Alan Brady, the caustic TV host portrayed by Carl Reiner on THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW back in the '60s, returns in a new computer-animated special on TV Land, airing Aug. 17 (10:00-10:30 pm). THE ALAN BRADY SHOW marks TV Land's first original animated special in the network's seven-year history. Reiner, who reprises his character in voice over, also wrote the special and serves as exec producer along with George Shapiro and Howard West of Shapiro/West Prods. The special was developed internally for TV Land by Sal Maniaci, vp of development and production for TV Land and Nick at Nite. Animation was produced by NICK Digital Studios in New York. The sound work was done by Hacienda Post in Burbank.
THE ALAN BRADY SHOW will be featured in a primetime line-up that kicks off with two back-to-back episodes of THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW (9:00-10:00 pm), and also features an encore presentation of TV Land's original documentary INSIDE TV LAND: THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW (10:30 pm-12:00 am).
During the week leading up to the Sunday night special telecast, TV Land will pay homage to this classic TV character with airings of episodes from THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW featuring Alan Brady storylines. The episodes will air each night Aug. 11-16 (9:00-10:00 pm).
The contemporary setting of THE ALAN BRADY SHOW takes place 40 years after its debut and it's clear that time has failed to mellow Brady, who remains as brash as ever. The show's staff is deep in the throws of developing Brady's golden 50th anniversary special. When the staff pitches a classic retrospective, Brady counters with "Who Wants to Marry Alan Brady?" This marks the first time a fictional character has embraced reality television's programming rage.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
