peterr@utcsrgv.UUCP (Peter Rowley) (06/09/84)
A couple of nights ago, I ran into what appeared to be the last episode of "The (old) Dick Van Dyke Show", entitled "The Last Chapter". It seems the show went out in style... it starts with Rob presenting Laura with a manuscript containing all of his experiences to date. As Laura reads, we see clips from old shows, those clips being flashbacks themselves, to when Rob and Laura married, when Ritchie was born, and so on. Off the book goes to a publisher and we await a verdict. We then see Laura at home, telling Millie something special is going on-- "all the folks from the office are coming... maybe Rob's book is going to be published!". Buddy, Sally, Mel, and Alan (Carl Reiner) all arrive; Laura, with great expectations, asks "Did they like it?" Rob replies "They HATED it" "Why is everyone so happy?" "Because Alan LOVED it, and he's going to make a television series out of it once he's finished his current show; Buddy, Sally, and I are going to write it and Alan's going to play me" So with all these self-references (Carl Reiner created the show), it ends. Appropriate for a comedy show that got a good deal of mileage out of showing the lives of writers of a comedy show. While I'm talking about TDVDS, I think the episodes hold up pretty well, except for the often amazingly old-fashioned treatment of women; things *have* changed in the last generation, a lot (thank goodness). With luck, today's comedies will appear dated in 20 years. p. rowley, U. Toronto