The Dick Van Dyke Show Forums

Five seasons of TDVD Show...could it have ran longer...they did wrap it up nicely in the end...but was there anymore to tell, in your opinion??

I wish it could have, but I really think they were running out of gas. You could see it in the last few episodes. They were grasping at ideas, and starting to use cheap tricks for laughs, like sped up film, camera tricks and silly situations.

Don't forget, back then they had to come up with 33 episodes a year. Now it's like 20 to 24 per year! If you were to count the episodes by today's numbers, DVD would have lasted another 2 or 3 years!

I believe the cast even wanted to end the show. They all wanted to go out on a high. I seem to remember them saying so on the Revisit show in 2004.
Like the true "old school" professionals, they held to the rule "leave 'em wanting more."

I remember hearing that Carl Reiner only wanted to do five seasons. I think the rest of the cast would've ben willing to do more though. Rose Marie said that they could've gone on for two more years with the show in color. That's possible. But they DID go out on a high note. I recall Carol Burnett's last episode. The show wasn't cancelled but she felt that was enough. She said something to the audience like 'I think it's classier to decide to leave instead of waiting to be asked to leave."

I think they quit at the right time. You could tell by the last season that they were running out of ideas. Most of the series weakest episodes came from the last season. But I did like how they showcased each character near the end.