Season 1, Episode 16
Original Airdate: January 10, 1962
Writer: David Adler
Director: John Rich
Executive Producers: Ronald Jacobs, Sheldon Leonard, Carl
Reiner, Danny Thomas
Cast: Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie, Morey
Amsterdam
The wonderful thing about “The Dick Van Dyke” show is
that it never seems to push its audience. Almost every other sitcom seems to
shove into its punchlines and gags, but this show operates at an even pace. The
characters say funny things to one another, but there never seems to be an exclamation
point at the end of their sentences to lead into audience laughter. The
characters have big personalities but never go over the top like every other
sitcom from that era, from “I Love Lucy” to “Leave it to Beaver.” It all
feels…well…real. Like we are actually watching an American family going through
their trials and tribulations, which makes the climax to “The Curious Thing
About Women” one of the definitive moments in all of television comedy.
It’s interesting to note that most sitcoms follow the
classic two-act structure. Lucy wants to be on television (1) and then she gets drunk while practicing the commercial she has been cast in (2). Mary admonishes
people for laughing about Chuckles’ death (1) and then laughs at his funeral
(2). Michael is encouraged to set up a “diversity day” at the office (1) and
ends up being extremely racist (2). But “The Dick Van Dyke” show is different.
In almost every episode, it follows a three-act structure instead. Here, you
have Rob writing the sketch as Act One, Laura melting down as Act Two and the
mysterious package as Act Three. This structure allows the show to have a
faster pace than most sitcoms and, as a result, throw in some twists and turns
on the way to the climax…
…which, of course, is Laura verses the box. The
episode’s writer, David Adler, is brilliant in the way he sets this moment up
because we have already heard a variation on this routine twice. Incredibly,
the moment is much funnier because of its long set-up, not watered-down
because of its repetition. When we first heard Rob pitching out the story he
talks about how the box is almost magnetic to the wife -- a bit we see come to
life with Laura when she exits the living room and then we see the swinging
door swing fully just once before Laura reenters to stare at the box again.
When Laura is actually watching the skit with her neighbors, they mention that
the female is using her teeth to desperately pull open the box, and later
that’s exactly what Laura does. The familiarity of the details make it so much
more funny, especially considering the high horse Laura put herself on only
moments before.
Also of note is the fact that Adler has made us wait
almost twenty minutes for this moment, circling back to it and, in some ways,
pounding us over the head that it’s coming, but only to underline how much
we’ll enjoy it when it actually gets here. A lesser writer (and most modern
sitcoms) would try to put some kind of twist on Mary opening the box, but Adler
was smart to just give us the payoff we were expecting in the way we were
expecting it. It makes the laughter more genuine because it doesn’t feel like a
cheat.
Aside from the three-act structure, “The Dick Van Dyke
Show” was quick and eager to embrace (at the time) daring storytelling
techniques. It was quick to use frame stories, or create stories within stories
if it served the characters and humor well. This was a much more adult show
than most other comedies on television and the writers trusted that the viewers
would be able to follow along when they tried something a little different or
took the story in a surprising direction. It was also very successful at being
both a work sitcom and a family sitcom. Other shows, most notably “The Mary
Tyler Moore Show,” tried the same juggling act before finally giving in and
becoming one or the other. “The Dick Van Dyke” show, on the other hand, always
kept the balance and, as a result, some of its best comedy came when the two
world collided in twisted, uncomfortable ways. Look at this episode or when
Laura accidentally lets it slip that Rob’s boss is actually bald.
Anchoring everything is Van Dyke and Moore, who share an
easy, charming chemistry with one another that is never more evident than when
they are arguing. Their speaking patterns and delivery allows them to deliver
long mouthfuls of sentences from the script, and the fact that they are both
tall and lanky results in some create physical comedy throughout the episode,
first with Rob pretending to be Laura and later when Laura is fighting with the
box. More than that, they never seem like anything less than smart, intelligent
people, a trap so many great sitcoms fall into regularly by dumbing down their
characters.
Though I only laughed once during “The Curious Thing
About Women,” it was a long and fulfilling belly laugh that had been building
the entire episode. And the rest of the time I was smiling widely. “The Dick
Van Dyke Show” isn’t classic television because of its punchlines, but because
it’s smart enough to know that punchlines are only part of what makes a great
comedy.
“The
Curious Thing About Women” is available on the first season DVD of “The Dick
Van Dyke Show,” on iTunes, Hulu and Amazon Prime.
The reaction of the Helpers during the phone call and especially the tag at the end are hilarious. Can't believe you would only laugh once.
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