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

posted 12 years ago by Scott351w2001
93 replies | jump to latest

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

[–] GoUSN 10 years ago

10. Any of the musical shows.
9. First season episode where Laura gets jealous of Rob working with the movie star.
8. Any of the dream sequences (in this or any show).
7. Rob suspects his old Army buddy of being a jewel thief.
6. Laura's and Rob's two completely different perspectives of their fight.
5. The Meershatz Pipe
4. First season episode where Laura suspects Richie is sick because he won't eat a cupcake.
3. The square triangle.
2. The Mediterranean personality episodes: maid, bullfighter, house painter.
1. Any of the Stacy Petrie episodes.

[–] mackjay2 10 years ago

The Lady & the Babysitter is definitely one of the worst, almost totally unfunny, silly and corny. Where the babysitter guy has a crush on Laura

[–] GoUSN 10 years ago

Amen on that one. I read in a book about the series that that episode was done as a favor to the parent of the male babysitter character, who was looking for a big break in show biz.

[–] poetcomic1 9 years ago

And I LOVE LUCY had already done it with a young Richard Crenna as the lovesick boy. Its a flat-out steal of something not worth it anyway.

[–] poetcomic1 10 years ago

Embarrassing episode was stolen INTACT from a funnier I LOVE LUCY episode. In that a teenage Richard Crenna was in love with Lucy.

[–] epwise 10 years ago

10. Any of the musical shows.

Mostly agree.

8. Any of the dream sequences (in this or any show).

The one where Rob dreams he's bald is funny. And "It May Look Like a Walnut."
Even Sheldon Leonard who didn't think the script was funny changed his mind after the episode was filmed.

7. Rob suspects his old Army buddy of being a jewel thief.

Oddly enough, the actor who played the buddy that Rob couldn't remember, Allan Melvin, later played the part of a different Army buddy in the Army flashbacks, and a person Rob would certainly remember.

6. Laura's and Rob's two completely different perspectives of their fight.

The episode was OK but that scene with the talking fish (where did the fish tank in the Petrie living room come from?) was unbelievably ridiculous and was often cut from the syndicated broadcasts.

5. The Meershatz Pipe

But listen to Morey Amsterdam accidentally refer to the pipe by its real name Meerschaum.

4. First season episode where Laura suspects Richie is sick because he won't eat a cupcake.

That was the pilot, the episode that Rob calls Laura "Laurie."

2. The Mediterranean personality episodes: maid, bullfighter, house painter.

Agreed.

[–] mackjay2 10 years ago

I just watched another episode that isn't one of the best "Your Home Sweet Home is My Home"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0559873/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

This is the one with house that has a huge rock in the basement. It's just not very funny, and it's pretty static with that long scene with both couples at the end.

And there was "The Redcoats are Coming", a really unfunny and almost embarrassing one. Obviously trying to look hip for the times, with British rock stars who stay with the Petries to avoid their fans. Chad & Jeremy play the rockers, very awkwardly.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0559839/?ref_=tt_ep_pr

[–] Jupiter555555 9 years ago

....did you like any of the episodes??

[–] mackjay2 9 years ago

I pretty much agree that the best eps are the ones focused on the main characters. My personal favorites are mostly the ones set in the Alan Brady Show office, and related to that job. The interaction between Rob, Buddy and Sally was classic stuff.

[–] Jupiter555555 9 years ago

haha okay, it just seems like you disliked an awful lot. Was wondering what is left! 

[–] Doug-Ohh 8 years ago

And there was "The Redcoats are Coming", a really unfunny and almost embarrassing one. Obviously trying to look hip for the times, with British rock stars who stay with the Petries to avoid their fans. Chad & Jeremy play the rockers, very awkwardly.

That was a particularly cringe-worthy episode.

I've seen it & though I was born in 1962, even I (from oldies radio) know Chad & Jeremy weren't "rock stars."

The British duo recorded "soft" or "light rock" songs, like Gerry & The Pacemakers ("Ferry Cross The Mercy," "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying..."

Chad & Jeremy recorded "A Summer Song," their biggest hit & a ballad.
They weren't "rockers" like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Four Seasons, Herman's Hermits, etc.

[–] movieghoul 8 years ago

Yes, we all know C&J were not rockers but that's beside the point for this episode. They had great sense of humor, Beatles style, (J's "A chair" was adlibbed during filming and kept in, and importantly for the episode, there's only 2 of them. THey were also great on Patty Duke and Batman.

If you think Herman's Hermits would have been better, try watching either of their 2 absolutely dreadful 60s films.

[–] Doug-Oh 7 years ago

If you think Herman's Hermits would have been better, try watching either of their 2 absolutely dreadful 60s films.

I didn't say Herman's Hermits would've been better in the DVD ep.
I included them as groups/artists (like The Beach Boys, Beatles, etc.) that recorded real rock & roll hits.
Chad & Jeremy recorded lighter songs, which were good, but in no way rockers.

The post you responded to me was another ID I use to use here (my rockin' ID :) )

[–] jddonigan-668-303295 10 years ago

The walnut one was hysterical. As was A Ghost of A chanz.

[–] jdsuggs 9 years ago

I find something to enjoy in every episode of this great series, despite some of the valid flaws cited here (I actually like the talking goldfish!)...but I think- incredibly- you all missed the one true, unmistakable, obvious clinker: "Who Stole My Watch?"

[–] Jupiter555555 9 years ago

but I think- incredibly- you all missed the one true, unmistakable, obvious clinker: "Who Stole My Watch?"

Really? I don't mind that one.
The only ones I find unwatchable are the walnut, the one where Rob dreams about his head being a salad, the one where Rob is on a plane and he missed his son's play...and the one OP mentioned, "the bad old days."

[–] ghostfan 9 years ago

The ones I usually skip are the ones that center around Sally moaning about not having a perfect fella, and the fifth season two part episode about Rob running for City Council.

How sad, that you were not born in my time, nor I, in yours.

[–] Jupiter555555 9 years ago

and the fifth season two part episode about Rob running for City Council.

Oh I strongly encourage you to give that one a second chance. The debate scene where Rob knows nothing and his opponent is a genius is pretty funny. But there's a lot of scenes that are off-putting in that two-parter so I understand.

[–] movieghoul 9 years ago

The debate scene is funny, but the ending with ROb winning leaves a sour taste.

[–] stargazer1701-1 8 years ago

I agree hands down with Scott, the OP... 'The Bad Old Days' was the worst.

Everything else was great.

Smoke me a kipper. I'll be back for breakfast

[–] Merrida 7 years ago

Well stated. Agreed. I would swear I've seen them all (I've been watching them on Netflix), but I think I must be falling asleep and missing some of the ones we're all talking about.

But I definitely agree with the ones you pointed out. Not my favourite either.

______________________________________
And I stepped on the ping pong ball!

[–] gapeach1004 9 years ago

I just realized what episode I don't like. When Jerry gives Rob a bad review on his TV show in the episode "Punch Thy Neighbor". Jerry is a jerk. He annoys me in other episodes, but this one really bothered me. I seriously want to punch him!

[–] Jupiter555555 9 years ago

season one's "The Bad Old Days".

I agree. Can't stand that episode. Aside from socio-commentary, it's just unfunny, uninteresting and weird.

It seemed to have been written by very old writers who were completely out of touch with how to write for a sitcom in addition to social issues.

DVD seemed to teeter between progressive and traditional values when it came to gender issues. I think it's a fascinating study on the topic. There are a few episodes that are a bit sexist, like the one about Rob not wanting Laura to work, but then they have Sally-- the "first liberated woman on television." Of course, her shtick was her desperate husband hunt...so again, the show went back and forth a lot.

[–] snsurone 8 years ago

The one episode I really hate is "Buddy Sorrell: Man and Boy".
That's the one where Buddy has been having secret meetings with someone and snapped at his co-workers when they questioned him.
It turned out that Buddy was consulting a rabbi about having a Bar Mitzvah ceremony at a synagogue, because he never had one when he was 13.

I'm Jewish myself, and I found the whole episode to be embarrassingly badly written.

[–] dsnyder1 8 years ago

Everyone involved with the show hated that episode.So do I.

[–] steely3000 8 years ago

I hated the Twizzle episode, quite unfunny. For that matter, all the episodes with any of the main characters singing were unfunny.

I especially didn't like the episode where they all go to a lodge for a vacation and then they all end up performing at the lodge. It features a Laurel and Hardy sketch with Van Dyke as a very unfunny Laurel.

The episodes that were about their everyday lives at the office or home, those were the best.

[–] monsieurzy 8 years ago

Any of the shows where they lipsync to some dumb song..the most embarrassing being the living room performance of Rob, Laurie and the new Spanish neighbour doing that stupid Bob Fosse routine (it was supposed to be a Wild West Medicine Show musical)
The Alan Brady Christmas TV Show, where somehow Laura Petrie gets to perform.
Any show were Dick van Dyke mugs a lot (eg the Christmas Show)
The episode where Rob acts like a stupid kid in the police station (he was in the army but gets all "gee whiz" when he sees a gun???)..he did a much better job on the one with Godfrey Cambridge

[–] blanded 7 years ago

There are only six episodes that I didn't care for:

1) Where You Been, Fassbinder? (This was dull and depressing like a melodrama)
2) The Secret Life of Buddy & Sally (Had it's moments but I still below average)
3) The Alan Brady Show Presents (Too musical)
4) Romance, Roses & Rye Bread
5) The Alan Brady Show Goes to Jail
6) The Gunslinger (Was I watching a western or a sitcom?)

[–] cheapfrill 7 years ago

I seem to recall one episode where Rob and Laura try yet again to fix Sally up for a date. They find some perfect guy... who only wants to see anyone just once. Problem is whenever he gets close he tends to "belt" the girl and then he made a fist. I know.. 60's PC vs. current PC... unfair to compare. But a little surprised they don't just drop this one from the schedule.