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| The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series | 
 enlarge | Director: Carl Reiner
Actors: Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Richard Deacon, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam
Studio: Image Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $249.99
Buy New: $149.86
You Save: $100.13 (40%)
New (25) Used (12) from $148.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 8376
Format: Box Set, Black & White, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 25
Running Time: 3950
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 5.2
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 7 x 5.6
MPN: ID2786PBDVD
UPC: 014381278620
EAN: 0014381278620
ASIN: B0007WFY4S
Theatrical Release Date: October 3, 1961
Release Date: May 24, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Expedited shipping is not available for this item.
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Amazon.com essential video
Before The Dick Van Dyke Show, suburbia was never portrayed on television as a haven of sophistication. We never followed Ozzie Nelson to work. And we never, ever fantasized what Ward and June Cleaver did behind closed doors. But Your Show of Shows veteran Carl Reiner's groundbreaking series broke the staid, sitcom mold. Just consider Mary Tyler Moore's Laura Petrie, the ravishing wife of Dick Van Dyke's comedy writer, Rob Petrie. "I'm just a housewife," she proclaims in the episode "To Tell or Not to Tell," just before breaking into an incendiary bossa nova in the Petrie living room. In "The Return of Happy Spangler," she is jokingly identified as Jackie Kennedy. But the comparison is apt. She's got style (those capri pants scandalized the show's sponsors!), she's got grace, and when Moore came into her own as a gifted comedienne, she took her stock character to dizzy new heights. The Dick Van Dyke Show boasted a peerless ensemble, gold-standard writing, and characters who became icons: Son Ritchie (played by Larry Matthews), man-hungry Sally Rogers (Rose Marie), old school "human joke machine" Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam), and tyrannical boss Alan Brady (Reiner). Incredibly, the show was nearly canceled after its first season. Executive producer Sheldon Leonard championed the series, and CBS moved the Petries to follow the top-rated Beverly Hillbillies. The rest is television history. Unlike the high-concept Hillbillies, the more sophisticated Dick Van Dyke Show's appeal was in its more grounded situations and three-dimensional characters, each of whom were given ample opportunities to shine. Rob's deft and daft juggling of his glamorous career and harried home life inspired some of the best episodes, but at the heart of this series' timeless appeal was the palpable chemistry between Rob and Laura, as witness their sudden embrace at the moving conclusion of "The Square Triangle." A pop culture benchmark, The Dick Van Dyke Show is must-own television. --Donald Liebenson
Product Description
Trip into the living room of comedy writer Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke) along with his lovely wife Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) wisecracking co-workers and nutty neighbors. Consistently ranked among the top TV comedies of all time and renowned for its top-notch cast and stellar writing this groundbreaking series is now available in one special collectible box set presented fully restored and uncut!. All Episodes Digitally Remastered for Unsurpassed Video and Audio Quality!System Requirements: Running Time 1700 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/CLASSICS Rating: NR UPC: 014381278620 Manufacturer No: ID2786PBDVD
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| Customer Reviews: Read 22 more reviews...
Outstanding..... December 22, 2008
I just recieved this wonderful box set as a Christmas gift and I am thrilled. The quality is excellent and I couldn't be happier. I would suggest this collection to anyone who is a fan of "The Dick Van Dyke Show". Highly, highly recommended.....A solid 5 stars out of 5!!! You simply will not be disappointed!!!
 A classic! September 30, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I bought this because I loved watching these when I was a kid. Dick Van Dyke is a classic comedian. I like old shows that are hilarious without being crude. I really only have two complaints. (1) These DVDs are not close-captioned. I also own the "I Love Lucy" complete series set and they are close-captioned, but were released by Paramount so maybe that makes a difference. The "format" on the product page doesn't list close-captioned for either set, but the "I Love Lucy" set is close captioned and "Dick Van Dyke show" is not...a little misleading (2) A few days after I purchased the set, it dropped in price by $35. I was disappointed, but it is still a good buy.
The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series September 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Both the video and audio on these DVDs is perfect. Rewatching the most rewatchable sitcom ever produced for television is a complete pleasure. Obviously, the content is exemplary; the DVD set is excellent in every way!
What television can do when it really tries.... September 14, 2008
The Dick Van Dyke Show consistently ranks high in most critics list of the best sit-coms ever. It also ranks high in most lists of best television programming of any type.
Along with the Andy Griffith Show, it is probably one of the best 2 sit-coms of the entire decade of the 1960's - a decade which produced many memorable sitcoms.
It broke ground in many ways, and not just in portraying a housewife who wears slacks when she is working around the house. It was one of the first programs to be both a "work-comedy" and a "domestic-comedy" at the same time. It was different from most domestic comedies at the time by having as it's main characters a trendy and upscale young suburban couple living in a tract house development. Earlier family-based sitcoms had often focussed exclusively on the kids and the parents played secondary roles, like Leave it to Beaver. Earliersit-coms usually had the family living in an old fashioned two-story frame house on a tree-lined city street complete with sidewalks. This was typical of the upper middle class in the pre-war days, but by 1961 young middle class families were overwhelmingly locating in the suburban development. Finally, in early family sitcoms, the father's job is only hinted at, never playing a real role in the plotlines.
The Dick Van Dyke Show changed that. The Petrie family lived in a post-war suburb within communting distance of a large city, just like a large portion of Americans lived by 1961. The domestic aspects of the show were up to date and the cosmopolitan tastes and interests of Rob and Laurua reflected a life-style that young "New Frontier" 30-something couples around America liked to think of as representing themselves.
At Rob's office, there was also a nice behind the scenes look into the making of a variety sketch television show - a tv genre that starting to decline in the early 60's. The show seems a little dated in some ways today, but it was very much on top of the spirit of its own time.
Aside from all this, though, the program is just plain funny. Van Dyke's physical humor, Morey Amsterdam's quick wit and Mary Tyer Moore's humorous facial and vocal expressions all complement one another, and each role is perfectly cast and each character is easy to like and relate to. The interaction among the colleagues at the office is fast paced and full of good one-liners. The friendship that the Petrie's share with their next-door neighbors (a dentists and slightly homely wife) adds a less glamorous but more common touch to the show, but the marriage relation between Rob and Laura really remains the primary focus of the program.
Running gags throughout the series include Carl Reiner's toupe, Buddy and Mel's mutual feud and Rob's stories about his old Army days (which gives the show a chance to change its setting and format occasionally). There are also a handful of dream episodes, which was something of an innovation at the time.
Reruns of the program have not been aired regularly since TVLAND took it out of the lineup a few years ago, so I do make a lot of use of this boxed set.
Highly, highly recommended.
An Instant and Timeless Classic August 27, 2008
After re-watching a dozen episodes from The Dick Van Dyke Show, I changed my mind and decided that I should, after all, write an Amazon review for the series. Not because I think many people will see my review, which will undoubtedly be hidden beneath multiple pages of previously-posted reviews. Not because I think Amazon readers need any more recommendations to get this set after reading the scores of such recommendations already present. Not even because it would be fun to reminisce as I wrote the review about everything I liked about the show over the years. No, I decided to write this review because, after rewatching these classic episodes again, I realized afresh that The Dick Van Dyke Show is one of the best, perhaps THE best, comedy series I've ever seen, and if even a single person watches this show for the first time because of this review, the effort would be entirely justified.
There are lots of funny TV shows, but I can't think of any that have affected me like The Dick Van Dyke Show has. My childhood is filled with the memories of watching the show with my father as I grew up. We sat there together, laughing out loud, over and over again, day after day, and felt like we were special guests to be asked into Rob and Laura Petrie's family each week. But were these childhood memories just a figment of my passing childhood, laughs that would disappear with time and a new social context? Not one bit. As I watch these shows in sparkling, crystal-clear DVD format (the "DVD" being no relation to "Dick Van Dyke"!), I find myself laughing - and enjoying - these episodes as if I never saw them before. And even when I have the jokes and the sequences memorized - and for many of them, I do - I can find no other reaction other than to laugh out loud as I did when I was kid. This is a downright, flat-out funny, witty, enjoyable, and entertaining program.
Can comedy be funny without resort to off-color language? Can shtick and physical humour actually be supremely hilarious? Can an element of sophistication be woven into comedy so that the audience can laugh at itself without being insulted? Can timeless themes be woven into stories that actually entertain? One needs watch only a handful of Dick Van Dyke Show episodes easily to quickly affirm each of these questions. And perhaps more impressively, its easily apparent that the cast and crew pull this off silky ease, belieing the true work that was put into the show. There's no question about it: the writing, the plot lines, the acting, and the personal charm of those involved in The Dick Van Show set a standard apart from others, a standard that sees no wear from the ravages of time. It doesn't matter that we are watching black-and-white in a clearly post-1950's suburban home and work setting: we see color and modernity even as we look right through these unimportant backdrops. The themes and talent that pours out of nearly every episode is unaffected by time, setting, and costume.
I once heard Carl Reiner say that Dick Van Dyke was the most talented entertainer he had ever known. It's hard to disagree with him once we've seen the show. Van Dyke is like Rowan Atkinson, but in spades, and with an inner charm that endears the watcher. He can sing, he can dance, he can tell jokes with precision timing, he can use understatement as a weapon, and he can make us totally sympathetic to his plights without appearing whiny. Rob Petrie, but more importantly, Dick Van Dyke, strikes us as an intensely decent person imbued with a joy of life that pervades everything he does. Actually, we are CONVINCED he is an intensely decent person, and we are just there for the ride as we watch him move through life with all its comic ups and downs. He could have never done it without Morey Amsterdam, Rose Marie, and Mary Tyler Moore (not to mention all the others who worked on the show before the camera), but Van Dyke stands out as that supremely gifted individual, a talent amongst a group of talents, Holland's gift to America. That so many gifted individuals could work together without stepping on each other's toes is a miracle in itself. It's an assemblage of people rarely seen, and I fear, not to be seen again for a long time.
Season One gets off to a rocky start. In retrospect, we can see the show is trying to figure out itself, trying to understand how all the pieces work together, trying to determine how stories are to be assembled for best impact. The show was slated for cancellation twice that year, and only after Sheldon Leonard stepped in to rescue it - and a change of time slot for Season Two right after the successful Beverly Hillbillies - did the show take off.
But in Season Two, the show takes off like no rocket you've ever seen before. Season One has some strong episodes and great plot ideas, but it's Season Two that sees the cast working in a seamless, slick, and sophisticated manner that turns the show into a timeless classic. It's almost as if everyone involved realized they were given a second chance, and with that, the gloves came off, the worries were put aside, and everyone just got "into the groove." The show knocked out one outstanding episode after another, and by the time Season Five occurred, everyone knew that this might likely be the highlight of their careers. The show was ended at the height of it's popularity because of Reiner's insistence - he said he did not want to show to die slowly, but go out while at the top of form - and we can only wonder what a "Season Six" might have held for us. But it's no matter. These are comedic masterpieces at the top of form, a goal for others to try and match, and a standard by which all others are measured.
If you've never seen The Dick Van Dyke Show and wonder what it is about, I'll tell you. It's about a somewhat charmed life of a regular group of people who are talented, happy, and good natured and who face the normal problems, irritation, and strange events that are a part of nearly everyone's life. That's all you need to know. Start with Season Two and work forward from there. When you are done, go back to Season One and see how they figured it all out in those early months. But by then, you'll already be won over by the many wonderful episodes, and will doubtless be re-watching these over and over again. Millions of people of have done so over the years. To watch these episodes is to easily understand why.
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