The Dick Van Dyke Show was the brain child of Carl Reiner and was loosely based on his semi-autobiographical novel  Enter Laughing. The premise of the series revolves around a television studio in New York, the writers and the egotistical star of fictional The Alan Brady Show, as well as Rob Petrie’s home life with his wife and rambunctious child.

Dick Van Dyke portrayed Rob Petrie, the sophomore head-comedy-writer of the fabricated show. Reiner not only produced the series, but also played Rob’s boss, the bald toupee-wearing egotistical Alan Brady. Much of the laughter came from Van Dyke’s schtick as he played off the goofy writing team, which included Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam) and Sally Rogers (Rose Marie), and the disparaging producer, Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon).

Mary Tyler Moore played the straight role of Rob’s nervous-Nellie stay-at-home-wife. Adding to the fun were loony neighbors Jerry and Millie Helper (Jerry Paris and Ann Morgan Guilbert) and the Petrie’s young son Ritchie (Larry Mathews). The show often took its inspiration from the culture of its day, and then poked fun at it. “It May Look Like a Walnut” is one such episode. Rob  watches a scary show on tv about activated walnuts and monsters from the planet Twilo, and the following day walnuts eerily show up scattered around his home. The show hints at the ridiculous drama of sci-fi films and The Twilight Zone of the 60s, while poking fun at them.

The CBS comedy hit ran from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966, and garnered 15 Emmy Awards during those six years.

The first two seasons of the classic show are available for viewing on Hulu and all five seasons are available for purchase from Amazon.