Monday, October 3, 2011

"THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW" @ 50 - MAKE ROOM FOR KOLAC

Getting down to the wire, so I thought I'd write up a story about my favorite episode from 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' - "It May Look Like A Walnut!"......

There's a very good reason why Rob Petrie thought that the main character in the sci-fi horror movie "Invasion Of The Twiloites"* looked like Danny Thomas.

And, no. It's not because he was played by Danny Thomas. Well, yeah, he was as far as the real world is concerned, but I'm talking within the inner reality of Toobworld.

No, it's because the character was being played by an actor who looked like Danny Thomas.

With 20/20/20/20 hindsight, I think the main actor in the movie was Danny Williams, a night club comedian who would occasionally make forays into the magic world of the movies.

"Invasion Of The Twiloites" (for want of a better title, and quite frankly, I like it!) sounds like it was a cheaply produced movie that hit the movie theaters soon after "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" grabbed the public's attention. And the producers (probably located at Mammoth Studios as seen in 'The Beverly Hillbillies') thought that Danny Williams would help them with marquee value.

Or - more likely - he was the best they could get for what they were willing to pay.

Even if you don't think this theoretical connection to 'Make Room For Daddy' is viable, in the long run it doesn't really matter. The connection is already there between the two sitcoms, thanks to a crossover appearance by Buddy Sorrell:

October 21, 1963
BUDDY SORRELL WRITES FOR KATHY WILLIAMS
Kathy Williams appears on a talk show to tell insult jokes about her husband, night club comic Danny Williams. She hires Buddy Sorrell to write her jokes.
('Make Room For Daddy' - "The Woman Behind The Jokes")**
BCnU!

* Oh, why not? After all, the plot sounds like "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers".....

** That's an excerpt from "The Petrie Chronologie" which I wasn't able to complete before today's deadline came up.

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