Wednesday, July 01, 2020

Remembering Comedy Legend Carl Reiner, MeTV and Decades to Air Tributes; HBO Orders Season 11 of Curb

Carl Reiner

Emmy-winning actor, comedian, screenwriter, director and author Carl Reiner, who created The Dick Van Dyke Show and appeared as Alan Brady, has died. He died of natural causes at his Beverly Hills, California, home on June 29. Mr. Reiner was 98.

Reiner's television career began as a regular performer on the 1950-1954 NBC variety series Your Show of Shows. He also contributed ideas to writers such as Mel Brooks and Neil Simon. He received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 1954. The series also starred Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Howard Morris, Bill Hayes, Judy Johnson and James Starbuck.

He worked with Sid Caesar again on the 1954-1957 NBC comedy/variety series Caesar's Hour. He played George Hansen in the series, which had a varied format from a full hour sitcom, to musical revues, to a variety show or a combination of all three. Reiner also wrote three episodes. He won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 1957 and 1958. The cast included Howard Morris, Nanette Fabray, Milt Kamen and Janet Blair.

The Dick Van Dyke Show

Reiner was best known as the creator, producer, writer, and actor on 1961-1966 CBS sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show. He appeared as Alan Brady. He was the egocentric, demanding, high maintenance, toupee-wearing star of The Alan Brady Show. The character was originally an unseen character with his back to the camera or only in voice, but he began to make full-face appearances in season four. The Alan Brady character was voiced or seen in 32 episodes. Reiner wrote and worked as a story consultant for many episodes. The series was preceded by the 1960 pilot Head of the Family with a different cast. He wrote the pilot and starred as Robbie Petrie. It was based on his own experiences as a TV writer.

The Dick Van Dyke Show won 15 Emmy Awards. The cast included Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Larry Matthews, Richard Deacon, Jerry Paris and Ann Morgan Guilbert. Reiner reprised the role of Alan Brady on the February 16, 1995, episode of Mad About You. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for the role. He reunited with the surviving cast members for the 2004 special The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited.

Reiner created the 1971-1974 CBS sitcom The New Dick Van Dyke Show. He also wrote 13 episodes and directed 10 episodes of the series. He created the short-lived 1973-1974 NBC sitcom Lotsa Luck with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff. Reiner worked as an executive producer and directed four episodes of the 1967-1968 sitcom Good Morning, World.

Good Heavens

He starred as Mr. Angel, an emissary of heaven who came down to Earth to grant wishes to those who had performed a good deed, in the short-lived 1976 ABC sitcom Good Heavens. He also worked as an executive producer and directed seven episodes of the series.

Hot in Cleveland - Carl Reiner and Betty White

Reiner had a recurring role as Max Miller, Elka's (Betty White) on-again/off-again (mostly off) boyfriend, in eight episodes of the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland from 2010 to 2014. Some of his other sitcom guest appearances included Frasier (voice), The Larry Sanders Show, The Bernie Mac Show (3 episodes), Life with Bonnie (3 episodes as station owner Mr. Portinbody), Two and a Half Men (4 episodes as Marty Pepper), Parks and Recreation, Young & Hungry and Angie Tribeca.

He provided the voice of Sarmoti in the 2004-2005 NBC animated sitcom Father of the Pride. Some of his other television voice credits included King of the Hill, Disney's Hercules: The Animated Series, The Penguins of Madagascar, The Cleveland Show (he also wrote an episode), American Dad!, Bob's Burgers, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, WordGirl, Shimmer and Shine, Family Guy and Justice League: Action. He provided the voice of Carl Reineroceros for the 2019 film Toy Story 4 and one episode of the Disney+ series Forky Asks a Question.

Reiner teamed with Mel Brooks as a comedy duo on The Steve Allen Show starting in 1960. He played the straight man in 2000 Year Old Man. They released a series of 5 comedy albums and a 1975 animated television special, with the last album in the series winning a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Comedy Album in 1998. They were featured in the 2017 documentary If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast.

He directed the Steve Martin films The Jerk (1979), Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982), The Man with Two Brains (1983) and All of Me (1984). His other directing credits included Enter Laughing (1967), The Comic (1969), Where's Poppa? (1970), Oh, God! (1977), The One and Only (1978), Summer Rental (1985), Summer School (1987), Bert Rigby, You're a Fool (1989), Sibling Rivalry (1990), Fatal Instinct (1993) and That Old Feeling (1997). He also appeared in many of his films.

Reiner starred as Saul Bloom in Ocean's Eleven (2001), Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007). Some of his other film acting credits included Happy Anniversary (1958), The Gazebo (1959), It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) and The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966).

He was interviewed for The Interviews: An Oral History of Television on March 23, 1998.

Survivors include his son Rob, an actor and director; son Lucas, an artist; daughter Annie, an author; and five grandchildren. He was married to Estelle Lebost for 64 years until her death in 2008.

Mr. Reiner was a true comedic legend and one of the greats from the Golden Age of TV. He was a man of many talents as an actor, comedian, screenwriter, director and author. He always told some great stories on the late night talk shows. We thank him for the many laughs and entertainment he brought us during his long career, which spanned seven decades. He will be greatly missed.

Share your memories on our The Dick Van Dyke Show message board. View photos in our galleries.

MeTV Celebrates Carl Reiner

The MeTV Network will celebrate legendary writer, director and actor Carl Reiner with a special, month-long presentation of his favorite episodes of 15-time Emmy award-winning sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show. The tribute begins this Sunday, July 5 at 10p & 10:30p ET/PT and will air every Sunday night through July 26 on MeTV.

Week 1 (Sunday, 7/5/20)

10:00pm ET/PT- "Coast to Coast Big Mouth"
Laura accidentally reveals that Alan Brady is bald on live TV!

10:30pm ET/PT- "That's My Boy??"
Rob and Laura think they brought the wrong baby home from the hospital.

Week 2 (Sunday, 7/12/20)

10:00pm ET/PT- "It May Look Like a Walnut"
Rob falls asleep with a sci-fi movie on and gets visited by an alien from another planet.

10:30pm ET/PT- "The Curious Thing About Women"
Laura is shocked when Rob uses their breakfast banter as basis for an "Alan Brady" sketch.

Week 3 (Sunday, 7/19/20)

10:00pm ET/PT- "Never Bathe on a Saturday"
Laura gets stuck in the bathtub.

10:30pm ET/PT- "Where Did I Come From?"
Richie's simple question unfolds the hilarious tale of the day he was born.

Week 4 (Sunday, 7/26/20)

10:00pm ET/PT- "October Eve"
Laura's past comes back to haunt her in form of a naked painting.

10:30pm ET/PT- "All About Eavesdropping"
Richie's toy intercom leads to trouble when Rob and Laura turn into eavesdroppers.

Decades Remembers Carl Reiner

The DECADES Network will celebrate legendary writer, director and actor Carl Reiner with a special weekend binge of 15-time Emmy award winning sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show. The tribute begins Friday, July 10 at 9p ET with an episode of The Dick Cavett Show featuring Carl Reiner. Following at 9:30p ET, DECADES will present Head of the Family, the rarely-seen pilot that preceded The Dick Van Dyke Show. At 10p & 10:30p ET, The Dick Van Dyke Show will air in its regular time period featuring two of Reiner's iconic appearances in the series, "Coast to Coast Big Mouth" and "A Day in the Life of Alan Brady."

Then, viewers can relive and celebrate classic episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show all weekend long during the DECADES Weekend Binge, starting Saturday, July 11 at 12p ET and airing through Monday, July 13 at 7a ET. (Complete schedule is outlined below).

Friday, July 10th

9pm ET – The Dick Cavett Show feat. Carl Reiner
9:30pm ET – "Head of the Family" Pilot Episode
10pm ET – The Dick Van Dyke Show "Coast to Coast Big Mouth"
Laura accidentally reveals that Alan Brady is bald on live TV!
10:30pm ET – The Dick Van Dyke Show "A Day in the Life of Alan Brady"
A film crew takes over the Petrie house for an Alan Brady documentary that aims to show the megalomaniac's "human" side.

Saturday, July 11th and Sunday, July 12th

12pm ET – The DECADES Weekend Binge: The Dick Van Dyke Show

The Dick Van Dyke Show - Now in Loving Color!

CBS will honor the memory of legendary actor, producer, director, writer, comedian and Emmy Award winner Carl Reiner with THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW – NOW IN LIVING COLOR! A SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO CARL REINER, featuring two colorized back-to-back classic episodes of the beloved 1960s series, Friday, July 3 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. As series creator and co-star, Carl Reiner personally supervised the original colorization of the episodes.

The special features “Coast to Coast Big Mouth,” which ranked #8 on TV Guide’s list of the “100 Greatest TV Episodes of All-Time,” and “October Eve,” which Mr. Reiner considered to be one of the series’ funniest episodes. Both were written by Bill Persky and Sam Denoff.

In “Coast to Coast Big Mouth,” Laura Petrie blurts out a top secret on a national television quiz show, revealing that comedian Alan Brady wears a toupee. The episode, which was the show’s fifth and final season premiere, was originally broadcast on Sept. 15, 1965. “Coast to Coast Big Mouth” won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 1966.

In “October Eve,” a painting of Laura returns to haunt her when, despite her having posed fully clothed, the artist (played by Carl Reiner) takes the liberty of “undraping” her. The episode was first presented on April 8, 1964, during season three.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

HBO has renewed the Emmy® and Golden Globe-winning comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm, starring Larry David, for an eleventh season. Originally debuting on HBO in 2001 and presenting 100 episodes to date, Curb Your Enthusiasm stars Seinfeld co-creator David as an over-the-top version of himself in an unsparing but tongue-in-cheek depiction of his fictionalized life. The series' ten-episode tenth season debuted January 19, 2020 and brought back series veterans including Susie Essman (Broad City), Jeff Garlin (The Goldbergs), Emmy® nominee Cheryl Hines (Suburgatory), Richard Lewis (Anything But Love), J.B. Smoove (The Millers) and Emmy® winner Ted Danson (Cheers, The Good Place). The comedy series continues to prove how seemingly trivial details of one's day-to-day life – a cold cup of coffee, a stained shirt, a missing toothbrush – can precipitate a chain of misfortune to hilarious effect. To keep the narrative spontaneous, the series is shot without a script and cast members are given scene outlines and improvise lines as they go.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, March 12

Shifting Gears - "Gummies" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Riley is horrified when she finds weed gummies in Carter’s pocket, prompting surprising advice from Matt. Meanwhile, Eve inadvertently lands Gabriel and Stitch in hot water after asking them to donate to a charity auction.

Abbott Elementary - "Karaoke" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
The teachers hit a karaoke bar for a night of fun. During the evening, Jacob bumps into an old friend.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 10)

Wednesday, March 12

  • Denis Leary (Going Dutch/No Good Deed/Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll/The Job) - Watch Denis on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Bernadette Peters (High Desert/Mozart in the Jungle/All's Fair) - Bernadette appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Chet Hanks (Running Point) - Chet is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Parker Posey (Search Party/The Return of Jezebel James) - Parker appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Tan France (Deli Boys) - Tan is a guest on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Liza Treyger (Survival of the Thickest) - Liza drops by Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 3:30am on Bravo.
  • Natasha Rothwell (How to Die Alone) - Natasha talks about The White Lotus on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am. She chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Rebecca Wisocky (Ghosts) - Rebecca talks about Ghosts on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am and on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
  • Stanley Tucci (Central Park) - Stanley talks about The Electric Slate on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
  • John Leguizamo (The Brothers Garcia) - John gives the scoop on his film Bob Trevino Likes It on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/CafĂ© Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie will be on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Carol Leifer (Alright Already) - Carol talks about her book How to Write a Funny Book on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Alexander Hodge (Insecure) - Alexander is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two

11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season

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