ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

1) Weissman, Ginny; Sanders, Coyne Steven. The Dick Van Dyke Show: Anatomy of a Classic. St. Martin’s Press, 1993.

An excellent overview book, provides plenty of general background information – however, it does seem to be written more as a fan primer than an academic review. Useful as a jumping off point.

2) Marc, David. Comic Visions: Television Comedy and American Culture. Virginia: Wiley Blackwell, 1997.

Excellent resource, cited a rather embarrassing number of times throughout the paper. Marc’s focus was not solely The Dick Van Dyke Show, but in his chapter on the creation of the sitcom, it’s heavily featured. This was the third book I found for my research, and ended up being the most important. Extremely informative, highly analytical. Love it.

3) Spigel, Lynn. TV by Design: Modern Art and the Rise of Network Television.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009.

TV By Design ended up being more of a subject mine than anything else. I originally considered examining The Dick Van Dyke Show from a set and prop design perspective – attempting to carry over the ideas in the book about CBS’ head businessman redesigning CBS to fit with the modern art movement. But the substance of The Dick Van Dyke show was far more powerful.
4) McWhorter, John H. Authentically Black: Essays for the Black Silent Majority. Gotham, 2004.

Limited information throughout about The Dick Van Dyke Show, but one very astute section that address both the show’s steps forward for racial integration and the void it left by not addressing the issue directly. Acclaim and rebuke in one source – very balanced, very interesting.

5) Bauer, Douglas. Prime Times: Writers on Their Favorite TV Shows. Three Rivers Press, 2004.

Wonderful short article by Richard Bausch about his family’s discovery and love of The Dick Van Dyke Show – useful for me in particular in that he was drawn to it via the connection with Your Show of Shows.
6) Neuwirth, Allan. They’ll Never Put That on the Air: An Oral History of Taboo-Breaking TV Comedy. Allworth Press, 2006.

Includes a section specifically for The Dick Van Dyke Show – most illuminating, especially because the format is mostly in interviews. Key members of the production team talk about the struggle to get their content, joke, and cast decisions on-air.

ARTICLES

1) Dassanowsky, R. V. A Caper of One’s Own: Fantasy Female Liberation in 1960s Crime Comedy Film. Journal of Popular Film and Television v. 35 no. 3 (Fall 2007) p. 107-18.

Provided me a valuable source to cite in regards to bolstering up description of the depiction of women on The Dick Van Dyke show – whose volition and strong character are often disregarded in scholarly work, but clearly a prevalent force episode-to-episode.


2) Wu, Zhengkang. “The Making of TV Father Figures in a Changing America.” Thesis. 1992. <http://hdl.handle.net/10125/9300.>

A great source for highlighting Rob Petrie’s unusual place in the show as the butt of jokes – the prevailing image of the era of the incontrovertible father figure was severely attacked in the show, if indirectly, by Rob’s affable goof of a masculine figure. One place this source fails, however, is in its view of the show’s addressing of social and moral problems. Its discussion of The Masterpiece , an episode where Laura poses clothed for a man who paints her into a nude portrait, does not focus on the real conflict, which was a betrayal of trust between artist and subject, and rather, chooses to depict the episode as supporting closed-minded views of art. Not my favorite source, but a useful one, nonetheless.

3) Cullum, Paul. “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” Encyclopedia of Television.
Horace Newcomb. 2nd Edition. New York: Taylor and Francis, 2004.

While not an article from a periodical, per se, this article from the Encyclopedia of Television was the perfect source from which to draw a condensed, easily referenced source regarding the history, creating, and span of the show.

4) Kutulas, Judy. “‘Do I Look Like a Chick?’: Men, Women, and Babies on Sitcom Maternity Stories.” Journal of American Studies, Vol. 39 No. 2: Summer 1998.

A really fun look at the progress of feminism throughout early television. One of the few sources I found that notes that even the use of wardrobe on Laura Petrie helped further the modern, liberal feel of the show.

5) Boroff, Edith. “Origin of Species: Conflicting Views of American Musical Theater History.” American Music, Vol. 2, No. 4, Music of the American Theater (Winter, 1984) pp. 102-112

A helpful resource in helping me pinpoint the various ways The Dick Van Dyke Show can resemble the revue style of Your Show of Shows.

6) Hirshman, Elizabeth C.;Stern, Barbara B. “Representations of women’s identities and goals: The past fifty years in film and television.” The Why of Consumption: Contemporary Perspectives on Consumer Motives, Goals, and Desires. Ed. Ratneshwar, S. New York: Routledge. 1st Ed., 2001.

An interesting, if perhaps too colorful – for my personal use, anyway – look at women’s roles in early television as archetypal, sometimes almost deific figures. Their view of Laura Petrie is incredibly favorable, but unfortunately a little too out there for the ‘research proper.’

7) Wells, Paul. “Where Everybody Knows Your Name: Open Convictions and Closed Contexts in the American Situation Comedy.” Because I tell a joke or two: Comedy, Politics, and Social Difference. Ed. Wagg, Stephen. New York: Routledge, 1st Ed., 1998.

Good chunk of text on the blending of progress and conservatism in relation to the Kennedy era, which is noted to be ‘echoed’ in the content, tone, and context of The Dick Van Dyke Show.

8 ) Kim, L.S. “Be The One That You Want: Asian Americans in Television Culture, Onscreen and Beyond. Amerasia Journal. 30.1. 125-146.

A resource that helped define, for me, The Dick Van Dyke as a cultural ‘door opener’ rather than one that definitively crosses a progressive threshold.

9) Meehan, Diana M. Ladies of the Evening: Women Characters of Prime-Time Television. Metuchen and London: Scarecrow, 1983.

Much like the Hirschman article, an interesting look at women’s roles in early television, with some intriguing insights on Laura Petrie, but without quotable information – in terms of feminist material, however, it does quite well.

VIDEO

1) Reiner, Carl (Writer). Weiss, D. (Director). 1960. Head of the Family. C. Reiner (Producer), Head of the Family. New York: CBS.

2)Reiner, Carl. (Creator). (1961-1966). The Dick Van Dyke Show. New York, CBS.