MovieChat Forums > The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) Discussion > Why did they NEVER show the Alan Brady S...

Why did they NEVER show the Alan Brady Show?

posted 5 years ago by jasonmovieguy (182)
15 replies | jump to latest

The series Dick Van Dyke is one of the classics, but my elderly friend Helen and me watch a lot while sewing and taking pain medication. We always wonder why they Never bothered showing the Alan Brady Show. They spend episode upon episode with the Dick and the gang in the office coming up with concepts, ideas and skits. Rose Marie will make a joke, and it's actually funny. Mory Amsterdam chimes in. Dick laughs. Then we NEVER see the finished product. I think Carl Reiner missed opportunities there. I mean, in I Love Lucy- we SAW Ricky's show that he rehearses. We SEE Lucy, Ethel and Fred even on stage with him many times. Not with Dick Van Dyke.

Also Mary Tyler Moore was beautiful, but she was not funny. Laurie Petrie was not a very nice person. I can see why Robert Redford cast Moore in Ordinary People years later. He saw through her "fake, polite, passive aggressive" nature and realized she would work perfectly for a woman who really has no empathy for mess, or relationships that are genuine. I never understood how Moore won Emmys for Comedy Actress here, when Rose Marie was leagues funnier. No wonder the two allegedly didn't get along. Marie saw right through Moore's parade. I think the producers hired Moore because of her looks. Similar to why they hired the bratty Richie. He probably was one of the shareholder's grandkids. Moore was much more intune and believable on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-77).

[–] pjpurple@verizon.net (5530) 4 years ago

I've been on a Dick van Dyke kick and watching my DVD's of the show this week and I was thinking about the OP's question.

They did do one episode of the Alan Brady Show and that was the Christmas Show. The rest of the cast performed and Alan Brady didn't!

I just watched the flashback episode "I Was a Teen-Age Head Writer" where Rob performed his impression of a new car on his first day as head writer.
Dick van Dyke performed a number of sketches which they were writing for Alan Brady.

I figured out why we didn't see Alan Brady perform them. Basically, Carl Reiner couldn't. That was NOT his comedy forte. Those scenes were written to highlight Dick van Dyk'es talents and not Carl Reiner's.

Carl Reiner was the first to admit that Dick van Dyke did brilliant physical comedy. Mr. Reiner didn't do that style of comedy.

I cannot picture Carl Reiner as Alan Brady performing the hilarious stuff that Rob performed in the office.
The real star of the show was Dick van Dyke and his style of comedy. The audience just has to imagine Alan Brady performing that stuff.

Carl Reiner was great as "the boss from hell", an arrogant egomaniac. But he was not a physical comedian in the same vein as Dick van Dyke.

[–] JackNorth (244) 4 years ago

Good observations, pjpurple. I also think they didn't show the finished product because they figured that's not what the show was about. It was about Rob's work and family life. It's like asking why didn't we ever see Ralph Kramden at the wheel of his bus? (Okay yeah, as soon as I wrote that I can see that it's not the same as the OP's point about Carl Reiner being talented and not using his talent on the show. But I like the analogy anyway! 😉)

[–] pjpurple@verizon.net (5530) 4 years ago

It's still a very good analogy!

The audience didn't need to see Ralph drive a bus to know it was hard work and the passengers and the traffic frayed his nerves. We saw the aftereffects, Ralph came home tired and short tempered and always trying to "hit it big" with another money making scheme.

The Dick van Dyke Show was telling a story about a talented writing staff. The audience didn't need to see the "star" of the show perform the material. The writers already did!

Carl Reiner's role, and he played it brilliantly, was a TV star with a big ego. But I could never see him doing the physical business that Dick van Dyke did.

[–] Tristan_Booth (405) 3 years ago

"They did do one episode of the Alan Brady Show and that was the Christmas Show."

Another bit from the Alan Brady Show was when Edwin Carp recited his poem.

[–] pjpurple@verizon.net (5530) 3 years ago

Almost forgot about that one. That was one of the very few episodes which I just did not like. I always skip over that one. It's just not funny to me. I don't know why. I just never liked that one.

[–] CarolTheDabbler (521) 2 years ago

"They did do one episode of the Alan Brady Show and that was the Christmas Show."

Another bit from the Alan Brady Show was when Edwin Carp recited his poem.

Also they would sometimes open a scene with Rob & Laura at home watching the very end of the show, with Alan telling a joke and saying goodnight.

[–] Tristan_Booth (405) a year ago

And one time when Rob had been sick, Alan called him at home while live on the air.

[–] kwestmo (4225) 3 years ago

Valid points about MTM.

[–] ProFromDover (274) 2 years ago

The show was a about a Jewish superstar of a medium that was about 10 years old. The Brady show was probably out of control Jews as production and writers screaming at each other for 200 a week trying to make Alan funny on schedule for taping. I think the real audience would quickly tire of this type of comedy.

[–] avortac4 (3610) 2 years ago

Are you kidding me? Laura not funny?

Niceness is funny to you?

What have you been smoking?

Even if it was true, Dick and Laura together can be amazingly funny. Mary's facial expressions in the 'All About Eavesdropping' episode, when she's trying to get Rob to guess the song name, are already hilarious and amazing - I bet you couldn't get to even 10% of that kind of talent - and the whole bit had me roaring out loud, it was that funny.

Laura might not be 'nice', but she's relatable, a pretty understanding good wife that cares what her husband thinks about her, and tries to be a good parent to her kid and keep the house tidy and dinner ready for her husband and guests. She's a good host, takes part in singing and dancing - not to mention, Mary could really sing and dance really well, she decorates the room and even has a pleasant voice.

Heck, she's even cute when she's angry, what more can you want? Who wants NICE anyway, when that word simply refers to manipulative people, not genuinely GOOD people, like Laura.

Laura has PLENTY of empathy.. what show have you been watching? And no, those are NOT good points, what is wrong with people here?

[–] avortac4 (3610) 2 years ago

Anyway, don't hijack your own question to shove a lectured wrongful agenda about Laura- and Mary-hatred down our throats. She deserves better.

To answer your RIDICULOUS question; it's a FICTIONAL show within an ACTUAL show. What the hell do you expect? Hello? Anyone home? *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

[–] Where (1323) a year ago

Yeah that’s low rent

[–] mikethemartian (6197) a year ago

Why did Laura have to be funny? Her character was originally a dancer in the USO.

[–] FarmerTed (186) 4 months ago

My thought is what they would wind up showing would never be as good as what the audience imagined it would be.

[–] Darren (1160) 4 months ago

Mary Tyler Moore was funny. She has some absolutely hilarious moments in "Coast to Coast Big Mouth," for example, and that's just one episode. Maybe she wasn't as funny as Dick Van Dyke, Rose Marie, and Morey Amsterdam (gosh, it's amazing that the suburban housewife character was written to be less overtly comedic than the three professional comedy writers -- pshaw... what the hell was Carl Reiner thinking, anyway?). It's not her character's function to be.

Look up a hoary old concept in comedy called "the straight man." That was Mary Tyler Moore's role in most episodes: the comic foil who maintains her composure, and whose outwardly serious, or even deadpan demeanor accentuates the overtly comedic antics of the other characters. And when she was called upon to be more overtly comedic herself, as in the episode I mentioned, she was great. Carl Reiner reflected often on how lucky he thought they were to have found a pretty actress who could not only act, but who could do comedy as well.