The Dick Van Dyke Show - Episode Guide

Head comedy writer Rob Petrie talks his wife Laura into leaving their slightly sick son Ritchie at home with a babysitter while they attend a work gathering

Rob tries to fake hes not sick, when he fears his co-writers can do a show without him

When Rob has to start working late nights with a beautiful actress Laura starts to worry.

Much to Rob's horror,Laura tries her hand at matchmaking when she invites her quiet introverted cousin Thomas over for a meal with exactly the opposite Sally.

Rob suffers with guilt when he has to go on a business trip the night of his son's play

While rummaging through Rob's old army equipment, Rob and Laura recall that he broke her foot the night they met

Without checking with Laura , Rob agrees to look after Larry-Buddys dog over the upcoming long weekend. Not only do Laura and Richie have other plans , Richie is terrified the large dog will eat him.

When a old Army buddy comes for a visit, Rob can't remember who he is

Laura thinks she is losing her sex appeal so she decides to dye her hair blond.. then changes her mind when Rob says he loves her with brown hair on the phone.

Rob forgets to get 44 tickets to the Alan Brady Show for the PTA

Rob and Richie find themselves more than a little lost when Laura briefly resumes her dancing career.

Laura convinces Rob to treat Sally like a women and not one of the fellas leading Buddy to thing Rob has fallen in love with Sally

Rob buys Laura a huge gaudy necklace that she secretly hates, to get rid of it, she gives it to Robs mother,  that loves it as a gift

Buddy accepts a writing job that Rob turned down but has to get out of his contract writing for the Alan Brady Show, it backfires and Buddy ends up with no job

Rob thinks Buddy owes him money but it turns out it's the other way around

When Robs old Army buddy shows up the same night as he is hosting a dinner party for his sponsor, knowing they will clash, Rob tries to get rid of the Army buddy to no avail

Rob, Buddy and Sally write a skit about a wife opening her husbands mail angering Laura because she is guilty of doing the same thing.

After Jerry teases Rob about writing a rotten show, Rob accidently punches Jerry in the nose.

Rob tells the story about when Richie was born.

When Buddy's wife is out of town, Buddy stays with Rob and Laura

Ritchie is starting to learn some new words. He says a bad word to Laura in the car. She thinks ignoring it is the best course, but Rob wants to have a "man-to-man" talk with Ritchie. Rob also wants to confront the family that he assumes is responsible for Ritchie learning the bad words, but that could prove embarrassing

Rob is father of the week at Richie's school

Sally helps get a dance craze started.

Rob has jury duty

Romance enters Sally's life in the form of an insurance salesman named Leo Fassbinder.

Buddy laments the decline of the American male and yearns for the "good old days". Rob starts to feel he does too much housework. He has a nightmare about the bad circumstances of the "old days"

Rob's sleep walking brother visits.

Rob's sleep walking brother visits

Laura meets a man running a tie shop that says he gave Rob his first job

Rob reluctantly brings home 2 baby ducks from the office 

To prove that a wife cannot always recognize her husband on the phone, Rob disguises his voice and calls Laura.

Rob discovers Laura's secret bank account. Its mystery preoccupies his thoughts till he finally has to confront her and ask what it's for.

Rob tells Ritchie the story about how a crippled jeep and a sprained ankle made Rob two hours late for his own wedding.

Rob doesn't know what he's in for when he invites Buddy's charming, pool hustling brother Blackie over for dinner and a friendly game of billiards.

Ritchie finds his birth certificate and wants an explanation for his middle name.

A hypnotist visits a Petrie dinner party where Rob accidentally picks up a post-hypnotic suggestion.

When handsome Ric Vallone is the guest star on the Alan Brady Show, Rob grows increasingly concerned that Sally is falling madly for the star, who is unaware of this complication.

Rob and Laura have a terrible fight, after each has experienced a difficult day. Afterwards, each of them remember the fight very differently.

Rob suspects co-writers Buddy and Sally of carrying on a clandestine romance.

Ritchie claims he keeps being attacked by a giant woodpecker. 

Rob begins to fear that he is allergic to his own family when proximity to Laura and Ritchie makes him start sneezing.

Rob suffers pangs of guilt after a dental emergency arises while Jerry's out of town, forcing Rob to accept treatment from another dentist whom Rob finds superior.

Dreading the thought of being forced to direct a fund-raising show by Mrs Billings of the PTA, Rob remembers the previous year's show when he tried to cast the role of Cleopatra.

A successive string of neighborhood cat burglaries makes the Petries and the Helpers jumpy, all of whom get victimized despite their hyper-vigilance over every little sound.

Rob recounts the wrath and fury he encountered when he broke his engagement with his hometown sweetheart, Dorothy, after he and Laura became engaged.

Rob does an interview with a tv interviewer that makes Laura very angry

After a heated argument with Mel over a sketch, Rob walks out thinking he has lost his job

Laura is upset with Rob after he picks up a check.

The Petries hire a painter for their living room who ends up doing a lot, other than what they hired him to do. 

The gang vacations at Rob's army buddy's new resort, but when Rob incapacitates its headlining comic, he gets the gang to help put on a show to make up for it. 

In answer to an invitation, the Petries attend a swank dinner party thrown by wealthy Mrs. Huntington, which later reveals itself to be a fund-raiser where Rob's compliant gesture turns into a donation far beyond his means. 

Rob plans to make himself scarce when he hears French heartthrob Jacques Savon is Alan's guest star, a man whose marriage Rob feels responsible for breaking up. Oddly enough, Laura feels responsible, too. 

Tracy Rattigan, the show's guest host while Alan Brady's on vacation, is a charming but incorrigible flirt, the extent of which Laura and Rob discover to their discomfort. 

Suspected infidelity puts Buddy's marriage to Pickles in jeopardy, and Rob, friends to both, finds himself situated between an enraged husband and an hysterical wife. 

Laura's old beau re-enters the Petries' lives as Alan Brady's newest sponsor. His appearance coincides with Rob's agitation over personal finances, triggering insecurities.

Rob drives himself beyond distraction trying to figure out whether Laura is going to throw him a surprise party for his birthday and, if she IS going to throw a surprise party, when and where it's going to happen.

Sally dates a conman that wants her to write standup material for him.

Richie gives his dad an idea about a talking bowling pin, unbeknownst to Rob it was already done by another tv show.

After over hearing a conversation by Jerry and Millie, Rob and Laura have to go to there house for a party.

Rob tells the story about how after Laura gave birth, he thinks they came home from the hospital with the wrong baby.

Rob, Laura, Buddy and Sally go to an auction and accidently bid on a painting.

When Rob and Laura's insurance man comes to the house, Laura keeps disappearing only to reveal to Rob she was only 17 when they got married, and that's not a legal age in New York.

Rob and Laura get married again so they will be legally married.

When Uncle George comes for a visit, they try to fix him up with Herman's mother only to have him flip for Sally.

As director of the annual area variety show, Rob finds himself trapped between casting Laura as this year's leading woman (again) or a dazzlingly talented newcomer to the neighborhood.

Following a concussion at the office, Rob winds up at a swinging party in New Jersey with no idea how he got there.

Big Max Calvada wants Rob Sally and Buddy to write a night club act for his nephew that has very little talent

Rob thinks he witnessed a robbery and goes to the police station to report it

Rob becomes the victim of undying gratitude and amorous attentions when he elevates a talented young chorus girl to a featured role on the show.

The Alan Brady Show puts on special Christmas themed episode full of musical numbers and Christmas fun.

When Rob takes a lady reporter to lunch that wants to interview him, Laura shows up and make Rob sound like a star... angering his co-writers and Alan Brady when the article comes out

Richie has 63 kids coming to his birthday party, Rob and Laura try to figure out how to entertain them.

When a handsome bachelor moves in next door, Rob and Laura turn matchmakers.

Laura meets her old love and discovers he has entered the priesthood.

A social game of poker turns sour when it's discovered Rob has been playing with a marked deck. 

Rob consults a psychiatrist to determine whether a series of mysterious ailments is psychosomatic.

Buddy and Rob are left writing the script without Sally when she becomes a hit as a regular guest on late night talk show.

A manipulative and sultry guest star has Mel replaced by Rob as producer during her appearance on the Alan Brady Show, much to Rob's discomfort.

The purchase of multiple burial plots triggers a battle over primary affection between Rob's and Laura's two sets of parents.

Laura dreads telling Rob about the big passenger-side scratch she found on their brand new car (which Rob adores) when she went shopping in it.

Rob rounds up three notable personalities from the old days of radio for a TV special.

Laura once commissioned an artist for a fully clothed portrait of herself, which he, taking artist license, rendered nude and now has standing in an art gallery for all to see.

With Laura out of town for a few days, Rob tries to figure out what to do in his spare time. Eventually, he looks in on an old Army buddy, who is at a nightclub. Unfortunately, it results in confusion that ultimately lands Rob behind bars.

Rob and Laura suspect the worst when they spy Jerry dining out with another woman.

Laura takes a creative writing course, and the teacher extols Laura's writing abilities. Rob infers from this unwarranted attention that Mr. Caldwell is using Laura to meet him. In fact, Mr. Caldwell's interest is only in Laura.

Mel wants a magazine reporter to watch the writers at work, but Rob thinks they'll all end up performing for the reporter instead of getting anything done. Turns out, that's not the half of it.

When a drunk accosts Laura and Rob in a downtown bar, Laura surprises Rob by using a judo throw that flattens the man. Rob begins to feel inadequate as the "protector" of his household and sets out to prove a point with Laura.

Mel invites everyone to a fishing lodge but does not make reservations, then some strange and haunting things start occurring.

Roger, a babysitter in high school whom the Petries adore, develops a huge crush on Laura, and Rob, not realizing who is involved, encourages him to express his love to the object of his desire.

A two-week-old feud between the Petries and the Helpers suffers a twist when a dinner invitation arrives one week late.

An old friend of Rob's shows up to offer him a job with his hugely successful but racy gentlemen's magazine. Rob says he won't do it, but Laura is not so sure. Rob is sorely tempted by the wining, dining, and the beautiful girls.

A red rose found in Sally's desk bespeaks of a secret admirer, but when she learns it's Bert the jocular deli man, she doesn't take it seriously (but should).

Rob relates the story of how he and Laura became friends with Lyle Delp, a convict in prison. Lyle had robbed the Petries years ago in an elevator, but then the three were trapped together when the elevator stuck.

Another shows writers get a big pay raise, Rob sets out to get raises for Buddy and Sally but ends up getting one for himself instead

When Sally wants to take some of Buddy's prescription medicine, Rob warns her about the dangers of taking someone else's prescription by recounting the story of Laura meeting his parents for the first time and the disastrous results when she takes some medicine belonging to Millie.

Rob has a prank played on him and swears to get back at Buddy, but it's not Rob that does it

Rob loses the script that he and the gang worked on all week only to have a bum find it and demand $2500 for it

Rob regrets casting Ritchie and Freddie in a commercial after Laura and Millie turn into unbearable stage mothers.

Rob cries fowl when he takes a shady salesman to court for selling Laura smelly feather pillows.

Buddy and Rob run a shoe store they've invested in after chasing off its only full-time salesman.

Rob and Laura are in a quandary over how Ritchie can protect himself from a girl who's been persistently beating him up at school.

When Rob discovers that he is not listed as a writer on a hit song he contributed to, he has to fight for his share of the royalties.

To explain his annual $37.50 "friendship" check to Jerry, Rob tells his new accountant the story of how he and Laura found their new house.

Sally falls head over heels over handsome, suave Anthony Stone, whom she met while on vacation in Jamaica. All is not what it seems as Rob and Buddy uncover a shocking secret about Sally's new boyfriend that will only cause heartache.

The Petries take a much-needed holiday, but their plans for a romantic escape go awry when Laura gets her toe stuck in a bathtub spout.

Rob recalls his interview for The Alan Brady Show, which took place after a radio broadcast that kept him on the air for 100 hours straight.

Rob and Laura have no choice but to wear gloves to an important community banquet due to an unusual accident while dying a costume for Ritchie's school play.

Rob buys a small motorcycle, Laura is not happy about it.

When Buddy gets Rob and Laura a fur coat at a wholesale price, everything goes wrong.

Laura accidentally reveals a secret about Alan Brady on a national TV program.

Rob starts hearing a strange noise but no one will believe him, then he see's what appears to be a flying saucer.

The producers use a dog from a pound in a comedy sketch, and once the dog's work is done, Rob tries to find the ugly canine a new home.

A news article prompts Rob and Laura to recall the extremely handsome Cpl. Clark Rice, who won Laura in an Army raffle and almost derailed Rob and Laura's relationship.

Laura regrets hauling Rob into taking art lessons with her after the lady teacher appears to show an above-average interest in him.

Rob inherits an old roll-top desk from his late great-uncle Hezekiah that contains "wealth" of some sort hinted at in a song.

When Freddie Helper connects the freckles on Rob's back with his marker, an interesting picture appears, one that others feel Rob should make publicly known.

When school officials hear about Ritchie's version of the birds and the bees, Rob and Laura are forced to meet with the school's psychologist.

Police question Rob regarding a fracas in a barroom where a woman was injured. Rob finds himself in a jam when his accounting of his whereabouts during the fight doesn't hold water.

Laura gives Rob an expensive watch at a birthday party attended by several family friends, but when the watch goes missing shortly after the party, Rob reluctantly concludes that one of his close friends may be a thief.

While in an out-of-town wedding party with Laura, troubles plague Rob in trying to watch a TV show for Alan Brady, making his ability at even attending the wedding reception dubious.

New Rochelle politicians approach Rob to be their next city councilman. Flattered, Rob considers it but soon finds his life under their complete management.

As election day approaches, Rob finds his political rival extremely knowledgeable, well-prepared and well-suited for the job of councilman. Rob's strengths: a winning smile and physical height.

Laura accidentally drops a recently bestowed Petrie family heirloom (as ugly as it is priceless) down the garbage disposal and tries to cover up the mishap before anyone notices.

After Alan Brady blows up and fires Mel, the gang works to get his job back, even Buddy.

For a laugh, Sally advertises for a husband on national television. Among the numerous humorous responses, one serious reply stands out.

When Buddy keeps making excuses to leave the office early, Rob and Sally think he may be cheating on his wife.. but they are wrong.

When Rob, Jerry, Millie take the kids camping leaving Laura at home by her self, she gets scared being alone.

don't be nervous, don't be nervous! 

Rob finds a memo to Alan Brady in the trash about cutting the writing staff by one.. they start looking for another show to write for.

Alan Brady invades Jerry and Millie's anniversary party when doing a day in his life

The gang has to get back a script with nasty remarks in it about Allen Brady before he reads it

The FBI needs the Petrie house to keep surveillance on the house across the street to catch a crook

Rob finds out he is not an actor

New Neighbors move in and Jerry and Millie get jealous

While visiting Jerry for some dental work, while under the gas he has a dream of being a western lawman

Rob's autobiography conjures up scenes from the past and leads Alan Brady to buy the book for a television series.