How Carl Reiner kept The Dick Van Dyke Show relevant years after it aired

As a creative, your work follows you wherever you go. To some, that may feel like a curse, but to others, it's a legacy. You are able to live on for others in your body of work.

Carl Reiner ensured that long after his generation had left this Earth, The Dick Van Dyke Show would continue on. Like a cockroach or a Twinkie, The Dick Van Dyke Show is something that seems to remain fresh and new no matter what happens. Series star Dick Van Dyke understood that. 

"That show is gonna outlive me," said Van Dyke during an interview with The St. Petersburg Press. "I never foresaw that."

Luckily, series creator Carl Reiner had the foresight to ensure that The Dick Van Dyke Show would remain as evergreen as possible.

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"I recall how bright Carl Reiner was," said Van Dyke. "He never let us use any of the vernacular of that time, the early '60s. He never let us do anything that might date it. At the time, we missed a few good jokes because of certain faddish things that were going on. But Carl was so right."

While plenty of the show's success was due to the talent of people like Reiner, Van Dyke acknowledged that some of the show's success was simply kismet, a destiny years in the making.

"A lot of it was just plain dumb luck," said the actor. "The five people on that show just worked. Who can explain that chemistry...It all jelled. I've never had quite that pleasure since."