Jerry Van Dyke

Jerry Van Dyke

Born: July 27, 1931
Died: January 5, 2018
in Danville, Illinois, USA
He has that same genuine likability factor, owns that same trademark lantern jaw and is just as appealing and gifted as his older brother, Dick Van Dyke, but, for decades, Jerry Van Dyke had to bear the brunt of his brother's overwhelming shadow. The comic actor was born six years younger than Dick on July 27, 1931, in Danville, Illinois. Raised there, the crew cut blond showed an aptitude for clowning in high school. His stand-up comedy venues first took the form of dives and strip clubs throughout the Deep South in which his banjo-playing became an intricate part of the routine. At one point, Jerry was a regular on the Playboy club circuit. He then set his sights on the top showrooms in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Atlantic City and became a dependable opening act.

Jerry's early career should have been rightfully interrupted when he joined the Air Force in 1952. He, instead, kept the troops laughing by performing in Special Services shows. Winning a military talent contest actually earned him a couple of appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) (aka "The Ed Sullivan Show") and resulting TV exposure. Following his tour of duty, he nabbed variety appearances and a regular comic relief role on The Judy Garland Show (1963). He found comic acting parts as well on TV. Like brother Dick, who was a huge TV star by this time, Jerry also did a stint emceeing a game show. In Jerry's case, it was Picture This (1963).

Movies for Jerry Van Dyke...

Sid & Judy
Title: Sid & Judy
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: June 26, 2019
Type: Movie
Explore the dramatic career and personal struggles of the talented and tragically short-lived entertainer Judy Garland through rare concert footage, never-heard-before voice recordings and personal photos.
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Title: The Middle
Character: Tag Spence
Released: September 30, 2009
Type: TV
The daily mishaps of a married woman and her semi-dysfunctional family and their attempts to survive life in general in the city of Orson, Indiana.
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Title: The Middle
Released: September 30, 2009
Type: TV
The daily mishaps of a married woman and her semi-dysfunctional family and their attempts to survive life in general in the city of Orson, Indiana.
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Title: My Name Is Earl
Character: Jerry
Released: September 20, 2005
Type: TV
When petty criminal Earl Hickey wins the lottery, he sets off on a quest to repair his questionable karma.
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Title: Unscripted
Character: Himself
Released: January 9, 2005
Type: TV
Three young, struggling actors (played by three young, less-struggling actors) try to navigate the maze of agents, auditions and avarice that is Hollywood, frequently turning to their acting teacher for advice. As the title implies, the dialogue is mostly improvised, with situations based on the lives of the cast and creators.
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Title: Committed
Released: January 4, 2005
Type: TV
Committed is a television sitcom that aired on NBC as a midseason replacement from January 4 to March 15, 2005. Although originally broadcast twice a week the series eventually settled in a regular timeslot on Tuesdays at 9:30PM EST after Scrubs. The show starred Josh Cooke and Jennifer Finnigan and costarred Darius McCrary, Tammy Lynn Michaels and Tom Poston. Cooke and Finnigan played two single and extremely eccentric New Yorkers who are subject to constant interference when they begin dating from their equally eccentric friends and Finnigan's roommate, known only as "Dying Clown" or "Clown" who was actually a clown, played by Tom Poston. The show ran for 13 episodes. Clips and fan-generated montages can still be found online, but no official DVDs have been produced.
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The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited
Title: The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited
Character: Stacey Petrie
Released: May 11, 2004
Type: Movie
40 years after The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961), Alan Brady wants to hire Rob and Sally to write his eulogy - in order to win a bet with his wife. Although they don't want to do it, he offers them a huge amount of money. If Rob takes the job, Laura could open her dream dance studio.
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Title: The District
Character: Judge Beers
Released: October 7, 2000
Type: TV
The District is a television police drama which aired on CBS from October 7, 2000 to May 1, 2004. The show followed the work and personal life of the chief of Washington, D.C.'s Police Department.
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Title: Yes, Dear
Character: Big Jimmy Hughes
Released: October 2, 2000
Type: TV
A comedy about two young couples and their outrageously contrasting views on parenting. Greg and Kim Warner struggle on a daily basis to become perfect at the job. Kim is a neurotic, stay-at-home mother, and although her husband, Greg, is a success in his career, his more difficult job is keeping his wife calm as they raise their two young children. While Kim is determined to be the perfect mother and perfect wife and to raise the perfect children, her sister, Christine Hughes, a very down-to-earth mother of two, continually reminds her that life will never be perfect. Christine's husband, Jimmy, often feels compelled to share with his brother-in-law his philosophy about being a husband and a parent while still remaining a man.
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Merry Christmas, George Bailey!
Title: Merry Christmas, George Bailey!
Character: Uncle Billy
Released: December 25, 1997
Type: Movie
Performance of the 1947 Lux Radio version of "It's a Wonderful Life", taped live in the historic Pasadena Playhouse as a benefit for the Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
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Annabelle's Wish
Title: Annabelle's Wish
Character: Grandpa Baker (voice)
Released: October 21, 1997
Type: Movie
Annabelle - a calf who has a special wish for Christmas - wants to be a reindeer and help Santa Claus drive his sleigh as he delivers his presents! Annabelle's friends tell her not to get her hopes up, but to everyone's surprise, Santa does indeed meet up with Annabelle, and the calf gets to help Santa make the holiday special for one young boy.
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Title: Teen Angel
Character: Jerry Beauchamp
Released: September 26, 1997
Type: TV
When Marty DePolo dies after eating a six-month-old hamburger, he is chosen to be his best friend's guardian angel.
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Title: You Wish
Character: Grandpa Max
Released: September 26, 1997
Type: TV
A single mother reluctantly accepts the services of a genie, who's been imprisoned in a magic carpet for two thousand years.
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Title: E! True Hollywood Story
Released: August 21, 1996
Type: TV
E! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and also well-known public figures. Among the topics covered on the program include salacious re-tellings of Hollywood secrets, show-biz scandals, celebrity murders and mysteries, porn-star biographies, and "where-are-they-now?" investigations of former child stars. It frequently features in-depth interviews, actual courtroom footage, and dramatic reenactments. When aired on the E! network, episodes will be updated to reflect the current life or status of the subject.
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Title: The Drew Carey Show
Character: Luther Van Damme
Released: September 13, 1995
Type: TV
Drew is an assistant director of personnel in a Cleveland department store and he has been stuck there for ten years. Other than fighting with co-worker Mimi, his hobbies include drinking beer and not being able to get dates. To make a few extra bucks he has a micro-brewery going in his garage with his buddies.
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Title: Diagnosis: Murder
Character: Stacy Sloan
Released: October 29, 1993
Type: TV
Dr. Mark Sloan is a good-natured, offbeat physician who is called upon to solve murders.
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Title: Grace Under Fire
Released: September 29, 1993
Type: TV
Grace Kelly is a tough woman with kids to raise. A recently divorced recovering alcoholic, Grace struggles with the pressures of being a single mother supporting three children. Grace doesn't always handle situations with, well, grace, but she does get results.
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The Pelican Brief
Title: The Pelican Brief
Character: Assistant Coach Luther Horatio Van Dam in Coach (archive footage)
Released: September 17, 1993
Type: Movie
A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.
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The Pelican Brief
Title: The Pelican Brief
Character: Assistant Coach Luther Horatio Van Dam (archive footage)
Released: September 17, 1993
Type: Movie
A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.
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To Grandmother's House We Go
Title: To Grandmother's House We Go
Character: Harvey
Released: December 6, 1992
Type: Movie
When the twins feel like their mom is tired of them, they take off on an exciting adventure to grandmother's house and encounter a pair of villains along the way.
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Title: Coach
Character: Luther Van Dam
Released: February 28, 1989
Type: TV
Hayden Fox, the curmudgeonly coach of Minnesota State University's Screaming Eagles football team, tries to navigate his way through the sports world, fatherhood and family life without dropping the ball.
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Run If You Can
Title: Run If You Can
Character: Brian
Released: August 22, 1988
Type: Movie
A young woman accidentally sees snuff films through a satellite dish aberration and alerts the police, who are already looking for a serial killer.
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W.A.R.: Women Against Rape
Title: W.A.R.: Women Against Rape
Character: Bernard Blackwell
Released: January 1, 1987
Type: Movie
When a man dodges conviction after raping multiple women, his victims take justice into their own hands.
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Title: Fresno
Character: Tucker Agajanian
Released: November 16, 1986
Type: TV
In Fresno, California, the once-wealthy Kensington family's raisin-growing empire has fallen on hard times. They are led by widowed matriarch Charlotte, who is locked in a deadly power struggle with rival raisin magnate Tyler Cane.
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Title: Charles in Charge
Released: October 3, 1984
Type: TV
Charles in Charge is an American sitcom series starring Scott Baio as Charles, a 19-year-old student at the fictional Copeland College in New Brunswick, New Jersey, who worked as a live-in babysitter in exchange for room and board. Baio directed many episodes of the show, and was credited with his full name, Scott Vincent Baio. It was first broadcast on CBS from October 3, 1984 to April 3, 1985, when it was cancelled due to a struggle in the Nielsen ratings. It then had a more successful first-run syndication run from January 3, 1987 to November 10, 1990, as 126 original episodes were aired in total. The show was produced by Al Burton Productions and Scholastic Productions in association with Universal Television, and distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution and New Line Cinema Corporation.
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Title: Newhart
Released: October 2, 1982
Type: TV
Dick Loudon and his wife Joanna decide to leave life in New York City and buy a little inn in Vermont. Dick is a how-to book writer, who eventually becomes a local TV celebrity as host of "Vermont Today." George Utley is the handyman at the inn and Leslie Vanderkellen is the maid, with ambitions of being an Olympic Ski champion; she is later replaced by her cousin Stephanie, an heiress who hates her job. Her boyfriend is Dick's yuppie TV producer, Michael Harris. There are many other quirky characters in this fictional little town, including Dick's neighbors Larry, Darryl, and Darryl...three brothers who buy the Minuteman Cafe from Kirk Devane. Besides sharing a name, Darryl and Darryl never speak.
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Title: 13 Queens Blvd.
Released: March 20, 1979
Type: TV
13 Queens Boulevard is an American sitcom that aired from March 20 until July 24, 1979.
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Title: The Love Boat
Character: Norman Quigley
Released: September 24, 1977
Type: TV
Passengers who search for romantic nights aboard a beautiful ship travelling to tropical or mysterious countries, decide to pass their vacation aboard the "Love Boat", where Gopher, Dr. Bricker, Isaac, Julie, and Captain Stubing try their best to please them, and sometimes help them fall in love. Things are not always so easy, but in the end, love wins.
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Title: The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Character: Wes Callison
Released: September 19, 1970
Type: TV
30-year-old single Mary Richards moves to Minneapolis to start a new life after a romantic break-up. There she reacquaints with Phyllis who rents her a room, and meets her upstairs neighbor and new best friend Rhoda. Mary unexpectedly lands a job as associate producer at the TV station WJM, where she works alongside her bristly boss, Lou; the comical newswriter, Murray; and the newscast's often-incompetent anchor, Ted.
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Title: The Headmaster
Released: September 18, 1970
Type: TV
Headmaster is an American half-hour television comedy-drama starring Andy Griffith and broadcast by CBS in the United States during the 1970-71 season. Headmaster marked the return to series television of Griffith, whose previous eponymous show had been one of CBS's major hits of the 1960s prior to his voluntary departure and a program which was still in production, when Headmaster was launched. With Headmaster, Griffith fulfilled his desire to be cast in a television series as something other than a rural bumpkin dispensing folksy wisdom; here his character, Andy Thompson, was the headmaster of a prestigious Californian private school, the Concord School. His wife, Margaret, was an English teacher; his best friend was the school's main athletic coach, Jerry Brownell. Mr. Purdy was the school's caretaker. Despite being aired in the Friday night 8:30 Eastern time slot vacated by the popular Hogan's Heroes, a theme song sung by Linda Ronstadt, and featuring arguably the biggest CBS star of the 1960s, Headmaster did not prove to be popular and was routinely beaten in the Nielsen ratings by both The Partridge Family on ABC and The Name of the Game on NBC. When this pattern became apparent, production of Headmaster was terminated, with the last first-run episode being broadcast January 1, 1971, and the program replaced by a new situation comedy starring Griffith, The New Andy Griffith Show. This replacement program met with little more success than Headmaster, and was last broadcast on May 21, 1971. In June 1971, Headmaster returned to the time slot in reruns, with the last repeat episode being aired on September 10, 1971.
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Title: Love, American Style
Character: John Pettidrew
Released: September 29, 1969
Type: TV
An anthology comedy series featuring a line up of different celebrity guest stars appearing in anywhere from one, two, three, and four short stories or vignettes within an hour about versions of love and romance.
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Angel in My Pocket
Title: Angel in My Pocket
Character: Emery
Released: April 2, 1969
Type: Movie
The new minister in a small town faces the challenge of winning over its eccentric citizens.
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Title: Accidental Family
Character: Jerry Webster
Released: September 15, 1967
Type: TV
Accidental Family is an American sitcom broadcast on NBC during the first part of the 1967-68 U.S. television season.
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Title: Good Morning, World
Released: September 5, 1967
Type: TV
In this flirty '60s sitcom, the action unfolds every day at a small Los Angeles radio station where Larry and Dave work as morning show DJs. While Larry is a swinging ladies' man with his eye on every woman on the block, Dave is the bumbling married guy who is just trying to stay out of trouble with his wife.
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Title: That Girl
Released: September 8, 1966
Type: TV
That Girl is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the title character Ann Marie, an aspiring actress, who moves from her hometown of Brewster, New York to try to make it big in New York City. Ann has to take a number of offbeat "temp" jobs to support herself in between her various auditions and bit parts. Ted Bessell played her boyfriend Donald Hollinger, a writer for Newsview Magazine; Lew Parker and Rosemary DeCamp played Lew Marie and Helen Marie, her concerned parents. Bernie Kopell, Ruth Buzzi and Reva Rose played Ann and Donald's friends. That Girl was developed by writers Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, who had served as head writers on The Dick Van Dyke Show earlier in the 1960s.
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Title: My Mother the Car
Character: Dave Crabtree
Released: September 14, 1965
Type: TV
The story of the relationship between a man and his mother, the latter having been reincarnated as a 1928 Porter automobile.
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Love and Kisses
Title: Love and Kisses
Character: Freddy
Released: August 5, 1965
Type: Movie
Two teenagers elope and take up residence at the groom's home with his parents and sister, but the newlyweds quickly discover married life is much different from high-school.
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Title: Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Released: September 25, 1964
Type: TV
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot was aired as the finale of the fourth season of The Andy Griffith Show on May 18, 1964. The show ran for five seasons and a total of 150 episodes. In 2006, CBS Home Entertainment began releasing the series on DVD. The final season was released in November 2008. The series was created by Aaron Ruben, who also produced the show with Sheldon Leonard and Ronald Jacobs. Filmed and set in California, it stars Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle, a naive but good-natured gas-station attendant from the town of Mayberry, North Carolina, who enlists in the United States Marine Corps. Frank Sutton plays Gomer's high-octane, short-fused Gunnery Sergeant Vince Carter, and Ronnie Schell plays Gomer's friend Gilbert "Duke" Slater. Allan Melvin played in the recurring role of Gunnery Sergeant Carter's rival, Sergeant Charley Hacker. The series never discussed nor addressed the then-current Vietnam War, instead focusing on the relationship between Gomer and Sergeant Carter. The show retained high ratings throughout its run.
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Title: The Cara Williams Show
Released: September 23, 1964
Type: TV
The Cara Williams Show is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 18,1964 to April 15, 1965. The series centers on a married couple who has to keep their relationship secret because the company for which they work prohibit staff couples.
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Title: The Judy Garland Show
Character: Himself
Released: December 8, 1963
Type: TV
The Judy Garland Show is an American musical variety television series that aired on CBS on Sunday nights during the 1963-1964 television season. Despite a sometimes stormy relationship with Judy Garland, CBS had found success with several television specials featuring the star. Garland, who for years had been reluctant to commit to a weekly series, saw the show as her best chance to pull herself out of severe financial difficulties. Production difficulties beset the series almost from the beginning. The series had three different producers in the course of its 26 episodes and went through a number of other key personnel changes. With the change in producers also came changes to the show's format, which started as comedy/variety but switched to an almost purely concert format. While Garland herself was popular with critics, the initial variety format and her co-star, Jerry Van Dyke, were not. The show competed with Bonanza, then the fourth most popular program on television, and consistently performed poorly in the ratings. Although fans rallied in an attempt to save the show, CBS cancelled it after a single season. TV Guide included the series in their 2013 list of 60 shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon".
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McLintock!
Title: McLintock!
Character: Matt Douglas Jr.
Released: November 12, 1963
Type: Movie
Ageing, wealthy, rancher and self-made man, George Washington McLintock is forced to deal with numerous personal and professional problems. Seemingly everyone wants a piece of his enormous farmstead, including high-ranking government men, McLintock's own sons and nearby Native Americans. As McLintock tries to juggle his various adversaries, his wife—who left him two years previously—suddenly returns. But she isn't interested in George; she wants custody of their daughter.
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Palm Springs Weekend
Title: Palm Springs Weekend
Character: Biff Roberts
Released: November 5, 1963
Type: Movie
Set in Palm Springs during a long, fun-filled weekend where several Los Angeles college students flock to spring break, centering on Jim who finds romance with Bunny, the daughter of Palm Springs harred, stressful police chief. Jim's bumbling roommate, Biff, tries to get Amanda, a tomboyish girl's attention with a so-called love gadget. Meanwhile, Gayle Lewis is a high school senior posing as a wealthy college girl who is pursued by Eric Dean, a wealthy and spoiled college prepie, while Gayle has eyes for a cowboy from Texas, named Stretch. Also Jim and Biff's basketball coach, Campbell, tries to romance Naomi, the owner of the motel where all of the gang is staying at, which is interfered by Naomi's young, trouble-making, brat son who's dubbed, Boom-Boom.
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The Courtship of Eddie's Father
Title: The Courtship of Eddie's Father
Character: Norman Jones
Released: March 27, 1963
Type: Movie
Although he's only seven, Eddie's got it all figured out. He wants his father, a widower, to get remarried — to the girl next door. Unfortunately, she's not one of the women that his dad's been dating.
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Title: The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Character: Self
Released: October 1, 1962
Type: TV
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
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Title: General Electric True
Released: September 30, 1962
Type: TV
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Title: The Dick Van Dyke Show
Character: Stacey Petrie
Released: October 3, 1961
Type: TV
The Dick Van Dyke Show centers around the work and home life of television comedy writer Rob Petrie. The plots generally revolve around problems at work, where Rob got into various comedic jams with fellow writers Buddy Sorrell, Sally Rogers and producer Mel Cooley.
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Title: The Dick Van Dyke Show
Released: October 3, 1961
Type: TV
The Dick Van Dyke Show centers around the work and home life of television comedy writer Rob Petrie. The plots generally revolve around problems at work, where Rob got into various comedic jams with fellow writers Buddy Sorrell, Sally Rogers and producer Mel Cooley.
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Title: The Andy Griffith Show
Character: Jerry
Released: October 3, 1960
Type: TV
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960 and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife, a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and a precocious young son, Opie. Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life. Andy Griffith stated in a Today Show interview, with respect to the time period of the show: "Well, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the '60s, it had a feeling of the '30s. It was when we were doing it, of a time gone by." The series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings and ended its final season at number one. It has been ranked by TV Guide as the 9th-best show in American television history. Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The show, a semi-spin-off from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show titled "Danny Meets Andy Griffith", spawned its own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D., and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry. The show's enduring popularity has generated a good deal of show-related merchandise. Reruns currently air on TV Land, and the complete series is available on DVD. All eight seasons are also now available by streaming video services such as Netflix.
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Title: Kraft Music Hall
Character: Self
Released: October 8, 1958
Type: TV
Kraft Music Hall is an umbrella title for several television series aired by NBC in the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s in the musical variety genre, sponsored by Kraft Foods, the producers of a well-known line of cheeses and related dairy products. Their commercials were usually announced by "The Voice of Kraft", Ed Herlihy.
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Title: Perry Mason
Character: James Douglas
Released: September 21, 1957
Type: TV
The cases of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason and his staff who handled the most difficult of cases in the aid of the innocent.
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Title: The Ed Sullivan Show
Character: Comedian
Released: June 20, 1948
Type: TV
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which ran only one season and was eventually replaced by other shows. In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.