you understand.

  • Rock I agree with you on the sharpness thing, but I don’t think most people really think that way. However, the older great sitcoms–I Love Lucy, Honeymooners, Dick Van Dyke, Andy Griffith Show–really hold up strikingly well decades and decades later. Meanwhile, many of the sitcoms from the ’70s on that were at one time considered great–MASH, All In the Family, Taxi, etc.–have really dated very quickly. Not that they don’t make great classic sitcoms anymore. King of the Hill, I think, will stand the test of time (and never went bad like The Simpsons and Family Guy did), Frasier’s really smart writing should keep it afloat, and while I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, Everyone Love Raymond’s universality (family stuff) really keeps it from seeming part of a certain time period.

    Newsradio was a great sitcom, but it never recovered after Phil Hartman was murdered.

  • Oh, and as to Mary Tyler Moore being hot, remember that she was picked to play PI Richard Diamond’s receptionist–a character who we never saw except for her gams!

  • Rock Baker

    I remember Mr. D’s faceless friend well! (I miss the old cop shows as much as I do the sitcoms!) I aggree about the 70s sitcoms. When they were rebroadcast, I watched M*A*S*H and other shows pretty heavily, but I found they wore out pretty quick. I got a kick out of All in the Family the first time I saw it, but now I never care if I see it again. The 90s saw some, if not brilliant, quite funny shows in Cheers, Wings, and Home Imporvement. Ultimately, it all comes down to personal taste. I’ll laugh my face off at Wings, but none of those shows will have the sort of second life enjoyed by I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligan’s Island, The Lucy Show, or The Munsters. The 50s gave us the BEST shows, but the 60s gave us the REALLY FUN stuff!

    I know I’ll get grief for mentioning Gilligan’s Island, but I like what I like. It had a great ensemble cast and everybody loved it except the critics (and rarely to the critics share my opinion). Plus, who can forget Dawn Welles in those legless shorts!

  • BeckoningChasm

    Gilligan’s Island gets a bad rap. Any show which can do “Hamlet” set to the music of “Carmen” not only deserves a place in the sun, but that automatically makes it smarter than a lot of other shows.

    Can you imagine any television show referencing Hamlet nowadays, let alone Bizet?

    GI’s main flaw was an over-reliance on stock phrases and the repetition of plots, but the acting was really good from all the principals.

  • Rock Baker

    Something you might not notice on Gilligan’s Island is the effort in making it look like everything is actually taking place on an island. You’d expect them to just pot some plants and spread sand on the stage, but if you eyeball the background you’ll notice they actually put up multiple fans to simulate a gentle breeze that rocks the palm fronds at uneven movements! Also, on those very rare moments when you hear no music, dialog, or laugh track, you can hear crashing waves, chirping birds, and other ambient noises. I can’t imagine anyone was actually supposed to notice this, but it shows a commitment to the material few other shows can claim.

  • BeckoningChasm

    Gilligan’s Island trivia mentioned in the first episode and never again:

    The Skipper’s name is Jonas Grumby, and The Professor’s name is Roy Hinckley. If I have helped win your next Trivial Pursuit game, my work is done.

  • Rock Baker

    Actually, Skipper Grumby’s name is heard again in the second episode when the radio announcer is recapping the setup and announcing the search for the Minnow has been called off.
    In the episode with Zsa Zsa Gabor, Mr. Howell introduces Prof to the guest star as Mr. Huntly. “Hinkley” Prof corrects him, and Howell tries to fix the error. “Brinkley. Brinkley.”

  • BeckoningChasm

    Mr. Baker, I doff my skipper hat to you (and then whack you with it).

  • D

    Rock, shorts are legless by default. Shorts with legs would be pants.

  • Rock Baker

    “Rock, shorts are legless by default. Shorts with legs would be pants.” Could I argue that shorts often feature short legs, but for them to be pants they must have long legs? My understanding is that as long as the fabric stays above the knees, the item is called “shorts”. I’d argue that some shorts are legless and others are legged, but with short legs.

    “Mr. Baker, I doff my skipper hat to you (and then whack you with it).” Why thank you, Sir! And may I add, OUCH!

  • Blackadder

    Some people don’t like Gilligan’s Island? Why not?

  • Marsden

    I’m with Rock on this one, but I think those could more properly called “short shorts” or even “Hot Pants”. IOW, shorts where the girl’s assets are just about even with the hem or possibly a little lower.

  • BeckoningChasm

    OMG, we’ve just entered internet-meme land. (Viz the hotness degrees of Mary Ann and Ginger).

  • Rock Baker

    Ginger’s over-rated.

    Mary Ann is probably TV’s sexiest character. The only thing that could make it better is if she went platinum blonde.