Recap and React: The Dick Van Dyke Show, Season 3, Episodes 27 – 32

Season 3, Episode 27: “The Return of Edwin Carp”
Directed by Howard Morris
Written by Carl Reiner
Originally aired April 1, 1964
Recap: Rob gets the idea to call up all of the classic radio acts and get them on The Alan Brady Show for a reunion show. A few quickly agree, and the show is on. But when Edwin Carp shows up, he can’t perform his fish imitations without elderberry wine, which is the only thing that will soothe his stage fright… and he’s sworn off alcohol.
Reaction: Fun to see Arlene Harris and Bert Gordon guest starring as themselves! Edwin Carp is a fictional radio star, but Arlene and Bert were very real (and very popular). They’re both great in this episode. The show is really stolen by Richard Haydn, reprising his old character of Edwin Carp. I know Haydn best from his voice role in 1951’s Alice in Wonderland (He was the caterpillar!). He’s so great here! Very uptight and high-strung. He portrays his character’s stage fright perfectly.
Favorite moment(s): Sally and Buddy’s phone call with Bert the Mad Russian + “I will never again become a slave of the grape!”

Season 3, Episode 28: “October Eve”
Directed by Jerry Paris
Written by Bill Persky and Sam Denoff
Originally aired April 8, 1964
Recap: Years ago, Laura had a painting of herself commissioned as a gift for Rob. She was fully clothed when she sat for the artist, Serge Carpetna, but he took a bit of artistic license with the portrait and painted her nude! Naturally, she decided not to take the painting home. But now the artist has “made it” in New York, and the painting is on display.
Reaction: Carl Reiner guest stars as Serge, putting on an Italian accent, referring to himself as a genius and telling Laura that she’s acting “like a peasant” when she says she wants him to destroy the painting. Fun to see him interacting with Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore, since he was usually behind-the-scenes. The second half of the episode, with Rob finding out about the painting and going to the gallery, is much funnier than the first half. In the end, a decent episode.
Favorite moment(s): “For fifty lousy bucks, I made you immortal!” + Rob trying to keep Mel from seeing the painting

Season 3, Episode 29: “Dear Mrs. Petrie, Your Husband’s in Jail”
Directed by Jerry Paris
Written by Jerry Belson and Garry Marshall
Originally aired April 15, 1964
Recap: Rob lands himself in jail after spending a night out with an old Army buddy. When Laura comes back from aunt Martha’s to get him out of jail, he recounts the story of how he got arrested.
Reaction: We all know by now how much I love flashback episodes, and this is a good one. Rob goes crazy without Laura and Ritchie around to occupy his time! He gets so bored that he gets himself into trouble, arrested for gambling and for pointing a canon at an officer! His weekend without Laura is quite tame until his old Army pal gets involved, but the whole episode is a fun watch, for “tame” to Rob means restless boredom (which Dick Van Dyke plays very well).
Favorite moment(s): Rob frantically calling everyone he knows to try to convince someone to hang out with him

Season 3, Episode 30: “My Neighbor’s Husband’s Other Life”
Directed by Jerry Paris
Written by Carl Reiner, Bill Persky and Sam Denoff
Originally aired April 22, 1964
Recap: When Rob and Laura see Jerry out for dinner with a beautiful woman who isn’t Millie, they immediately assume that he’s having an affair and aren’t quite sure how to handle the situation.
Reaction: This episode is pretty great. Rob and Laura stick their noses into Jerry & Millie’s business, sleuthing a bit to try to figure out what Jerry’s up to. Rob is less convinced than Laura of Jerry’s guilt, but they’re both conflicted in terms of what to do with the “information” they think they have. The dilemma gets even more complicated when Rob finds out that Sally and Buddy already knew about Jerry, after Sally had seen him out with a redhead. Of course, there’s a logical explanation for it all, but the journey to get to that resolution has a few great laughs.
Favorite moment(s): Rob looking in Laura’s compact mirror to spy on Jerry, and getting caught by the waiter

Season 3, Episode 31: “I’d Rather Be Bald Than Have No Head at All”
Directed by Jerry Paris
Written by Bill Persky and Sam Denoff
Originally aired April 29, 1964
Recap: Rob begins to believe that he’s going bald and has dreams about this fear.
Reaction: According to the Nick at Nite Classic TV Companion, this episode was inspired by Dick Van Dyke’s own worries about his hairline receding. Carl Reiner, who had little hair, pitched the idea after hearing of Van Dyke’s worries. This is one of the few extra-wacky dream sequence episodes in the series. (Remember the one with the walnuts?) And of course, the dream sequence is the best scene of the episode, and makes it a favorite of mine from the tail-end of the third season. The scene with the “diagram of a growing hair” is great too.
Favorite moment(s): Laura asking Rob why he always picks early morning as the time to “get cute,” after he wakes her up while freaking out about his hair + “Now you’ll have to sleep with your head in the refrigerator!”

Season 3, Episode 32: “Teacher’s Petrie”
Directed by Jerry Paris
Written by Jerry Belson and Garry Marshall
Originally aired May 13, 1964
Recap: Laura decides to take a creative writing class with Millie. She was supposed to sign herself and Rob up for a Spanish class, but enrollment was full. Her teacher tells her that she has a lot of potential as a writer, and naturally, this makes Rob jealous. He makes the mistake of telling Laura that he thinks her status as the wife of a writer got her noticed rather than her writing talents.
Reaction: Oh, Rob! So rude and unsupportive of Laura in this episode, which means it’s my least favorite type of episode. My favorite scene is the final one between Laura and her teacher where he *spoiler alert* declares his love for her! It’s a very zany and high-energy scene, and it only gets funnier when Rob shows up to confront the teacher.
Favorite moment(s): “There’s something wrong with the beginning… it leads to the rest of it.” -Sally on Laura’s essay

That completes our journey through season 3 of The Dick Van Dyke Show! Stay tuned for Recap & React posts for season 4, coming soon to TMP.