Had a great evening last evening courtesy of Writers Bloc, the local non-profit literary organization that stages must-attend author events. Last night, it was Carl Reiner interviewing Dick Van Dyke…and how could that not be wonderful? Amusingly, Mr. Reiner decided to skip most talk of Mary Poppins, Bye Bye Birdie and even The Dick Van Dyke Show and instead focus on the less-discussed moment in Mr. Van Dyke's life with special emphasis on his failures. There weren't many (hosting The CBS Morning Show, a couple of movies…) so the topic kept drifting back to successes but certainly not all of them. I'm not quite sure why but there was no mention whatsoever of Diagnosis: Murder, which Dick only did for eight seasons.
What was mentioned incessantly was how much Reiner and Van Dyke love and respect each other. It kept coming up over and over again. Dick also kept insisting that his successes were all mostly a matter of luck…of just being in the right place at the right time. Carl disagreed with the premise and when Dick said, "He [meaning Carl] just plucked me out of obscurity and put me on his show," Carl responded with "No, I found you on the Broadway stage starring in Bye Bye Birdie."
The place was packed, not only with Dick Van Dyke Show fans but also two more cast members — Rose Marie was there as was Larry Mazzeo, who under his stage name of Larry Matthews played Ritchie Rosebud Petrie. I had dinner with Rose a few weeks ago and despite being confined to a wheelchair, she's still Sally Rogers and as sharp as ever.
And the place was also packed with comedy writers and producers and actors. Someone told me Chuck Lorre was even there. Oh — and you know who else was there? Barbara Bain. She was not only in one episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show as an actress but she had another important function. She was such a fine laugher that, Reiner explained, they'd try to get her in the audience and seat her near the microphones that picked up the chortles of those in the bleachers. Those laugh tracks, he said, were later used by the infamous Charlie Douglass, who for a long time was Hollywood's Wizard of Canned Laughter, supplying laugh tracks for other shows. So Ms. Bain's laughter was heard not only on the Van Dyke show but countless others. (I suppose mine could even be in there if they used the audience reactions to the one episode I saw filmed.)
Trying to remember other stuff…it almost didn't matter what they said. It was just so great to see the rapport between the two of them. And afterwards, Dick signed his new book for a very long line of folks who went home very happy.
I've long been an attendee and cheerleader for Writers Bloc events. Last evening, I especially noticed the incredible skill and organizing capabilities of its CEO, Andrea Grossman. I think I know what it takes to put on something like that and it isn't easy to do badly, let alone well. Andrea does it very well indeed, which is why I always have such a good time at these events. Everyone seems to. I already told you about their upcoming, sure-to-sell-out one with Albert Brooks on June 28. I'll keep telling you about what they have coming up but don't trust me. If you dwell close enough to attend these things, check out their website and get on their mailing list.