Van Dyke and Company is an American comedy and variety show television series hosted by Dick Van Dyke on NBC in 1976. Andy Kaufman made his prime time debut on the show and became a series regular.[1][2] The executive producer of the show, Byron Paul, was the manager and producer to Dick Van Dyke.[3] The pilot episode was directed by Art Fisher and aired as a CBS TV special on October 30, 1975.[4] The series aired from September 20, 1976, to December 30, 1976, before it was cancelled due to low ratings.[5] Despite its cancellation, the show won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Series at the 29th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1977.[6] Van Dyke also won Favorite Male Performer in a New TV Program at the 3rd People's Choice Awards.[7]
| Van Dyke and Company | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy-Variety |
| Directed by | John Moffitt |
| Starring | Dick Van Dyke |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 11 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Byron Paul |
| Running time | 60 mins |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | September 20 – December 30, 1976 |
Episodes edit
| Episode No. | Airdate | Guests |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot | Oct 30, 1975 | Carl Reiner, Ike & Tina Turner, Gabe Kaplan, Kenneth Mars, Lynne Lipton |
| 1 | Sep 20, 1976 | Chevy Chase, Flip Wilson, Andy Kaufman |
| 2 | Oct 7, 1976 | John Denver, Ilie Nastase, Super Dave Osborne, Andy Kaufman |
| 3 | Oct 14, 1976 | Carl Reiner, Andy Kaufman |
| 4 | Oct 28, 1978 | Hal Linden, The Sylvers, Andy Kaufman |
| 5 | Nov 11, 1976 | Carol Burnett, KC and the Sunshine Band, Andy Kaufman |
| 6 | Nov 18, 1976 | Harvey Korman, Lola Falana |
| 7 | Nov 25, 1976 | Freddie Prinze, The Spinners, George Foreman, Andy Kaufman |
| 8 | Dec 2, 1976 | Sid Caesar, Donna Fargo, Andy Kaufman |
| 9 | Dec 9, 1976 | Lucille Ball, The Lockers, Andy Kaufman |
| 10 | Dec 16, 1976 | John Byner, Bobbie Gentry, Andy Kaufman |
| 11 | Dec 30, 1976 | Tommy Smothers, Jim McKay, Sha Na Na, Andy Kaufman |
References edit
- ^ Zmuda, Bob (2000). Andy Kaufman Revealed!: Best Friend Tells All. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-446-93049-9.
- ^ "Dick Van Dyke's forgotten variety show found the perfect way to introduce general audiences to Andy Kaufman". Me-TV Network. August 29, 2019. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
- ^ Roberts, Jerry (2009). Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors. Scarecrow Press. p. 438. ISBN 978-0-8108-6378-1.
- ^ Terrace, Vincent (2019). Encyclopedia of Television Pilots: 2,470 Films Broadcast 1937-2019, 2d ed. McFarland. p. 317. ISBN 978-1-4766-7874-0.
- ^ Zehme, Bill (2009). Lost in the Funhouse: The Life and Mind of Andy Kaufman. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-307-42846-2.
- ^ "Van Dyke and Company". Television Academy. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
- ^ Group, Gale; Peacock, Scot (1998). Contemporary Authors. Gale. p. 407. ISBN 978-0-7876-2667-9.
