It was 65 years ago on today’s date back in 1961 – October 3 – that The Dick Van Dyke Show premiered on CBS.
The half hour sitcom, which also aired on CBC in Canada, was not an instant hit. Itstruggled in the ratings between Marshal Dillon (a half-hour version of Gunsmoke) and Bachelor Father (starring future Dynasty lead John Forsythe) and was canceled at the end of its first season.
Executive producer Sheldon Leonard, a tough guy toi say no to, refused to give up on the series. He flew to New York and met with the Don Draper’s of the day” to shop for another sponsor. He found a cigarette company that signed up for half the cost of the series, making a second season possible.
A move to Wednesdays at 9:30 following the No. 1 hit The Beverly Hillbillies vaulted Van Dyke into the Top 10. Walking away from overtures to stay on the air, and after five years and 158 episodes, the series ended its original run.
Today, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, the “other DVD,” as Reiner used to call him, TV historian and fan David Van Deusen, is hosting a virtual party to celebrate the 65th anniversary of The Dick Van Dyke Show.
If you are into the classic series, you’ll want to take a deep dive into the world of Rob and Laura Petrie at Van Deusen’s fact-filled podcast, “Tripping Over the Ottoman,” found wherever you listen to podcasts. Co-hosted by super fan Abby, each podcast looks at a specific episode — “Ray Murdock’s X-ray,” “Very Old Shoes, Very Old Rice,” and “The Bottom of Mel Cooley’s Heart” to name three — and tells you things even I didn’t know about the series. The “Remembering Frank Adamo” episode focuses in on bit player Adamo, who befriended Van Dyke while the actor was becoming a song and dance man on Broadway in “Bye Bye Birdie.” Adamo became kind of a good luck charm on the Van Dyke series, filling in with background and even speaking roles, 70 of them by Van Deusen’s count. Adamo went on to perfrom a similar role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
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Later this month, Van Deusen and Abby welcome the other surviving member of the Dick Van Dyke Show, Larry Matthews (Ritchie Petrie), as a podcast guest.
Van Deusen also has a new digital book: “From Fandom to Friendships, Extraordinary Encounters and Rare Treasures with the Dick Van Dyke Show.” It is available here. He has also reissued his documentary, “The Dick Van Dyke Show: Celebrating the 60th Anniversary” featuring interviews with the original cast and family members.
As if that all wasn’t enough, Van Deusen will be my guest on an upcoming episode of brioux.tv: the podcast. All in honour of Van Dyke himself, who, with any luck, will turn 101 this coming December.
