I remember the original Dick van Dyke series fondly and one of my favorite episodes is the one in which Dick and his colleagues visit a resort up in the Catskills in order to do some work for star Alan Brady. Mel, the producer, has forgotten to reserve their rooms, and the only space available is an unused cabin that the manager tells them is haunted. Rob (Dick's character) and Buddy (Morey Amsterdam's character) decide not to tell "the girls" (Mary Tyler Moore, who played Dick's wife Laura, and Rose Marie, who played Sally, the third writer on the Alan Brady Show). Of course, various spooky things ensue: a fire in the fireplace that no one lights, a lamp in the sitting room that won't stay turned off, doors that open by themselves, and finally, a creepy face in the bedroom mirror that appears to Laura. With that, the four decide to get out of Dodge (or the cabin), but, mysteriously, Buddy, and then Sally, and then Laura, disappear, until only Rob is left. The entire time, however, Rob keeps insisting to the others that there is a perfectly logical explanation for everything that is happening. He has originally maintained to the manager that no ghosts could possibly be inhabiting the cabin and he sticks to his story, until he too sees the creepy face, this time in the glass of the door of the sitting room closet. Of course all is finally revealed. The episode is "The Ghost of A. Chanz", and it's part of season four of the complete Dick van Dyke show DVD collection.
What's interesting about this episode is the series of attempts by Rob to explain the eyewitness evidence with rational explanations, including "scientific experiments" and the increasing resistance of Buddy, Sally and eventually Laura to those explanations. Even though they should, and probably do, realize that he must be correct, they prefer to run away, even in a thunderstorm, rather than stay in what is probably a hoaxed environment. In addition, they scare themselves with popular culture references: "All we need is a thunderstorm and Vincent Price." Soon, a thunderstorm starts up, and then a door opens of its own accord, and Sally murmurs, "Vincent?" They know, after all, that there is a locked closet in the sitting room to which they don't have access, and that others do have access to the front door of the cabin. A handyman has earlier entered without being admitted and delivered wood. They don't know why anyone should be playing a trick on them, but it's a possibility. However, one does have to realize that some show business folks do tend to be somewhat superstitious. Remember that belief that actors have that one is never supposed to say the name of the "Scottish play" aloud, for example?
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When Rob does find out what is going on, he's furious. Mel has set everything up in an attempt to jumpstart the writers' thinking for a new television series that Alan would like them to create. He has been filming their reactions--the entire evening is fodder for a carbon copy of the old "Candid Camera" series. Although that show is not mentioned, Rob points out that Alan's idea would be theft of the Allen Funt idea, which at that time had been on the air for over a decade. Mel's response? "Why not steal from the best?" Rob is livid. This episode pokes fun at the entire notion of hauntings and people's responses to them, and then at their unhappy reactions when they realize that their childishness will be revealed to the world. If ghosts don't exist, and there is a rational explanation for strange occurrences, we do not want others to know we have been frightened by practical jokes--at least not without our consent. We don't want our grown-up facades to be revealed as just that. As Buddy says to Laura when she gently pokes fun at his unwarranted fears at the end of the episode, "You were doing some pretty good squawking there yourself, lady." His point is that at least he is more honest than she--he was scared and he admits it.
"Candid Camera" was the granddaddy of reality series, and of tv hoaxes, and of "funniest videos" as well. These series have certainly given a boost to the lawsuit industry, as people who didn't want to be caught on tape got caught on tape, and people who agreed to be on tape thought better of it. All by itself, this episode has a lot of references to a lot of situations that are still going on today. But then, that's true of the Dick van Dyke show generally. A really great tv series, and this is one of the great episodes.
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