MovieChat Forums > The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) Discussion > Put Rob Alone in A Room & You Get Him At...

Put Rob Alone in A Room & You Get Him At His Best

posted 8 years ago by poetcomic1
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Carl Reiner loved how Dick Van Dyke could be alone for five minutes on a set and be very very funny. Good examples are when he is bored because Laura is out of town and talking to himself in "Dear Mrs. Petrie Your Husband's In Jail" Or the wonderful scene when Rob wants to write his novel and is alone in a mountain cabin with an unforgettable tour de force interaction with cowboy gear, a writing desk, etc. One of his earliest bits that Reiner enjoyed was his instant transition from drunk to sober which was worked up into a hypnotic suggestion plot and when he is almost delirious with flu and trying to be the life of the party. These are just off the top of my head. My single favorite piece of business is October Eve when Rob finds out that a nude portrait of Laura is hanging in a big New York gallery and he reassures her that he 'understands' and the moment she leaves the room he grabs the stove top irons and smashes a tea cup with a husband's rage! Jerry Paris directed that scene and it was not in the script but Paris came up with it on the spot. They loved him directing.

[–] pjpurple-1 8 years ago

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There were so many hilarious moments when Rob was alone. Dick van Dyke was a one man comedy tour de force.

One of my favorite episodes was 'The Ballad of the Betty Lou'. Rob was practicing knot tying and then calling out instructions like the Captain of a ship.

Dick van Dyke was also very funny when he was scared, like the night he was alone in the office in "Unnyuff'. He heard strange noises and thought he saw a flying saucer. And in 'It May Look Like a Walnut', Rob is alone once again in the office and gets more and more scared, talking to himself, trying to convince himself that it's all a practical joke because he still has his thumbs.

One of Rob's funniest monologues occurs in the flashback episode on his wedding day when he is sitting in the jeep with a severe attack of cold feet.

I'm sure there are others, but they're the ones that came to mind right away.

[–] poetcomic1 8 years ago

And Mary Tyler Moore had a few such moments alone such as 'Long Night's Journey Into Day". And she was very good as an actress.

[–] murph24 8 years ago

For those who weren't around at the time, make no mistake: "The Dick Van Dyke Show" was the class act of TV during its 5-year run. The show's quality was undeniable, and it was the one you were most likely to be discussing around the water cooler (well, at least until "The Avengers" came along). Consistently showered with Emmys and high ratings, it reflected the style, sophistication and optimism of the Kennedy era, which it outlived by a few years.

And it's true - the writers often noted something like "Dick does business" in the weekly script, because they relied on Van Dyke to physicalize whatever the situation called for; they knew he'd come up with something inventive and funny, and he never disappointed them.

[–] poetcomic1 8 years ago

So true and yet my absolute FAVORITE bit of business by Van Dyke was created on the spot by director Jerry Paris. It is in October Eve when Rob is being so understanding about Laura's nude portrait hanging in public. Then she leaves the room and he grabs the iron grills on the stovetop, makes a priceless face of helpless rage and smashes a tea cup with the iron. Jerry's idea but no one could have done it as well. What a priceless moment!

[–] wheresjohnny 8 years ago

Dick Van Dyke was the best actor ever at talking to himself. I can't think of many other actors who did it, but he was great at it. One of the best episodes of The New Dick Van Dyke Show was of him alone for most of the episode. I remember Carol Burnett praising him for that episode when she was taking questions from the audience on her show a few weeks later.

Tony Randall was also good at talking to himself and De Niro did that well-know scene in Taxi Driver and did it in The King of Comedy too, but it's surprising that scenes like that don't come to mind with other top actors.

[–] poetcomic1 8 years ago

Great point! Van Dyke was even good at WHISPERING to himself as in the 'My Husband In Jail' peisode. If you want to see the best take off on Tony Randall ever see David Hyde-Pierce in the movie 'Down With Love'. A terrible and terribly written movie except for David's uncanny takeoff on Randall.

[–] FlushingCaps 8 years ago

Wheresjohnny, you got me nodding in agreement about that episode of the New Dick Van Dyke Show where he was alone for most of the show, I believe, in some cabin out on the desert. I do not remember anything about this show--haven't seen it in over 40 years, but I distinctly remember thinking at the time that this was the funniest episode in the series.

Why don't we just shoot 'em down and be through with it?

[–] TonyAtRest 8 years ago

Also the one that flashed back to his days as a radio DJ when he was staying up for many hours in order to break the on-air record.

He had so many hilarious bits in that one!

[–] pjpurple-1 8 years ago

A 100 Terrible Hours! So funny! The cat stuck in the tree.

😂 "We're with you pussycat!" Great stuff!!