Regarding my recent post here about meeting Dick Van Dyke in an elevator, Curt Alliaume sent me this excerpt from the book Saturday Night Live by Hill and Weingrad. It's about SNL writer Alan Zweibel…
A year after he left Saturday Night, Zweibel ran into Van Dyke in an elevator in Hollywood. He introduced himself, explaining how he'd achieved success on Saturday Night, married a beautiful and vivacious brunet (Robin Blankman, a former production assistant from the show), and was in the process of shopping for a home in the suburbs, quite possibly in New Rochelle. "And I just want to thank you," Zweibel said, "because my dream came true and you embodied it."
Van Dyke smiled and put his arm around Zweibel's shoulder. "That's very sweet of you to say this to me," he said, "but let me warn you, Alan. This is a word of caution. After five years, The Dick Van Dyke Show was canceled, and I became an alcoholic." Zweibel spent the rest of the elevator ride pounding the door and moaning "No! No! No!" while Van Dyke tried to comfort him.
The Van Dyke show wasn't so much cancelled as it was ended by Van Dyke's choice…and from all reports, his alcoholism was bad during the series. But I absolutely believe the core of this story. There can easily be an unseen dark and down side in a success like either series. I sometimes think there should be a little release you should have to sign that says something like, "Yes, I want to be a very rich and famous TV star and I understand the problems that can create in my life and head…"