sowny.net | The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum


You are not logged in. Would you like to login or register?

August 14, 2023 6:53 am  #1


"Dick van Dyke Show" Star Not Close With MTM, Made Little From Reruns

This isn't about local radio, but if anyone is as fond of the Dick van Dyke Show as I was, they'll certainly find it interesting. It's about Rose Marie, who played writer Sally Rogers on the show, a tough old bird based on real life scribe Selma Diamond, who gave as good as she got - a real rarity for early 60s TV. 

In this extensive look back, her daughter recalls the late star never really warmed up to Mary Tyler Moore, thought the show was going to be more about the writers, suggested the hiring of a key cast member and sadly, never made the money off the show most people thought she did. 

Her daughter on the residuals that didn't last:

"That only went on for five years," said Rodrigues. "One of the things that I insisted that got put in her documentary was that the residuals stop after the five. Because the show is still running and constantly running, people thought, ‘Oh my God, she’s gotta be rolling in it.' Well, the residual thing in those days is not like how it is now. So after 1965, she never earned a dollar from that show… So many people didn’t know that."

'Dick Van Dyke' star had 'conflict' with Mary Tyler Moore during hit '60s sitcom: 'They never became close'

 

August 14, 2023 9:51 am  #2


Re: "Dick van Dyke Show" Star Not Close With MTM, Made Little From Reruns

Some have said over the years that the popularity in the 60's of the Dick Van Dyke show were some similarities between Dick and Laura to JFK and Jackie.  Laura did dress similar to the first lady in many shows and had similar dark hair and style.  Dick Van Dyke was seen as a nice guy with perfect hair, similar to the president

Even though the show got off to a slow start, when it did catch on, it represented a more progressive and modern view of American society, similar to the young modern president and his family.

Didn't understand the comment about the residuals.  If they lasted five years then Rose Marie would have been paid until 1971 since the show ended in 1966.  I don't think payment for the five years when they were producing the program would be called residuals. A residual is a payment or royalty paid to a performer or writer for a repeat of a play or show.  So to me it reads like she had residuals for five years after the show finished.  So I didn't understand the daughters comment that Rose made no money after 1965. 

Last edited by paterson1 (August 14, 2023 9:52 am)

 

August 14, 2023 10:20 am  #3


Re: "Dick van Dyke Show" Star Not Close With MTM, Made Little From Reruns

paterson1 wrote:

Even though the show got off to a slow start, when it did catch on, it represented a more progressive and modern view of American society. 

I'll say. In van Dyke's excellent bio "My Lucky, Lucky Life" and in "The Official Dick van Dyke Show Book" by Vince Waldron, which was also great, both authors talk about how the show was actually cancelled after its first season on CBS. 

But executive producer Sheldon Leonard, who knew how great it was, personally went to the head of CBS and begged them to reverse the decision. And because he had a great track record, the network agreed. It caught on in summer rerun season and when it started winning all those Emmys, viewers finally discovered it and it became a Top 10 hit.

Without Leonard, we would have had a single season and nothing more and it would have been lost to history. When I think of all the great episodes they produced, almost every one a classic, I can only imagine what we would never have known we lost. 

This wasn't the first time CBS made a huge mistake. A show called "He & She," starring husband and wife Dick Benjamin & Paula Prentiss, was absolutely wonderful back in 1967, but it came at a time of TV witches, Jeannies, monsters and rural shows, and audiences didn't seem to want a sophisticated city-based comedy with brilliant writing. 

So it disappeared. But it returned - sort of. The people behind it would soon go on to create and write The Mary Tyler Moore Show and it was a huge hit. But I've always lamented the loss of "He & She" and you can see elements of Mary's sitcom all over it. Ted Baxter is Oscar North in a slightly different TV job. But they're essentially the same character.

The good news is it's turned up on YouTube and you can see that magic for yourself here.

     Thread Starter
 

August 14, 2023 12:00 pm  #4


Re: "Dick van Dyke Show" Star Not Close With MTM, Made Little From Reruns

I did not understand the point about the residuals either because the final season was actually from 1965 to 1966.

One part quoted in the article though was pure "Sally" when one of the creators of the show suggested Dick Van Dyke for the lead role. She asked "what's a Dick Van Dyke."

Also of course Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore were the two actors featured the most but Buddy and Sally retained a prominence throughout the course of the series. Mel, Millie and Jerry got their share of screen time as supporting actors as well and I think this was all well balanced.


Cool Airchecks and More:
http://www.lettheuniverseanswer.com/
 

August 14, 2023 12:37 pm  #5


Re: "Dick van Dyke Show" Star Not Close With MTM, Made Little From Reruns

RadioActive wrote:

paterson1 wrote:

Even though the show got off to a slow start, when it did catch on, it represented a more progressive and modern view of American society. 

I'll say. In van Dyke's excellent bio "My Lucky, Lucky Life" and in "The Official Dick van Dyke Show Book" by Vince Waldron, which was also great, both authors talk about how the show was actually cancelled after its first season on CBS. 

But executive producer Sheldon Leonard, who knew how great it was, personally went to the head of CBS and begged them to reverse the decision. And because he had a great track record, the network agreed. It caught on in summer rerun season and when it started winning all those Emmys, viewers finally discovered it and it became a Top 10 hit.

Without Leonard, we would have had a single season and nothing more and it would have been lost to history. When I think of all the great episodes they produced, almost every one a classic, I can only imagine what we would never have known we lost. 

This wasn't the first time CBS made a huge mistake. A show called "He & She," starring husband and wife Dick Benjamin & Paula Prentiss, was absolutely wonderful back in 1967, but it came at a time of TV witches, Jeannies, monsters and rural shows, and audiences didn't seem to want a sophisticated city-based comedy with brilliant writing. 

So it disappeared. But it returned - sort of. The people behind it would soon go on to create and write The Mary Tyler Moore Show and it was a huge hit. But I've always lamented the loss of "He & She" and you can see elements of Mary's sitcom all over it. Ted Baxter is Oscar North in a slightly different TV job. But they're essentially the same character.

The good news is it's turned up on YouTube and you can see that magic for yourself here.

You are probably correct about He & She being ahead of its time. It had The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres as its Wednesday night lead-ins. Totally different audience.

 

August 14, 2023 12:39 pm  #6


Re: "Dick van Dyke Show" Star Not Close With MTM, Made Little From Reruns

Fitz wrote:

I did not understand the point about the residuals either because the final season was actually from 1965 to 1966.

One part quoted in the article though was pure "Sally" when one of the creators of the show suggested Dick Van Dyke for the lead role. She asked "what's a Dick Van Dyke."

Also of course Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore were the two actors featured the most but Buddy and Sally retained a prominence throughout the course of the series. Mel, Millie and Jerry got their share of screen time as supporting actors as well and I think this was all well balanced.

I don't know the specifics of the contracts for the Dick Van Dyke Show but the typical contract in the 1960s would see the actor paid for the first few times a show was re-run but that's it. Only a few lead actors had a better deal or owned a piece of the show they were in. Rose Marie's daughter probably meant she was only paid for the five years she was on the show or misremembered. 

This is what someone says on Quora about it (so it may or may not be accurate):

Actors get residuals for every episode that is rerun on every channel, cable or network. That can be a windfall for a show like MOM, which is rerun on three local stations and three cable stations seven days a week. The same for LAW & ORDER: SVU, although it isn’t on as many networks, you’ll see some days with half the day consisting of SVU reruns.Back in the 60s, when there a television season ran for 38 episodes, David Janssen, who played Dr. Richard Kimble in THE FUGITIVE, made one of the first deals that an actor could to end up becoming rich from a show. In the 60s, an actor on a show received residuals up until the show was rerun six times. Janssen opted out of a bigger salary—on a show that featured his character roughly 75% of the time—and took any money that would come from the show in reruns. S1 was a huge hit, and so the actor could have asked for a higher salary, being that the show would fail without him. Instead, it ran for four years (as planned), with over one hundred episodes. He made more money from a rerun than any of the other main actors.Another example with be, say, Jon Bernthal, who played the character of Shane on THE WALKING DEAD in the first two seasons. He makes money every time those episodes are replayed, and we know AMC has their marathons. If someone is hired for only a few episodes, they’ll still get paid through the reruns. The amount differs, likely based on their original pay.When I’m on television, I have no speaking roles, so I’m an extra. We don’t see residuals. But I’m also a writer. I get royalties for some stories I wrote as far back as 1994. Many stories I don’t get any royalties on, as the book is out of print or has no foreign editions.I keep track of that, though, as you never know when you may or may not be notified of a new edition. On your bio, you mention being an aspiring actor, so good luck with that. But also read your contracts carefully and make certain everything lines up in possible future payments.

https://www.quora.com/Do-TV-actors-get-residuals/answer/Wayne-Allen-Sallee

Last edited by Hansa (August 14, 2023 12:41 pm)

 

August 14, 2023 1:01 pm  #7


Re: "Dick van Dyke Show" Star Not Close With MTM, Made Little From Reruns

I've always been intrigued by the fact that Rose Marie either knew or worked for & was on a first name basis with all of the "infamous" mobsters of legend.

She knew Al Capone and worked for Bugsy Seigel (but not for long). And rubbed shoulders with all the rest.

Yup - Rose Marie Mazzetta was, in her early adult life a product of & beholden to the mob. 

Last edited by unclefester (August 14, 2023 1:06 pm)