CBS will spend some holiday time with Rob, Laura, Sally, Buddy and Ritchie for a second consecutive year. The network said today that it will air two colorized episodes of classic sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show on December 22.
This year’s special will feature the Season 1 episode “My Blonde-Haired Brunette,” written by series creator and co-star Carl Reiner, and the third-season “October Eve,” written by Bill Persky and Sam Denoff. Both prominently feature Mary Tyler Moore, who died in January.
“I picked two of the funniest episodes we did, and I remember them fondly because they both showcased our wonderful Mary. I treasure her memory,” said Reiner.
“My Blonde-Haired Brunette” sees Laura dying her hair blonde when she fears the romance between Rob and her is fading. In “October Eve,” a painting of Laura returns to haunt her when, despite her having posed fully clothed, the artist (played by Reiner) takes the liberty of “undraping” her.
Winner of 15 Emmys including three consecutive awards for Outstanding Comedy Series, the show starred starred Dick Van Dyke as TV comedy writer Rob Petrie and Moore as his wife Laura. Larry Matthews played their son Ritchie, and Morey Amsterdam and Rose Marie were Buddy Sorrell and Sally Rogers, co-writers on the fictional The Alan Brady Show. Reiner played Alan Brady. Launched in October 1961, The Dick Van Dyke Show became a major hit the following season and went on to finish in the Primetime Top 10 or 15 for the remainder of its five-season, 158-episode run. It regularly makes list of all-time best TV programs and ranked No. 14 on the WGA’s 2013 list of best written shows.
CBS began its trend of colorizing its old sitcoms for holiday airing with I Love Lucy in 2013 then expanded the Lucy strategy for the 2015 May sweep
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