The Dick Van Dyke Show aired on CBS for five seasons from 1961 to 1966. Although the show wasn’t an immediate hit, it became really successful over the course of its five-season run, as it took home 15 Emmy Awards. It’s been over 50 years since the show went off the air, but it’s still considered one of the greatest series of all time, so here are 10 things you didn’t know about The Dick Van Dyke Show:
10. Head of the Family
The 1960 pilot for a series called Head of the Family was the basis of The Dick Van Dyke Show. It essentially had the same characters, but with a different cast. In Head of the Family, Carl Reiner played Rob Petrie, Barbara Britton played Laura Petrie, and Sylvia Miles played Sally Rogers. CBS decided that the main character on the show was too intellectual, too Jewish and too New York, so Carl Reiner was replaced with Dick Van Dyke.
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