MovieChat Forums > The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) Discussion > The one bad episode in the entire series

The one bad episode in the entire series


While I loved the Dick Van Dyke Show, and there was really never a "jump the shark" moment, there was one episode that i thought was really poor...season one's "The Bad Old Days". The story, for those of you who are not familiar with it, deals with Rob and Buddy having a discussion about longing for the good old days, when men were firmly in control, and women knew their place. Rob then has a dream in which he lives in a "Dickens-like" world, where Laura and Richie are totally subservient to him
The episode is completely unfunny, and Buddy acts like a jerk. Dick Van Dyke has even stated this was his least favorite episode. Fortunately,the writers, Norm Liebmann and Ed Haas only wrote one other episode, and the show rebounded in its next oouting, the very funny two-parter with Jerry Van Dyke

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My worst show was "A Show of Hands" with Edward Platt as an unfunny card-playing neighbor. In general, I've always thought that first season was poor--the show really get going in the second season--it even had a new intro--so things got good when Rob started tripping over the ottoman.

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Actually, I think you're confusing two different episodes. The episode with Ed Platt as a poker player was "A Nice, Friendly Game of Cards." "A Show of Hands" was the one in which Rob and Laura accidently dye their hands black. That episode was quite funny

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I think one of the least enjoyable ones was when they inviting all vaudevillians to come on the show together.
In the 60s vaudeville would have been about 40 years back. But seeing it now it just can't possibly be funny to anyone 30 and under.

however I am 60 and watched DVD when I was a teen and loved it then. Some of my favorites were her dying her hair blond (an early one) and Rob getting arrested on his motorcycle and dying their hands black, and so many more.

But my favorites were any time Danny Thomas or Shelden Leonard were on the show.
There was also one about new neighbors, played by Joby Baker one of the actors of the Frankie Avalon and Elvis Presley, era of movies. He was in the Gidget movies. and seeing him now on that DVD show brings back good memories of being a teen then. Also, the one about the flying saucer was priceless.

I agree the show was just so so the first year. they even called her Laurie. From year 3 on tho, the show was hands down the best.

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If you’re referring to “The Return of Edwin Carp” that’s actually one of my favorite episodes – I'm not yet 50, I should say. I suppose I enjoy it partly because so many of those folks were also in radio at one time or other. Geekish as it may sound I enjoyed watching them do those old bits as much as I enjoyed listening to the same stuff on radio.

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One of my least favourite episodes was the most confusing one called "Head of the Family" which was the unaired pilot featuring Carl Reiner as Rob Petrie. It was season 1 episode 8 or something similar, and it caught me so off guard. The acting was so dreadful and there was no chemistry. I'm so glad that they canned that casting and got Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore in together.

Not a fan of all those flashback scenes actually. Definitely not a fan of Rob's western dream.

I thought I'd seen them all, but it sounds like maybe I missed some along the way.




______________________________________
And I stepped on the ping pong ball!

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Yeah, unless you're prepared and understand what it is, "Head Of The Family" is just plain painful to watch. Hell, even if you are prepared and understand what it is already, it's awful!

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I am watching THE RETURN OF EDWIN CARP right now. It is my absolute favorite. Richard Haydn was hysterical. For me, the worst one was the episode about the dance THE TWIZZLE. THAT one was awful.

"A man's kiss is his signature" -- Mae West

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For me, the worst one was the episode about the dance THE TWIZZLE. THAT one was awful.

Indeed! That episode had no excuse for existing -- it was basically a half-hour infomercial. Except that real infomercials have more substance and more sincerity.

I like some episodes better than others, but that one I'd be just as happy never to see again.

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Scott--yes, you're right. " A Show of Hands" was very good--and socially relevant, especially for then. But that Ed Platt one...

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I agree the charles dickens show was pretty bad. one redeeming feature of it, is the scene with laura in her dress scrubbing clothes. her hair is long and she is so very pretty in this scene. finally a scene where she doesn't have the jackie O hair and stiff dress on. but your right the episode was almost unwatchable and very weird

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I think the episode I liked the least was the one when they hire the Mexican maid. I believe there was a follow up where the woman's boyfriend or maybe brother comes to the Petrie's and works for them. I didn't like either episode and always skip them when thay come on.

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I just saw that episode and thought it was quite good! I liked how it ended without drama or comeuppance but with a mere -- okay fine. Sorry about that!

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I dislike the episode "Laura's Little Lie." This is the one where Laura tells Rob she lied about her age on their marriage license, saying she was 19 instead of 17. But this makes no sense for many reasons. Rob and Laura have been married for at least eight years at this point, and she would have had to remember to keep lying about her age on all kinds of documents--medical records, insurance forms, and on and on. The other thing that doesn't make sense is Laura's real age in relation to all her life experiences before she met Rob. We're expected to believe that, by the age of 17, Laura has had multiple boyfriends (as discussed in at least a couple other episodes) and has been dancing with the USO for a while. And why didn't Laura's parents have a problem with her dropping out of high school to join the USO? And weren't they worried that she was too young to get married? Why didn't they ever raise any objections with Rob about it?

I guess Carl Reiner thought it would be hilarious to have Laura and Rob deal with the fact that they aren't legally married and that, technically, Ritchie was born out of wedlock. Amazingly, they drag out this dreck over two episodes, wasting almost the entire first episode on the mystery of what secret Laura is hiding from Rob. Then, in the next episode, they argue and fight on their way to a new marriage ceremony. Then they stumble and stutter with embarrassment as they try to remember not to reveal to the justice of the peace that they're actually getting remarried after having been unlawfully married for years and having a child.

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Thanks! That always bugged me too! I mentioned it on another thread. If Laura was only seventeen when she married Rob then she was too young to have had all those big romances before him. Joe Coogan who became a priest seemed to have been a serious boyfriend. And Laura had a big romance with Jim Darling who later became one of Alan Brady's sponsors.

In the episode when Ritchie's babysitter had a crush on Laura, she tells him about her boyfriends such as the captain of the football team, the track star, the baseball player,etc. All thses romances took place before she left to be in a USO show at the age of sixteen! How did she find the time to learn how to dance? lol

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I saw that episode with Joe Coogan just the other day. In it Laura tells Millie that she doesn't know why she saved all the love letters Joe wrote to her, because she never saved the letters from three other boyfriends (and she names them). So Joe plus three other boys plus Jim Darling plus at least three others mentioned in the other episode equals eight former boyfriends for Laura that we know of--all by the age of 17. (Or maybe 16; we don't know at what age she joined the USO.) And these are just the mentions of boyfriends we can remember right now. Perhaps there are even more, discussed in other episodes.

If Carl Reiner was determined to do these two episodes about Laura and Rob not being legally married, he should have chosen some other plot device as to why their marriage was invalid. The only one I can think of is that the man who performed their ceremony wasn't actually an ordained minister. But because they were married while Rob was still in the service, at Camp Crowder, the wedding would have been performed by a chaplain. And how likely is it that an Army chaplain would be a fake? About as likely as Laura getting married at 17.

It seems like the makers of TV shows back in the '60s didn't care as much about logic and continuity as they do today. If a "Laura's Little Lie" type of episode were shown today as part of a current series, fans would be tearing it apart on the Internet just minutes after its broadcast--and for days afterward!

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I agree that it didn't make sense for Laura to be 17 when they were married, or for her to be able to hide it successfully for so many years. But I'm willing to ignore lapses in logic, just for the sake of that Burt Mustin and Madge Blake scene ("You can say that again, Dodo!")

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My Grandmother was out of High School by her sophomore year, married in what would have been her 16th year and met my Grandfather at a USO in Chicago, Ill. in the same year: 1942. Not all girls gradated from HS, but many worked at local USO's. My grandmother is what she called a "dancer"... she danced with the boys on leaves in turn and was only allowed 3 dances a night with the same soldier...In fact, my Mother at 3 danced on tables at the USO to entertain the troops... they tossed $$$ at her feet (she looked like a blonde Shihrley Temple). Of course, things were a bit different during the Korean War, but this scenerio is at least plausible.

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The DVD Show was set 20 years later, a lot had changed from the World War II years or even the Korean War in the early 50s. Best estimate would have Rob and Laura meeting about 1958 when she was 17. It's believable that she graduated HS and was dancing at the USO Shows at 17. From later episodes we found out that their were other relationships etc. before meeting Rob. She must have been really busy in that 17th year!

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It's believable that she graduated HS and was dancing at the USO Shows at 17. From later episodes we found out that their were other relationships etc. before meeting Rob. She must have been really busy in that 17th year

Not only is it hard to believe Laura had that many serious boyfriends before running off to join the USO. As other have said these weren't the typical one week romances. From the way Laura has talked about her character did anyone really think she'd be the type to run off to join the USO? I wouldn't.

The big mistake was the writers suddenly trying to pass Laura off a 17 yr old child bride. It didn't make sense. Especially after they had done those flashback episodes of Camp Crowder.

Just for the record, I'm not a Dude, I'm a Dudette!

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Still happened on next generation sitcoms. For example, Seinfeld had many inconsistencies as to time frame, siblings, Kramer--does he "only take showers," or does he "prefer baths," and what were the ages of the four main characters? And soap operas, "yikes!" Just my opinion as a "senior citizen..." (Be kind...)


"More cowbell!"...Christopher Walken

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[deleted]

all the love letters Joe wrote to her, because she never saved the letters from three other boyfriends (and she names them). So Joe plus three other boys plus Jim Darling plus at least three others mentioned in the other episode equals eight former boyfriends for Laura that we know of--all by the age of 17. (Or maybe 16; we don't know at what age she joined the USO.) And these are just the mentions of boyfriends we can remember right now. Perhaps there are even more, discussed in other episodes.


Okay okay, I'll say it.

Having that many "boyfriends," (which is just a broad term used to indicate a romantic interest,) by that age is not uncommon. Since I don't know you and you don't know me, I'll use other sitcoms to demonstrate how this is possible: Have you ever seen The Wonder Years? Try to think back at how many love interests Kevin Arnold had before graduating high school. Some of Laura's romances may have lasted for one week and consisted mainly of writing notes and holding hands in the hallway...

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I'm guessing Laura started lying about her age when she was reeeaaallly young. And there's no telling how many 19th birthdays she had!

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I guess Carl Reiner thought it would be hilarious to have Laura and Rob deal with the fact that they aren't legally married and that, technically, Ritchie was born out of wedlock. Amazingly, they drag out this dreck over two episodes, wasting almost the entire first episode on the mystery of what secret Laura is hiding from Rob. Then, in the next episode, they argue and fight on their way to a new marriage ceremony. Then they stumble and stutter with embarrassment as they try to remember not to reveal to the justice of the peace that they're actually getting remarried after having been unlawfully married for years and having a child.

Yeah, a bit of the same thing was done in a 2-part episode of Disney Channel's "Good Luck, Charlie." While the family is on a skiing trip, the husband reveals to his wife that they're "not actually married," because the priest was really a con-artist. Of course, she's not happy about this. Other plots aside, the next episode has the two managing to get re-married, 'for real,' with a real priest this time, by the end.
So, not only does this show basically imply that the parents had sex while they were dating ("We...played checkers! Lots and lots of checkers"), but that they, too, had Teddy, P.J., Gabe, and Charlie out of wedlock.

"In all my years as a barber, that is the weirdest kid I have ever met."
- Doctor Barber

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It was based on MTM's real life, though. She was only 23 when she started on the show, but she told them she was 25 because they thought she was too young to play the part (DVD was 35 at the time).

So if Richie was 6 and MTM was 23, then she would have been 17 when she had him. MTM had her own child at the age of 18. She had been dancing in commercials for several years, but had to give it up when she started showing.

It wasn't that uncommon for girls in entertainment to lie about their ages.

The multiple serious boyfriends are a bit of a problem, but I don't see the lying about her age in order to perform with the USO to be one, really.

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I haven't seen a lot of the show, but a lot of the episodes I have seen are pretty corny. The whole lie/remarriage thing was pretty silly. The one where Rob cheats on his dentist wasn't funny. But so far the stupidest one I've seen, is when Rob & Laura go away for a romantic weekend, and her big toe gets stuck in the bathtub faucet while Rob is locked out of the bathroom at a hotel. I don't know why, but I just hated that whole episode.

It's not one of my favorite shows, but I do like the time capsule that it is, and the time it represents - there's something charming about that in itself.

"Are you going to your grave with unlived lives in your veins?" ~ The Good Girl

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[deleted]

Fascinating take on a show nearly universally deemed a classic.

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That's one of my favorite episodes! I love that episode and think it about almost every time I take a bath. Eh, but we all have our own opinions.

I can't think of any episode I particular like the least but I think season 3 was the lowest point of the show. Season 5 really picked itself back up again (season 4 was okay).

I think what bothers me is the run where they kept bringing in guest stars for The Alan Brady Show and it seems like just an excuse to have someone perform on this show. It also intermingles with the episodes where they host or go to parties just so they can perform on the show. They're great performers, but it just got boring.


I'm watching it on Netflix and I'm seeing how much I haven't seen of season 5. All the reruns I've seen (I'm only 32 so I could have only seen reruns) it always seemed like Ritchie was the same age, but now I'm watching season 5 and I see that he does grow a little (hitting puberty). Anyway, sorry to get off track.

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God I can't believe she had a baby and looked like she did on the DVD show! Has anyone been that attractive ever since? Such a purely radiant smile and attractive personality, plus the body of a professional dancer.

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I think the disconnect here is that in real life, the woman Laura Petrie was based on was actually older than her husband, if we are to believe that Carl Reiner is actually "Rob Petrie," his wife in real life was significantly older than him. So all of her previous boyfriends and career as a dancer/in show business (which was all true of his wife,) made more sense.

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The amustment park for a birthday party for Richie ep was pretty dreadful. It was just on. Ugh.

Give me love , give me love , give me peace on earth.

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I thought it was funny, though, when Rob lectured the out-of-control kids who were destroying his house: "You're all behaving abominably, and I'm ashamed of each and every one of you!" We never see Rob being this strict and angry with kids, and it's kind of amusing.

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I just watched that episode on Hulu and I agree that scene cracked me up. I don't if it was supposed to be serious but I just thought it was funny how Rob is being all serious. And I love how he has the nerve to tell them "I'm ashamed of each and every one of you!"

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The birthday party episode was filmed a few days after the assassination of JFK. It was decided not to have a studio audience present during the filming, as would normally be done. So it has a bit of an odd feel to it. The unpopular episode "Bad Old Days" was also done without an audience.

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I love the show but there were more than a few very bad episodes. There were others but these I feel were really bad.



S1 ep# 20 "A Word a Day"
Richie's expanding vocabulary starts to branch out in unexpected directions.

S1 ep #25 "Where You Been, Fassbinder?"
Romance enters Sally's life in the form of an insurance salesman named Leo Fassbinder.

S2 ep #25 "The Square Triangle"
French singing idol Jacques Savon (Jacques Bergerac), who has played a curious part in both Rob's and Laura's past, suddenly reappears.

S3 ep #7 "Who and Where Was Antonio Stradivarius?"
Amnesiac Rob finds himself at a party in a strange town, swaying to the bossa nova with a breathless young woman who adores him.

S3 ep #8 "Uncle George"
Rob's Uncle George arrives in town and asks his nephew to find him a wife.

S3 ep#14 "The Third One From The Left"
A young chorus girl on "The Alan Brady Show" falls desperately in love with Rob.

S4 ep #4 "The Vigilante Ripped My Sports Coat"
Rob's friendship with Jerry is almost destroyed in a row over a neighbor's crabgrass lawn.


S4 ep #25 "Your Home Sweet Home Is My Home"
Rob recalls the time he and his best friend Jerry tried to buy the same house.

S5 eps #15 & #16 "I Do Not Choose to Run " Part I & "The Making of a Councilman" Part II
Rob can't make up his mind when asked to be a candidate for the New Rochelle city council by local fans of the Alan Brady show.



Just for the record, I'm not a Dude, I'm a Dudette!

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I've never liked "The Sqaure Triangle" it just wasn't that funny, and I find Jacques Bergerac's accent too thick to enjoy it.

I may get a lot of hate for this but another episode I never liked was "It May Look Like a Walnut." It's only funny for about a couple minutes when Danny Thomas appears but I don't care for the rest of the episode.

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[deleted]

C'mon you guys (and gals)! I also think there are many not so great ones, but the worst one of all (even in the casts and crews opinion no less) is "The Twizzle"
THAT one is DUD number ONE!

Next (In my opinion) is when they go to the "Haunted" cabin and Alan wants them to work on a new TV show.

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[deleted]

The Twizzle? I love that episode for so many reasons:

Jerry Lanning sings! Twice!

The teen theme!

Even Mel is having fun!

Rob & Laura dong the Twizzle!

Jack Albertson's in it!

* Trivia-I was surprised to read that this is one of the cast least favorite episodes.


Just for the record, I'm not a Dude, I'm a Dudette!

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I like the "Twizzle" episode for only ONE reason: Mary Tyler Moore dancing! Yummy.

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can t remember the title, it was another of those "let's set Sally up with a fella" episodes, but the end where the potential suitor reveals to Rob and Laura that he's never been good in a relationship because he tends to be abusive and hit women....what kind of comedy is that???

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* Trivia-I was surprised to read that this is one of the cast least favorite episodes.


The only reason the cast didn't like it is because it wasn't centered on any one of them, so who would stand up to defend it? Shows rotate who, of the main cast members besides the star, to focus on each week and that week it was a walk-on-character.

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I remember reading in a book about the cast and crew's view on the Twizzle episode...I think it actually said nobody considered it a favorite, rather than they considered it the worst episode. That's a big difference. Since I always loved that episode, that stays in the back of my mind every time I watch it. Yeah, some parts are goofy (the speech about wanting to sing ballads, for example), but I still find most of the episode enjoyable. Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore and Richard Deacon are clearly having a great time during their dance numbers. Not a lot of depth in this episode, but that doesn't mean it's bad.

But the haunted cabin episode??? (The Ghost of A. Chantz) That is one of the best by a mile, in my opinion. It's hard to imagine a fan of the show not liking it, let alone think of it as one of the worst.

I also disagree about "A Nice Friendly Game of Cards"...I like anything with Ed (Chief) Platt in it.

My least fav by far is "The Return of Edwin Carp" followed by "Racy Tracy Ratigan".

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yes these are my two choices as well.
that parody on the twist is embarrassing
candid camera should have sued on that cabin fiasco
but don't leave out..Edwin carp as another piece of trash

these are rare exceptions. this series is brilliant and still funny after 50 years

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The Twizzle was absolutely embarrassing to say nothing of stealing
outright from the real life dance craze, The Twist.

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Ditto "The British are Coming". Embarrassing. I can't watch it.

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Ditto "The Redcoats are Coming". Embarrassing. I can't watch it.

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The Square Triangle (Season 2, Episode 25)

Rob is scared to learn that French actor/singer Jacques Savon is the guest on the show this week. Laura is later also scared to learn that Jacques is the guest on Alan's show. Rob and Laura met Jacques and his then wife Yvette when they visited Europe years ago at a time when Jacques' career was just about to take off. It is a trip that they never speak of, although neither knows exactly why the other doesn't talk about it. As well, their individual fear of seeing Jacques is because of the same end result but for a slightly different reason. Neither Rob or Laura knows...

Not a laugh in the entire episode!

You have the right to remain silent because whatever you say will probably be stupid anyway!

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The episode where Rob is interviewed by some Tv figure who calls it "X-Raying".

I donlt get why Laura gets so out of whck about what Rob said about her being the subject of Alan Brady sketches sometimes. Her husband works in public media,she should know things like this might happen.

Oh....and who did Dick Van Dyke's make up in the Pilot episode??

He looks a bit effeminate or like a marrionette with red cheeks! The pilot isn't horrible but it's,well,a 1st show and it could have been better.

Laura's speech to Rob in the kitchen is a bit nauseating.





One dream has come true and I'm ready for another.
happipuppi13 *arf,man!*!

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I read somewhere that Dick Van Dyke became sick with nerves on the day of filming the first episode and it was too late to cancel the shoot. He wound up with a huge cold sore on his left upper lip (you can see it although they tried to cover it with make-up). I suppose they were trying to make him look human...and went over board. What bothered me was Laura singing the first lines and continuing to sing into the phone when she picked it up. Her "Hello?" is the worst line she ever delivered in the whole series.

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the worst episode has to be The Twizzle..the twist done in a bowling alley
is just too stupid to be for real. But even this and a few other clunkers can't stop this from being perhaps the best sitcom of them all.

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Happipuppi,
Please name me a pilot where all the elements (script, premise, cast, direction) have already come together.
"May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?"

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I agree with those who say "The Twizzle" is the worst episode. I enjoy "The Square Triangle", especially when Sally almost puts the very special sugar cube in her coffee.

The first episode was kind of odd, but if you take any lasting sitcom and look at its beginnings, you almost invariably see that the show hasn't really become "itself" for a while. I don't think I'd ever seen the first episode till after the series' entire run, and it obviously suffered from "first episode syndrome."

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The Beverly Hillbillies had a good pilot episode. The majority of pilots though are testing the water, and people still let out their rage online if the first episode of a new show isn't perfect.

The one and only episode that came to mind seeing the thread was the one with Richie's birthday party. I like The Bad Old Days, but then, I may have a mercenary streak.

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any episode with jerry van dyke in it made me cringe. he was dumb without being funny.

you can at least excuse Ritchie for being a poor actor, considering he was a kid.

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I don't blame him, it was filmed right after Kennedy was shot and without an audience, so everyone was a little off.

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Agree. Did not like this one at all.

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Dick van Dyke hated The Bad Old Days and the whole cast uniformly hated The Twizzle. I hate Uncle George, Matador, Mexican Maids, Quirky Italian house painters and ANY 'lovable' ethnic and annoying characters. BLECH! The list of shows I love is very long.

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The best shows are the ones involving the main characters...the show often became weak when they had "guest stars" to showcase. Rob, Laura, Buddy, Sally, Jerry, Millie, Mel and Alan. That's the best cast of characters EVER.

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And this worst idea was the first seasons when we only see the back of Carl Reiner's head. Why? Some of the greatest episodes are his.

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Exactly. The army episodes, guest star showcase episodes, new character on the block who never appears again episodes, etc. just aren't nearly as memorable as the ones that just focused on the main characters. The dynamics between Rob and Laura, Buddy and Sally, Mel and Buddy, etc. and with the whole crew together were just phenomenal and couldn't be replicated when guests took up screen time, for the most part.

If I had to pick just one episode that I wouldn't watch again.... it would probably be the one with the male teenage babysitter who had a crush on Laura. It was pretty unmemorable and seemed pointless since the babysitter never appeared again, which went against the show's spirit of continuity.

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I didn't like the episode called the worlds ugliest dog.

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