A Look Back at 'The New Dick Van Dyke Show' 1971-74

Five years after is Ultra-Classic sitcom signed off, Dick Van Dyke and Carl Reiner teamed up again to try and recreate the magic. It may not have been magic, but they did produce 72 episodes between the fall of 1971 and the spring of 1974.

About the Show:

Van Dyke played Dick Preston, a local television talk show host in Phoenix, Arizona. Like Van Dyke's previous series, this show divided its time between Dick's job in television and his home life with his wife and child. The show also featured Hope Lange as his wife, Jenny; Arizona native Angela Powell as their daughter, Annie; Fannie Flagg as his sister, Mike; David Doyle as his boss, Ted; and Marty Brill and Nancy Dussault as the Prestons' friends, Bernie and Carol Davis. The Prestons also had a son, Lucas, who was away at college and seen occasionally.

The show premiered, on CBS, in the 9:00pm slot of the Saturday Night lineup. The show that followed it that season was THE MARY TYLER MORE SHOW. at 9:30pm.  It ranked 18th for the season and averaged a 22.2 household rating. But, it was the lowest rated series of the 2 hour block of comedies on CBS that night.

In season two, CBS moved it to Sunday Nights, sanwhiched in between THE SANDY DUNCAN SHOW and MANNIX, at 9pm. The series fell out of the top 30 rankings. CBS did want to cancel the show after the second season, but the contract with Dick Van Dyke was for three seasons.

In the third and final season, THE NEW DICK VAN DYKE SHOW had a new time slot (Mondays at 9:30pm) and a new premise. Dick and his family move there after he lands a role in a soap opera called Those Who Care in which he played Dr. Brad Fairmont. New cast members included Dick Van Patten as the show's producer, Barry Gordon as the show's writer, Henry Darrow as the stage manager, Barbara Rush as the show's star, and Richard Dawson and Chita Rivera as the Prestons' neighbors.