''The Van Dyke Show'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

starring Dick Van Dyke and his son

Barry Van Dyke Barry Van Dyke (born July 31, 1951) is an American actor and the second son of actor and entertainer Dick Van Dyke and Margie Willett, and nephew of Jerry Van Dyke. He has often worked with his father. He is best known to audiences as Lieutena ...

which aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

from October 26 to December 7, 1988. The series marked the second time the real-life father-son actors worked together, after Dick guest-starred in a 4th season episode of ''

Airwolf ''Airwolf'' is an American action military drama television series that centers on a high-technology military helicopter, code-named ''Airwolf'', and its crew. The show follows them as they undertake various exotic missions, many involving e ...

'' with Barry as the leading man.

Synopsis

The series centers on Matt Burgess (Barry Van Dyke), who runs a small regional theater in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and his father Dick Burgess (Dick Van Dyke), a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical star. Dick decided to give up Broadway to live and work with his son at the theater. The theater's staff included Doc, the stage manager, Jillian, Matt's secretary, and Eric, Matt's helper.

Cast

* Dick Van Dyke as Dick Burgess *

as Matt Burgess * Kari Lizer as Chris Burgess * Billy O'Sullivan as Noah Burgess *

Whitman Mayo Whitman Blount Mayo Jr. (November 15, 1930 – May 22, 2001) was an American actor, best known for his role as Grady Wilson on the 1970s television sitcom ''Sanford and Son''. Biography Early years Whitman Blount Mayo, Jr. was born in New Yor ...

as Doc Sterling *

Maura Tierney Maura Therese Tierney (born February 3, 1965) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Lisa Miller on the sitcom '' NewsRadio'' (1995–1999), Abby Lockhart on the medical drama '' ER'' (1999–2009 ...

as Jillian Ryan *

Paul Scherrer Paul Hermann Scherrer (3 February 1890 – 25 September 1969) was a Swiss physicist. Born in St. Gallen, Switzerland, he studied at Göttingen, Germany, before becoming a lecturer there. Later, Scherrer became head of the Department of Physics ...

as Eric Olander

Guest stars

Lainie Kazan Lainie Kazan (born Lainie Levine; May 15, 1940) is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for ''St. Elsewhere'' and the 1993 Tony Award for Best Featured Actr ...

Lee Paul Paul Lee Kroll, also known as Lee Paul, (June 16, 1939 – September 22, 2019) was an American film and television actor. He was perhaps best known for playing as the bodyguard of "Doyle Lonnegan" ( Robert Shaw) in the 1973 film ''The Sting'', ...

Reception and cancellation

The series was generally panned by critics and failed to generate sufficient ratings. CBS announced the series' cancellation on December 14, 1988, one week after the sixth episode aired. The remaining four episodes of the ten produced were never aired.

Episodes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Dyke Show, The 1988 American television series debuts 1988 American television series endings 1980s American sitcoms CBS original programming English-language television shows Television shows set in Pennsylvania Van Dyke family Dick Van Dyke