CBS Is Airing Colorized Episodes of ‘Dick Van Dyke Show’ In Honor of Comedy Legend Carl Reiner

Comedy fans are mourning the loss of Carl Reiner, who sadly passed away on June 30, 2020, at the age of 98. Over the years, he proved to be a multi-talented actor, director, writer, and producer who made a name for himself as the creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show. Now, the series is returning to pay tribute to him with a special screening of two classic episodes.

CBS issued a press release saying they are airing The Dick Van Dyke Show — Now In Living Color! A Special Tribute to Carl Reiner on July 3 at 8/7 pm CT. As you probably already guessed, the original black and white series has been transformed with a little technicolor magic to make it shine even brighter. The special will consist of back-to-back episodes: “Coast to Coast Big Mouth” and “October Eve.”

The episodes heavily feature Reiner and Mary Tyler Moore, who starred as Dick Van Dyke’s wife Laura Petrie. In “Coast to Coast Big Mouth,” Laura accidentally lets slip on national television that her husband’s boss, Alan Brady (the variety show boss played by Reiner), wears a toupee. The show switched things up in “October Eve” by having Reiner play a painter who takes some artistic liberties with a portrait of Laura.

Reiner hand-picked the episodes to get the color treatment when they originally re-aired in 2016 and again in 2017. He apparently had an especially soft pot for “October Eve,” which he considered to be one of the funniest episodes of the whole series. The press release quotes Reiner in 2017 saying, “In ‘October Eve,’ I got a chance to perform on the show as someone other than Alan Brady, and I loved the character of Carpetna the artist as soon as I read it.”

Tune into the episodes on CBS July 3 at 8/7 pm CT to remember this beloved comedy legend.