RIP, Carl Reiner (98) - Created Dick Van Dike Show

[Talent312]

Carl Reiner, the comedian, writer, director and actor whose contributions to the development of television comedy are rivaled by few others, died Monday night of natural causes at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 98.

Reiner was among the pioneering comedic minds — along with Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Woody Allen, Larry Gelbart, among others, who, in the 1950s, co-wrote and appeared on the Sid Caesar programs Caesar’s Hour and Your Show of Shows, setting the template for sketch comedy that endures today in Saturday Night Live and late-night talk show humor.

Reiner created — and produced and wrote — The Dick Van Dyke Show, an unusually smart and sophisticated sitcom that paired Van Dyke, as Rob Petrie, the Reiner stand-in, and a newcomer named Mary Tyler Moore as his wife Laura. Reiner himself played the Caesar-like boss Alan Brady.

-- Sources: Deadline.com & Yahoo Entertainment

 

[geekette]

Yeah, I saw this. One of my long time faves. RIP, Carl, you really helped define comedy and sanity in the USA.

 

[Brett]

98 years old and kept working right up until the end

 

[Talent312]

I think this helps to explain Carl Reiner better...

From Entertainment Tonight:
In a 2016 interview with ET, Reiner expressed how important it was that the Dick Van Dyke Show cast Black people on the sitcom.

"We were always looking to get African Americans into the show because it was such a white neighborhood and I was very aware of those social problems that existed in our country," he said. "Once, we had Godfrey Cambridge, a black man, playing a FBI agent coming into the house, using the house as a set-up point and I remember them calling and saying, 'Are there FBI agents that are Black?' And I said, 'There are now.'"

Reiner also recalled a time when he was questioned about having a minority couple on the show. "They called and said, 'Are you sure about this? Having this black couple come in at the end?' And I said, 'Absolutely.' ...They were questioning it, that I should change it to somebody else. I said, 'I know what's in my heart.' I said, 'What's in my heart is honest.'"
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[Passepartout]

(social commentary) I'm sorry that now, after over 150 years since a war was fought and more than 50 years since the Civil Rights Act that we ae even having this conversation. Shame on US!

Now. I have been a fan of Carl Reiner since the first TV came into our home in about 1954 when I was 6ish. I think every one of us has the dream of living every day doing what we want to do and making each other happy, and in the end, being carried out of our beloved homes feet first without being a burden on our families or society. Carl Reiner lived to age 98 and succeeded in all of these. You Go Carl! May the reunions and the merriment with those who went before be joyous. R.I.P!

Jim

 

[Talent312]

I just want to thank the moderators for ensuring this thread remains on-topic.