When "The Dick Van Dyke Show" kicked off its third season on September 25, 1963, the United States was in the midst of a societal transformation. The Civil Rights Movement's Birmingham campaign, which sought to desegregate the Alabama city's downtown businesses, was in full swing, and the images being transmitted to Americans' living rooms were ugly as hell. Birmingham's Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene "Bull" Connor countered peaceful protests with disgusting brutality. He ordered law enforcement to blast marching students with fire hoses; these children were also attacked by police dogs and the equally savage white locals, who, when they felt Connor's violent tactics weren't going far enough, bombed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's headquarters.
And then, one week prior to the show's season debut, a pack of racists killed four little girls when they blew up the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.
These events would play a significant role in driving...
And then, one week prior to the show's season debut, a pack of racists killed four little girls when they blew up the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.
These events would play a significant role in driving...
- 3/12/2024
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
To understand just how long the TV Academy has struggled to define “comedy series,” look no further than the first decade or so of the category’s life: Between 1952, when Red Skelton’s titular variety show claimed Emmy’s first-ever comedy prize, and 1964, when The Dick Van Dyke Show scored its second win, the category had no fewer than six name changes, ranging from the terse “best comedy show” to the rather unwieldy “outstanding program achievement in the field of comedy.”
And it only grew more complicated from there. Unlike in the drama series category, whose contenders have been consistently hourlong and usually serialized, comedy competitors also started to assume widely different formats: multicam sitcom (All in the Family, Friends); single-camera, half-hour dramedy (The Wonder Years, Sex and the City); single-camera mockumentary (The Office, Modern Family); and hourlong ensemble dramedy (Orange Is the New Black, Shameless), to name a few.
And it only grew more complicated from there. Unlike in the drama series category, whose contenders have been consistently hourlong and usually serialized, comedy competitors also started to assume widely different formats: multicam sitcom (All in the Family, Friends); single-camera, half-hour dramedy (The Wonder Years, Sex and the City); single-camera mockumentary (The Office, Modern Family); and hourlong ensemble dramedy (Orange Is the New Black, Shameless), to name a few.
- 8/9/2023
- by Stacey Wilson Hunt
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for a new documentary spotlighting the long-time star of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and her own self-titled TV series. It’s “Being Mary Tyler Moore,” premiering on HBO and streaming on HBO Max on May 26th.
Rating: 5.0/5.0
Ms. Moore is best remembered for two signature television roles. In the 1960s she was Laura, the wife of Rob Petrie, on the breakthrough “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and in the 1970s she broke further new ground as single gal Mary Richards on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” The latter series had exquisite timing, featuring Mtm as a working woman at the time of first wave feminism. But the real life Moore was not her characters, as the film follows her life from a determined girl dancer in a difficult childhood through 1970s TV production mogul to Academy Award-nominated actor.
”Being Mary Tyler Moore...
Rating: 5.0/5.0
Ms. Moore is best remembered for two signature television roles. In the 1960s she was Laura, the wife of Rob Petrie, on the breakthrough “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and in the 1970s she broke further new ground as single gal Mary Richards on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” The latter series had exquisite timing, featuring Mtm as a working woman at the time of first wave feminism. But the real life Moore was not her characters, as the film follows her life from a determined girl dancer in a difficult childhood through 1970s TV production mogul to Academy Award-nominated actor.
”Being Mary Tyler Moore...
- 5/27/2023
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The good times just keep on rolling at Plex. The service started the week by offering 20% off a lifetime subscription to its Plex Pass, and is finishing it by adding an impressive array of new, free streaming channels to its platform.
Plex is adding a total of 25 free ad-supported TV (Fast) channels this week. There’s something for everyone on this channel list, from fans of classic TV shows to anime to horror films, and everything in between. These new additions boost Plex’s channel count to well over 300, and the service is supplementing that lineup seemingly every month.
The new channels available to stream now on Plex include:
21 Jump Street: To combat a rise in school crimes, LAPD sends four young-looking officers to high school to pose as students. Starring Johnny Depp, Holly Robinson, Peter DeLuise and Dustin Nguyen.
Unsolved Mysteries: Hosted by Robert Stack, this series...
Plex is adding a total of 25 free ad-supported TV (Fast) channels this week. There’s something for everyone on this channel list, from fans of classic TV shows to anime to horror films, and everything in between. These new additions boost Plex’s channel count to well over 300, and the service is supplementing that lineup seemingly every month.
The new channels available to stream now on Plex include:
21 Jump Street: To combat a rise in school crimes, LAPD sends four young-looking officers to high school to pose as students. Starring Johnny Depp, Holly Robinson, Peter DeLuise and Dustin Nguyen.
Unsolved Mysteries: Hosted by Robert Stack, this series...
- 5/26/2023
- by David Satin
- The Streamable
When you think of Dick Van Dyke, you probably conjure up memories of the comedian on The Dick Van Dyke Show or fondly remember the famed actor in Mary Poppins more recently. You probably don’t connect Van Dyke to soap operas, but at 97, he’s ready to take on a new challenge. Dick Van Dyke will appear on Days of Our Lives. He has a gym friendship to thank for the part.
Dick Van Dyke will appear on ‘Days of Our Lives’ as a man with amnesia
Dick Van Dyke is adding soap opera actor to his illustrious resume. It might be the only acting box the legend had left to tick off. During his 76 years in show business, Van Dyke has appeared in everything from films to TV shows. He spent time on Broadway, and his career took him into a recording studio. In recent years, Van Dyke...
Dick Van Dyke will appear on ‘Days of Our Lives’ as a man with amnesia
Dick Van Dyke is adding soap opera actor to his illustrious resume. It might be the only acting box the legend had left to tick off. During his 76 years in show business, Van Dyke has appeared in everything from films to TV shows. He spent time on Broadway, and his career took him into a recording studio. In recent years, Van Dyke...
- 4/24/2023
- by Andrea Francese
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Days of Our Lives is no stranger to hiring prominent name actors.
Sometimes people make a name for themselves on the soap before hitting the big time, such as when Days of Our Lives alum Charlotte Ross joined the cast of NYPD Blue. Other times, Days of Our Lives hires well-known actors such as Marla Gibbs as recurring characters.
And now, Days of Our Lives has scored its biggest guest appearance yet -- Hollywood legend Dick Van Dyke!
At 97, Van Dyke is one of Hollywood's oldest and best-known actors. Whether you know him as the ottoman-tripping Rob Petrie from the 1950s Dick Van Dyke show, movies such as Mary Poppins, or his long-running cozy mystery series Diagnosis: Murder, you're sure to have seen him Somewhere.
He shows no signs of slowing down, having recently appeared on The Masked Singer. And now he can add a soap opera appearance to his lengthy resume.
Sometimes people make a name for themselves on the soap before hitting the big time, such as when Days of Our Lives alum Charlotte Ross joined the cast of NYPD Blue. Other times, Days of Our Lives hires well-known actors such as Marla Gibbs as recurring characters.
And now, Days of Our Lives has scored its biggest guest appearance yet -- Hollywood legend Dick Van Dyke!
At 97, Van Dyke is one of Hollywood's oldest and best-known actors. Whether you know him as the ottoman-tripping Rob Petrie from the 1950s Dick Van Dyke show, movies such as Mary Poppins, or his long-running cozy mystery series Diagnosis: Murder, you're sure to have seen him Somewhere.
He shows no signs of slowing down, having recently appeared on The Masked Singer. And now he can add a soap opera appearance to his lengthy resume.
- 4/21/2023
- by Jack Ori
- TVfanatic
Sex and the City has one of the most iconic intros in television history. In the intro, Carrie Bradshaw walks down a Manhattan street wearing a tutu-style dress. In the final seconds of the scene, a bus drives by and splashes her with water. Anyone who has seen the show is familiar with the opening sequence, with its upbeat music. While it became truly iconic, it wasn’t the only intro filmed for the show. A second opening sequence was filmed with Carrie in a completely different outfit. Carrie’s outfit wasn’t the only thing different about it, either. The alternate Sex and the City intro attempted to pay homage to another classic TV show.
‘Sex and the City’ had an alternate intro
Carrie in a tutu is all most people think of when they think about the Sex and the City intro. It is understandable. It’s the...
‘Sex and the City’ had an alternate intro
Carrie in a tutu is all most people think of when they think about the Sex and the City intro. It is understandable. It’s the...
- 3/26/2023
- by Andrea Francese
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)
The Series: "The Dick Van Dyke Show"
Where You Can Stream It: Peacock, TubiTV, Freevee, Crackle
The Pitch: Carl Reiner's classic 1960s sitcom taps a comedy vein that's still familiar today. In it, TV comedy writer Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke) juggles a chaotic work life spent writing jokes for a variety show with a chaotic home life with his gorgeous wife Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) and cute, precocious young son Ritchie (Larry Matthews). It's a type of still-popular sitcom premise — a hybrid family comedy and show biz meta-comedy — that "The Dick Van Dyke Show" pioneered across its five seasons, and that's not the only way it broke ground.
While hyper-traditional in many ways (married Rob and Laura famously slept...
The Series: "The Dick Van Dyke Show"
Where You Can Stream It: Peacock, TubiTV, Freevee, Crackle
The Pitch: Carl Reiner's classic 1960s sitcom taps a comedy vein that's still familiar today. In it, TV comedy writer Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke) juggles a chaotic work life spent writing jokes for a variety show with a chaotic home life with his gorgeous wife Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) and cute, precocious young son Ritchie (Larry Matthews). It's a type of still-popular sitcom premise — a hybrid family comedy and show biz meta-comedy — that "The Dick Van Dyke Show" pioneered across its five seasons, and that's not the only way it broke ground.
While hyper-traditional in many ways (married Rob and Laura famously slept...
- 11/28/2022
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
By now, the question isn’t whether you’ve heard of Don’t Worry Darling, Olivia Wilde’s social-thriller-cum-thirst-valentine — it’s what you’ve heard about it. High-profile hook-ups, the humiliating serving of papers during public appearances, leaked videos, cross-media sniping, several pints’ worth of alleged bad blood, the ghosting of press conferences, etc. Every film production is dysfunctional in its own way. This movie stands head and subzero-temp-cold shoulders above its peers in terms of salacious scuttlebutt, however. Wilde has said she set out to make “The Feminist Mystique on acid.
- 9/5/2022
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
BBC’s Breaking News Twitter account announced Mary Tyler Moore’s death Thursday — four years after it occurred. Moore, an Emmy-winning entertainer, died Jan. 25, 2017.
“US actress Mary Tyler Moore dies aged 80” was the headline on the obituary embedded in the now-deleted tweet. The tweet itself said her death was confirmed by her publicist.
“An earlier tweet about the death of Mary Tyler Moore in 2017 was sent from @BBCBreaking due to a technical error. This has subsequently been removed,” said a follow-up from the BBC World account.
The late actress trended on Twitter as a result of the tweet. Users spent Thursday morning and afternoon reminiscing about “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” suggesting followers listen to its theme song for a pick-me-up, while others posted tributes and memorials.
Born in Brooklyn in 1936, Moore made appearances on series including “The Tab Hunter Show” and “77 Sunset Strip” before landing the role of Laura Petrie,...
“US actress Mary Tyler Moore dies aged 80” was the headline on the obituary embedded in the now-deleted tweet. The tweet itself said her death was confirmed by her publicist.
“An earlier tweet about the death of Mary Tyler Moore in 2017 was sent from @BBCBreaking due to a technical error. This has subsequently been removed,” said a follow-up from the BBC World account.
The late actress trended on Twitter as a result of the tweet. Users spent Thursday morning and afternoon reminiscing about “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” suggesting followers listen to its theme song for a pick-me-up, while others posted tributes and memorials.
Born in Brooklyn in 1936, Moore made appearances on series including “The Tab Hunter Show” and “77 Sunset Strip” before landing the role of Laura Petrie,...
- 3/25/2021
- by Lindsey Ellefson
- The Wrap
In 1969, the movie business was starting to transition from old, proven formulas to more daring and original films that spoke to a younger demographic. Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood sets out capture the spirit of that year and the way the movies and their stars reflected the attitudes of the time.
Here’s a clip from The Jimmy Kimmel show where Quentin talks about the premiere of his new movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, attending a screening with Jimmy, shooting with Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt & Margot Robbie, Inglourious Basterds, naming his own Mad Magazine parody, asking actors to be in his movies, why he is close to ending his filmmaking career. Margot Robbie stops by with an announcement:
There were plenty of great movies made in 1969 celebrating their golden anniversaries this year. Here are 17 of them that the writers here at We Are Movie Geeks...
Here’s a clip from The Jimmy Kimmel show where Quentin talks about the premiere of his new movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, attending a screening with Jimmy, shooting with Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt & Margot Robbie, Inglourious Basterds, naming his own Mad Magazine parody, asking actors to be in his movies, why he is close to ending his filmmaking career. Margot Robbie stops by with an announcement:
There were plenty of great movies made in 1969 celebrating their golden anniversaries this year. Here are 17 of them that the writers here at We Are Movie Geeks...
- 7/25/2019
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
It’s a Christmas tradition for almost every great television series to end the calendar year with a Christmas episode. When done right, this segment can become a classic that brings joy to the holiday season. Whether they are completely original or variations on themes involving Santa Claus, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Ebenezer Scrooge or some other staple, fans of these shows can hold such episodes in their hearts forever. Our photo gallery looks back on the 20 greatest Christmas episodes, ranked best to worst, from such shows as “Happy Days,” “The Brady Bunch,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “Seinfeld,” “Saturday Night Live,” “The Office,” “Late Night with David Letterman” and more.
SEE15 Greatest Christmas Movies of All Time
20. Little House on the Prairie – “Christmas at Plum Creek” (1974)
Christmas is all about secrets. Laura (Melissa Gilbert) wants to buy an expensive present for her mother. Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson) wants...
SEE15 Greatest Christmas Movies of All Time
20. Little House on the Prairie – “Christmas at Plum Creek” (1974)
Christmas is all about secrets. Laura (Melissa Gilbert) wants to buy an expensive present for her mother. Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson) wants...
- 12/21/2018
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
In "Blast From the Past", Brendan Fraser plays a fallout shelter baby who spends the first 35 years of his life ensconced underground with his paranoid father (Christopher Walken) and his long-suffering mother (Sissy Spacek).
Subsiding on a supermarket-sized food supply and old "Honeymooners'" reels, the Webber family has remained blissfully oblivious to a generation of considerable cultural and political change -- not to mention the likes of "Back to the Future", "Late for Dinner", "Encino Man" and other time-warp entries from which the picture has not so cleverly pilfered.
For while the overly extended setup has its amusing moments, when the action finally moves above ground, things go very wrong, very quickly, and "Blast From the Past" goes out in a wobbly whimper rather than a bang.
Although not completely a bomb, the New Line release probably only has one OK weekend before wary audiences "duck and cover."
Succumbing to Cold War hysteria, successful scientist Calvin Webber (Walken), mistakes a plane crash for the Big One and locks himself and his pregnant wife Helen (Spacek) in the mother of all bomb shelters.
Built to resemble a virtual carbon copy of their suburban bungalow -- complete with patio, fully-stocked market and workshop -- the steel-encased bunker is the only home their son Adam Fraser) has ever known. Although he's been schooled in virtually every area by his mom and dad, he's nevertheless completely ill-prepared for the world that awaits him when the shelter's time-released locks open some three decades later.
But as Adam finally sees sky for the first time in his life, the film does a dramatic free fall in the opposite direction. A forced, clunky, romantic pursuit follows, with Alicia Silverstone playing the unwilling, cynical object of Adam's sheltered desire.
We've certainly seen Fraser do the endearing naif shtick before, most notably in "George of the Jungle", "Encino Man" and, most likely, in the upcoming "Dudley Do-Right", only this time the character borders on the gratingly bothersome.
As the streetwise Eve, Silverstone fails to generate the necessary chemistry with Fraser to convince the audience that these two were meant to be together. Dave Foley, meanwhile, manages to add nothing to his tired screen convention of a character -- that of Silverstone's pithy but supportive gay roommate.
Only Walken and, particularly, Spacek manage to make things funny as Fraser's stuck-in-the-'60s parents. Spacek's spiral into a boozy depression is a hoot.
Unfortunately, the moment they're left behind underground, director Hugh Wilson, who shares screenplay credit with newcomer Bill Kelly, appears to be clueless as to where he wants the picture to go next. It in fact goes nowhere, despite incorporating such desperate measures as a trend-grabbing swing dance competition (choreographed by Adam Shankman) and a narrative-salvaging, closing voice-over that comes from out of nowhere.
At least the look was right on the money thanks to Robert Ziembicki's retro production designs (the stone fireplace would have made Rob Petrie envious) and costume designer Mark Bridges' swell way with a cardigan.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
New Line Cinema
A Midnight Sun Pictures production
A Hugh Wilson film
Director: Hugh Wilson
Screenwriters: Bill Kelly and Hugh Wilson
Story: Bill Kelly
Producers: Renny Harlin, Hugh Wilson
Executive producers: Amanda Stern, Sunil Perkash, Claire Rudnick Polstein
Director of photography: Jose Luis Alcaine
Production designer: Robert Ziembicki
Editor: Don Brochu
Costume designer: Mark Bridges
Music supervisor: Steve Tyrell
Music: Steve Dorff
Casting: Denise Chamian
Color/stereo
Cast:
Adam Webber: Brendan Fraser
Eve Rostokov: Alicia Silverstone
Calvin Webber: Christopher Walken
Helen Webber: Sissy Spacek
Troy: Dave Foley
Soda Jerk: Joey Slotnick
Running time -- 106 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Subsiding on a supermarket-sized food supply and old "Honeymooners'" reels, the Webber family has remained blissfully oblivious to a generation of considerable cultural and political change -- not to mention the likes of "Back to the Future", "Late for Dinner", "Encino Man" and other time-warp entries from which the picture has not so cleverly pilfered.
For while the overly extended setup has its amusing moments, when the action finally moves above ground, things go very wrong, very quickly, and "Blast From the Past" goes out in a wobbly whimper rather than a bang.
Although not completely a bomb, the New Line release probably only has one OK weekend before wary audiences "duck and cover."
Succumbing to Cold War hysteria, successful scientist Calvin Webber (Walken), mistakes a plane crash for the Big One and locks himself and his pregnant wife Helen (Spacek) in the mother of all bomb shelters.
Built to resemble a virtual carbon copy of their suburban bungalow -- complete with patio, fully-stocked market and workshop -- the steel-encased bunker is the only home their son Adam Fraser) has ever known. Although he's been schooled in virtually every area by his mom and dad, he's nevertheless completely ill-prepared for the world that awaits him when the shelter's time-released locks open some three decades later.
But as Adam finally sees sky for the first time in his life, the film does a dramatic free fall in the opposite direction. A forced, clunky, romantic pursuit follows, with Alicia Silverstone playing the unwilling, cynical object of Adam's sheltered desire.
We've certainly seen Fraser do the endearing naif shtick before, most notably in "George of the Jungle", "Encino Man" and, most likely, in the upcoming "Dudley Do-Right", only this time the character borders on the gratingly bothersome.
As the streetwise Eve, Silverstone fails to generate the necessary chemistry with Fraser to convince the audience that these two were meant to be together. Dave Foley, meanwhile, manages to add nothing to his tired screen convention of a character -- that of Silverstone's pithy but supportive gay roommate.
Only Walken and, particularly, Spacek manage to make things funny as Fraser's stuck-in-the-'60s parents. Spacek's spiral into a boozy depression is a hoot.
Unfortunately, the moment they're left behind underground, director Hugh Wilson, who shares screenplay credit with newcomer Bill Kelly, appears to be clueless as to where he wants the picture to go next. It in fact goes nowhere, despite incorporating such desperate measures as a trend-grabbing swing dance competition (choreographed by Adam Shankman) and a narrative-salvaging, closing voice-over that comes from out of nowhere.
At least the look was right on the money thanks to Robert Ziembicki's retro production designs (the stone fireplace would have made Rob Petrie envious) and costume designer Mark Bridges' swell way with a cardigan.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
New Line Cinema
A Midnight Sun Pictures production
A Hugh Wilson film
Director: Hugh Wilson
Screenwriters: Bill Kelly and Hugh Wilson
Story: Bill Kelly
Producers: Renny Harlin, Hugh Wilson
Executive producers: Amanda Stern, Sunil Perkash, Claire Rudnick Polstein
Director of photography: Jose Luis Alcaine
Production designer: Robert Ziembicki
Editor: Don Brochu
Costume designer: Mark Bridges
Music supervisor: Steve Tyrell
Music: Steve Dorff
Casting: Denise Chamian
Color/stereo
Cast:
Adam Webber: Brendan Fraser
Eve Rostokov: Alicia Silverstone
Calvin Webber: Christopher Walken
Helen Webber: Sissy Spacek
Troy: Dave Foley
Soda Jerk: Joey Slotnick
Running time -- 106 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 2/12/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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