Carl Reiner said that this aspect of The Dick Van Dyke Show dated the series
One of the best parts about The Dick Van Dyke Show is its timeless nature. The show doesn't engage in topical references too frequently, and although it was shot in black-and-white, the Petrie family can't help but remind us of our own at times. When we look at a show like The Dick Van Dyke Show, we see ourselves, no matter how old we are, or how old the series is, when we're watching.
However, series creator Carl Reiner once revealed that there were elements of the series that he felt dated the show.
In an interview with the Garnett News Service, Reiner once said that he regretted the way that the character of Sally Rogers seemed to choose her career at the expense of her own love life.
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While Sally's misadventures were entertainment to the audience, Reiner believed that, in retrospect, it wasn't really fair to depict working women in that light.
"That's sort of embarrassing today," Reiner said. "It was based on my life. That's the way women were then."
In another interview with The News Journal, Reiner said that, similarly, he felt that a mention of Laura Petrie's abandonment of her career as a dancer to become a mother hadn't aged very well.
"Those I am embarrassed about," he said. "I wouldn't write them today. Mary Tyler Moore as Laura Petrie says she wanted to be dancing on [The Alan Brady Show] and then says, 'Oh, no. I just wanted to try it once. I am really happy being a housewife.' You know you can't do that now."
Reiner also felt that, while the Petrie family was content to live on Rob's salary as a writer alone, it wasn't an accurate representation of the American household.
"You need two salaries to exist," Reiner said.
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