Carl Reiner: Why Van Dyke is the best, Trump the worst and Mel Brooks is a savvy movie critic
Carl Reiner didn't get to play Rob Petrie, the central character of the classic 1960s sitcom based on his life as a comedy writer and family man. The role went instead to Dick Van Dyke, and became "The Dick Van Dyke Show."
But that's about all he didn't get to do.
The legendary writer-director-producer-actor, 97, known for acting in the "Ocean's" films, his "2,000 Year Old Man" comedy albums with pal Mel Brooks; and as the director of "Oh, God!," "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" and "All of Me," explains why "Van Dyke" still resonates as it returns to the classic rerun schedule of MeTV (Memorable Entertainment Television) with back-to-back episodes Sunday (11 EDT/PDT).
"When I started that show, I had a feeling it was going to have a long life because it was based on something real: my life," says Reiner, who, like Rob Petrie, was a comedy writer living with his family in the New York suburbs. For longevity's sake, "I told myself, 'No slang of the day. No politics. Just ethics.' The only thing that remains for a long time is the ethics. (And) this show did have a life that should go on after I'm gone."
A World War II veteran and father of three, including actor-director Rob (from his long marriage to the late Estelle Reiner), chatted with USA TODAY from his Beverly Hills, California, home.
Question: First, Happy Birthday! You turned 97 in March, joining your friend and "Hot in Cleveland" girlfriend, Betty White.
Carl Reiner: I was in the Army, and Betty's husband, Allen Ludden, was a captain in the Army, so I call her my captain-in-law. Doris Day (turned) 97 (April 3), so I wrote her a note and said, "Welcome to the 97 Club." It was nice remembering how we worked together on (1963's) "The Thrill of It All."
Q: Norman Lear, who cast your son Rob in "All in the Family," joins your club in July.
Reiner: Norman is our old friend from Fire Island. I never gave Rob a job, except a little job as an extra ... Norman is phenomenal as far as fathering him into the business. Making him Meathead gave him his career.
Q: Did you plan to play the lead character on what eventually became "Van Dyke"?
Reiner: I did. I was getting offered a lot of situation comedies. They weren't very good, and my wife said, "Why don't you write one?" So, I wrote "Head of the Family" for myself. It didn't sell. Somebody gave the scripts to (producers) Sheldon Leonard and Danny Thomas. Sheldon said, "These are wonderful." I said, "Sheldon, I don't want to fail twice with the same material." He said – and this is my favorite line: "You won't fail. We'll get a better actor to play YOU." It was Dick Van Dyke, maybe the most talented man that's ever been on television."
Q: How was the culture different then?
Reiner: We did a show where we had FBI surveillance (from) Rob’s house. A network executive asked, "Are there really black FBI agents?" I said, "If there aren't, there are going to be from now on." … Not too long after that, we had a black president. We must have paved the way a little bit.
Q: Do you have any favorite episodes of the show (MeTV will feature episodes chosen by Reiner for the first five weeks)?
Reiner: I favor the ones people said wouldn't work and one of those was "It May Look Like a Walnut" (May 12, 11 EDT/PDT). I decided to do a version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Instead of pods, I used walnuts. Rob, who thinks he's having a nightmare, opens the closet and a thousand pounds of walnuts come sliding out, filling the floor, with Mary Tyler Moore riding the crest of the wave on her stomach.
Q: Did you see Van Dyke's performance in "Mary Poppins Returns"?
Reiner: He's the best thing in it. He can still do anything. … He came to my house with his wife the other day. We had a nice little reunion.
Q: Speaking of friends, do you get together with Mel Brooks?
Reiner: Mel comes over most every night. We'll have dinner and watch "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune." After dinner, we'll watch a movie, if anything good is playing that night. We once said, "Any movie that has the line, 'Secure the perimeter,' you know it's good."
Q: What do you watch on TV?
Reiner: Today, because we have somebody in the White House who's cocking up our country, the most interesting people are the ones who can make fun of him or mincemeat out of him: the Bill Mahers, Stephen Colberts, Rachel Maddows.
Q: You take on President Trump via Twitter.
Reiner: My tweets on him get thousands of responses. … He's proud of the fact that he's the worst human being that ever worked in the (Oval Office). He's the best – at being rotten. He takes that as a compliment.
Q: As someone with such a long and accomplished career (including 10 Emmys), do you have any advice?
Reiner: "When you get up, start a project. Work on the project. Improve it. When you're happy with the improvements, start a new project," he says, quoting from "How to Live Forever" by "Sumwon Hoohaz," on which he collaborated. "When you think about it, that's exactly true. If you wake up and you have something to do, you live. You can't die. You've got to finish that thing."
We think he's pulling our leg regarding the book (he has many real ones available at his website, randomcontent.com), but the advice is rock solid. Just consider the man's life.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Carl Reiner: Why Van Dyke is the best, Trump the worst and Mel Brooks is a savvy movie critic
