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NotsoNewtoGermany t1_jd8jn6v wrote

Reply to comment by Knute5 in TIL The Dick Van Dyke Show was originally written entirely by Carl Reiner, about stories from Reiner's life, and starred Carl Reiner. The pilot was unsuccessful so it was reworked with Dick Van Dyke playing Robert Petrie. by jamescookenotthatone

More than that. Reiner and Mel brooks watched a movie together every night until Reiner died.

There's a great interview with one of the writers on the Dick Van Dyke Show— of which there were three.

I'll link it if someone promises to watch it. It's fantastic, really some great stories about Reiner in there.

The one that comes to mind is one day a new studio executive came into the office, and he had been making waves firing staff, reworking complete teams— he was productions Voldemort— he came into the studio, put his legs up on the table and said

"Let me tell you what comedy means to me..."

And Reiner sat down next to him and put on an expression of deep listening, understanding, and reverence— this was all an act of course, then he got up, took the loafer off of the Executives foot and threw it out of the window; turned to the man and said— That's what comedy means to me.

That executive never came around ever again.

Absolutely hilarious.

Reiner is my favorite character in the Dick Van Dyke show.

Note: Ignore the intro, and the hosts:

https://youtu.be/t7IfhpA8jFU

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Knute5 t1_jd8u4df wrote

I went to an honoring event for Mel Brooks at the Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles a few years back, and Reiner was hovering around at the reception. Then in the theatre he lovingly heckled Mel from the back of the room. You could tell just how close they were.

Back when the Friar's Club was still open on the West Coast, the old legends used to hang out including Sid Caesar and Milton Berle who'd show up now and then. I was a young nobody who snuck out of work to grab Thursday lunches and was grateful to catch a glimpse of these guys before they passed away. Caesar in particular was very gracious, always eager to impart some wisdom (usually about diet and exercise) to us young punks.

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Latter_Feeling2656 t1_jdhea73 wrote

"There's a great interview with one of the writers on the Dick Van Dyke Show— of which there were three."

They used a plethora of writers. Reiner himself wrote about a third. Bill Persky and Sam Denoff wrote a lot, and became the script consultants (finishers). Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson wrote a lot, and then the rest were spread out among others. Bill Idelson, who played Herman Glimpsher, wrote a few scripts.

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NotsoNewtoGermany t1_jdhjnrx wrote

Not exactly, from what I understand there were people they accepted scripts from, but we're not employed by the show.

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Latter_Feeling2656 t1_jdhzqq0 wrote

You're probably talking about Reiner, and then Persky and Denoff who succeeded him as "Story Consultants." They would be the rewrite guys who would punch up a script and make sure the tone was consistent with the show in general. Persky and Denoff got bit roles in the last filmed episode, "The Gunslinger." Garry Marshall was also in the episode, along with at least one other.

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