PAGE 2 • TV
THE BULLETIN • JUNE 3 - 9, 2021
The Kennedy Center
Honors celebrate
Dick Van Dyke and others
BY JAY BOBBIN
The Kennedy Center Honors still can
be surprising, in that some legends of the
performing arts haven’t gotten them sooner.
A prime example: Dick Van Dyke, one
of the most beloved stars in television
history. He’s in this year’s Honors “class”
as CBS broadcasts the 43rd annual
ceremony Sunday, June 6, reconfigured
for the coronavirus-pandemic age with
segments taped in and around the Center
in Washington, D.C. The latest Honors
also celebrate actress-director-choreographer
Debbie Allen, singer-songwriter and activist
Joan Baez, country-music superstar Garth
Brooks and violinist Midori. Past Honors
recipient Gloria Estefan is the host.
A winner of five Primetime Emmy Awards
plus a Tony (for “Bye Bye Birdie”) and
a Grammy, the ever-friendly Van Dyke
muses that being notified of his Kennedy
Center Honor “completely escaped my
comprehension. It’s just beyond my
expectations. I had no idea this was coming.”
While he’s gratified to receive the Kennedy
Center Honors, the 95-year-old Van Dyke
reflects, “I just took jobs as they came. I
went from vaudeville to radio to nightclubs
to television. I’ve had it all ... and how
lucky can you get? I’ve been trying to piece
together the events of the past 70 years and
how I got here!”
Here, Van Dyke reflects on some
highlights of his career.
Dick Van Dyke
“Bye Bye Birdie” (1960-61 on stage,
1963 on film): “We were doing previews in
Philadelphia, and the writers came down
with a new song – and it was ‘Put On a
Happy Face.’ And Chita (co-star Rivera)
said, ‘You know, Dick doesn’t have anything
to do in the first act. Why don’t you give it
to him?’ And my life changed, right there.
What a gal.”
“The Dick Van Dyke Show” (1961-66):
“It was very carefully crafted, because of the
way Carl (creator-producer Reiner) wrote.
He made us all believable, and the cast was
just dynamite from the very beginning. Mary
(Tyler Moore) had never done comedy, and
she picked it up so fast.”
“Mary Poppins” (1964): “Out of Carl’s
hands, I fell into Walt Disney’s hands, and
that was just lovely. That movie is going to
be around for a long time.”
“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” (1968): “As
we were finishing up that picture, Sean
Connery was leaving the James Bond series
– and (‘Chitty’ and Bond producer) Cubby
Broccoli came to me and said, ‘Do you want
to play Bond?’ And I said, ‘Have you heard
my British accent?’ And that was the end of
that!”
“Diagnosis Murder” (1993-2001 as a
series, with related TV-movies both before
and after it): “I never saw myself as a sleuth,
but it worked. And at one point, I had all
my kids and all my grandkids on the show!”
Guide to the TV grids
TV Ratings:
‘G’: General audience
‘Y’: Young children
‘7’: Children over 7
‘14’: Children over 14
‘PG’: Parental guidance
‘M’: Mature audience only
PA: Parental advisory
DVS: Descriptive video service
EI: Educational/instructional
D: Dialogue
L: Language
S: Sexual situations
V: Violence
Common symbols :
HD scheduling, please
note:
’:I n stereo
Å: Closed captioning
iTV: Interactive TV program
N: Program is new
Schedules are based on standard-
definition (SD) channels. High-
definition (HD) channels may vary
by three hours when a West Coast
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provider’s interactive TV guide for
detailed HD channel schedules.
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