Cold Shoulder: Dick Van Dyke's TV Tribute Sparks Controversy As Close Friends Feel They Were Iced Out
Van Dyke has suffered a number of health scares in recent years which forced him to miss several key events including the Emmys.
Jan. 5 2024, Published 3:00 p.m. ET
A group of Dick Van Dyke’s associates are allegedly raging mad after they were completely iced out of a CBS and Paramount+ special honoring the legendary funnyman, RadarOnline.com can exclusively reveal.
Sources told RadarOnline.com the producers of the two-hour Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic mysteriously neglected to invite Van Dyke’s son, Barry Van Dyke, 72, who co-starred with his dad on the hit television series Diagnosis: Murder, which aired from 1991 to 2002.
Dick Van Dyke was honored by CBS with a two hour tribute on December 21.
“He was completely ignored and wasn’t able to say anything on camera or introduce anything or pay tribute to his dad for God’s sake!” the source fumed.
What’s more, the much-touted tribute, which aired last month, used Cedric the Entertainer to introduce clips from iconic The Dick Van Dyke Show instead of handing the microphone to Larry Mathews who played his TV son Ritchie Petrie for five years in the wildly popular 1960s sitcom.
The show took an even more bizarre twist when Tichina Arnold and Beth Behrs, Cedric’s co-stars in the CBS sitcom The Neighbors performed "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" – which has absolutely nothing to do with the comic.
“What does he (Cedric) have to do with anything?” added the insider “It seems like CBS just paraded out their stars to showcase them instead of really researching about doing something for Dick Van Dyke.”
But some have complained the show neglected to include his co-star son Barry, and his TV-son Larry Mathews.
“They had a 20-year-old year old, YouTube dance girl pay tribute to him,” the source added. “Well h---, her parents weren’t even alive when we did the Dick Van Dyke show! They left out Ritchie Petrie, the only other living member of the Dick Van Dyke show besides Dick.”
“And they didn’t even ask Ritchie to say a tribute or a happy birthday or do anything for him!”.
The show honoring the 98-year-old Mary Poppins star aired on December 21 and featured music and dance, performances, and special guests who were inspired by the Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award winner’s lifelong career.
“I started with CBS under contract in 1955 with the CBS morning show, then The Dick Van Dyke Show and Diagnosis Murder,” the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang star said. “I’ve been with the CBS family for almost 70 years, and I couldn’t be prouder. I’m incredibly honored that CBS will be throwing a 98th birthday special for me. Can’t wait to be part of the show!”
The show was produced by Smart Dog Media, who are known for the popular Fox series, the Masked Singer, and Van Dyke’s wife, Arlene Silver, among others.
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Insiders said Van Dyke wouldn't miss an event unless it was 'serious'.
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Sources, however, accused the network of using the beloved actor’s popularity to promote its shows instead of producing an honest tribute.
“Now the big rub here is, that dozens and dozens of times in his life Dick has been asked what the highlight of his career and the answer is always The Dick Van Dyke Sow,” the source noted. “And they just glossed over it. This was like a big Broadway production thing with a bunch of numbers that people who didn’t even care about Dick were singing because CBS and the executive producers had to parade them out and showcase, they’re little-known stars.”
“Like I said, it seems to be very much like the producers just wanted to do a big song and dance show. And the executive producers were the people that do The Masked Singer. So that should kind of tell them a little bit about what they were doing.”
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