Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic

[LKing]

It was fun to watch and his reactions were priceless.

CBS has the full show on their website.

Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic

 

[focusondisney]

We watched last night. I thought it was a very nice tribute. I’m so glad to see people get recognized while they’re alive to enjoy it.

 

[lynxstch]

I caught it too and enjoyed it. I too am glad that he was alive to experience it

 

[bobbiwoz]

I’m watching it on demand now. Thank you so much for this thread!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

The special was great. Seeing the old bit with him and Carol Burnett was really entertaining.

 

[LKing]

The special was great. Seeing the old bit with him and Carol Burnett was really entertaining.

And I'm glad they included Julie Andrews.

 

[tvguy]

It was a great idea, but I think it could have been executed better.
Of course, when you are 98 many of your contemporaries are gone. But the selection of who was on the show, and how they were included seemed odd to me. I have no idea who a lot of the performers were, and more importantly, how they are linked to Dick Van Dyke. I suspect many had no connection. I get Rob Reiner, but Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Wierd Al and Tony Danza, why were they there? And Jason Alexander singing just seemed wrong.
If there was any way to have had Julie Andrews or Carol Burnett there in person, it would have been nice. Where were his children? It was a little heavy on Mary Poppins, and a little light on his other movies, and to be honest, on the Dick Van Dyke Show.
But in the end, Dick Van Dyke clearly enjoyed it, so it was worth it.

 

[wabbott]

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is one of my favorites with Dick Van Dyke. Music written by the Sherman Brothers, even though it wasn't a Disney movie.

 

[brockash]

It was fun to watch and his reactions were priceless.

CBS has the full show on their website.

Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic

Yes and he looks sooo good and seems so with it. It was great to see him looking so great and all of his reactions.

 

[LKing]

It was a great idea, but I think it could have been executed better.
Of course, when you are 98 many of your contemporaries are gone. But the selection of who was on the show, and how they were included seemed odd to me. I have no idea who a lot of the performers were, and more importantly, how they are linked to Dick Van Dyke. I suspect many had no connection. I get Rob Reiner, but Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Wierd Al and Tony Danza, why were they there? And Jason Alexander singing just seemed wrong.
If there was any way to have had Julie Andrews or Carol Burnett there in person, it would have been nice. Where were his children? It was a little heavy on Mary Poppins, and a little light on his other movies, and to be honest, on the Dick Van Dyke Show.
But in the end, Dick Van Dyke clearly enjoyed it, so it was worth it.

I think they referenced that his wife was involved in planning it. He was singing along with several of the songs. Maybe they were some of his favorites.

 

[tvguy]

I think they referenced that his wife was involved in planning it. He was singing along with several of the songs. Maybe they were some of his favorites.

His wife was listed in the credits as one of about 6 Executive Producers. Yes, he was actively enjoying the show, and he said several times he did not expect the performances, he just expected to be interviewed about his career. The songs and dances were good, I just had never heard of many of those performing them, and wondered if they had any link to Dick Van Dyke. And the fact his kids weren't a part, as a couple of them acted with their dad on his shows, seemed very odd.

 

[focusondisney]

I didn’t find it odd his kids weren’t part or acknowledged. It wasn’t a family event, it was a professional tribute event. His “kids” are in their 60s & 70s. The son who acted with him isn’t well known, the others seem to prefer to be out of the limelight. Some of the participants are friends; some have acted in stage versions of the musicals; some acknowledged him as an inspiration. I’ve seen many tributes to different actors over the years, families are almost never part of the performance. They’re sitting, enjoying the show & tributes to their parent.

 

[tvguy]

I didn’t find it odd his kids weren’t part or acknowledged. It wasn’t a family event, it was a professional tribute event. His “kids” are in their 60s & 70s. The son who acted with him isn’t well known, the others seem to prefer to be out of the limelight. Some of the participants are friends; some have acted in stage versions of the musicals; some acknowledged him as an inspiration. I’ve seen many tributes to different actors over the years, families are almost never part of the performance. They’re sitting, enjoying the show & tributes to their parent.

Well, looking at his kids IMDB credits, they seem to be pretty active actors in their own right besides working with their dad so would have been very much a part of a professional tribute. All four appears with some regularity on Diagnosis Murder. And as was mentioned in the Special, while many think of him from the original Dick Van Dyke Show, Mary Poppins, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Diagnosis Murder was the most successful project of his career.

 

[LKing]

I didn’t find it odd his kids weren’t part or acknowledged. It wasn’t a family event, it was a professional tribute event.

Who sat with him on the sofa? Were they his grandkids or great grandkids? I assumed the parents (his children/grandchildren) were in the seats behind him.

 

[focusondisney]

Who sat with him on the sofa? Were they his grandkids or great grandkids? I assumed the parents (his children/grandchildren) were in the seats behind him.

From what I’ve read, his kids are grandparents themselves, so I think those were his greatgrands. And I agree, his kids & grandkids were there, just not participating in the show. But sitting & enjoying the tributes. As most other actor’s families do during the same type of events.

 

[tvguy]

Who sat with him on the sofa? Were they his grandkids or great grandkids? I assumed the parents (his children/grandchildren) were in the seats behind him.

Like I said earlier, the show didn't seem to explain who a lot of people were and if there was a special reason they were there.

 

[BorderTenny]

And Jason Alexander singing just seemed wrong.

Most people don't know that he actually got his start on Broadway in the 80's. In fact, his Broadway debut was in a lesser-known quick-to-close Sondheim show that just got revived with a certain former boy wizard as one of the stars.

 

[loves to dive]

It was a great idea, but I think it could have been executed better.
Of course, when you are 98 many of your contemporaries are gone. But the selection of who was on the show, and how they were included seemed odd to me. I have no idea who a lot of the performers were, and more importantly, how they are linked to Dick Van Dyke. I suspect many had no connection. I get Rob Reiner, but Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Wierd Al and Tony Danza, why were they there? And Jason Alexander singing just seemed wrong.
If there was any way to have had Julie Andrews or Carol Burnett there in person, it would have been nice. Where were his children? It was a little heavy on Mary Poppins, and a little light on his other movies, and to be honest, on the Dick Van Dyke Show.
But in the end, Dick Van Dyke clearly enjoyed it, so it was worth it.

I agree that some of the choices seemed odd but others did have a connection. Ted Danson did a show with him years ago and I think Mary Steenburgen said she was a guest star on one of them (she and Ted are married as well). Evidently from what Tony Danza said, they are personal friends. Jason Alexander does/did a lot of Broadway so that made sense. Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett are not spring chickens themselves and might not have been able to travel. It was a tribute show so I'm guessing they got who they could and then just thought it would be nice to have some of the other folks at least show/say how they enjoyed him. His family were there, just not on camera a lot. I enjoyed it and loved seeing him sing along to a lot of the songs and he even got a remark or two in on the dancing bits.

 

[tvguy]

I agree that some of the choices seemed odd but others did have a connection. Ted Danson did a show with him years ago and I think Mary Steenburgen said she was a guest star on one of them (she and Ted are married as well). Evidently from what Tony Danza said, they are personal friends. Jason Alexander does/did a lot of Broadway so that made sense. Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett are not spring chickens themselves and might not have been able to travel. It was a tribute show so I'm guessing they got who they could and then just thought it would be nice to have some of the other folks at least show/say how they enjoyed him. His family were there, just not on camera a lot. I enjoyed it and loved seeing him sing along to a lot of the songs and he even got a remark or two in on the dancing bits.

Since it appears to have been a heavily scripted show*, the writers should have written some sort of transition to explain things. They did it well with Rob Reiner for the few people who may not have known who his dad was.
And there were a lot of performers that I not only had never heard of, but had no idea why they were there. Something like "your next door neighbor is hear to sing....." But I wrote for a living, so it was a glaring omission from my life experience.

*I saw heavily scripted because Ted Danson even referenced when he went "back to the teleprompter".

 

[LKing]

They did it well with Rob Reiner for the few people who may not have known who his dad was.

I had to do a double take when Rob Reiner first walked out. He's lost a lot of weight.

In many tribute shows, the people performing don't have any relation to the guest of honor. In the case of Cedric the Performer, Tichina Arnold and Beth Behrs, it could have been that CBS was trying to promote The Neighborhood. I'm not sure what the relationship is with JoJo Siwa, but she was one of the few performers that sat next to them on the sofa. When Rita Ora was introduced, DVD repeated her name. I'm not sure if that was because he is familiar with her or not.

Who else did you not know?