NEW YORK, May 12 -- TV Land's first original special for broadcast television under the TV Land Productions banner, "The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited," will be rebroadcast on TV Land on Tuesday, May 18 at 9 p.m.
ET/PT. The one-hour special features original cast members Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Carl Reiner and Rose Marie reprising their roles on the beloved show. Ray Romano, star of "Everybody Loves Raymond,"
hosts the 159th episode, now in color, which catches up with Rob and Laura Petrie in the present day.
It was at last year's "TV Land Awards: A Celebration of Classic TV," that the idea for the special first came about. While on stage accepting the "Legend Award" for The Dick Van Dyke Show, creator Carl Reiner publicly reached out to fellow cast members Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie and Larry Mathews to appear in a contemporary new episode of the classic series. The special was filmed in Los Angeles in March 2004.
"TV Land Productions is thrilled to have developed this much-anticipated special," states Sal Maniaci, Vice President of Development and Production, TV Land and Nick at Nite. "To be able to work along celebrated TV icons like Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore and Carl Reiner for our very first broadcast special was the opportunity of a lifetime. TV Land is proud to have made this and we are very excited to present this to our viewers."
The contemporary setting of "The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited" is in the present day, more than forty years since the series was originally broadcast.
In this new episode, Rob and Sally receive a strange request from Alan Brady, who is not even sick, to write a eulogy for him before he dies -- one which he can read and have the chance to rewrite. The cast, all in character, reunites with Alan to reminisce about some of their favorite memories. Classic clips from the original series will be showcased.
Reiner, who wrote the special, also serves as Executive Producer. Sal Maniaci serves as Producer and Ken Whitingham ("The Bernie Mac Show") as Director.
TV Land Productions was created in 2003 to create original programming that complements the network's successful acquired programming slate. TV Land Productions is headed by Sal Maniaci, Vice President of Development and Production, TV Land and Nick at Nite. In addition to this first production for broadcast television, TV Land Productions has also produced "The TV Land Awards Show: A Celebration of Classic TV" (March 2003 and 2004), and the original, animated special "The Alan Brady Show" (July 2003), inspired by Carl Reiner's character from "The Dick Van Dyke Show."
"The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited" previously aired on CBS on May 11, 2004.
Additionally, beginning at 10 p.m. ET/PT, TV Land will air two memorable episodes from "The Dick Van Dyke Show" -- Episode #51, "It May Look Like a Walnut" and Episode #128, "Coast to Coast Big Mouth."