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“I remember it vividly, honestly, like it was yesterday,” Larry Mathews, the 69-year-old actor who played Ritchie Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show, told Remind. He was rehearsing an episode where Ritchie invites dozens of kids from his school to his 8th birthday party when producer Carl Reiner interrupted the cast with an important announcement.

“Carl came in and said, ‘Everybody stop. Just stop everything,’” Mathews remembered. “And we were all like, ‘What?’ And he goes, ‘The president’s just been assassinated.’ The silence was deafening.”

The cast gathered around a working prop radio in the Petrie living room set and heard the news together. “We basically listened to Walter Cronkite‘s newscast on the assassination. And then Carl told everybody to go home,” Mathews said.

“We’re done. We’re going to shut down,” ordered Reiner. “We’ll pick it up next week. Everybody needs to go.”

Dick Van Dyke...

Carl Reiner's 1961 sitcom "The Dick Van Dyke Show" was immensely popular over its five seasons, and won 15 Emmys in its lifetime. Like several sitcoms of its ilk, "The Dick Van Dyke Show" was a metanarrative autobiography about a character named Rob Petrie (Van Dyke) who was a comedy writer for an in-universe variety show called "The Alan Brady Show." Petrie, from appearances, is an amalgam of Van Dyke and Reiner. Indeed, in the show's original pilot -- back when it was going to be called "Head of the Family" -- Reiner played Rob Petrie himself. The show was more or less a common domestic drama beyond that, with many stories springing from Rob's relationship with his wife Laura (Mary Tyler Moore), or their son Richard Robert Oscar Sam Edward Benjamin Ulysses David "Ritchie" Petrie (Larry Mathews). The show featured wacky buddies, obsequious bosses, and other broad character types that,...

Few shows have had the staying power of The Dick Van Dyke Show. Premiering on October 3, 1961, and wrapping up in ‘66, unlike most shows that end due to low ratings, this one simply concluded because the cast was ready to move on to fresher pastures.

A still from The Dick Van Dyke Show | Credits: FilmRise Television, Youtube

With such a talented team, it made sense to spread the creativity around. Even 10-year-old Larry Mathews, who played Ritchie, was already looking ahead to his next big break. There were no big speeches or tearful goodbyes on the final day of filming. Instead, the cast spent their last moments together cracking jokes, recording tracks, and trading one-liners.

Created by comedy legend Carl Reiner, the series saw the incomparable Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore bring performances to life that won the show 15 Emmy Awards in a five-season run. But what happened to...

J.R. was waiting in line with maybe 200 fellow fans to spend a moment getting the autograph of – and perhaps taking a selfie with – Christina Ricci, the actress who made her debut in the “Addams Family” movies in the 1990s who is now an Emmy-nominated star on the Showtime series “Yellowjackets” as well as a regular on Netflix’s “Wednesday.” The setting on Saturday was the Hollywood Autograph Show at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel, a three-times-a-year movie and memorabilia event where fans can come to lay eyes on some old-time celebrity favorites, get their name in ink, pose for a selfie and maybe pick up a book or vintage photograph.

Eighty or so celebrities staked out tables to sign their name and pix for a fee. J.R. was one of those who got hooked on attending these shows a few years back and now never misses one.

Larry Mathews (real name Larry Mazzeo) is best known for playing the adorable Ritchie Petrie -- photographed here with his onscreen parents Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore -- in the '60s sitcom "The Dick Van Dyke Show." Guess what he looks like now! Read more...

The Dick Van Dyke Show, “The Sick Boy and the Sitter”

Written by Carl Reiner

Directed by Sheldon Leonard

Aired on October 3rd, 1961 on CBS

The Dick Van Dyke Show is one of the most enduring sitcoms of television history. While most series fall from recognition shortly after their finales, it remains a staple of Best Comedy lists to this day. The premise is very straightforward- Dick Van Dyke stars as Rob Petrie, a comedy writer at the fictional The Alan Brady Show. He’s married to Laura, played by Mary Tyler Moore, and the two have a son, Ritchie, and live in New Rochelle. We follow Rob at home and at work, where he often shares scenes with fellow writers Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam) and Sally Rogers (Rose Marie) and occasionally with their straight-man producer, Mel Cooley, played by Richard Deacon.

The pilot opens simply. Laura’s in the...

Title: The Dick Van Dyke Show: 3rd Season Starring: Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Larry Mathews, Carl Reiner Running time: 13 hours, 20 minutes (3 discs/32 episodes), Not rated Special Features: Commentary by Dick Van Dyke and Carl Reiner; Full-length Danny Thomas Show Episode with Morey Asterdam; Mary Tyler Moore appearance on The Danny Kaye Show; TV Academy Tribute to Carl Reiner featuring George Clooney; Interviews with Cast and Producers; Emmy Award clip with wins by Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore; Mary Tyler Moore appearance on 1975 variety series Van Dyke & Company; rehearsal footage; Nick at Nite promo spots; Photo Galleries. If  [ Read More ]

The post The Dick Van Dyke Show: 3rd Season Blu-ray Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Aug. 12: Actor George Hamilton is 73. Actress Jennifer Warren is 71. Singer-guitarist Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits is 63. Singer Kid Creole is 62. Actor Sam J. Jones ("Flash Gordon") is 58. Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny is 58. Actor Bruce Greenwood ("Thirteen Days") is 56. Country singer Danny Shirley (Confederate Railroad) is 56. Guitarist Roy Hay of Culture Club is 51. Rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot is 49. Actor Peter Krause is 47. Actor Michael Ian Black ("Ed") is 41. Actress Rebecca Gayheart is 41. Actor Casey Affleck is 37. Actress Maggie Lawson ("Psych") is 32. Actress Imani Hakim ("Everybody Hates Chris") is 19.

Aug. 13: Actor Pat Harrington is 83. Actor Kevin Tighe is 68. Actress Gretchen Corbett ("The Rockford Files") is 65. Actor Danny Bonaduce is 53. Actress Dawnn Lewis ("A Different World," "Hangin' With Mr. Cooper") is 51. Actor John Slattery is 50. Actress Debi Mazar is 48. Actress Quinn Cummings ("Family") is 45. Country singer Andy Griggs is 39. Drummer Mike Melancon of Emerson Drive is 34. Actress Kathryn Fiore ("Reno 911!") is 33. Singer James Morrison is 28.

Aug.

The Television Critics Association (TCA) recognized the top programs and actors of the 2010-2011 television season at its 27th Annual TCA Awards presentation on Saturday night. Nick Offerman, star of NBC's Parks And Recreation, hosted the annual invitation-only event, held at The Beverly Hilton hotel in conjunction with the TCA's summer press tour.

The non-televised ceremony bestowed awards in 12 categories to recipients in comedy, drama, reality, miniseries, news and youth programming.

Members of the TCA, a media organization of more than 200 professional TV critics and journalists from the United States and Canada, voted HBO's Game Of Thrones this season's “Outstanding New Program” and honored the final season of DirecTV/NBC's Friday Night Lights with its award for “Program of The Year.”

Winning its second consecutive TCA Award, ABC's Modern Family took home the award for “Outstanding Achievement in Comedy.” AMC's Mad Men received the award for “Outstanding Achievement in Drama,...

Friday Night Lights scored a touchdown at the 27th Annual TCA Awards. The DirecTV/NBC series was named Program of the Year by the Television Critics Association at a ceremony held Saturday evening at The Beverly Hilton.

The event, which was hosted by Parks and Recreation scene-stealer Nick Offerman, honored HBO’s Game of Thrones with the Outstanding New Program title. ABC’s Modern Family took the award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy for the second year in a row, while Mad Men topped Outstanding Achievement in Drama for the third time. AMC’s ’60s series also garnered star Jon Hamm...

I was just mulling over the unfortunate fact that a lot of big-time TV folks have bitten the dust over the last few weeks and months — “Honey West” star Anne Francis (January 3 at 80), “Ozzie and Harriet” star David Nelson (January 11 at 74), “Batman” star Michael Gough (March 17 at 94), early live TV director Sidney Lumet (April 9 at 86), “M*A*S*H” director Jackie Cooper (May 4 at 88), “The Cosby Show” star Clarice Taylor (May 30 at 93), “Gunsmoke” star James Arness (June 3 at 88), and “Columbo” star Peter Falk (June 23 at 83), among others.

How can one explain this apparent surge? Well, it could just be a coincidence, but it could also be something else. TV only really came into its own in the fifties and sixties… most of the big names on the small screen at the time were then in their thirties and forties, which would place them in their eighties or nineties now… which...

In 2003, The Dick Van Dyke Show was honored at the very first TV Land Awards with the Legend award. Surviving castmembers Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie, and Larry Mathews were on hand to accept, along with series creator Carl Reiner. While on stage, Reiner commented that he'd been thinking about writing a reunion for the classic sitcom that would essentially be like a new episode of the show. While the audience watched, Reiner secured the involvement of the cast and a commitment from TV Land's president, Larry Jones.

What resulted was The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited, a light-hearted hour that brings back the characters and a very impressive replica of the classic living room set. Ray Romano, who was then starring on CBS' popular Everybody Loves Raymond, introduces the episode.

In this new installment, Richie Petrie (Mathews) is...

Oh Rob, it's been 40 years! But a Dick Van Dyke Show reunion special may be coming soon to CBS. No formal deals are in place, but series creator Carl Reiner is penning a script that would catch up with Rob and Laura Petrie in the present day. CBS is eyeing an hourlong special that would open with the scripted half-hour and conclude with a retrospective look at the enduring 1961-66 domestic comedy that starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. Sources say Van Dyke and Moore have expressed interest in revisiting their Petrie personas, as has Larry Mathews, who played the couple's young son, Ritchie. The talk of a Dick Van Dyke reunion comes as Image Entertainment is readying a DVD release of the series. And Van Dyke and Moore will be seen onscreen together later this year in PBS' production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Gin Game. Reiner is repped by CAA and manager George Shapiro of Shapiro/West & Associates.