The Dick Van Dyke Show (1962)

Given that today it is still considered one of the best situation comedies in television history, it's hard to believe that The Dick Van Dyke Show was virtually canceled after its first season due to dismal ratings, finishing 80th and nearly dead last at season's end. As author Vince Waldron notes in The Official Dick Van Dyke Show Book, producer Sheldon Leonard, who had already found success in the sit-com format with The Danny Thomas Show and The Andy Griffith Show, believed that the program's initial CBS time slot on Tuesday evening at 8:00 Eastern worked against it, as this was a time favored for family-friendly fare, whereas The Dick Van Dyke Show was aimed at a more adult audience. So with Leonard's maneuvering, the network moved the show, beginning on January 3, 1962, to the more adult-friendly spot on Wednesday at 9:30 Eastern, but to Leonard's dismay the change did not improve the show's viewership. The situation was probably not helped by some of the episodes themselves, which included the least favorite in the series for both producer Carl Reiner and titular star Dick Van Dyke. Reiner comments in Waldron's book that he did not care for "The Curious Thing About Women" (January 10, 1962) in which Laura cannot resist the temptation of opening Rob's mail or his packages, one of the few episodes Reiner did not write himself, because Laura's insatiable snoopiness was at odds with his own personal experience with his wife Estelle. He felt that the episode made Laura's character look uncharacteristically silly for the sake of a cheap laugh. Reiner was equally dissatisfied with "The Twizzle" (February 28, 1962), an episode he wrote at someone's suggestion as a favor to 50s pop singer Roberta Sherwood as a vehicle for her son Jerry Lanning. Unsurprisingly, neither Lanning's career nor his song and dance The Twizzle took off as a result of the TV exposure. Van Dyke's least favorite was "The Bad Old Days" (April 4, 1962), which recycled an already worn-out premise that modern man has become emasculated by the rising empowerment of women and included a dream sequence in which Rob and Laura are depicted in a silent-movie style sequence. Van Dyke was thankful that they did not film the dream sequence in front of their usual live audience: "It didn't work and we all knew it."

Late in the first season the actors themselves began to hear rumors of the show's impending demise, and by the wrap party after the 30th and final episode of Season 1, everyone assumed the show would not be renewed. And they were right, as CBS had already hammered out the fall 1962 schedule without The Dick Van Dyke Show about a week earlier but did not publicly announce their decision at the time. Sheldon Leonard felt that the network could be strong-armed to change their mind as long as he had the show's sponsor, Proctor & Gamble, in his corner. But even that was in doubt when Leonard learned from advertising executive Lee Rich that the sponsor planned to drop the show as well. So Leonard boldly got Rich to invite him to a Proctor & Gamble board meeting in Cincinnati where he gave an impassioned speech about the show's potential that convinced the board to reconsider and agree to continue to sponsor the show. But when he returned to Los Angeles, Rich phoned him to inform him that P&G backtracked to agreeing to sponsor only half the show, forcing Leonard to find another sponsor to cover the other half, which he was able to do by giving another impassioned speech to the Lorillard Tobacco Company. Even with two heavyweight sponsors in tow, CBS still planned to cancel the series until P&G threatened to pull their support of CBS' daytime programming, which suddenly forced the network to see the light.

Season 2 proved to be the exact opposite of Season 1 in terms of ratings, as the series vaulted into the top 10 early in the year and finished solidly as the #9 program in the Nielsen chart. While Waldron quotes Van Dyke as believing that the sudden surge in viewership was due to gaining fans from summer reruns, the more likely explanation is that the program road the coat-tails of the 1962 breakout show that aired immediately before it--The Beverly Hillbillies­--which took only 5 weeks to shoot to the #1 spot in the ratings. Reiner also tried to spur more interest by filming a new opening sequence in which Van Dyke uses his slapstick skills to trip over a living room ottoman, and to keep things interesting filmed a second version in which he sidesteps the same ottoman, just to keep viewers guessing.

Despite the big boost from its Beverly Hills neighbors, The Dick Van Dyke Show would eventually develop its own distinctly loyal following and be critically deemed superior to the low-brow humor of The Beverly Hillbillies. Author Joanne Morreale in her Wayne State University Press TV Milestones Series monograph The Dick Van Dyke Show cites the program's embodiment of New Frontier-era liberalism, its argument that TV can represent high culture just like films and other art forms, and its treatment of race, ethnicity, and gender as examples of how the series was a trailblazer in the sit-com format. One can find examples of other programs who dabbled in all of these themes, if not quite as cleverly or successfully, just as one can find plenty of fore-runners for Morreale's other observation that The Dick Van Dyke Show bridged the transition from the variety show format to the situation comedy. Certainly earlier sit-coms such as I Love Lucy, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and The Danny Thomas Show revolved around entertainment professionals and afforded opportunities for the stars and their guests to occasionally demonstrate their real-life talents shoe-horned into otherwise flimsy plots. While Morreale also cites The Jack Benny Program as an antecedent, its brand of self-deprecating, fourth-wall-shattering deconstruction of television and entertainment fabrications is unlike anything on The Dick Van Dyke Show, which always maintains its artifice. 

But as the show continued, Reiner and his writers seemed to find more excuses to showcase his stars' and guest stars' talents. "Who Owes Who What?" (January 24, 1962) is built around an old vaudeville skit about borrowing money that Rob proposes as a possible sketch for The Alan Brady Show. Though Sally and Buddy don't think it's funny, and when they act it out for Mel he agrees, the larger plot for the episode is a similar scheme in which Rob thinks Buddy owes him money when he actually owes money to Buddy. In "The Secret Life of Buddy and Sally" (November 28, 1962) the aforementioned writers are secretly performing at a woodsy resort upstate while Rob begins to suspect they are actually having an affair and sneaks up to the resort with Laura only to catch their song-and-dance routine rather than any hanky panky. And in "Somebody Has to Play Cleopatra" (December 26, 1962) Rob is recruited to direct the neighborhood association fund-raising gala, a variety program in which Laura sings and dances a calypso number written in real life by Morey Amsterdam.

Guest stars get to exhibit their wares in the aforementioned clunker "The Twizzle," the two-part Jerry Van Dyke vehicle "I Am My Brother's Keeper" (March 21, 1962) and "The Sleeping Brother" (March 28, 1962), the Vic Damone showcase "Like a Sister" (November 21, 1962), and the child flamenco exhibit in "The Talented Neighborhood" (January 31, 1962), which also includes appearances by Dick Van Dyke's sons Christian and Barry. The Jerry Van Dyke episodes are notable in that, as on Ozzie and Harriet, Dick Van Dyke's real brother plays his fictional brother and that Reiner wrote the episodes before ever meeting Jerry, which, as Waldron relates, almost backfired when Jerry seemed completely overwhelmed by the role until a weekend talk with his older brother loosened him up.

And then there are several episodes built solely around Dick Van Dyke's slapstick and pantomime talents, such as "Father of the Week" (February 21, 1962) wherein Rob has to visit Ritchie's class at school to tell the students what he does for a living. Initially he fumbles nervously about and bores the students until he discovers that he can make them laugh by pretending to trip over things and hurt himself. "My Husband Is Not a Drunk" (October 31, 1962) makes use of Van Dyke's trademark drunk routine, first seen on the program pilot, but rather than actually have him inebriated he only believes he is drunk under posthypnotic suggestion. And Reiner wrote "Gesundheit, Darling" (December 12, 1962) after witnessing Van Dyke's feigned sneezing routine on-set, then wove a story about Rob thinking he may be allergic to his family, not realizing that Ritchie and Freddie Helper have been taking care of a pet kitten, to which he is actually allergic. Each of these episodes builds an entire 30-minute episode around a gag that would have lasted no more than a few minutes on an earlier variety program and can hardly be said to have advanced the state of the sit-com.

More consequential than the gags and pratfalls, The Dick Van Dyke Show in these early episodes made significant strides in the development of character through the mechanisms of flashbacks, family members, and old friends. With the exception of The Andy Griffith Show, most sit-coms of the era had somewhat one-dimensional characters who each week deal with isolated situations, whereas The Dick Van Dyke Show dedicated certain episodes to fleshing out the back story or motivations of the principal characters. "Where Did I Come From?" (January 3, 1962) has Rob retelling the story of the day that Ritchie was born, a tale full of slapstick gags such as Rob going to bed fully dressed and literally being caught with his pants down when he gets the call at the office from Laura that she is ready to go to the hospital, but it also shows Rob as a nervous first-time father who takes his role very seriously, perhaps a bit too seriously. "The Attempted Marriage" (October 10, 1962) flashes back to Rob's army days to recount how he and Laura failed to get married on the first try due to first Rob's insecurity and bad luck and then illness, but ultimately the story proves Rob's willingness to go through any obstacle to marry the woman he loves. And "What's in a Middle Name?" (November 7, 1962) recounts how Ritchie came to have an unusual middle name while also introducing Rob's and Laura's parents. When no one can agree on what Ritchie should be named, Rob and Laura come up with a middle name that is a compromise of all their suggestions, typical of Rob's nonconfrontational character.

Family members dominate the aforementioned two-part story "I Am My Brother's Keeper" and "The Sleeping Brother" in which we meet Rob's brother Stacey and the just cited "What's in a Middle Name?" in which we meet both Rob's and Laura's parents. Though he is probably the least developed of the principal characters, we meet Buddy's black-sheep brother Blackie in "Hustling the Hustler" (October 24, 1962) when Blackie drops by to try to convince Buddy that he has changed his ways and has gone into legitimate business. But when Buddy is still suspicious that Blackie is looking for his next hustle, Blackie decides to play along and lure Rob into a game of pool in which Rob, who again has trouble saying "no," ends up losing $300 only to have Blackie make a show of giving it back to him once Buddy shows up trying to catch him in the act. Blackie is finally able to convince Buddy that he has gone straight, all because his fiance insisted on it.

As with a pair of 1961 episodes, Rob's old buddies show up to fill in part of his back story. Sol Pomeroy returns in "Sol and the Sponsor" (April 11, 1962) to demonstrate that Rob is somewhat ashamed of his low-brow past with the decidedly working class Sol unexpectedly arriving the same day that Rob and Laura are scheduled to entertain wealthy sponsor Henry Bermont and his wife at their home. Rob tries to gently give Sol the hint that he doesn't want him there for dinner with the Bermonts, but Sol is slow on the uptake and shows up anyway with a brassy Bronx-accented blonde. Despite Rob's fear of disaster, Sol and Bermont are able to break through their class differences over a shared enthusiasm for fine automobiles. Rob doesn't come off too well in this episode in that he is willing to ditch an old friend in pursuit of social elevation. But Rob bends over backwards in the other direction in the next episode, "The Return of Happy Spangler" (April 18, 1962) when he goes to bat for and encourages his original comedy-writing mentor Happy Spangler to return to the profession as a member of Rob's writing team, only this time things don't work out so well as Happy only seems capable of reliving his glory years in radio rather than turning out anything new. Spangler can see the writing on the wall and resigns to return to his clothing business even after giving Rob the inspiration for a successful sketch that makes fun of so-called sophisticated audiences who look down on slapstick humor. These two episodes serve as bookends that perhaps show Rob learning to balance his humble origins with his contemporary success while also illustrating Joanne Morreale's point about The Dick Van Dyke Show synthesizing low-brow and high-brow culture.

But the most fully realized character on the show is Sally Rogers, who gets laughs in her desperate attempts to snag a man but in the 1962 episodes is also shown as a pathetic character, a clown who cries in her solitude. In "Where Have You Been, Fassbinder?" (March 14, 1962) she assumes that when she gets a call from old high school chum Leo Fassbinder that he is interested in her, only to learn when he shows up that he is an insurance salesman who was given her name by his company as a prospective client. She angrily throws him out, but he runs into the Petries and the Sorrells who make up an excuse to drop by and see how things are going and discovers that she had cooked dinner for him, so he returns to apologize and stays for dinner. When Rob and Buddy ask her the next day if she thinks she will see him again, she says she is sure of it because she stole his watch. She gets her hopes a bit too high again in "Like a Sister" (November 14, 1962) when she swoons over singer and Alan Brady Show guest star Ric Vallone. Rob senses that she is way more serious about Ric than he is about her, even though he goes out with her almost every night after they first meet, and comes up with a plan to let her down easily by having Ric pretend to be a mean drunk at a dinner party at the Petrie's. But even after Ric insults Sally she insists on driving him home rather than sending him off in a cab, and the next day Buddy says that Rob's plan backfired because all it did is awaken Sally's maternal instincts. However, when he talks to Ric that same day, Sally's caring for him opens his eyes and makes him want to continue to see her, perhaps seriously. Neither of these turnarounds results in a lasting relationship for Sally--she will continue to be a conventional man-chaser throughout the duration of the series, but they provide her character with new levels of depth beyond a one-joke stereotype. Developing multi-dimensional characters with flaws as well as positive qualities is one reason The Dick Van Dyke Show remains one of the best sit-coms not just of its era but in all of television.

The Actors

For the biographies of Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Richard Deacon, Larry Mathews, and Ann Morgan Guilbert, see the 1961 post on The Dick Van Dyke Show. For the biography of Jerry Paris, see the 1960 post on The Untouchables.

Carl Reiner

Carl Reiner was born in the Bronx, New York on March 20, 1922. His father was a watchmaker, and Reiner initially worked as a sewing machine repairman until his older brother Charlie told him about an acting workshop being hosted by the Works Progress Administration when Reiner was 16. During World War II he served as a radio operator in the Army Air Forces until contracting pneumonia, after which he was assigned as a French interpreter at Georgetown University, where he staged a theatrical version of a Moliere play, and was then stationed in Hawaii, where he attended a production of Hamlet and met Maurice Evans, who auditioned him and got him assigned to the Special Services for the duration of the war.  His TV debut came in 1948 on The Fashion Story, and he made his Broadway debut the following year in Inside U.S.A. His next play, Alive and Kicking, introduced him to producer and director Max Liebman, who would move over to television to produce and direct Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows, Liebman hired Reiner as an actor on the program midway through its first season in 1950. During his tenure on the program, Reiner was nominated for an Emmy and often sat in on the writing team meetings. When the show was spun off into Caesar's Hour in 1954, Reiner actually got to contribute as a writer as well as a performer. Reiner won two Emmys and was nominated for a third while performing on Caesar's Hour. In 1959 he wrote a pilot titled Head of the Family in which he starred as television comedy writer Rob Petrie who tries to balance the demands of work and family while working for a boss, Alan Brady, who was based on Caesar. CBS declined to pick up the series until it was recast with the less New Yorkish and less Jewish Dick Van Dyke, then fresh off his Tony Award-winning performance in Bye Bye Birdie, as The Dick Van Dyke Show with Reiner writing, directing, and producing in the fall of 1961.

Reiner began appearing as the egotistical comedy show host Alan Brady in the late Season 1 episode "The Sleeping Brother" (March 28, 1962), though he had voiced Brady without appearing on screen in 4 previous episodes. He would continue appearing as Brady sporadically through the remainder of the series. But he landed a higher profile role when he teamed with Mel Brooks in the skit "The 2000 Year Old Man" on The Steve Allen Show, which proved so popular that it spawned a series of comedy albums, a 1975 animated TV special, and finally a Grammy Award for the last album in 1998. Reiner won four Emmys for writing on The Dick Van Dyke Show, and the program won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series in its final season. After the show ended, Reiner branched out into feature film directing, beginning with Enter Laughing, based on a stage play that was based on his own 1958 novel. He would direct Van Dyke in the unsuccessful feature The Comic in 1969 and direct the equally unsuccessful but cult favorite Where's Poppa? in 1970 before finally hitting it big in the 1970s with George Burns in Oh, God! in 1977 and Steve Martin in The Jerk in 1979. He would work with Martin again co-writing and directing Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, The Man With Two Brains, and All of Me. Nor were his acting days over: besides small cameos and bit parts in a number of features and TV programs, he played Mr. Angel in the 1976 TV series Good Heavens, played Marty Pepper 4 times on Two and a Half Men, and played Max on Hot in Cleveland between 2010-2014. He also appeared as Saul Bloom in the Steven Soderbergh features Ocean's 11, Ocean's Twelve, and Ocean's Thirteen. He has done voicework on animated series such as Father of the Pride and The Cleveland Show. He was elected to the Television Hall of Fame in 1999 and received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2000.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 1, Episode 15, "Where Did I Come From?": Herbie Faye  (shown on the left, played Cpl. Sam Fender on The Phil Silvers Show, Waluska on The New Phil Silvers Show, and Ben Goldman on Doc) plays office coffee man Willie. Jerry Hausner (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Mr. Magoo Show) plays the Petrie's cleaning pickup man. Frank Adamo (Dick Van Dyke's personal assistant) plays the office dry cleaning pickup man.

Season 1, Episode 17, "Punch Thy Neighbor": Peter Leeds (Tenner Smith on Trackdown and George Colton on Pete and Gladys) plays police Officer Jack Bain. Jerry Hausner (see "Where Did I Come From?" above) plays milkman Vinnie. Frank Adamo (see "Where Did I Come From?" above) plays a singing messenger.

Season 1, Episode 19, "The Talented Neighborhood": Doris Singleton (Caroline Appleby on I Love Lucy, Susie on Angel, and Margaret Williams on My Three Sons) plays the Petries' neighbor Mrs. Kendall. Ken Lynch (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Checkmate) plays new neighbor George Mathias. Barry Livingston (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) plays his son Philip. Christian Van Dyke (son of Dick Van Dyke) plays auditioner Frankie. Barry Van Dyke (son of Dick Van Dyke, played Stuart Stafford on The Harvey Korman Show, Lt. Dillon on Galactica 1980, Russell Donovan on Gun Shy, St. John Hawke on Airwolf, Matt Burgess on The Van Dyke Show, and Steve Sloan on Diagnosis Murder) plays child violinist Florian.

Season 1, Episode 20, "A Word a Day": William Schallert (shown on the near left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays neighbor Mr. Kirk. Leah Waggner (shown on the far left, wife of William Schallert) plays his wife.

Season 1, Episode 22, "Father of the Week": Isabel Randolph (Mrs. Boone on Meet Millie, Ruth Nestor on Our Miss Brooks, and later played Clara Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show) plays Ritchie's teacher Mrs. Givens. Pat Thompson (Pat on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) plays airline pilot Mr. Harper.

Season 1, Episode 23, "The Twizzle": Jerry Lanning (son of singer Roberta Sherwood, played Nick D'Antoni on Search for Tomorrow, Justin Marshall on Texas, and Cain Harris on Guiding Light) plays singing sensation Randy Twizzle. Jack Albertson (starred in Days of Wine and Roses, Kissin' Cousins, The Flim-Flam Man, and Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and played Lt. Harry Evans on The Thin Man, Walter Burton on Room for One More, Lt. Cmdr. Virgil Stoner on Ensign O'Toole, Paul Fenton on Mister Ed, and Ed Brown on Chico and the Man) plays his agent Mr. Eisenbauer. Fred Blassie (shown on the right, legendary hated professional wrestler, appeared in My Breakfast With Blassie and When Nature Calls) plays himself.

Season 1, Episode 24, "One Angry Man": Sue Ane Langdon (shown on the left, played Kitty Marsh on Bachelor Father, Lillian Nuvo on Arnie, Rosie on Grandpa Goes to Washington, and Darlene on When the Whistle Blows) plays defendant Marla Hendrix. Dabbs Greer (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Gunsmoke) plays her lawyer Mr. Burger. Lee Begere (George on Hot L Baltimore and Joseph Anders on Dynasty) plays prosecutor Mr. Mason. Herbie Faye (see "Where Did I Come From?" above) plays a juror. Patsy Kelley (Brigid Murphy on The Cop and the Kid) plays another juror. Herb Vigran (Judge Brooker on Gunsmoke) plays a juror. Doodles Weaver (narrated Spike Jones' horse-racing songs and hosted A Day With Doodles) plays the court bailiff.

Season 1, Episode 25, "Where Have You Been, Fassbinder?": George N. Neise (Capitan Felipe Arrellanos on Zorro, Dr. Nat Wyndham on Wichita Town, and Colonel Thornton on McKeever & the Colonel) plays Sally's former high school classmate Leo Fassbinder. Barbara Perry (Thelma Brockwood on The Hathaways) plays Buddy's wife Pickles. Sally's cat Mr. Henderson is played by Orangey (appeared in The Diary of Anne Frank, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and The Comedy of Terrors and played Minerva on Our Miss Brooks and Rusty on The Beverly Hillbillies).

Season 1, Episode 26, "I Am My Brother's Keeper": Jerry Van Dyke (shown on the right, Dick Van Dyke's brother, appeared in The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Palm Springs Weekend, and McClintock! and played Dave Crabtree on My Mother the Car, Jerry Webster on Accidental Family, Jerry Brownell on Headmaster, Steven Winters on 13 Queens Boulevard, Luther Horatio Van Dam on Coach, Grandpa Jerry Beauchamp on Teen Angel, Grandpa Max on You Wish, Big Jimmy Hughes on Yes, Dear, and Tag Spence on The Middle) plays Rob's brother Stacey. 

Season 1, Episode 27, "The Sleeping Brother": Jerry Van Dyke (see "I Am My Brother's Keeper" above) returns as Rob's brother Stacey. 

Season 1, Episode 29, "Sol and the Sponsor": Marty Ingels (shown on the left, played Arch Fenster on I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, Norman Krump on The Phyllis Diller Show, and was the voice of Pac-Man on Pac-Man) plays Rob's old army buddy Sol Pomeroy. Roy Roberts (Capt. Simon P. Huxley on The Gale Storm Show, Admiral Rogers on McHale's Navy, John Cushing on The Beverly Hillbillies, Mr. Cheever on The Lucy Show, Frank Stephens on Bewitched, Norman Curtis on Petticoat Junction, and Mr. Botkin/Bodkin on Gunsmoke) plays show sponsor Mr. Bermont. Isabel Randolph (see "Father of the Week" above) plays his wife Martha.

Season 1, Episode 30, "The Return of Happy Spangler": Jay C. Flippen (shown on the right, appeared in Winchester '73, The Wild One, Oklahoma!, Kismet, The Killing, and Cat Ballou and played CPO Homer Nelson on Ensign O'Toole) plays former radio comedy writer Happy Spangler. 

Season 2, Episode 1, "Never Name a Duck": Jane Dulo (Liz Murray on Hey, Jeannie!, WAC Pvt. Mildred Lukens on The Phil Silvers Show, Molly Turner on McHale's Navy, Agent 99's mother on Get Smart, Nurse Murphy on Medical Center, and Grandma Mildred Kanisky on Gimme a Break!) plays dog owner Miss Singleton. Jerry Hausner (see "Where Did I Come From?" above) plays pet owner Mr. Fletcher. Frank Adamo (see "Where Did I Come From?" above) plays the vet's assistant.

Season 2, Episode 2, "The Two Faces of Rob": Herbie Faye (see "Where Did I Come From?" above) plays deli delivery man Willie. 

Season 2, Episode 3, "The Attempted Marriage": Sandy Kenyon (Des Smith on Crunch and Des, Shep Baggott on The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, and Reverend Kathrun on Knots Landing) plays the army doctor. Dabbs Greer (shown on the left, see "One Angry Man" above) plays army Chaplain Berger.

Season 2, Episode 5, "Hustling the Hustler": Phil Leeds (appeared in Rosemary's Baby, Don't Drink the Water, and Beaches and played The Kid on Double Rush, Uncle Mel on Everybody Loves Raymond, and Judge Dennis "Happy" Boyle on Ally McBeal) plays Buddy's brother Blackie. 

Season 2, Episode 6, "My Husband Is Not a Drunk": Charles Aidman (narrator on the 1985-87 version of The Twilight Zone) plays hypnotist Glen Jameson. Roy Roberts (see "Sol and the Sponsor" above) plays show sponsor Mr. Boland.

Season 2, Episode 7, "What's in a Middle Name?": J. Pat O'Malley (shown on the right, see the biographical section for the 1961 post on Frontier Circus) plays Rob's father Sam. Isabel Randolph (see "Father of the Week" above) plays Rob's mother Clara. Carl Benton Reid (starred in The Little Foxes, In a Lonely Place, Lorna Doone, and The Left Hand of God and played The Man on Burke's Law) plays Laura's father Mr. Meehan. Cyril Delevanti (Lucious Coin on Jefferson Drum) plays Rob's grandfather.

Season 2, Episode 8, "Like a Sister": Vic Damone (popular singer once married to Diahann Carroll, starred in Rich, Young and Pretty, Hit the Deck, and Hell to Eternity) plays singer Ric Vallone. 

Season 2, Episode 10, "The Secret Life of Buddy and Sally": Phil Arnold (vaudeville actor , appeared in Little Miss Broadway, Deadline, G.I. Jane, The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, and Robin and the 7 Hoods and played Dr. Zerbo on Cowboy G-Men) plays a resort waiter.

Season 2, Episode 11, "A Bird in the Head Hurts": Cliff Norton (shown on the left, appeared in McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, and The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! and played Boss on It's About Time and Isaac Meyer on General Hospital) plays a game warden.

Season 2, Episode 12, "Gesundheit, Darling": Sandy Kenyon (see "The Attempted Marriage" above) plays Rob's doctor.

Season 2, Episode 14, "Somebody Has to Play Cleopatra": Eleanor Audley (Mother Eunice Douglas on Green Acres and Mrs. Vincent on My Three Sons) plays neighborhood association chairwoman Mrs. Billings. Bob Crane (shown on the right, played Dr. Dave Kelsey on The Donna Reed Show, Col. Robert E. Hogan on Hogan's Heroes, and Bob Wilcox on The Bob Crane Show) plays neighbor Harry Rogers. Shirley Mitchell (Yvonne Sharp on Sixpenny Corner, Kitty Devereaux on Bachelor Father, Janet Colton on Pete and Gladys, Marge on Please Don't Eat the Daisies, and Clara Appleby on The Red Skelton Hour) plays Harry's wife Shirley.