It's fascinating to me, that this 2o minute pilot for the Dick Van Dyke Show was all based upon Father/Son relations.
It was written by Carl Reiner and based upon his own relationship with Rob Reiner. And the trials and tribulations were very much like Rob and Nick's issues.
In the pilot, young Rob had emotional issues around his feelings about his father, the famous comedy writer. Young Rob was upset that his father never threw the ball with him like other friend's dads, and he never went to see his little league games on Sundays. His father Carl said " I can't--my show is filmed every Sunday."
Young Rob routinely hid in closets and refused to come out when he was upset at his Dad. He told his Mom that he didnt like Dad. His Dad's first instinct when discussing what to do was " I will have to buy him a pony. Later in the show he said " Maybe I'll have to buy him a sportscar." So Dad's reaction to not being loved is to bribe him.
His wife said "you cannot rekindle his love with bribery."
The Dad was so surprised when his son said " I don't like you, Daddy."
He said to his wife " how could he not like me. Everyone loves me. Every week 30 million people enjoy things I wrote ..."
So the theme was right there between Grandpa Carl and Rob Reiner. And we saw it play out again with Rob and his son Nick.
