How ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’ Helped Change Television Forever

Dick Van Dyke TV Guide Covers — Mario Casilli/TV Guide/courtesy Everett Collection

What To Know

The Dick Van Dyke Show pioneered a more sophisticated, ensemble-driven sitcom format.
Dick Van Dyke’s comedic style balanced physical humor with intelligent dialogue, while the show emphasized strong writing and deeper character development for the entire cast.

Two years before the 1961 premiere of The Dick Van Dyke Show, veteran television writer Carl Reiner created a series for himself called Head of the Family. The pilot failed to sell but was seen by producer Sheldon Leonard, who suggested a casting change for the lead role. Although young comic and daytime TV host Johnny Carson was considered, the role of Rob Petrie went to the multifaceted entertainer Dick Van Dyke.

While Van Dyke’s name graced the title of the series, it was an ensemble that relied as much on costars Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Richard Deacon, and occasionally Reiner as it did on the headliner himself. Additionally, it leaned on a more sophisticated humor than most of the comedies to that point.

The Dick Van Dyke Show helped television grow up a bit. Audiences were given credit for more intelligence than had been the case in the past. While most sitcoms focused on a main character cooking up schemes and finding himself or herself in ridiculous situations, here, in an almost literary style, Rob Petrie had both work and family lives, and it was assumed the audience could accept the two “plot” lines.

DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, Larry Mathews, 1961-66

Everett Collection

Sight gags and slapstick pratfalls were part of Van Dyke’s repertoire of comedic techniques, but were not seen as essential to getting a laugh from the audience. Good writing and intelligent dialogue were trusted to lead to the payoff. Another sign of growth was the deeper character development that was afforded others in the cast. What was happening to, and thought about by, wife Laura and coworkers Buddy and Sally was as significant as what Rob was experiencing.

Like others after him, notably Bob Newhart, Dick Van Dyke had the confidence in himself and in his audience to step out of the center of attention even though his name was on the marquee.

You can watch The Dick Van Dyke Show on MeTV and Catchy Comedy or stream it on Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Tubi, Pluto TV, Sling TV, Phio, Plex, and more.

— Karen Ruud contributed to this post.