Do You Remember How ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’ Ended?
It has been almost 60 years since the iconic Dick Van Dyke Show came to an end. Starring Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam and Larry Mathews, the series centered around the work and home life of TV comedy writer Rob Petrie (Van Dyke). As the head writer for the variety show The Alan Brady Show, the comedy often bled into his personal life as he tried to find a good balance.
The show, created by Carl Reiner, ran on CBS from October 3, 1961, to June 1, 1966. Over the course of five seasons, there were a total of 158 half-hour episodes. Do you remember what happened during the series finale?
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The episode, fittingly titled “The Last Chapter,” was very nostalgic for fans. Rob finally finished his first book after five years of struggling to work on it. The episode follows his wife Laura (Tyler Moore) as she reads it and discovers the book is about their life: from his marriage proposal to her to their son Ritchie’s birth. It showcased many memorable moments from the series as a way to say goodbye to the characters.
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Everything came full circle when a publisher suggested that the book be revamped into a sitcom instead. Reiner added the twist because the series was actually based partially on his own life experience as a comedy television writer on Sid Caesar‘s Your Show of Shows. Many of the characters were based on real people that Reiner encountered in his life and career.
“We were very careful to look for something that made sense,” Reiner once shared about crafting the finale. “When a show goes off the air, you don’t want the people to think they died or wondering where they went. So I wrote a show where Dick writes his memoir and brings it to Alan Brady to do a series about it — so it was really me writing a show about myself. Alan buys it [and] asks, who’s gonna play you? That was actually the last show.”
You can watch The Dick Van Dyke Show on Peacock, Tubi or Pluto TV. Watch the finale episode for free on YouTube:
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Classic TV Shows of the ’50s & ’60s
September 2020
Test your knowledge, from Bonanza and Gunsmoke to I Love Lucy, I Dream of Jeannie, Star Trek and more fun TV of the 1950s and 1960s.
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