Celebrate one of television’s greatest stars a day before his 100th birthday with the American Masters special “Starring Dick Van Dyke.” The two hour presentation premieres Friday night starting at 9/8C and will also be available at pbs.org/americanmasters and the PBS App
The two hour celebration has no new interview with Van Dyke. The beloved star of “Mary Poppins,” “Bye Bye Birdie,””Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” and The Dick Van Dyke Show has stepped back from what had been quite a public schedule for a fella in his nineties. Appearances included popping up on The Masked Singer a few seasons ago and performing a music video song and dance with Coldplay in 2024.
By all accounts his birthday will be marked with a private ceremony Saturday with a select list of family and friends. One of them will be my film collector friend Stan Taffel, the Cinecon Film Festival president and among my guests this week on my brioux.tv: the podcast salute to Van Dyke.
The man behind this American Masters episode is John Scheinfeld, who created several “Pioneers of Broadcasting” specials in year’s past for PBS. Decades ago, Scheinfeld banked interviews with Van Dyke and clips from those chats will be part of this special. Out of the same vault will come insights from Dick Van Dyke Show creator Carl Reiner, producer Sheldon Leonard, and costars Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie, and Morey Amsterdam.
New interviews will also be featured from contemporaries and admirers. Among those who share memories are his “Poppins” costar Julie Andrews, as well as TV co-star Carol Burnett, and fans Jim Carrey, Ted Danson, Steve Martin, Conan O’Brien, and Martin Short.
Not to be missed for Dick Van Dyke Show fans: home movies, in colour. They are provided by Larry Mathews, who played the Petries young son Richie on the series. Now 70, Mathews discovered the 8mm footage while going through his childhood home when it was sold a few years ago. Thankfully, his mother kept the films, which show rehearsals on the Desilu Los Angeles lot where the sitcom was shot from 1961 to 1966. There are even scenes and outtakes from the last episode filmed, a spoof of westerns where the cast and even writers such as Garry Marshall and Bill Persky got into the act in cowboy gear. Hidden in with the reels were tickets to Dick Van Dyke Show tapings, scripts fromt he series and other memorabilia.
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Original production funding for the PBS special came from a fitting source: Walter E. Disney Miller and the Diane and Ron Miller Charitable Fund. Their ancestor Walt Disney enjoyed his biggest live action film success with Van Dyke as the chimney sweep who swept Mary Poppins off her feet.
“Starring Dick Van Dyke” is a production of Crew Neck Productions and Copper Beeches in association with American Masters Pictures and The Television Academy Foundation. Written, produced and directed by John Scheinfeld. The Producer is Ned Nalle and the film is produced by Dave Harding. Peter S. Lynch II is Editor and Co-Producer. Executive Producers are James Sears Bryant and Michael Kantor.
