CTVA US Comedy - "The New Dick Van Dyke Show" (CBS)(1971-74) co-starring Hope Lange

CTVA
The Classic TV Archive - US Comedy Series

The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-66) - The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971-74) Diagnosis Murder (1992-2002) 
 The Ghost and Mrs Muir (1968-70) starring Hope Lange, Edward Mulhare
The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971-74)
Episode Guide compiled by The Classic TV Archive
with contributions by: Jim Brent, Tom Alger, Randy Farb
references:
TV Guide /  Library of Congress (telnet://locis.loc.gov)
Internet Movie Database (https://us.imdb.com)
UCLA Film and Television Archive / Writers Guild of America (wga)

The New Dick Van Dyke Show (season 1) (CBS) (1971-72)
The New Dick Van Dyke Show (season 2) (CBS) (1972-73)
The New Dick Van Dyke Show (season 3) (CBS) (1973-74)
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THE NEW DICK VAN DYKE SHOW
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Cave Creek Enterprises, Inc.
for CBS
Produced by Carl Reiner (seasons 1-2)(1971-73)
Filmed in Phoenix, Arizona (seasons 1-2)
Filmed in Hollywood, California (season 3)

US Situation Comedy series 1971-74     72 episodes x 30 min color
(3 seasons) release date 18Sept71

Season 1 1971-72 CBS Saturdays 9:00pm EST
Season 2 1972-73 CBS Sundays 9:00pm EST (Sept72 through Dec72)
CBS Sundays 7:30pm EST (Jan73 through Summer73)
Season 3 1973-74 CBS Mondays 9:30pm EST
starring
Dick Van Dyke as Dick Preston
Hope Lange as Jenny Preston

Season 1-2 supporting cast:
Marty Brill .... Bernie Davis (1971-73)
Nancy Dussault .... Carol Davis (1971-73)
Fannie Flagg .... "Mike" Preston (1971-73)
Michael Shea .... Lucas Preston #1 (1971-73)
Jean Marie as Patti (recurring)

Season 2 (1972-73) additional supporting cast:
David Doyle .... Ted Atwater (1972-73)
Wendell Burton .... Lucas Preston #2 (1973)

Season 3 (1973-74) supporting cast:
Henry Darrow .... Alex Montenez (1973-74)
Richard Dawson .... Richard Richardson (1973-74)
Barry Gordon .... Dennis Whitehead (1973-74)
Chita Rivera .... Connie Richardson (1973-74)
Barbara Rush .... Margot Brighton (1973)
Dick Van Patten .... Max (1973-74)
Angela Powell .... Annie Preston

Premise:
Dick Van Dyke plays an Arizona Disc Jockey who enjoys the simple life.
In the third and final season a change of format, production moves
to Hollywood, where Dick plays a Soap Opera Star.

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It took a while to find an audience, but when it did, The "original" Dick Van Dyke
Show (1961-66) jumped into the Nielsen top ten and stayed there for most
of the five years it was on the air. When the comedian quit the highly
successful series in 1966, he left at the top of his game - Dick Van Dyke,
Mary Tyler Moore, the writers, and the show itself all won Emmys that last season.

In 1970, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" debuted on CBS to huge ratings.
This signalled a major shift in America's viewing habits - away from the
zany sitcoms (like 'Bewitched') that ruled the late Sixties, and towards
the more sophisticated comedy "The Dick Van Dyke Show" was noted for.
CBS naturally approached Van Dyke about doing a new series for the network.
The star was interested, but he was living in the Arizona desert and didn't
want to commute to LA. CBS agreed to film the show in Phoenix, and had
facilities built especially to acommodate Van Dyke's desire to work near
his home. They figured a Mary Tyler Moore/Dick Van Dyke hour of programming
would be unbeatable and worth the investment.

The new show would have a familiar feel about it, Carl Reiner was signed
to be the producer and he would be responsible for many of the scripts,
just as he had been on the original series. "We want to avoid caricature
and sustain character." Reiner told Life magazine in 1971, "You can always
make an audience laugh with a bucket of water over someone's head, but
that's not what we're doing here." With the former producer and star of
the long-running 'Dick Van Dyke Show' both coming back, and Hope Lange
('The Ghost and Mrs. Muir') sensibly cast as the wife, the Tiffany network
felt confident it had a sure winner.

Indeed, this series was a satisfying updating of the original show
without being too heavy-handed about it. The setting was still television,
but now they could poke fun at local TV, fertile ground for comedy. On the
new show Dick Van Dyke played Dick Preston, a Phoenix talk show host.
Also in the cast: Hope Lange as his wife Jenny, Angela Powell as their
daughter Annie, Marty Brill as Dick's manager, Fannie Flagg as Dick's
sister Mike, as well as David Doyle, Michael Shea and Nancy Dussault.

"The New Dick Van Dyke Show" took it's place on CBS's powerhouse 1971
Saturday Night line-up - 'All in the Family', 'Funny Face' were the
lead-ins, and 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' followed. But while all three
of the other shows were solidly entrenched in the top ten, ratings dipped
two full ratings points when the Van Dyke show aired. CBS wanted to cancel,
but the network had signed a minimum pay or play three-year contract with
the star. It was unheard of at the time, but CBS had been anxious to get
Dick Van Dyke back on the air.

In the fall of 1972, now relegated to Sunday nights after the disastrous
'Sandy Duncan Show', the Van Dyke show really floundered in the ratings
but still managed to deliver consistently entertaining episodes every week.
Fanny Flagg was especially funny, she was a great under-utilized character
actress that popped up (all too rarely) in the Seventies. I once heard
someone say: "Fanny Flagg and 'Gone with the Wind' mean more to me than
Jesus Christ and the Bible!" - for whatever that's worth.

During the second season, Hope Lange voiced unhappiness with her role on
the series because most of the show's action took place in the workplace.
The actress complained that she had nothing to do but ask Dick "How was
your day?" every week at the end of the show. The network was unhappy as
well - with the ratings - and they considered canceling the show and
buying out Dick Van Dyke's contract.

Then an odd thing happened. Late in the second season, network censors
rejected a scene in an episode that had Dick and Jenny's daughter walking
in on them while they were having sex. All of this happened off camera,
of course. The result was a funny and very human scenario, and producer
Carl Reiner insisted the scene stay. CBS refused to air the episode as it
stood, so Reiner quit, promising never to produce another television show
again. (A promise he didn't keep - he produced and starred in the failed
sitcom 'Good Heavens' in 1976). Reiner next tried his hand at movies -
his first project (`The Jerk' starring 70's variety show veteran Steve
Martin) was a huge smash hit.

With new producers for the third season in 1973, the production and
setting of 'The New Dick Van Dyke Show' was moved to Hollywood. The
entire supporting cast (except for the wife and kid) was dropped, as
Dick became a network soap-opera actor, portraying 'Doctor Fairmont' on
'Those Who Care'. New regulars included: Richard Dawson, Chita Rivera
(as the neighbors), Barry Gordon, Dick Van Patten, Barbara Rush and
Henry Darrow as the folks who worked on the fictional soap-opera.
The new format gave the Dick Van Dyke a chance to do broader comedy,
the scripts continued to be strong, and the supporting players worked
well together. Now seen on Monday nights after 'Gunsmoke' and 'Here's Lucy',
the show's ratings were at respectable levels as well. Maybe not great,
but the network was suddenly in a bind now.

Lucille Ball announced in 1973 that she was retiring from series
television. She had been the network's Monday night comedy anchor for
eleven years. Now CBS saw 'The New Dick Van Dyke Show' as a strong
asset - after three years the show had proven it could deliver a solid
audience as well as prestigious Emmy nomination. To the network's great
disappointment, Dick Van Dyke decided the daily grind of a sitcom wasn't
worth it without Carl Reiner, and announced he was leaving again for the desert.

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Episodes Listed in Production Order/Goodlife TV Order
season 1 (1971-72)
Prod. no. 1 OFF AND RUNNING (pilot)
Prod. no. 2 ROOM WITH A VIEW
Prod. no. 3 BERNIE DID IT
Prod. no. 4 PEOPLE'S CHOICE
Prod. no. 5 WHAT IS YOUR HUSBAND DOING TOMORROW?
Prod. no. 6 A STAR AIN'T BORN
Prod. no. 7 MID-TERM DINNER
Prod. no. 8 THE BIRTH
Prod. no. 9 ANNIE GET YOUR BIKE (a.k.a. SIBLING RIVALRY)
Prod. no. 10 PEPITO OF MEXICO (a.k.a."The Thief")
Prod. no. 11 THE HARRY AWARD
Prod. no. 12 AFTER THE BALL IS OVER
Prod. no. 13 LINDA, LINDA, LINDA (a.k.a. THE KISS)
Prod. no. 14 THE REPLACEMENT (a.k.a THE SIDEKICK)
Prod. no. 15 THE SPLIT
Prod. no. 16 SMOKE RINGS
Prod. no. 17 THE BOOK a.k.a. EVERYTHING FROM A TO Z
Prod. no. 18 THE HOUSE a.k.a. A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME, YET
Prod. no. 19 THE TENNIS PARTNER a.k.a. THE TENNIS PRO
Prod. no. 20 THE CONDUCTOR AND THE LADY
Prod. no. 21 QUEASY RIDER
Prod. no. 22 THE STORM
Prod. no. 23 RUNNING BEAR AND MOSCOWITZ (a.k.a "The Clothing Store")
Prod. no. 24 THE TELETHON
season 2 (1972-73
Prod. no. 25 WHO DO YOU WANT TO BE?
Prod. no. 26 BLOOD IS THICKER THAN OATMEAL
Prod. no. 27 SOBRIETY TEST
Prod. no. 28 THE FORMER MR. PRESTON
Prod. no. 29 GUESS WHO'S COMING TO SEDER?
Prod. no. 30 HEADACHES
Prod. no. 31 BERNIE'S HOUSE
Prod. no. 32 THE GAME
Prod. no. 33 THE NEW NEIGHBORS (CBS title) Part 1 (of 2)
(a.k.a. MY FRIEND, THE PUBLIC ENEMY)(GTV title)
Prod. no. 34 THE NEW NEIGHBORS (CBS title) Part 2 (of 2)
(a.k.a. MY FRIEND, THE PUBLIC ENEMY)(GTV title)
Prod. no. 35 BIG TIME BABY
Prod. no. 36 BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU
Prod. no. 37 YOU GOTTA HAVE CLASS
Prod. no. 38 THE POWER OF THE BLEEP
Prod. no. 39 WILL BABY MAKE THREE?
Prod. no. 40 OLD DICK AND JENNY
Prod. no. 41 THE 10TH HONEYMOON
Prod. no. 42 ASHES AND URNS
Prod. no. 43 THE NEEDLE
Prod. no. 44 POT LUCK
Prod. no. 45 CHEF MIKE
Prod. no. 46 THE GREAT PRESTONI
Prod. no. 47 THE JAILBIRD
Prod. no. 48 DICK AND THE BABY
season 3 (1973-74) 
Prod. no. 8351 (no. 49, Prod. order) THE YOUNG SURGEONS
Prod. no. 8352 (no. 50, Prod. order) I'LL CRY TODAY
Prod. no. 8353 (no. 51, Prod. order) PRESTON AL NATURALE
Prod. no. 8354 (no. 52, Prod. order) MR. DAZZLE
Prod. no. 8355 (no. 53, Prod. order) LT. PRESTON OF THE 4th CAVALRY (not aired)
Prod. no. 8356 (no. 54, Prod. order) HE WHO STEALS FRIENDS
Prod. no. 8357 (no. 55, Prod. order) COMMERCIAL HOUSEWIVES
Prod. no. 8358 (no. 56, Prod. order) DICK IN DEUTSCH
Prod. no. 8359 (no. 57, Prod. order) THOSE WHO CARE
Prod. no. 8360 (no. 58, Prod. order) TURNING PRO
Prod. no. 8361 (no. 59, Prod. order) HOUSE GUESTS
Prod. no. 8362 (no. 60, Prod. order) ONE OF THE BOYS
Prod. no. 8363 (no. 61, Prod. order) DENNIS TAKES A WIFE
Prod. no. 8364 (no. 62, Prod. order) MRS. FERGUSON
Prod. no. 8365 (no. 63, Prod. order) FAKE MATISSE
Prod. no. 8366 (no. 64, Prod. order) EXIT LAUGHING
Prod. no. 8367 (no. 65, Prod. order) WHAT YOUR BEST FRIEND DOESN'T KNOW
Prod. no. 8368 (no. 66, Prod. order) SHE KISSES LIKE A DEAD MACKERAL
Prod. no. 8369 (no. 67, Prod. order) MAN OF MEDICINE
Prod. no. 8370 (no. 68, Prod. order) THE BACK BREAK KID
Prod. no. 8371 (no. 69, Prod. order) BALZAC, COME HOME
Prod. no. 8372 (no. 70, Prod. order) THE PREGNANCY
Prod. no. 8373 (no. 71, Prod. order) ME MET AT MAMA LOMBARDARI'S
Prod. no. 8374 (no. 72, Prod. order) THE HICKEY

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