Don Rickles Books

In the five-year network TV life of "THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW", which encompassed 158 total episodes, this particular installment -- "All About Eavesdropping" -- is one of my all-time favorites.

This episode was filmed at the tail-end of Season #2 of the series (on April 9, 1963). It was the "head start" episode for Season 3, and was aired on Wednesday, October 23, 1963. It was co-written (impeccably) by Sheldon Keller and Howard Merrill. "Eavesdropping" was directed by Stanley Cherry.

The program, filmed in black-and-white (as were all Van Dyke Show eps.), begins in the living room of Rob and Laura Petrie of 148 Bonnie Meadow Road in New Rochelle, New York. The Petrie couple is getting ready to attend a casual dinner party at the home of their next-door neighbors (Jerry and Millie Helper).

As Rob waits for Laura to finish getting dressed ("a quarter of a minute" is when Laura says she's going to be ready), he accidentally turns on his son Ritchie's toy intercom, which has been hooked up to the Helper's house next door.

What Rob and Laura hear next is too tantalizing to miss (even though they know darn well they shouldn't be "eavesdropping" on their neighbors, hence the episode's title).

After hearing a few not-so-kind words from Millie and Jerry (regarding "Avocado & Peanut Butter Dip" and "Albert Schweitzer"), the Petries aren't too thrilled with the idea of now having to go to their neighbors' party (which will also be attended by Rob's co-workers from "The Alan Brady Show", Buddy Sorrell and Sally Rogers).

But the Petries decide it's too late to back out of their party invitation, so they elect to head next door (sans the bottle of wine they were originally planning on taking with them). What occurs next is classic TV situation comedy if there ever was any.

The scenes that take place at Jerry and Millie's house are always worth a replay when this episode is fired up in the DVD player, especially the hilarious "Charades" game. The comic timing of the excellent Van Dyke Show cast excels in just about every episode of this wonderful and timeless television series....and "Eavesdropping" is certainly no exception to that rule.

Dick Van Dyke (Rob), Mary Tyler Moore (Laura), Morey Amsterdam (Buddy), Rose Marie (Sally), Jerry Paris (Jerry), and Ann Morgan Guilbert (Millie) are the actors who make up this perfect cast, and each one has a "naturalness" and "real" quality to their acting that always makes each episode of this 1960s TV show worthy of additional praise.

Carl Reiner created "The Dick Van Dyke Show", and also wrote and produced many of the episodes during the five seasons it was on the air on CBS-TV (from 1961 to 1966). And Reiner's "real" touch shines through in very nearly each program in the series.

For example, the situations and dialogue written for "Eavesdropping" are entirely "real", in my opinion. Two people accidentally hear some things they shouldn't have heard and react in perfectly-natural, real, and believable ways.

The episode then plays out to its logical and "real"-like conclusion, with the two couples patching up their disagreement at the end of these 25 well-scripted minutes of fun, comedy, anger, and apologies (and that terrific Charades game). :)

"All About Eavesdropping" is available on DVD by way of Image Entertainment's picture-perfect second-season 5-Disc boxed collection of "The Dick Van Dyke Show", which hit store shelves in late October of 2003, and has been a highly-revisited DVD set for this writer ever since.

So, if you ever wanted to "eavesdrop" on a neighbor, take my advice and watch this flawless episode of "The Dick Van Dyke Show". You'll get an earful. And quite a few belly-laughs, to boot.

FAVORITE "EAVESDROPPING" QUOTES:

"You know what that is? That's malicious accusory!" -- Rob

"Boy, I haven't had laughs like this since the St. Valentine's Day Massacre." -- Buddy

"You mean you didn't give 'em the house?" -- Buddy

"I got it!! -- On The Street Where You Live!!" -- Rob

"Pearl Harbor? Stab in the back??" -- Sally

"Boy, this isn't Charades...this is a new game...World War Three." -- Buddy

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ADDENDUM......

MY "TOP 10" FAVORITE EPISODES OF "THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW":

1.) "All About Eavesdropping"
2.) "Harrison B. Harding Of Camp Crowder, Mo."
3.) "The Curious Thing About Women"
4.) "My Husband Is A Check-Grabber"
5.) "Empress Carlotta's Necklace"
6.) "Never Bathe On Saturday"
7.) "A Nice, Friendly Game Of Cards"
8.) "Punch Thy Neighbor"
9.) "Ray Murdock's X-Ray"
10.) "The Sick Boy And The Sitter"

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THE ULTIMATE DICK VAN DYKE RECOMMENDATION:

"THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW: THE COMPLETE SERIES" (All 5 Seasons on DVD-Video).

The above-linked Amazon webpage includes my own full product review (very full), with many episode highlights. Any true-blue Van Dyke Show fan who doesn't own all five seasons of the series on DVD-Video should have his or her head examined by Dr. Phil Nevins (Rob Petrie's psychiatrist). :)

I don't think it's a coincidence that Rob and Laura Petrie (Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore) bore a fleeting resemblance to the then-reigning couple of Camelot, President John F. Kennedy and his fashion-forward wife Jackie, when the classic sitcom debuted in 1961. The youthful appeal of the Petries broke the mold established by previous depictions of married couples simply because they looked like they were actually having sex. It also helped that the show was created by Carl Reiner, a veteran comedy writer of Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows alongside Mel Brooks and Woody Allen. This experience was the inspiration for the setting of Van Dyke's show, which in turn was populated by one of TV's best casts.

The premise was simple - Rob Petrie was the head comedy writer for "The Alan Brady Show", a popular comedy-variety series based in Manhattan. Rob worked with two other writers, Borscht Belt comic Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam) and man-hungry Sally Rogers (Rose Marie), under the constant glare of producer Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon), who happens to be the reviled brother-in-law of the show's star. At home in suburban New Rochelle is Rob's pretty wife Laura, a former USO dancer, and their son Richie (Larry Mathews), along with their next-door neighbors, dentist Jerry Helper (Jerry Paris) and his wife Millie (Ann Morgan Guilbert). Unlike previous shows that focused on either the workplace or home life, The Dick Van Dyke Show gave equal attention to both aspects of Petrie's world and often creatively synthesized both. Reiner occasionally played Brady, who was initially just heard and shown from the back.

A total of 158 episodes were produced over five seasons, and all are available individually for download on Amazon Unbox Video Downloads. Several are memorable, but I have two particular favorites that I downloaded to great satisfaction. Written by Sheldon Keller and Howard Merrill, the first is "All About Eavesdropping" (Season Two, Episode 33) in which Rob and Laura overhear some catty comments Jerry and Millie make about them. The complication is that the Petries hear the remarks over Richie's toy intercom unbeknownst to the Helpers. The Petries' seething anger is played to coordinated perfection by Van Dyke and Moore, who showcase their passive-aggressiveness in a hysterical game of charades ("Malicious accusory!").

Written by Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, the second is the classic "Coast-to-Coast Big Mouth" (Season Five, Episode One), in which Laura blurts out on a nationally televised game show that Alan Brady is bald, a revelation that could cost Rob his job. Moore never had a better showcase for her unique talent of simultaneously crying and talking under duress. She and Reiner are hilarious in the scene where she tries to apologize to Brady in front of a line of styrofoam heads each with one of Brady's cast-off toupees. As Brady angrily asks Laura what he should do with the toupees, her response is classic - "There must be some needy bald people?". If you're like me, a baby boomer who has seen every episode at least a dozen times, the flexibility to download favorite episodes is a great breakthrough. This is indeed classic television, and the quality of the video downloads is first-rate on my PC.

I first watched this movie with a group of my guy friends from work and soon it was clear we couldn't make it through a day without quoting a line from it! Norm McDonald at his funniest!

i love norm macdonald and this is the dumbest movie of all time

if your into dumb humor...or watching artie lang trying to act in a PG 13 arena....this is a good buy

If I could have rated this movie 0 stars I would have. It is terrible, save your money.

OK, this film bombed at the theaters and I am guessing it was panned by the critics. HOWEVER, it has some of the funniest lines and scenes in movie history. Artie and Norm work beautifully together. MOREOEVR, there is one scene in this movie that makes me literally cry because it is so funny, no change that, because it is so ridiculous.

I first watched this movie with a group of my guy friends from work and soon it was clear we couldn't make it through a day without quoting a line from it! Norm McDonald at his funniest!

i love norm macdonald and this is the dumbest movie of all time

if your into dumb humor...or watching artie lang trying to act in a PG 13 arena....this is a good buy

If I could have rated this movie 0 stars I would have. It is terrible, save your money.

OK, this film bombed at the theaters and I am guessing it was panned by the critics. HOWEVER, it has some of the funniest lines and scenes in movie history. Artie and Norm work beautifully together. MOREOEVR, there is one scene in this movie that makes me literally cry because it is so funny, no change that, because it is so ridiculous.

Just finished reading Rickles' Book. Although "entertaining" and funny, I was mostly disappointed. All chapters very short, doubled spaced, many blank pages. The 239 pages could have been condensed to thirty-nine, with pictures. Glad I did not purchase this book and borrowed from local library.

Funny and Entertaining? Not really.
Occasionally Amusing. Sure.
Interesting. Barely.
Do we learn something about Don Rickles?
We do, but the sketchiness he provides about himself is almost not worth the read. Lots of name-dropping, nickel-and-dime words a sixth-grader would appreciate...and plenty of unrelated one or two-page personal anecdotes he might call "Chapters." The handful of included photos are somewhat captivating (if for only the shots of the many show-biz names now passed) --Not a yawn, but it's also not a very deep or engrossing chronology. It is Rickles' "talentless to talented" story that gives us only a nebulous idea about how he made it big in comedy. It's unfortunate that The Hockey Puck* gives us only a surface outline of himself. Amid a myriad of described close encounters with family, big-time show-biz and sports figures, each could/should have been far more developed for a more complete, more interesting picture of "Mr. Friendly." Don't even wait for the paperback. Visit the library for Don's book.. -But expect some extremely light reading.
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*Courtesy of Don Rickles. The 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s.

I really enjoyed this book. It's nice to read a book with a happy ending and that doesn't involve some evil dark side of a comedian. I believe if Don was born into today's generation he'd be twice the superstar. A man ahead of his time.

The best parts of the book are when he recalls his old acts and jokes. At least twelve times I laughed outloud. If I had to say something bad about this book it would be that we didn't get enough stories and jokes. Don was blessed to grow up in the amazing days of Vegas. I know he must have endless stories. A few more would have been welcome.

This book is a good read which will leave you smiling.

This book was very good. You get to see a side of Rickle's you don't normally see. The side that loves his mother, wife, and friends with all his heart. Every story is very interesting. It's crazy how many celebrities he is close friends with. It's not necessarily one of the funniest books I've read but if you like Rickles you will definitely enjoy this book.

First let me state that I am a BIG Don Rickles fan, been one for over 40 years. I'm a musician (trumpet) and have had the honor of working with him (New Years's Eve 1996, Tropicana Hotel in Vegas). If you haven't seen his show - run to the ticket booth as fast as you can the next time he's in your area.

And the book is a great book, full of behind the scenes stories and Don's history in the biz.

The problem is, even tho it has 239 pages (short for an autobiography in itself, most chapters are no more than 3 pages long) by the time you factor in completely blank pages and pages with only one or two lines of print, the book is probably closer to 175 pages in length - WAY too short for a $24 retail book, STILL too much for the Amazon $16.32 discounted price I paid.

I highly recommend this book, but if you want to buy it, buy it used.

This is a surprisingly well written biography by an actor whom we thought was only a pretty face. He tells us some inside facts of his thoughts, his life and marriage and how he has grown and changed. The tittle says it all and then he fleshes it out. I'm giving this book to a lifelong friend who was a huge fan of Kirk Douglas 50-60 years ago.

I could not put the book down ,I had to read it from cover to cover . He is a one of a kind person It shows how you will always go back to your roots

I have read past books by Kirk Douglas which were much better, mainly because they told a story, and this book is mostly ramblings. It is okay to pick up and read a bit from time to time but not a book you will be engrossed in.

You have to be tough to face your own mortality and Kirk Douglas faces it feisty, reflective, and sometimes furious. In addition to great stories from his life that he hasn't told before, this book tells of the things that, 90 years on, move his heart and his soul. I was surprised, delighted and stirred all the way through.

Kurt does it again. At ninety he is still feisty and funny. And his life- story which he has told in two previous books is only enriched by another retelling. He opens with the story of his ninetieth birthday party, a gala family event in which he laughs and is laughed at as well as celebrated and appreciated. The little kid from Amsterdam did not do so bad. He may have started out as a poor hungry kid robbing eggs from the neighbor's chicken coop but he with a lot of moxie and ability made it to the top of the American entertainment world. In this book which comes across as a series of small essays or talks he wanders all over the place but always interestingly. He in his long career knew a lot of remarkable people and he tells about many of his old buddies. He also in the course of this speaks about how much he misses many of them, one of the sad consequences of a very long life. He also speaks about the tragic death of his youngest son, whose grave he visits twice a week.
Kurt did not make it the easy way. A heart attack, a helicopter crash which set him back a lot, a stroke which took his speech from him. The stroke however did not take away his will and through great effort much help he fought back to speak and think clearly again. Part of his wake- up process was a decision to explore Judaism which he had sort of forgotten about in his prime acting years ( Except for his yearly Yom Kippur synagogue visits, and the movies made in Israel which he is a staunch supporter of) His strong desire to help young people to educate them to moral dignity and lives of contributing to making a better world is also expressed here. Also he tells the story of his fifty- three year and running marriage to his second wife,Ann, and how this has been the great love story of his life.
Kurt has guts and heart .He is a tough, caring person, who will always of course be most known for some of his remarkable performances on the screen ( Lonely Are the Brave, The Champion, Spartacus, The Clown, Lust or Life) but his works as a writer also have great entertainment and educational value.
A wonderfully enjoyable little book by a great human being.

I would like to ask a question instead of giving my review. That question is: how do I get in touch with Don Rickles agent or manager? I want to hire him as a guest speaker at our Bausch & Lomb company cermony. Please advise on name and phone number. Craig Shatto 1.800.227.1427 x7067

I wish the author well in his persuit of fame and fortune. Don A Rickels benefits from having the same name as the famous comic, however they are both different people. I am a professional Comic, Producer, and Public speaker. I tend to have very high standards for all material I review. The information in the pamphlet was not very helpful to me. I was disapointed as I expected the real Don Rickels to have written this. That is why I bought it. I intend on sending this pamphlet(it's not even a book) back. - Good luck, and if your a comic, keep going on stage, and ask advice of other comics always.