• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, December 20, 2023

CBS’ prime-time tribute to Dick Van Dyke is exuberant, entertaining, exciting and exhausting.

But if Van Dyke himself can stay with it for two-hours at age 98, then so can anybody.

The show -- “Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic” -- must hold a Guinness world record for the ocean of adoring praise that emanates repeatedly from so many celebrities that the number of them packed into this show must represent a Guinness record all its own.

Taped earlier this month, the show is positioned as a celebration of Van Dyke’s 98th birthday earlier this month on December 13.

In many ways, it is a celebration of old-time entertainment -- in Dick Van Dyke’s case, dancing, singing, acting and most famously, tripping elegantly over a living-room ottoman.

The show’s celebrity participants run the gamut from those who worked with him, know him casually (if not vaguely), and those who probably have never met him.

Nevertheless, all insist that the career of Dick Van Dyke had a major influence on their pursuit of careers in the performing arts: comedy, dance, Broadway, movies, TV -- you name it.

And when they are not staking their claims to his influence on their lives, they are extolling him for his niceness, his devotion to physical fitness, his generosity, his community service and, most of all, his talent.

The list of Dick Van Dyke admirers seen in the show is too long to try and provide here because it would take up about half of this TV Blog and, more importantly, it would be dull to read.

The list starts appropriately with Rob Reiner, who acts as the show’s host. His late father, Carl Reiner, was the man who made Dick Van Dyke a star in “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” and Van Dyke has known Rob Reiner since he was a boy.

After that, Jason Alexander appears to perform the “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” song backed by a troupe of dancers.

Zachary Levi then comes on to sing “Jolly Holiday” from “Mary Poppins,” a great, upbeat performance. Later, Skylar Astin sings “Put On A Happy Face” from “Bye Bye Birdie.” And the list goes on.

Through it all, Van Dyke sits beaming in a replica of the “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” car -- putting on a happy face, you might say, although his delight is most definitely not a put-on.

One of the highlights is seeing the obvious pleasure on his face as he takes in the celebration, which he says several times was a complete surprise to him. He thought it was going to be some kind of interview show. 

Some of the tribute performances qualify as highlights and others do not.

But the best of all the highlights are the many clips of Van Dyke performances from “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” “Mary Poppins,” “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” “Diagnosis: Murder,” and his countless guest-star appearances on TV shows and movies -- from “Columbo” to “Dick Tracy” opposite Warren Beatty.

The accolades pile up a bit too high after a while. But at the same time, the show provides ample evidence to support much of this mountain of praise.

For who among us does not feel the same way about Dick Van Dyke? He has packed a lot of memories into his 98 years, for himself and for the rest of us.

“Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic” airs Thursday, December 21, at 9 p.m. Eastern on CBS.